whatever his merits and flaws, it would be good to see a player up front who truly wants to play for us.

 

I think he would have loads to do to adapt to conte's style (as a lone striker). he's a great goalscorer and I've always been a fan, but there are a number of more natural fits on the market. if he is capable of adapting then he is probably the best option realistically available, but I wouldn't oversell his knowing the league as a big plus point over morata.

 

 

Today just reinforced my opinion on him...no thanks.

Not for the first time a ghost against a top side.

Flat-track bully! Beats up on weaker teams but doesn't stand up in big matches.

I'd prefer Morata if he's realistically attainable.

Took him the whole game to save up the energy for two half chances. I'm not suprised he didn't score and our defence finally kept a clean sheet. DO NOT BUY!!!

I am a bigger fan of Morata and I'm not overly impressed by his price tag but let's not get carried away with criticism based on his performance today. Everton in general were pretty poor and had we been more clinical in the first half we could have run away with it despite being well below par.

 

He was starved of significant service and all they done was launch the ball up to him and expect him battle it out with 3 CB's.

 

As I say, I'd prefer Morata as well, but I wouldn't hold today against him too much.

It's not just today, seen him have these sort games way too often against better teams.

He isn't good enough to be the main striker for a team that has ambitions to win the CL.

Agree with blue exile, these kind of games from him heavily outnumber the good ones he has against the better teams. He's just too easily handled by a good defence.

so we are not gonna talk about the sh*t service he got all game ?

Find me a striker that is available that scores in these big games. Give Lukaku service and he'll score, people seem surprised that Lukaku gets no service and doesn't score at times. He had Valencia and some little lad next to him, stick Hazard and Pedro next to him and he's be unstoppable.

45 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Find me a striker that is available that scores in these big games. Give Lukaku service and he'll score, people seem surprised that Lukaku gets no service and doesn't score at times. He had Valencia and some little lad next to him, stick Hazard and Pedro next to him and he's be unstoppable.

There were a few times in the first half where we struggled with Lukaku and you're right, the service to him was awful. In the second half, we cut off all service to Lukaku which killed his game. I agree with you, if he is playing with Hazard and Pedro he's going to be a lot more dangerous in these big games. He still holds up the ball better than Costa and links up with players better. If Costa is going to go, i would still take Lukaku.

Still not sure...

if Costa goes must be better centre forwards out there   ?Morata?

On April 22, 2017 at 13:25, Jackbuchanan said:

Costa runs hot and cold. I know all players form will swing a little, but costa is too much so. Lukaku has been far more consistent. Yeah Costa can be better than Lukaku, but Lukaku will put in far more decent performances over the course of a season. 

Trying to play Costa in to form is costing us points right now. A team chasing a title does not need that. 

Costa leading the line has yielded 2 title's in 3 seasons for the clubs he has played for and within touching distance of making it 3 in 4. Yet couple of months of bad form and all off a sudden Lukaku is better 

He caused us problems in first half then faded second half but I think any striker probably would have struggled in that team today. His record is not great against top teams but yet again he is not at a top team and Everton in general are bad against big teams. Maybe he needs to be playing in a big team to score against big teams. He is starved off service a lot off times.

He's not a good footballer. 

He scores goals but in terms of winning goals in those huge games where you need a bit of magic....nah he doesn't have that in him.

I want an improvement on Costa and Lukaku for me isn't that.

3 hours ago, Jezz said:

Flat-track bully! Beats up on weaker teams but doesn't stand up in big matches.

I'd prefer Morata if he's realistically attainable.

Isn't Morata a bit of a flat track bully too ? 

7 goals scored against teams at the bottom of the table.

3 goals scored against mid table teams.

2 goals in the cup against a side not even playing in the top division.

2 Champions League goals against average teams.

So that leaves 4 goals he has scored against decent sides and only one of them is a top side.......Napoli.

I'll also point out that it's much easier to be a flat track bully in Spain than it is here in England. The second half of La Liga table put up a lot less of a fight than teams in the second half of the Premier League table.

 

Also, and this is important too, he can't get ahead of Benzema at Real Madrid and Benzema has been sh*t this season. So if he can't get ahead of Benzema at Real Madrid and couldn't get ahead of Mandzukic at Juventus, what exactly is wrong with him ? There must be something in his game holding him back if he couldn't get ahead of these two. 

The problem with signing Morata for so much money is that it's a huge gamble, much more of a gamble than going for Lukaku. At least with Lukaku, we know he is going to score a lot of goals. He is adjusted to the Premier League's physicality. Morata has never played a season as number 1 striker, played consistently against top and mid table teams, or experienced a league as physical as the Premier League. Can he even handle a full season ? we don't know this because he hasn't even done it yet. He's 24 and hasn't even made 30 starts in a season. There are too many question marks over Morata for my liking.

