Lukaku in Belgium to see specialist

Tuesday, 14 February, 2017 56comments  |  Jump to most recent
Romelu Lukaku is absent from the team's mid-season training camp in Dubai as he undergoes treatment on a calf problem.

The rest of the Everton squad jetted out to the Middle East for a five-day stay yesterday but it has been revealed that Lukaku travelled instead to his native Belgium to visit with a specialist.

The striker's injury is said by the club to not be serious and he is expected to play in the home game against Sunderland in 11 days' time.  



Reader Comments (56)

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Kim Vivian
1 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:11:38
Whatever it takes - just keep this boy fit.
Robert Leigh
2 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:25:36
We need him to be ready for Sunderland. Against a better opposition, a front three of Lookman - Mirallas - Barkley wouldn't be disastrous (obviously weaker without the big man), but against Sunderland, where we will have a lot of the ball, we need his power and strength.
Tony Abrahams
3 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:26:14
Preferential treatment should help keep him fit!
Mike Gaynes
4 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:45:41
That's right, Tony... full-on pampering. No calf measures.
John G Davies
5 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:45:54
Most of the top players from Europe prefer to be treated in their own country. As long as he is fit asap, I'm not interested where he is treated.

Gives him a chance to catch up with his family as a bonus. Comes back fit and ready to score goals – everyone's a winner!

Brent Stephens
6 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:48:28
Mike - ouch! I'd delete that if you've still got the chance!
David Barks
7 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:54:03
Eh, who needs him. I mean, plenty on here exposed the fact that the only reason why he scored four against Bournemouth is because they are terrible and any striker in the league is capable of putting a couple past them. Didn't you see all those goals Man City put past them last night?

Easy to replace, all his goals are flukes, he's useless. Only scores against weak opposition, his goals against Man City and Chelsea and the others never happened. #AlternativeFacts

Roger Helm
8 Posted 14/02/2017 at 16:54:19
Shows the need to get in another striker to support and cover him. Of course there will be times when he is injured and can't play – who is going to score our goals then? No-one else at present seems able to do so.
Mike Green
10 Posted 14/02/2017 at 17:32:03
Lukaku in Belgium = Controversial Press Story On Its Way

Don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Dermot Byrne
11 Posted 14/02/2017 at 17:40:47
Told you we should have spent £30m on a player we didn't want. At least ROM is saving his share of the outrageous £75m we are spending in Dubai.

Anyway, some insider I know from Burma has told me his wife knows the partner of his agent's dog and he has been paid by Sky to leak the FACT that Lukaku has already agreed terms with Wrexham.

Tony Abrahams
12 Posted 14/02/2017 at 18:00:29
I think the only thing that needs deleting, Brent, is another thread on Lukaku!
Brent Stephens
14 Posted 14/02/2017 at 18:06:17
Amen to that, Brother Tony (you're not notably bony, are you?).
Mike Green
16 Posted 14/02/2017 at 18:22:48
Iain (#13) – it's a language thing, it's so if he says "Ow" when the anesthetic's wearing off they know when to to stop.

Conspiracy theory over! :)

Tony Abrahams
17 Posted 14/02/2017 at 18:24:21
No, I'm just tired of the subject, Brent, but it did make me smile when I saw the headline. I thought we was trying to foster team-spirit, but how can we do that without the main man? (Just kiddin, honest!)

I was going to post last night when people were slagging off the players for getting to go on holiday, because it's not something I think the players will be that happy about. Unless of-course we are talking about the younger lads on the trip, who I'm sure will be made-up to go and spend a week away with the first-team.

So best to keep Romelu, happy, and who knows, he might even be needed closer to home, to finalise negotiations with his agent, before he signs his new contract?

Dermot Byrne
18 Posted 14/02/2017 at 18:29:41
Andrew (#15): he has gone to Dubai... As had the Wrexham manager. My cat knows theirs.
Andrew Clare
19 Posted 14/02/2017 at 18:50:39
Dermot. I'm glad to hear that.
Paul Ferry
20 Posted 14/02/2017 at 18:54:19
Dermot Byrne 11: Out of interest, where does this 'outrageous £75m we are spending in Dubai' come from? I haven't see it anywhere and it would be nice to know.
Len Hawkins
21 Posted 14/02/2017 at 19:02:16
As I don't drink Wifebeater, I hope he is soaking his legs in Stella Artois.
Don Alexander
22 Posted 14/02/2017 at 19:04:10
I just hope he's not cowed by the cynics, gets his calf in order and grabs the bull by the horns against Sunderland.
Thomas James
23 Posted 14/02/2017 at 19:32:22
If he has a sore leg and the team are going to train hard for 5 days in Dubai then maybe he's better going to Belgium. See his family, see the specialist, recharge at home for the season end and do lighter training. Sounds like a good idea.
Paul Kelly
24 Posted 14/02/2017 at 19:48:39
I do drink "wife beater" and you can't beat anyone after too much, not even yourself!

