The problem is any striker would score 20+ in this team. We have martial and rashford literally begging to be strikers and I can imagine both hitting those numbers upfront whilst offering more on the ball than lukaku.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 51
- Goals
- 27
- Assists
- 10
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
The problem is any striker would score 20+ in this team. We have martial and rashford literally begging to be strikers and I can imagine both hitting those numbers upfront whilst offering more on the ball than lukaku.
Basically this. We all feared it, but the goals total, and the quick start temporarily took us away from that.
However, as crap as today was, once Pogba is back, and we're a bit more settled, I'm sure the goals will come.
It's just you can't see him making the difference in the big games where everything is at a premium
He started off okay and bagged a few goals which over shadowed the sitters he missed, fair enough. The media took great delight in analysing their stats to reveal Rom doesn't net against the top 6 teams. We shrugged it off and said maybe but he's now with better players so that will change.
However he does look like a fish out of water of late, I realise the service he gets isn't brilliant and he's missed a few very good chances but we need to get behind him as he's here for the long term, unless Jose get a refund under the Sale Of Goods Act 1979.
Let's hope he steers us to Champions League glory in May
However he does look like a fish out of water of late, I realise the service he gets isn't brilliant and he's missed a few very good chances but we need to get behind him as he's here for the long term, unless Jose get a refund under the Sale Of Goods Act 1979.
Let's hope he steers us to Champions League glory in May
No surprise as this is exactly what we paid for
He's a good striker but will always be that level. The deficit in ability between him and someone like Lewandowski (best all round No9 IMO) in basic footwork, technique, touch, guile and football intelligence is stark. It's too big a gulf to think he can improve and reach anywhere near that level.
I'd take a player half the size and with half the muscle if he could control and hold onto the ball half as well as Silva.
I'd take a player half the size and with half the muscle if he could control and hold onto the ball half as well as Silva.
Had a poor game today, tends to have poor games against the big teams. The hope is that will change and with Pogba back I think he’ll tear things up between now and May. It might not win us the league but he’ll finish his first season well IMO.
The most annoying thing about lukaku in the team regardless of his performance is that it's frustrating to think what someone like martial could produce in his position. He has has the same amount of goals and assists yet has played nearly half the minutes whilst playing as a winger. It's frustrating. I'd love to see him get a run up front.
Lad needs a rest.
I wouldn’t be too hard on him for his poor defending on City’s two goals. He’s not a defender, he shouldn’t have to be back there to begin with. That’s on Mourinho more than Lukaku IMO.
It’s his overall play that needs improvement. Morata is inconsistent and erratic in front of goal, but his ability on the ball is in a different stratosphere to Lukaku.
It’s his overall play that needs improvement. Morata is inconsistent and erratic in front of goal, but his ability on the ball is in a different stratosphere to Lukaku.
Pretty much every tall striker in football history has come back to the box to help defend set pieces. It is a standard practice.
If you have a tall player good with his head competing against midguts, it will be strange to not use him in set pieces to give you an advantage. It turned out to be the opposite though.
Thank you very much. Out of all of the strikers in that list, Hernandez is the only one of similar technical ability IMO and he was signed from the Mexican league for £6m to be our 3rd/4th striker.
I really hate the term 'fanboy' but your blind defence of Lukaku is making you come across as one.
Almost all United fans can see that Lukaku's current level is below what is expected of a Manchester United striker. He scores goals, yes we know that, we've all said this is his strength. What we've also acknowledged are his many flaws which you seem to ignore.
Lukaku is unable to create openings for himself, has a poor first touch, poor hold up play, is easily marked out of games. In a period where he can't do the main thing he's good at which is scoring goals he ends up looking useless. Do you not see this?
Please tell me which ex first 11 striker for United he's level with technically?
WTF?? This makes no sense he is 6'2
Every tall striker goes back for corners
He is an 85m pound footballer who couldn't clear a ball . How is that on Jose. Awful clearance from the big man
It's not just this game too. He would have had an own goal if not for de Gea in the Arsenal match.
I guess Alan Shearer is the right guy to listen to after a game like this, saying those chances separates the good from the great strikers and I agree. He also says he would not sleep for days after an important miss like that, and that he would only wait until the next game to score again.
