Romelu Lukaku image 9

Romelu Lukaku Belgium flag

2017-18 Performances

View full 2017-18 profile

6.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
51
Goals
27
Assists
10
Yellow cards
3
Status
Not open for further replies.
Nick. said:
Serious questions must be asked about his suitability to being our long term, first choice striker.
Click to expand...

Yes, answer would be he won't look out of place and a good striker leading the line.

People are way too knee jerk, at least it was match to match, now it's half to half. Played key role in first goal, assisted 3rd goal, powerful run which should have been Lingard's goal but somehow he is not good enough because he had few bad moments in second half when he was very tired.
 
Ban said:
Yeah. But should we start with Ibra vs Arsenal or Matial?
And if it's Martial and Marcus who goes on wings. If we'll play 3-5-2 than it's easy, Val and Ashley on thw WB positions.
Click to expand...

Zlatan isn't ready to start games yet, not even nearly.
 
Been so poor for a while now. Screamed my head off when he missed that sitter to make it 4-0 and it almost embarrassingly cost us. Folk mentioning that dropping him will shatter his confidence but the way I look at it, he’s already playing as if he has no confidence at all. Dropping him to the bench or giving him a rest may give him the kick up the backside he needs.
 
Surprised he is getting so much criticism. Did not score but was involved in two of thee first three goals and created space for the fourth. So he did contribute. Needs a goal though.
 
We must start him, we don't have any other option. Something is up with Zlatan's lack of game time, just a few mins here and there so he clearly must be a long way from 100%. Lukaku will play, simple as that.
 
If somebody will finally provide him direct and powerful cross from the wing, he'll score against Arsenal without a sweat.
 
Starting to look nervous in front of goal, and is often hesitant, which is worrying for me. Overthinking things. Needs to get that mean streak back, and just shoot on site.
 
Troy Deeney absolutely bullied Arsenal when Watford played them, not playing Lukaku against them would be nonsensical.
 
Ban said:
Martial and Marcus up front then. I guess we'll go with 3-5-2 there too. Although I'm not sure going with a midfield 2 is a wise choice.
Click to expand...

Lukaku needs to play his way out of his mini slump, and he will.
 
Played okay I thought setup Martial and played a big part in 1st goal, bad miss but you can understand given how low he's on confidence.

As usual, some shockers in here. People still going on about their darling Morata.
 
I think I'm probably his biggest 'hater' on the caf but apart from that comical miss, today was one of his better games with the ball but ultimately still not good enough.

He owes Lingard drinks for a year for potentially saving his ass tonight.
 
Didn't think he was that bad tbh. Lukaku is at his best when in the box and muscling people for space, on occasion he can create for others. If we're going to get the best out of him I think we'll need a better number 10 to make up for his limited technical ability. Decent game today with some bad moments.
 
He has to bury that chance. It's inexcusable. Not sure why he was dallying about.

He shouldn't be benched or anything, but man he looks low on confidence. He looks poor in front of goal lately and that is his biggest strength.
 
He too may be one of the players who needs a little breather, been a part of almost all our games from the get go, along with matic.

Don't think he was bad today, was involved in a couple if goals and should start at arsenal for sure. The amount of space he will be afforded there would be great for him
 
FlawlessThaw said:
Troy Deeney absolutely bullied Arsenal when Watford played them, not playing Lukaku against them would be nonsensical.
Click to expand...

Agreed it could be the game for him to get his form back.

He's been absolutely shite lately.
 
That miss was a shocker. He just thought too much about it instead of smashing it, like he did against Newcastle.

That aside, I thought his overall contribution was good. Held the ball well, and some of his one-touch lay offs were really tidy.
 
Chip said:
It's so clear that Mourinho wants him to start scoring again, and of course it would be good for us, but he really shouldn't start in the next two games. We can't afford his wastefulness, and he offers close to nothing in terms of hold up and link up play.

Ideally he starts on the bench for the foreseeable future and get the chance to earn his spot by taking his chance coming off the bench.
Click to expand...
He'd kick up a stink if Jose even tries that, he left us in the first place because he wasn't willing to compete with Eto'o then Costa.
 
