Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
YOU GOT THE LUK
Old Trafford legend Andy Cole welcomes Lukaku to 100-goal club & says he has coped brilliantly with the pressure
ROMELU LUKAKU will be a welcome addition to the Premier League 100 club, according to long-standing member Andy Cole.
Lukaku needs just one goal to become the 28th player to reach a century of goals and will be aiming to do so today when Manchester United host arch-rivals Liverpool.
And former United striker Cole, third on the list with 187 goals, believes Lukaku has proved his worth in his debut season after finally understanding the demands of playing at Old Trafford. “I think what he’s appreciated now, being at Manchester United, is that it’s not possible for him to take a weekend off because every game is intense,” said Cole.
“Maybe at Everton he could have taken a weekend off and still nicked a goal but at United everyone wants to beat you and I think he’s realised the level of intensity that’s required.
“The magnifying glass is always on the centre-forward at United and I think it’s fallen on him massively this season.
“He’s not had too much rest, he’s played virtually every match and not had much time to recover, because of the injury to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But he’s done really well. He came with a big price-tag but he’s done well.
“It’s not been an easy first season. There’s been a lot of pressure on him with Zlatan injured and Marcus Rashford (right) in and out, so he’s been the only recognised centre-forward. But you can’t take anything away from what he’s done since he arrived. He’s scored goals, which is his job.
“Being one goal away, if he gets it at the weekend or he doesn’t, he’s going to get there at some stage because he’s been good enough to score 100 goals in the Premier League.”
Until his goal against Chelsea in United’s 2-1 win a fortnight ago, Lukaku had failed to score against any of the Premier League’s top-eight sides, underlining his ‘flat-track bully’ tag.
And Cole (far left, with former team-mate Nicky Butt) admitted Lukaku – with eight goals in his last 11 games – must continue to score against the big teams to keep the critics off his back.
“He got one against Chelsea but that question is still going to be thrown at him.. that he’s not