That is a bit of what I feel can be the problem with Lukaku, he just doesn’t seem that interested and focused enough - right now he’s probably hanging out with Pogba and that awful rapper, waiting for an NBA-game to start. I feel bad for him after today though, I hope he goes on a run now... we have a very decent set of fixtures coming up. Furthermore, what about benching him and bringing him on when the defenders are tired? He probably needs some rest and time to reflect, you can’t start every game for United if you aren’t delivering the goods.
That is a bit of what I feel can be the problem with Lukaku, he just doesn’t seem that interested and focused enough - right now he’s probably hanging out with Pogba and that awful rapper, waiting for an NBA-game to start. I feel bad for him after today though, I hope he goes on a run now... we have a very decent set of fixtures coming up. Furthermore, what about benching him and bringing him on when the defenders are tired? He probably needs some rest and time to reflect, you can’t start every game for United if you aren’t delivering the goods.
None of these things are clear indicators that he will significantly improve in the upcoming years, and become world class as you said. Technique especially, which he doesn't have much of, rarely improves at such an age. He could be an early peaker like Rooney.
He was woeful today. He's absolute statue upfront, I'd rather have Zlatan playing, he at least made some intelligent runs in behind.
In terms of technique, Lukaku is probably better than Inzaghi, so there’s no reason to think that United cannot compete for the biggest trophies with Lukaku leading the line. Milan did with Inzaghi.
What needs to improve is his big game mentality though. While Inzaghi rose to the occasion in big Champions League nights, Lukaku shrinks under pressure.
What needs to improve is his big game mentality though. While Inzaghi rose to the occasion in big Champions League nights, Lukaku shrinks under pressure.
I'm a fan and not agreed with a lot of the negative stuff said on here, but it's a little bit of an issue now.
Brophs is right though. He'll either improve or still be useful.
Brophs is right though. He'll either improve or still be useful.
The difference is Inzaghi played alongside technical greats like Del Piero and Shevchenko so he really was in the team just to score and be a menace in the box. Inzaghi could never be a long term option as a lone striker which is what Lukaku is for us right now.
I dunno. There's been a few interviews that suggest his attitude to improving is great. I think that's probably more about improving his game slowly over time though rather than instantly proving something.
Yep agree with all of that, the technical level seperating him from the elite bracket is just far too wide a gap to make up. Rare to see players drastically improving technical abilities mid career but we'll see, I hope i'm wrong.
Not when we're playing a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 with Lingard as the pivot. Lukaku didn't play as a lone striker against Watford or Arsenal.
His level on that list is ahead of welbeck, Hernandez (though he was great for us, and both were just squad players anyway), and then the United version of Forlan but even that one would probably do alright in our current system. Or better then Lukaku.
Attitude/effort can only go so far, and he definitely doesn't have a tevez like work ethic anyway. Going purely on natural footballing ability, he's bottom of that list IMO. As a player, only ahead of the squad player types of welbeck, Hernandez and forlan. Says a lot when that's the standard we are comparing our £75m striker at.
I don't know if hes tired but what has happened to all the runs down the channels he was making at the start of the season? The last few games when we break he is always standing completely still in front of the nearest defender.
Good post
City had Aguero on the bench today, there’s no reason why he can’t be withdrawn if there’s more effective players in the big games.
Gave him a 4/10 and that was kind, everything we feared in the summer came true. i still rate him very highly but no way can anyone be confident he's a League / CL winning striker right now.
Will better players do his passing for him or will better players behind him do the holdup job for him, you can blame the team for not creating chances for him all you want but the fact is in a Mourinho team if he wants 1 against better teams he needs to hold the ball better no one is going to do that for him. Giggs, scholes and Beckham aren't going to help with that.
You talk of arsenal, one of the reasons that they were camped near our pen box for most of the 90 mins is that lukaku couldn't keep the ball for those 5-10 secs that it required martial or lingard to provide support to him.
I said a while ago that i reckon Lukaku will split opinions his whole time here. He's never going to improve his technical level to become the player we wish he was (basically Drogba) but he'll probably score quite a few goals.
The issue is that he goes through too many peaks and troughs to ever be regarded as a great striker. Then there's the fact that his footballing ability is atrocious. Unless the rest of our attack is absolutely world class, to the point we can carry him, then we aren't winning anything of note with him up front. Especially not the CL.
The issue is that he goes through too many peaks and troughs to ever be regarded as a great striker. Then there's the fact that his footballing ability is atrocious. Unless the rest of our attack is absolutely world class, to the point we can carry him, then we aren't winning anything of note with him up front. Especially not the CL.