Rado_N said:
Lukaku needs to play his way out of his mini slump, and he will.
Click to expand...
How can you be sure it's not actually detrimental to him to let him suffer out there? Nobody else in the squad, bar maybe Pogba, would be afforded the luxury of being carried until they play themselves out of their slump. Mkhitaryan, for example, has been dropped by now (with good reason), instead of getting even more chances in the hope he magically gets his mojo back.
 
His hold up play is awful. Pogba and Martial both held the ball up way better. He barely wins any headers either. So really what does he bring that Rashford and martial dont?
 
I'm not too worried about this form (or lack of), because I feel like when he does get that goal, the floodgates will open again. I am a bit concerned about him never going off though. We had this last season with Ibrahimovic, where he could have some really awful games and never go off, and I think we should learn from those mistakes.
 
Also, forgot to say his aerial duels are awful. He lost all of them during the game it's ridiculous now. Playing long balls towards him is pointless.

His confidence looks shot at the moment from that stupid sitter he missed. Will have to do better than this in the next important games.
 
Ban said:
Martial and Marcus up front then. I guess we'll go with 3-5-2 there too. Although I'm not sure going with a midfield 2 is a wise choice.
Click to expand...

Rashford is hardly free scoring. Lukaku has assisted more too.
 
Seeing his game highlights he did some really good things throughout. For sure needs to improve like he should have scored that one but it’ll click soon enough.
 
Bad miss for that chance but thought he did ok in the first half and contributed for the goals.
 
el3mel said:
Also, forgot to say his aerial duels are awful. He lost all of them during the game it's ridiculous now. Playing long balls towards him is pointless.

His confidence looks shot at the moment from that stupid sitter he missed. Will have to do better than this in the next important games.
Click to expand...

His timing and heading direction is awful. Very inconsistent with it.
 
Siorac said:
How can you be sure it's not actually detrimental to him to let him suffer out there? Nobody else in the squad, bar maybe Pogba, would be afforded the luxury of being carried until they play themselves out of their slump. Mkhitaryan, for example, has been dropped by now (with good reason), instead of getting even more chances in the hope he magically gets his mojo back.
Click to expand...

By watching him play. He's still getting involved and coming close.

That move when he ran to the left in the box and cut it back and missed by like a foot, it that had gone in its a different story.

He'll bag a goal soon and go on another run. He's a striker and draughts happen.

He also got 2 assists.

AndyJ1985 said:
In that case Mkhitaryan should still be starting too.
Click to expand...

Not even remotely comparable.
 
Desperately needs to work on his finishing but I thought he played very well. If he had scored a goal we'd be having a completely different conversation now.
 
When i remember what RvP was doing, Lukaku seems like the neighborhood butcher - Great Volume, Puny strength, Accuracy of a 1st World War Hungarian Rifleman, and last but not least, the confidence of a jock after a sex change operation.
 
Considering how lesser players scored some great goals tonight, Rom had the complete opposite experience.

I actually think this was one of his better games as a functioning centre forward contributing to the team. His link up play was very good and his movement added a lot to us creating chances on the break. Feel bad at how I rated him in the post-match excitement, as I was pleased with him until that miss.
 
Got two assists and created the space for the fourth goal. Just chill with the criticism everyone.
 
Probably his best game in things other than goalscoring and people are still slating his non goalscoring attributes.

Basically, Lukaku has to win every physical duel, have a perfect touch every time, make the perfect pass every time or he's shite.
 
As mentioned in the match thread, he will not find an easier match than this... and he just doesn’t seem to give his all. Doesn’t give 100% and doesn’t make enough runs for our players to exploit. I am certainly not Zlatan’s biggest fan anymore given he’s old and rusty, but do you remember all those passes from Pogba over the line to him last year? Those looked so easy, but it was also because Zlatan made the good runs behind.... it never happens with Lukaku, he is way too stationary and easy to read.

Everyone can miss a chance and everyone can miss an open goal like he did today, but would you bet against Aguero, Lewandowski, Ronaldo or Kane in that situation? That is what’s needed I’m afraid... to reach the level we want to be at. For me, the worst thing today was not his miss - but that pass in the end to Zlatan on the right... just incredibly bad and without any touch or feel whatsoever. That’s where he needs to be better... basic, basic football and technique.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.