Lukaku and Sanchez - cut our losses? Poll now added

[Class of 63]

A guaranteed 25 goal a season striker who isn't going to score 25 goals this season. Interesting

Think it's fair to say a guy who has scored 25, 26 and 27 in his last 3 full seasons, and averages 0:50 goals a game in his 7 years in England would guarantee you erm 25 goals a season providing he was a 'regular' fixture in the team, and was fit for the whole season which hasn't been the case. But well done mate, go straight to the top of the smarty pants League.

 

[Sandikan]

When Lukaku came in, he and Pogba seemed to have a real Bromance going on.

Is it me, or has that completely subsided?

 

[dangler]

Considering our luck with signings recently, I wouldn't sell either. Lukaku should still be useful and Sanchez should be role model for young players and who knows he might regain that Arsenal form for month or two.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

When Lukaku came in, he and Pogba seemed to have a real Bromance going on.

Is it me, or has that completely subsided?

Yeah I noticed that too. Pogba looks fed up with him. Who can blame him, when Martial and Rashford are linking up with him much better.

 

[Canagel]

When Lukaku came in, he and Pogba seemed to have a real Bromance going on.

Is it me, or has that completely subsided?

I remember even reading article affer joses sacking he advised someone to stay away from Pogba.
Certain it's Lukaku

 

[Class of 63]

You are spot on. Just watched the game, and it looked like United's defence were already on holiday, probably thought they had the game won at 3-0 and then 5-2, but fair play, took his first two well, third was a bit scrappy, but was in the right place.
He's here for the rest of the season, likewise Sanchez, and perhaps we will be wrong and Ole will get them firing again. I'm not in the camp that just want to get rid of these two, but looking at their performances recently, neither look comfortable in our game plan, so based on that I can only see them both moving on, Lukaku more likely in my opinion.

Lukaku looked comfortable enough(right of a three) away at Arsenal setting up two goals if memory serves, but when he plays central not so, but why Ole, and Jose before him thought playing Lukaku centrally with Mata(and his lack of pace, right foot) to the right of him was ever gonna work is beyond me.

 

[Dve]

I´d say keep both. Not at their best form right now, but no doubt they´ve got the potential. You can have one bad season, then a brilliant next one. Or the other way around. Sanchez has been out injured, and I think we´ve seen nothing of what he can do under Ole yet. If only he had scored against Fulham, I think most would agree he had a good cameo. You can see he´s still got the touch, although the margins sometimes are against him. He´ll sharpen, I see no reason why not.

 

[Class of 63]

Would you genuinely be happy if we gave Lukaku first eleven status next season at the expense of Rashford? Or even Lingard?

And if not, that's just another indicator of why an individual player's goal haul means absolutely nothing compared to the team performance, the quality of football and, ultimately, the results.

Why does it have to be at the expense of Rashford or Lingard ? Can't all three, and Martial play together in the same team ? Not suggesting we play that way at City, Liverpool or Tottenham but for nearly everybody else, and certainly at home it is workable.

Martial Rashford Lukaku
Lingard
Pogba AN Other​

 

[Hugh Jass]

Lukaku will push to leave if he is not getting starts. Coming on as a sub wont cut it with him.

Sanchez the same, although i feel sanchez will start more than Lukaku.

I think there is a pretty good chance Lukaku goes this summer. We would get about 50/55 million for him which would not be too bad.

 

[Chairman Steve]

I'd probably sell Lukaku, then possibly give Sanchez another season... but I wouldn't be against selling him this summer either with Lukaku.

 

[charlenefan]

When Lukaku came in, he and Pogba seemed to have a real Bromance going on.

Is it me, or has that completely subsided?

Guess that's why you shouldn't work with friends, IIRC they were regular close season holiday buddies as well

I don't know what I'd do with either tbh, I was encouraged by Sanchez against Arsenal but he's gone back to being shit the last two games. Lukaku has been shit all season and will be shit between now and May and then there's the massive 3 month dip he had during last season to consider but I still feel let him reset over the summer and see what next season brings with him

 

[red woppit]

Lukaku looked comfortable enough(right of a three) away at Arsenal setting up two goals if memory serves, but when he plays central not so, but why Ole, and Jose before him thought playing Lukaku centrally with Mata(and his lack of pace, right foot) to the right of him was ever gonna work is beyond me.

