Lukaku's demonic first touch finally used as source for good.
- Donato Annessa
- Nov 29, 2018
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 5, 2019
Super-sub Romelu. The man who was headed for London, but who's first touch took him to Manchester. The Belgian Emile Heskey. The man with the Timberland boots. Ok, ok, I'll stop. But by now it's common knowledge that if there is one thing the Belgian striker needs to work on, it's his first touch. To put it bluntly, the man has the elegance and the finesse of a freight train. A fact that kept him from being the dream 'target man' in Jose Mourinho's counter attack. His inability to hold the ball up effectively, meant that attacks often never turned into a genuine threat on the opposition goal.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken over, Lukaku has found himself on the bench, in favour of a more fluid attacking system based on possession and slick passing. On the bench, he now plays the role (not to dissimilar from Ole's role at the club) of an impact sub. And by God, I think he's found his calling.
On Wednesday night it certainly showed. Against a physical Newcastle United back line, Manchester United were struggling to break through. That was until the 64th minute when a free kick from Rashford bounced off of goalkeeper Dubravka right into the path of Romelu. And with his first touch, his first touch of the moment, his first touch of the game, his devastating first touch, was now a source of devastation for the opposition. Lukaku slotted home to finally open the scoring, and lift pressure off of Man United's shoulders and give Ole his fourth win in four games.
Ultimately, I think that Ole has found Lukaku's best role at the club; the exact same role that Ole himself made famous, the Super-Sub. The man to be put in the box where his physicality can unnerve opposition back lines.

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