You would think being the top scorer for a team would make someone a key player, regularly considered one of their team’s best, but that’s not always been the case in recent seasons for Roma.
Last season, it felt like Roma weren’t seeing the prime version of Romelu Lukaku leading their line – and yet he still got 21 goals. Before him, Tammy Abraham showcased some Jekyll and Hyde form. Even Edin Džeko – even after outscoring all but two players in the club’s history – had his vocal critics (not around here, mind).
And after spending big in the summer, it appears Roma have ended up with another question mark of a centre-forward in Artem Dovbyk.
While he wasn’t a household name a couple of years ago, bringing Dovbyk in was a big deal for Roma by virtue of him being the top scorer in La Liga last season, with 24 goals.
As of the start of April, he now has 16 to his name in his debut season for Roma – the two most recent of which have earned the side consecutive 1-0 wins.
But despite being Roma’s top scorer this season, no one would have him down as their best player. There are question marks over his style of play, principally linked to his lack of mobility and one-dimensional nature.
As a newcomer to an evolving side – and remembering he’s already had three head coaches in his Roma career – the question is if there’s another level of Dovbyk that hasn’t been unlocked here yet, or if he does just have limitations.
On the back of these two match-winning goals, against Cagliari and Lecce, there will be a test of Dovbyk’s true ability to lead Roma from the front. First of all, it’s because some higher-calibre opponents are coming up. Additionally, he will have to step up in the absence of Paulo Dybala.
Like any target man, Dovbyk is best with support close to him. There’s no one else quite like Dybala in the Roma squad for being able to get around a striker. So if Dovbyk needs support, other candidates will have to step up.
Could it even be his deputy striker, Eldor Shomurodov? It tends to be one or the other playing, but Dovbyk’s goal against Lecce came in a short window when both were on the pitch. One benefit of Shomurodov’s role this season as a backup striker has been his superior mobility, which allows Roma to change things up when they need to make their attack more dynamic.
But while Shomurodov has the traits, he doesn’t necessarily have the quality. For Dovbyk, it seems to be the other way around – although he doesn’t always show the latter to his full potential, and that’s what frustrates some.
The chances are Dovbyk will start the majority of Roma’s remaining games this season. He should be able to aim for around the 20-goal mark, which would be a decent benchmark and similar to what Lukaku achieved last season. In short, it will be enough to earn him a second shot to prove himself next season, but let’s not forget he’ll be 28 by then. He’s still in a good era of his career, but doesn’t have loads of time to improve.
So, what’s the opinion of Dovbyk among Giallorossi Yorkshire members? Here’s the debate some of us have been having:
The debate
Harry E: Gets too much hate IMO.
Nathan H: Artem will come good I’m sure of it, not quite Shevchenko but he will do.
Thomas M: We just need to play to his game. He’s more a poacher/target man than someone who can dribble and run with the ball. Pulls off a good pass/assist now and then but he needs the service to score. Seen lots of people saying that Eldor is a better because he presses the opposition but why can’t he have both, if everyone offered the same things we’d be pretty readable and transparent to play against. Just look how many games Artem has missed and he’s still got the most goals for us in the league and Europe. I think the main sticking point with Dovbyk is the fact he’s cost us so much and he’s not yet up there as one of/the best forward in the league. Expectation was he’d hit the ground running 20+ goals. I guess same could be sort of levelled at Eldor, he cost us what? 20m? Good performances this season aside his cost per goal is pretty steep.
Ed B: Playing on the counter and running like a deranged lovable puppy is Eldor’s game. I love him for it and it’s perfect when you need some energy late or an outlet to break the pressure. But 100% agree having strikers with different skill sets is a good thing. Dovbyk isn’t a lovable charismatic flair player but he’s effective and could be a volume scorer for us given the right environment/setup. On a casual watch he’s not as dynamic as Shomu but his positioning is better and he has a better presence. Just needs patience. Džeko was far worse first season but Artem hasn’t buckled under the pressure and is going about his work and getting key goals. At Girona he had a wealth of creative players around him feeding him and he was comfortable in their system. Time and calma.
Nigel B: Dovbyk is more accomplished and a bigger threat than Shomu.
Craig B: My feelings are he has been ok but is ok good enough for a team like Roma? A striker doesn’t necessarily have to be a good footballer, all they need to do is score the goals. If you look at Dovbyk’s time at Girona, yes he got 20+ goals but a fair few were penalties and he isn’t the main penalty taker at Roma. Ideally as Roma don’t have many players to back up the striker with goals then I think the main striker needs to score at least 20+ in the league alone to have any chance of Champions League football. Is Dovbyk that striker? Let’s hope season 2 proves this to be the case, otherwise the jury is still out for me.
Serena F: I like him but he needs too much ‘love’… from the coach. Should mature and be more confident. Also after 2/3rds of the season the squad should have learnt how to provide assists for him!
Mark C: He needs another season. He’s just warming up.
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