He did look much better from the right, but he did have a lot of space to work in against Arsenal, that reverse pass to Sanchez for the first goal was sublime, but we're not seeing enough of that in a game. United will have to play him in some games, but I would prefer to see Lukaku on the right, and Sanchez down the middle, if Rashford is not playing. Mata is definitely not a right sided player, he is better as a 10, but I can see United offering him a one year contract.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Am I the only one who thinks the 'beef' between Lukaku and Pogba is because of Raiola? Ever since Lukaku threw up the Roc in his celebration last season their relationship just hasn't been the same.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

If we do let thwm go though, I hope we replace them with top calibre youngsters like Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho or Rafael Leao

 

[Scholsey2004]

If we got a decent offer for lukaku I'd take it but he's not out of place here like Sanchez is. Lukaku can certainly play a part. Sanchez needs to be at a team that has a lot of tippy tappy possession in the opponents half. I just don't see him coming good here in any kind of sustained way. Ironically he might have done better at city.

 

[Scholsey2004]

Am I the only one who thinks the 'beef' between Lukaku and Pogba is because of Raiola? Ever since Lukaku threw up the Roc in his celebration last season their relationship just hasn't been the same.

No Jose was trying to force out pogba and told lukaku to stay clear I reckon. Thank god all his game of thrones crap is over now.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Why does it have to be at the expense of Rashford or Lingard ? Can't all three, and Martial play together in the same team ? Not suggesting we play that way at City, Liverpool or Tottenham but for nearly everybody else, and certainly at home it is workable.

Martial Rashford Lukaku
Lingard
Pogba AN Other​

Just no... Pogba has been truly world class and league best player playing as attacking support role in midfield, with all due respect to Lingard, we don't want to change that just to accommodate Lukaku on the right without compromising Lingard place in the team.

 

[Luke1987]

Sell both & bring in someone who can play RW - Ousmane Dembele, Sancho etc

 

[Siddharth]

Get rid of Mata (with a heavy heart I type) and Lukaku first. Sign West Ham's Anderson and promote Gomes.
Keep Sanchez as back up to Rashford and Martial. Sell Sanchez to China later when he realizes he'll never be regular starter for us.
Does my thinking make sense or am I unrealistic/wrong?

 

[crossy1686]

Think we have to accept that Sanchez is a busted flush at this point. The best we can hope for is that he comes off the bench and does something with his direct running in the last 20 minutes or so. He definitely shouldn't start again, put it that way.

Lukaku on the other hand, still young, can develop and change his game. Let's see how he does after a pre-season under his belt.

 

[anant]

Considering that we would be needing a few defenders (assuming Valencia, Darmian and Rojo leave) as well as atleast 1 midfielder (with Fellaini having left and Pereira likely to follow him out), I'd prefer a scenario where we need to replace a max of 1 attacker. Considering Mata seems happy with a squad role and his wages are probably less than half of that of Sanchez, I'd prefer to sell Alexis. However, it remains to be seen whether Lukaku asks for a transfer as there is no way he'd be happy playing second fiddle to Marcus.

Summary: In case, Rom does ask for a move then retain Alexis and sell Rom else vice versa

 

[CassiusClaymore]

I'd bin them both off. Sanchez is a shadow of the player he was and Lukaku is never going to be good enough.

 

[Devil may care]

We shouldn't be changing the position Pogba is playing in right now for anyone, not for some flash new #10 and certainly not for either of these 2. Sanchez has at least got some of the attributes to play the style of football Ole wants to play even though I think ultimately the legs have gone. Lukaku has none of the attributes unless we play the split Striker system, but we could sell him for a nice chunk of money and get in a top RW player who can actually operate there in a 4-3-3 as we have Rashford, Martial, Lingard and Sanchez for the split Striker system the odd times we use it.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

I still dont know why we bought Sanchez. I mean we have been accused of buying a lot of 'luxary signings' and ego signings over recent yeras, many times falsly, but Sanchez is the optimum of that. Pointless signiing imo.

Jose signing him to p*ss off PepG. Woodward trying to play F. Perez with Galacticos 2.0. The people signing him thought that he was only out of form, and would be back to his best if we signed him? Sanchez is famous and marketable. Many reasons, and i expect JM would have to give out his biograhpy to give us an answer to the signing of Sanchez, and who made the decision.

 

[FlawlessThaw]

I definitely don't think we can get rid of both, not even sure we can afford to sell one. Currently we play with 3 attackers up front with Lingard, Martial and Rashford occupying those spots. We have Sanchez, Lukaku and Mata as cover. Mata is the one who definitely doesn't fit into Ole's tactics and his contract is up so will most likely leave in the summer. We desperately need a right winger and that will cost a bomb if it is someone who will be a genuine starter as we need them to be.

