Page 74 - Soccer360 - Issue 103

MOURINHO’S DIFFERENCE
into the new season.One thing that’ll help Lukaku is his previous history with Mourinho, having already played under the Portuguese coach at both Chelsea and Manchester United. During their season together at the Red Devils in the 2018-19 campaign, the Belgian netted 16 goals, outproducing his xG
of 13.2.
He also outdid his xG during his two years under Antonio Conte at Inter, scoring 23 with an xG of
19 in his first season and 24 with an xG of 23 in
his second. Even last season, a year wrought with injury and poor form, the 30-year-old scored 10 with an xG of 9.
This bodes incredibly well for Mourinho and Roma. The Giallorossi have already shown that they
can produce numerous chances, creating 22.66 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes last season, and Lukaku would seemingly shine with his new teammates like Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini behind him.
3 – FACING THE COMPETITION
Football is not played in a vacuum. Whilst Roma’s acquisition of Lukaku will undoubtedly make them a serious threat this season, their rivals at the
top of the table have also worked hard to bolster their squad this summer, giving Roma tough competition.
Whilst the 30-year-old would guarantee more than just goals, able to help progress play and involve his teammates, it might not be enough for the club to lift their first Scudetto in over two decades, with defending champions Napoli, a Juventus without Europe and the two strengthened Milanese clubs all hungry to taste glory.
Roma will certainly complicate the race for a top four finish, however. With a healthy Dybala beside him, Lukaku could certainly drag his team up the Serie A table and take them back to the Champions League, something that would have crucial ramifications for the future of the Friedkin project.
RMAKER MAKER
omelu Lukaku is a much-anticipated fell short on all fronts. The team only secured a addition to Jose Mourinho’s squad, sixth-place finish in Serie A, seven points behind with many believing the Belgian can fourth place milan, and lost in the Europa League take Roma all the way to the top. final on penalties to Sevilla.
The 30-year-old striker landed in the One of the most pressing concerns for the
Italian capital ahead of his move from Giallorossi was their lack of consistent firepower. Chelsea, a €5.8m loan deal with no permanence Tammy Abraham failed to replicate the exploits of clause attached. The move was facilitated by the his debut season and only managed eight league
player’s willingness to drop his wages to €7.5m net, showing his desire to work with Mourinho for the third time.
Lukaku initially struggled to show his best whilst on loan with inter last season but started to finally show his usual abilities in the latter stages of the campaign, ending the term with 14 goals and seven assists across all competitions.
With Lukaku in yellow and red, can Mourinho and Roma finally taste glory in Serie A for the first time in decades?
1 – FILLING THE VOID
Following on from Roma’s historic Conference League victory, expectations were high for Mourinho’s squad last season, but they ultimately
goals whilst Andrea Belotti failed to live up to expectation, failing to find the back of the net across his 31 league appearances.
Roma produced an expected goals of 57.4 across their 38 Serie A matches but only scored 50, underperforming by -7.4 xG, the third worst
in the league after spezia and sampdoria. An overreliance on Paulo Dybala was apparent and Abraham’s cruciate ligament injury made it clear that a new striker needed to arrive this summer.
2 – A POINT TO PROVE
It seems fair to say that Lukaku’s image has taken a hit amongst supporters across Europe following his tumultuous summer, giving him a possibly unmatched source of motivation and fire heading
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LUKAKU SPOTLIGHT