Back to Lukaku, why is he going to Belgium? Are our physios not good enough to treat him? Or is the Belgium fella that good that our physios don't get involved when someone has a strain, why don't we employ him?

No conspiracy, just wondering.

Rob Halligan
25 Posted 14/02/2017 at 20:09:06
Maybe all our physios are in Dubai, Paul?
Brian Williams
26 Posted 14/02/2017 at 20:28:41
'Foreign' European players tend to go back to their country of origin a lot of the time for treatment. Lukaku will be seeing doctors and specialists rather than physios too.
Mike Gaynes
27 Posted 14/02/2017 at 20:45:13
Don (#22), that's a lotta bull.
Kevin Jones
29 Posted 14/02/2017 at 21:00:06
Who the Heffer put this on? Well let's not milk it to long. An udder piece of news will be along soon. Then we can moooove on. Up The boys in the Royal Blue Jerseys
Ray Smith
30 Posted 14/02/2017 at 21:21:49
Paul (#24),

Your first paragraph! Are you sure?

Don't think you meant it how it comes across!!

Brent Stephens
31 Posted 14/02/2017 at 22:26:52
Tony #17 - yes, but are you "notably bony" (as per Lily the Pink)?
James Marshall
33 Posted 15/02/2017 at 00:39:23
I still go to my GP near where I used to live... so there.

I also have a terrible cold at the moment.

Mike Gaynes
34 Posted 15/02/2017 at 03:13:03
Chicken soup, James.
Daniel Lim
35 Posted 15/02/2017 at 06:28:10
I like going to the GP, because it's like going to Goodison Park!
Duncan McDine
36 Posted 15/02/2017 at 07:27:15
Rom has really beefed up to steak his claim as a top player. He'll score even more when we stop hoofing it... then he can receive a nice pat on the head. I'd rather be in Dubai if I were him though, Belgium is friesian in winter.
Barry Thompson
37 Posted 15/02/2017 at 07:31:01
Brent @31- If you have to explain it Brent, he's probably too young. Maybe Rom has gone to Belgium for some medicinal compound.
Rick Pattinson
38 Posted 15/02/2017 at 07:36:43
Belgium Via AC Milan.
Eddie Dunn
39 Posted 15/02/2017 at 09:05:35
Breaking news – the "physio" he is seeing is none other than his new National coach, Roberto Martinez. Robbie is, if you remember, a fully trained physio and an expert in soft tissues.

Relax, brethren, for Romelu is in good hands.

Len Hawkins
40 Posted 15/02/2017 at 11:19:48
Eddie, I doubt Martinez lives in Belgium we couldn't understand what he was talking about so Belgians have no chance – they don't even all speak the same language. Although I do think he has found his level if he is in charge of the tissues.
Brian Furey
41 Posted 15/02/2017 at 11:35:10
When I first read this story I thought to myself this is another example of Koeman and the club bending over backwards to keep Rom happy like they did after the European Championships.

I think the club know they have to do things that other clubs maybe wouldn't do so I'd say letting him go home and see his family for a few days will keep the player sweet and make him think, "Everton really look after me and my family. Maybe if I moved to another big club I would not get these little extra benefits."

I really don't know, of course I'm totally guessing. It just seems too much of a coincidence that he's gone to Belgium when the others have gone on a team break.

I think this is fair enough tbh as we will have our work cut out for us to keep the player once the big boys come calling.

Brian Wilkinson
42 Posted 15/02/2017 at 16:16:00
Oh my god... all the "keep Rom fit and if he gets injured we are in the shit" will be out in force.

I want Rom fit, but I am not dreading the worst if he has to take a small time-out, we have the players that can step up; we are a team – not an individual, so if we have to kick on for a game or so without the messiah, I have faith players will step up to the mark.

Time will tell.

Paul Kelly
43 Posted 15/02/2017 at 16:16:05
Maybe we left some behind for U23, U18 and the rest of the youth, hey Rob? ;)
Tony Abrahams
44 Posted 15/02/2017 at 19:56:04
Barry is right Brent, I'm way to young to remember the lyrics, so I can't answer that question, mate. But I do remember drinking to Lilly the Pink, when I lived in New Zealand, many moons ago, at a time in my life, when I used to be able to drink medicinal compounds every night of the week!
Dave Abrahams
46 Posted 15/02/2017 at 20:51:42
Tony (#44) – when you lived in New Zealand, they were the happiest days of my life!!!
Tony Abrahams
47 Posted 15/02/2017 at 20:54:33
For both of us Dave!
Stephen Williams
48 Posted 15/02/2017 at 21:26:59
David Barks (7) I haven't seen much of slagging Lukaku for scoring flukes, being useless and scoring goals only against shit teams but your hashtag 'AlternativeFacts' clearly demonstrates that you consider him an outstanding goalscorer and wouldn't do without him – which is fine, we all have our favourites. Personally I've always thought that there's a lot of Tony Cottee in him by which I mean he scores goals when they don't matter, rarely when it's tight and his goal makes all the difference. So your comments did make me wonder what our results would have been without his goals.

