Inter striker Romelu Lukaku looked even more out-of-form against Monza over the weekend than he had done in his ill-fated appearance against Croatia for the Belgian national team at the World Cup.
This is the view in yesterday’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who argue that of the two seconds half substitute appearances, the one against Monza was even worse.
Lukaku’s performance against Croatia at the World Cup has become infamous.
The fact that the 29-year-old was brought on at halftime with his team desperately chasing a winning goal, and blazed several very good chances wide, has received no shortage of comment.
In truth, however, in that match the Belgian did look like he made his country’s attack more dangerous at least until arriving in front of goal, putting Croatia’s defense under more pressure than before his arrival and doing well to get into scoring positions.
Against Monza, by contrast, Lukaku could not even do this.
The 29-year-old looked unfit and badly out of form for virtually the entirety of his time on the pitch, failing to execute even relatively basic-looking first touches.
For Tuttosport, there is no question that Lukaku was even worse on Saturday than he had a few weeks ago in Qatar.