We still need cover and I don't see us getting good enough replacements even if we were able to sell Lukaku and Sanchez. We also need a centre mid and a full back.

 

[Bola]

Lukaku looked comfortable enough(right of a three) away at Arsenal setting up two goals if memory serves, but when he plays central not so, but why Ole, and Jose before him thought playing Lukaku centrally with Mata(and his lack of pace, right foot) to the right of him was ever gonna work is beyond me.

Agree.

Lukaku isn't tonight work as a main striker in this formation, but is a good back up on the right. He certainly looks the most dangerous when he plays there instead of the central role

Question is whether he is happy to be a back up wide player and also, whether United are happy to have all that investment tied up in him.

I would have thought it was a No and No. If that is the case, it's best for fall if he moves on in the summer

 

[Canagel]

I still dont know why we bought Sanchez. I mean we have been accused of buying a lot of 'luxary signings' and ego signings over recent yeras, many times falsly, but Sanchez is the optimum of that. Pointless signiing imo.

Neither do I.
The left wing was actually the best and most functioning part of the team with Martial and Rashford taking turns to terrorise the defence so it was quite surprise we bought another LW and tried to fix something that wasn't broken and in the end it ruined our season. I thought Sanchez was going to play on the right but then there loads of other cheaper options and getting an actual RW would've made more sense. Very strange.

 

[R'hllor]

The vultures were always going to circle certain players given they divided opinions from the get go. Have they been what we expected, def not but it's arguably who has? The difference I guess with the money, comes the expectation. Unless you are getting back what feels like 75m or 350k a week, then they were always doomed for failure.

Well how i see it, its similar type of bullshit defense just how it was for JM. Lets be real, those players even before this were defended just because they have been in first XI under JM. Sanchez being called a future while being for Martial to get rid in the same sentence etc. I personally dont give a rats ass about their wages or price we paid.

What i dont like is this spin nonsense where you say Lukaku has first touch as concrete wall and then you see special bunch jumping in with statements like how those posters want every single player on the bench to be sold, how by them saying that he cant be bothered to run is racist. When it comes to Lukaku i gave up long time ago because i have low IQ and my brain can not comprehend how a professional player on that level can have such a low low level of basic football skill like first touch and he seems like not a good fit for the way how we play atm, he is like football version of Bermuda triangle in most situations. That doesnt mean he is bad striker or can not score goals.

 

[Ainu]

If we could replace both, I'd say sell both. But we've got more pressing positions to sort out in the summer, so we may not be able to replace them. Sanchez is probably the one we can afford to lose without replacing. Our attacking cover is thin enough as it is though, so either we get other players in or we should just keep both for another season. This summer our priority should be defence, another holding midfielder and getting in a proper right sided attacking player, which we haven't had for ages now. The summer after that we can look at another striker and potential cover in attack.

 

[Adebesi]

As an aside, I think its really interesting how split we are as fans on this question.

Keep one versus keep the other both in the 20-25% range, and if you add them together it comes to a tiny bit more than the proportion saying get rid of both.

Only about one in ten of us think we should keep both - but I suspect that is probably what we will do, for next season at least (though I could be wrong of course.)

 

[Bastian]

If we do let thwm go though, I hope we replace them with top calibre youngsters like Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho or Rafael Leao

That would be my preference. I hope we're in for Sancho, no matter who goes or comes in, but if we'd get rid of both I could see us going for another versatile attacker and open up places for 1-2 youngsters next season.

 

[Litch]

Well how i see it, its similar type of bullshit defense just how it was for JM. Lets be real, those players even before this were defended just because they have been in first XI under JM. Sanchez being called a future while being for Martial to get rid in the same sentence etc. I personally dont give a rats ass about their wages or price we paid.

What i dont like is this spin nonsense where you say Lukaku has first touch as concrete wall and then you see special bunch jumping in with statements like how those posters want every single player on the bench to be sold, how by them saying that he cant be bothered to run is racist. When it comes to Lukaku i gave up long time ago because i have low IQ and my brain can not comprehend how a professional player on that level can have such a low low level of basic football skill like first touch and he seems like not a good fit for the way how we play atm, he is like football version of Bermuda triangle in most situations. That doesnt mean he is bad striker or can not score goals.

