Everton’s Romelu Lukaku let Belgium down

Everton centre forward Romelu Lukaku let his Belgian teammates down in their 2-0 loss to Italy yesterday

Belgium fans have to be disappointed in the nightmare performance they received from Everton forward Romelu Lukaku yesterday. The talented attacker was easily the worst player on the pitch for his nation’s 2-0 capitulation to Italy.

Lukaku wasn’t the only member of the Belgian squad to struggle against Antonio Conte’s Italian troops, but he was the worst of the bunch. He managed to only register a Whoscored.com player rating of 5.8 before he was mercifully subbed off in the 73rd minute for Divock Origi.

The powerful striker looked very much like a man whose mind was somewhere else against the Italian side. One has to wonder whether Lukaku has spent too much time thinking about where he might want to play his football next season. Perhaps that time would have been better spent working on his actual game.

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For the record, I’m generally a huge fan of Lukaku’s talent. When he is locked in and engaged he’s absolutely unplayable for even the most talented of Premier League defenders. His combination of size, speed and finishing ability allow him to be a goal threat from anywhere in the final third.

Sadly, none of those talents were on display against Italy. Despite having several golden opportunities to hurt Italy on the counter he wasn’t able to give his side anything productive. Every time he was faced with a decision of what to do with the ball in the final third, he made the wrong choice. He couldn’t have made things easier for the Italian defense if he would have been taking instructions from Antonio Conte himself.

The good news for Lukaku and his Belgian teammates is that there’s still plenty of time for the striker to right his wrongs in the competition. At the very least, he’ll have two more matches to provide his side with enough goals to get them through to the quarterfinals. To do that, he’ll need to focus his energy on the task at hand while tuning out the distractions of his transfer situation.

If he isn’t able to drastically improve his performance, manager Marc Wilmots may be forced to do the unthinkable and put his star striker on the bench. That would be a crushing blow to the ego, and perhaps the transfer value, of Everton’s most valuable attacker.

Keep a close eye on Romelu Lukaku the next time out for Belgium. If his talented squad is to reach their significant potential during Euro 2016, the towering striker will have to rediscover his top form before it’s too late.