INTERVIEWS – OTHER Hubert Lemaire will be present this afternoon at the RSCA fanshop to sign his book “Behind the scenes of Sporting Anderlecht”. This book offers the fitness coach’s insight into the players he trained and the coaches he worked with, from Kompany to Lukaku, without forgetting the others. (Behind the scenes at Sporting Anderlecht | Racine Editions)
Lemaire particularly remembers his first meeting with Romelu Lukaku, his favorite. During the summer of 2006, a young player arrived at Neerpede. A 13-year-old teenager from Lierse, tall but still far from the imposing stature he has today. The year before, he had won the championship with Lierse, beating Anderlecht. Out of 156 goals, Romelu Lukaku had scored 80.
“Romelu immediately appealed to me, because he stood out more for his qualities as an athlete than as a traditional footballer. He had a charisma, a special aura. He captured my attention from preparatory training, whether during morning runs, running classes, or speed and power exercises. He constantly aspired to be the best. Furthermore, he was a polite and intelligent young man. In my eyes, as a physical education teacher, Romelu was the ideal student.”
Internally, Lukaku is the subject of heated debate, with not everyone convinced of his qualities. “Some thought it only made a difference because of its size and therefore would not develop further,”explains Lemaire. “Of course, we can always regret that his premature debut in the first team – he played his first minutes at 16 years and 11 days old, on May 24, 2009, during the test match at Standard – prevented him from usefully continuing his career. training. This could have helped him refine his technique. But from the start, despite the criticisms I heard, I knew that its formidable qualities would sufficiently compensate for its shortcomings. When I asked him to work on his endurance, he was the first to want to wear a sweat-resistant jacket. In bodybuilding, Romelu wanted to break the push-up record… him with his 100 kilos. Even today he is the record holder. Even if, technically, he was less gifted than his companions, he compensated with his physical form and his will. I saw a lot of talent in Neerpede who wouldn’t have ruined their career if they had a tenth of Lukaku’s willpower!
Romelu Lukaku also expresses his gratitude to Lemaire for their fruitful collaboration. “ Humberto changed the way I run », Confides Lukaku in the preface to the book. “ It made my start explosive and boosted my endurance. Mr. Hubert trained me to run at intervals. At the age of 14, I played against 16 or 17 year olds and I often ended up exhausted at the end of the day. Sometimes I felt like giving up. On the first day of training, excitement was at its peak to try out the new Adidas Euro balls. However, during the first week we did not see the shadow of a balloon; we only ran. And every time I faltered, he was there with his positive attitude. He is demanding, but he is also a joker. When I was 14, I asked him to prepare me for the first team. At 16, I wanted to be ready. And we achieved our goal.”
Source: HLN