I genuinely have no idea what you are on about cause nothing youve said relates to what I have....

 

[Nikelesh Reddy]

If Lukakus willing to fight for his place and stay,why would anybody want him to leave?Hes a proven goal scorer in the PL,can also play on the right,has qualities that separate him from the other attackers..,,Why would anyone want him to leave if he wants to stay and fight for his place?

As for Sanchez,I think we need to definitely sell him in the summer.You can’t fail/underwhelm for 18 months at the age of 30 and miraculously rediscover your best form.We need to move him on in the summer...

 

[Isotope]

Think it's fair to say a guy who has scored 25, 26 and 27 in his last 3 full seasons, and averages 0:50 goals a game in his 7 years in England would guarantee you erm 25 goals a season providing he was a 'regular' fixture in the team, and was fit for the whole season which hasn't been the case. But well done mate, go straight to the top of the smarty pants League.

A guaranteed 25 goals a season, with the note that you have to play him all the time, and the team has to re-shuffle to play to his strength. Which is not the case right now.

 

[billybee99]

Still clinging to the hope that Alexis can have an impact at this club. Who knows, could even be in the CL with a bit of luck. Form is temporary, class is permanent and all that. As for Rom, I'm not so sure. I just think the quicker we move the ball the more his flaws are exposed and the club is clearly moving towards a style of play that doesn't suit him. What I will say is I definitely prefer him from the right if we do hang on to him.

When you have played like shite for more than one year, it is not "form"; it is permanent.

 

[Class of 63]

Just no... Pogba has been truly world class and league best player playing as attacking support role in midfield, with all due respect to Lingard, we don't want to change that just to accommodate Lukaku on the right without compromising Lingard place in the team.

Huh, it's still 4-3-3, Pogba would still be able to get forward, and Lingard would be in his best position, or the position he can do most damage from. The AN Other would have to be somebody like Kante, and the defence improved but those areas need an upgrade anyway.

 

[Class of 63]

A guaranteed 25 goals a season, with the note that you have to play him all the time, and the team has to re-shuffle to play to his strength. Which is not the case right now.

Well yeah, that is kinda how it works. Good luck to the scouts looking for a striker who can score when he doesn't play......

 

[billybee99]

Well yeah, that is kinda how it works. Good luck to the scouts looking for a striker who can score when he doesn't play......

And how it will work this season is that Lukaku won't get his 25 goals because he is not good enough to get his minutes and Rashford is better. While we're at it, you might want to start quoting his Premier League stats instead of trying to pad his numbers with cup goals against 2nd division cannon fodder. The fact is he only had 16 goals in the league last year (of course, guys like you love to say he had 27) and he offers absolutely nothing on the pitch when he's not scoring goals and he's been less than 1 in 2 for us in nearly 2 seasons and less than 1 in 2 for his entire career including Everton. He is not a right winger and he doesn't provide depth there because he is not particularly good there and is currently too overweight to provide any defensive cover to the FB.

 

[sam147]

Sanchez doesn’t strike me as the type to want a role as a squad player, I think he’ll ask for a move in the summer. Now how many teams are willing to take on that salary I don’t know. I’m fine with moving on from both

Im not fine with it because we wont sign two attacking players. Mata has got to go. If both Lukaku and Sanchez leave we would need a RW and a Striker rather than just a RW. Our board thinks one left footed left back, a 34 year old RB and a 19 year old kid is enough depth at fullback seeing as we didnt sign anyone in January.

 

[Class of 63]

And how it will work this season is that Lukaku won't get his 25 goals because he is not good enough to get his minutes and Rashford is better. While we're at it, you might want to start quoting his Premier League stats instead of trying to pad his numbers with cup goals against 2nd division cannon fodder. The fact is he only had 16 goals in the league last year (of course, guys like you love to say he had 27) and he offers absolutely nothing on the pitch when he's not scoring goals and he's been less than 1 in 2 for us in nearly 2 seasons and less than 1 in 2 for his entire career including Everton. He is not a right winger and he doesn't provide depth there because he is not particularly good there and is currently too overweight to provide any defensive cover to the FB.

Well humblest apologies, sorry for including his 5 goals in 8 Champions League games in his tally to pad his stats, guys like me eh, pfft what are we like ?

And nobody is suggesting he plays as a conventional right-winger, but then you should know in a 4-3-3 he wouldn't be expected to be, the spare man in the midfield three provides, or should cover for the full-back, just because Mourinho expected it doesn't make it the norm.