Napoli's Romelu Lukaku Already Back To His Best Under Conte
Today at 03:14 AM
Some managers just know how to get the best out of certain players.
When Antonio Conte took over the SSC Napoli job in in the summer he made it clear he wanted to bring in Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku.
The two worked together at Inter Milan, winning the Scudetto in the 2020-21 season with Lukaku bagging twenty-four Serie A goals in thirty-six appearances. Since that dream campaign both have struggled as Conte was humbled at Tottenham Hotspur and Lukaku playing for three different clubs in the last three seasons.
Yet as soon as they started working together again, Napoli’s fortune changed for the better.
It was always going to be a tough task for any forward to replace the prolific Vector Osimhen, who helped Napoli become Italian champions again in 2023, but Romelu has come in and settled in straight away.
People have often misjudged the Belgian international. Some believe he can’t work hard, that he’s raw and unintelligent, that he’ll just score goals and can’t do much else. Those assertions are outdated and don’t represent the talented footballer that currently wears Napoli’s number eleven jersey.
In his first five outings for the Partenopei, the thirty-one year old has grabbed himself three goals. A goal in his debut against Parma, another in his side’s rout over Cagliari and penalty against Cesc Fabregas’ Como (Match Report ESPN). Three goals in three wins.
Interestingly Lukaku has actually provided more assists in those five games than goals, contributing with four assists so far this term.
He created two in that thumping of Cagliari. His first he unselfishly laid off to Giovanni Di Lorenzo on the edge of the penalty area. The second was a sublime pass with the outside of his left foot into the path of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Romelu would then provide another two assists in his side’s 3-1 victory over Serie A new boys Como two weeks ago. In that fixture Lukaku came deep to then help the ball into the box for fellow summer signing Scott McTominay. He made an almost identical play to set up David Neres in the second half.
This early form from the big Belgian is showing why Conte has so much faith in the forward.
His all round attacking play has been tremendous for his new team. He’s not scared to go deep and get the ball with his back to goal. He can often find himself on the right flank and his directness with the ball on the wing will often unsettle opponents. His intelligence can no longer be questioned as his vision and passing ability have shown to be a great strength for him so far this season too. His movement into deeper or wider positions has allowed the likes of Kvaratskhelia, McTominay and Matteo Politano to get into more space and into dangerous positions ahead of the centre forward.
Moving into that number ten role and out onto a wing also proves that Romelu is a willing soldier who will act out Conte’s instructions to the letter and that he’s not lacking in work ethic either.
Romelu Lukaku has recently praised Conte’s influence on his teams (Via Football Italia):
"The beautiful thing about him is that he's really the right one, I think the way he coaches is great. The way he blends the team.”
The former Chelsea and Man United man is always at his best when he’s got a good understanding with his coach and no boss understands Lukaku more than his current gaffer.
This still isn’t peak Lukuku either, let’s not forget that the striker didn’t have a proper preseason and didn’t arrive until his club’s third league fixture of the campaign.
Antonio Conte has brought a feel good factor back to the giants of Campania and a lot of that is down to his understanding of star striker Romelu Lukaku and getting the most out of the hitman. Napoli currently sit at the top of the Serie A table and could prove to be major title challengers as long as Lukaku continues to play with this supreme confidence.
