Samuel Eto'o Making a Case to Be Considered Everton's 1st-Choice Striker
Samuel Eto'o provided Premier League audiences with a reminder of his class on Sunday, scoring two goals in Everton's 3-1 win over Burnley.
He showed expert craft for his first, ghosting in to nod home Leighton Baines' cross, before securing the win with a glorious long-range effort.
In far fewer minutes, Eto'o now has the same total as Romelu Lukaku (in all competitions), and on current form, Roberto Martinez may soon consider the veteran to be his better option.
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That's not in any way meant to detract from Lukaku. The Belgium international has the potential to develop into one of Europe's elite strikers and playing with his new partner will help that process. On current form, however, Eto'o is producing more.
The three-time Champions League winner supposedly arrived at Goodison Park in decline.
Cast aside by Chelsea—who regularly vented frustration at their underperforming strikers last season—it seemed he would be a deteriorating presence on the pitch, more useful for his off-the-field work with Lukaku.
As the following numbers highlight, criticising Eto'o's return in England seems overly harsh:
| Minutes | 1306 | 2602 | 213 | 747 |
| Goals | 9 | 15 | 3 | 4 |
| Goals per 90 | 0.62 | 0.52 | 1.27 | 0.48 |
| Minutes per Goal | 145 | 173 | 71 | 187 |
Last season, and in the very small sample size from this current campaign, Eto'o's end product greatly surpasses that of Lukaku—who just managed the joint-most prolific return of any Everton player in 18 seasons.
Eto'o's nine goals for Chelsea came in the equivalent of just 14 full games, and he bettered the scoring rate of every Everton player last year.
That superiority has been maintained this season, which is more impressive when considering he started wide left against Crystal Palace and as a No. 10 against Burnley, each time supporting Lukaku.
Quite simply, if both strikers are on the field for the same time this season, the numbers suggest Eto'o will score more, which seems an obvious reason to play him.
Aside from just his scoring, though, there are additional aspects of Eto'o's game that improve an argument to start him.
The former Barcelona striker is a clever player, always in tune with his team-mates around him. His spacial awareness and instincts are at a higher level to Lukaku's, as is his first touch and overall hold-up play. This improves Everton's fluency as a team.
Again, this is not meant as a slight on Lukaku. Eto'o has been one of the finest strikers in world football, and at 21, the former Barcelona man was scoring at a similar rate to Lukaku while at Real Mallorca.
There's nothing to say Lukaku cannot reach similar levels as Eto'o once he fulfils his potential, but he's not there yet. It makes sense to draw upon Eto'o's ability as much as possible in the short term, while it remains so effective.
As Lukaku has referenced, by bringing in Eto'o, Everton have provided their biggest-ever investment with the ideal mentor.
To Everton's benefit, it seems many may have simply underestimated the role the former Barcelona man can still provide at the highest level.
As the game against Burnley showed, Lukaku and Eto'o can also function in the same line-up. Martinez has used both players together for 257 minutes (in all competitions) this season, during which Everton have scored seven times and averaged a goal every 36 minutes.
It seems that combination is worth exploring more, but if Lukaku is to occasionally play second fiddle to Eto'o, that's no bad thing at this early stage of his career.
Everything the Belgium international can learn from such a world-class striker will aid and accelerate his overall development. This added competition should also push him to achieve more in the short term.
By bringing in Eto'o, Everton further invested in theirs and Lukaku's future, providing their record signing with the ideal role model off the pitch and in training.
Right now, Eto'o's providing far more on the pitch than most envisaged, which Everton must exploit.
Statistics via WhoScored.com
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