Perhaps I'm not surprised that for all Lukaku's 16 league goals, we have netted only 7 more points than without them and that difference was in only 3 games out of 25. Of course this is simplistic and doesn't measure the effects of the rest of his play - which many argue is suspect anyway, but it could also be argued that another player could have scored some goals and consequently contributed some points.

These aren't Alternative Facts - just Facts.

My conclusion is that, whilst I wouldn't want to lose him (unless someone offered silly money) he just isn't anywhere near as effective as some suggest.

Brian Wilkinson
49 Posted 15/02/2017 at 21:48:40
Stephen@48, spot on. Same was two seasons ago, I ran a similar post and there was West Brom away and one other game where, without Lukaku's goals, we would have dropped points.

There is nothing to say that, if Lukaku did not play in those two games, his replacement would not have scored.

I will go one step further and say Naismith has scored more important goals, and against top teams as well, for Everton.

There's no doubting we have a quality striker but in the same breath, I agree with you.

David Barks
51 Posted 15/02/2017 at 23:18:08
Naismith, he who plays for Norwich? The guy who has 4 goals in 19 appearance in the Championship? OK.
Daniel Lim
52 Posted 16/02/2017 at 00:12:48
I agree with you, Brian, regarding Naismith. Doesn't matter how many he scored for other team. That is irrelevant fact, if there is such aterm.
David Barks
53 Posted 16/02/2017 at 00:14:29
Okay, he also hardly scored any goals while at Everton. Hence why he wasn't playing, because Lukaku was, and he was sold.
Mike Gaynes
54 Posted 16/02/2017 at 00:46:29
Sorry, Brian (#49), I liked Naismith too, but comparing him to Rom in any way, form or fashion – even in important goals – is a bizarre reach in my opinion.

The more appropriate comparison would be with Tim Cahill, who had a much higher strike rate and scored far more big goals than Naisy. And Cahill became a dramatically better player past the 80-minute mark in a close game, which is not something I've seen in Rom.

Don Alexander
55 Posted 16/02/2017 at 02:26:28
Every once in a while, Lukaku himself alludes to needing to improve himself, "watch the recording" etc etc but it ain't unreasonable to expect him to regularly show more than he does when the opponent has the ball.

If he's not referring to periods when the opponent has the ball, then so be it. I'll be delighted when his goal-scoring prowess becomes even more prolific than it is now, especially in tight games against those at the top of the league.

Andrew Presly
56 Posted 16/02/2017 at 03:06:16
The guys who don't rate Rom, I dub them "ol' school"...

Sad!

Habib Erkan Jr
57 Posted 16/02/2017 at 04:05:49
Lukaku is arguably Everton's most important player and their most valuable asset. I just hope he is at 100 percent in the last 14 games – his goals will move us up the table.
Daniel Lim
58 Posted 16/02/2017 at 04:23:39
It's so boring in the week that Everton are not playing!
Don Alexander
59 Posted 16/02/2017 at 05:18:39
Ol' school players leave nothing on the pitch. Agreed?
Eric Myles
60 Posted 16/02/2017 at 07:09:39
Andrew #56, us 'ol school' guys were raised in The School of Science, watching The Golden Vision and The Holy Trinity.

It's the whippersnappers that should be sad.

Martin Nicholls
61 Posted 16/02/2017 at 08:43:41
Andrew (#56) – why?
Tony Abrahams
62 Posted 16/02/2017 at 15:55:15
Andrew, I don't reckon that their would be many people who don't rate Lukaku, just old school fellas, who think he could work harder at times?
Brian Wilkinson
63 Posted 16/02/2017 at 22:34:55
Yes Naismith, who scored against Chelsea in three separate games, who scored against Arsenal, who has scored in a Derby match, who has scored against top teams.

The only two things that went against Naismith was his horrific injury and being wasted out wide on the wing.

But if you asked me for one-on-one with the keeper or a chance in the box, then yes, I would have Naismith there every time. Very rare Naismith blazed a shot over or wasted a great opportunity, he did not stand with his hands on his hips, he knew where to be.

That's the type of player I want Lukaku to turn into: anticipate where to be. He's nearly there but still work to do, but he's still young and time is on his side.


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