The only thing Morata has going for him right now is that he has a decent goal ratio, but that isn't everything. A lot of players can have good goal ratios, it doesn't necessarily mean they are really good players though. It could just mean he is good coming off the bench against tired defences or is starting games against poor opposition. 

I'm not saying Morata IS an average striker, but based on what Morata has done so far, i don't exactly see what would be so great about picking him over Lukaku. Lukaku is far from perfect himself, but i don't think anybody can say that he wouldn't score goals for us or struggle to play a full season for us.

 

Edited April 30, 20179 yr by Scott Harris

Should throw £100 Million at Spuds and by a great striker in Kane!!!

 

7 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Isn't Morata a bit of a flat track bully too ? 

7 goals scored against teams at the bottom of the table.

3 goals scored against mid table teams.

2 goals in the cup against a side not even playing in the top division.

2 Champions League goals against average teams.

So that leaves 4 goals he has scored against decent sides and only one of them is a top side.......Napoli.

I'll also point out that it's much easier to be a flat track bully in Spain than it is here in England. The second half of La Liga table put up a lot less of a fight than teams in the second half of the Premier League table.

 

Also, and this is important too, he can't get ahead of Benzema at Real Madrid and Benzema has been sh*t this season. So if he can't get ahead of Benzema at Real Madrid and couldn't get ahead of Mandzukic at Juventus, what exactly is wrong with him ? There must be something in his game holding him back if he couldn't get ahead of these two. 

The problem with signing Morata for so much money is that it's a huge gamble, much more of a gamble than going for Lukaku. At least with Lukaku, we know he is going to score a lot of goals. He is adjusted to the Premier League's physicality. Morata has never played a season as number 1 striker, played consistently against top and mid table teams, or experienced a league as physical as the Premier League. Can he even handle a full season ? we don't know this because he hasn't even done it yet. He's 24 and hasn't even made 30 starts in a season. There are too many question marks over Morata for my liking.

The only thing Morata has going for him right now is that he has a decent goal ratio, but that isn't everything. A lot of players can have good goal ratios, it doesn't necessarily mean they are really good players though. It could just mean he is good coming off the bench against tired defences or is starting games against poor opposition. 

I'm not saying Morata IS an average striker, but based on what Morata has done so far, i don't exactly see what would be so great about picking him over Lukaku. Lukaku is far from perfect himself, but i don't think anybody can say that he wouldn't score goals for us or struggle to play a full season for us.

 

Some good points here Scott.  

In morata's defence though, he has an excellent champions league campaign under his belt when juve reached the final where he scored in 5 of the 7 knockout games including both semi's and the final. So I don't think you can question whether he is capable if stepping up the big games. 

I actually wouldn't be suprised if both came in. Morata is very capable of playing just off a target man or slightly wide. It would probably see us play 352 more often with hazard more as a number 10. 

In terms of whether either is better than costa, its difficult to say. Costa showed his capabilities in that 3rd goal today, but he spent the rest of the game over hitting passes and going down looking for free kicks, but costa is a quality striker when he is on top of his game. 

I'm confident what ever happens in the summer, conte will have us challenging again, which is all you can hope for really.

 

2 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

Should throw £100 Million at Spuds and by a great striker in Kane!!!

 

Spuds don't sell to us.

They rejected more money from us for Modric and sold to Madrid for less

That's how I'd do it too, never sell to a rival.

1 minute ago, Chelsbear said:

Spuds don't sell to us.

They rejected more money from us for Modric and sold to Madrid for less

That's how I'd do it too, never sell to a rival.

Money talks apparently

Lukaku is clearly a talented footballer who scores many goals. Today he did lack service but great players create something from nothing and aside from that one shirt he had, he did absolutely nothing. 

25 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Lukaku is clearly a talented footballer who scores many goals. Today he did lack service but great players create something from nothing and aside from that one shirt he had, he did absolutely nothing. 

Got to be honest, Lukaku didn't look interested, but then neither did most of the Everton side.

48 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

Money talks apparently

Nah not with Levy.

It's clear where he stands and always has been 

Did you really think he could do everything alone against defenders like Azpi, Luiz and Cahill? 

Everton don't really have good attacking players that can affect on Lukaku's game, Barkley is not Hazard and Fabregas. Costa wasn't better, to be honest.

23 minutes ago, Osgood is Good said:

Got to be honest, Lukaku didn't look interested, but then neither did most of the Everton side.

Very true, I thought the only player who looked interested for them was Davies.