I hated us signing him in the summer as I felt that Morata was the far better fit for us. But I still felt that we would have a good striker who is technically subpar, but capable of scoring goals with regularity. I think he is actually turning out to be worse than I thought. There are moments where he surprises you with a good touch or a good pass, and that's kinda the problem. You shouldn't be "surprised" that your 75 million pound striker can do those things. But even then, all that can be forgiven if he can be clinical in the box like Chicharito was for us. But his finishing technique is subpar too. Most of the times, he'll go for power over placement and when he's low on confidence like he is now, he'll mess it up badly. He can't win headers or outmuscle opposition players despite being built like a tank. He almost scored an own goal for Arsenal, only to be stopped by a world class save from DDG. The next game, he assisted City for both of their goals, while missing a sitter at the other end. And don't call it a great keeping by Ederson because the ball was hit straight at him. All Lukaku had to do was side foot and angle the ball into the corner. A chance that you expect any striker to score. It's not about being a "great world class striker". Jermain Defoe would have buried that chance.
The question is, what exactly is he good at? He's physically impressive but can't actually use that to his advantage. He's technically mediocre, and his finishing is no better than Zlatan's last year. I would actually argue that Zlatan last year was probably better at finishing than Lukaku has been so far. And with Zlatan, you always had the chance of getting something out of nothing (his goals against Everton, Bournemouth, West Brom, Southampton, Sunderland). I feared that Lukaku would be a downgrade on Zlatan of last year, except Lukaku came with the price of 75 million pounds, and that means a long term commitment.
The question is, what exactly is he good at? He's physically impressive but can't actually use that to his advantage. He's technically mediocre, and his finishing is no better than Zlatan's last year. I would actually argue that Zlatan last year was probably better at finishing than Lukaku has been so far. And with Zlatan, you always had the chance of getting something out of nothing (his goals against Everton, Bournemouth, West Brom, Southampton, Sunderland). I feared that Lukaku would be a downgrade on Zlatan of last year, except Lukaku came with the price of 75 million pounds, and that means a long term commitment.
It's not really defending though is it, it was beat the midgets to the ball and kick the ball as high and as far away from the box as possible both of which he being a footballer and a 6ft+ guy should be able to manage
Any chance he gets suspended after the supposed altercation after the game? The optimist in me is hoping that it gives us a chance to go with Rashford/Martial up top and stop this hoofing. But knowing Mou, he'll just put half fit Ibra up top for the physical presence. But if he isn't suspended, then I seriously hope Lukaku gets dropped. He's better then what he's showing, but what he's showing is fecking woeful and deserves dropping as better players are being moved out of position to accommodate him.
How exactly does he have all the makings of a top center forward? He has a shite first touch. His passing/link up play isn't very good. His movement isn't the best. He isn't even very good in the air which is what we'd expect from a big guy like him. Technical qualities like those don't just appear half way through his career. You either have ability on the ball, or you don't, and Lukaku certainly doesn't. What he is best at is being a poacher and shooting with his left foot. Bit shit on his right. Bit shit in the air. Bit shit when he drops deep to help with link up play.
Why are people expecting Romelu to play like a great all round striker? Bit like eating beef and wanting it to taste like chicken, you’re never going to get what you’re expecting.
Appreciate the guy for what he can do, he’ll get us a lot of goals this season. Rather than moaning as he isn’t what you want him to be.
Poor against City, yes. But he is a better player than performance.
Appreciate the guy for what he can do, he’ll get us a lot of goals this season. Rather than moaning as he isn’t what you want him to be.
Poor against City, yes. But he is a better player than performance.
That's not good enough I'm afraid. You can't play for a top team with that level of inconsistency. Unless you expect him to improve his performances in the big games ASAP? He is 24 already.
He was brought to improve our finishing he seems to miss as many sitters as zlatan, also for 75min basic passing and holding up play is least that should be expected.
Drop him, sign Morata, drop morata then sell both, then use the funds to buy Griezzman
Yep carry on expecting what's not going to happen, you'll only ever end up dissatisfied.
I just wish Mourinho was open to taking him off when he's having a stinker, he's not a RvN that can be anonymous for 89 minutes and score the one chance that drops to him, he needs a fair few as a rule to get his eye in.
We shouldn't play him in big games. Let him play against the weaker sides but in big games we need to come up with a different plan that doesn't include him.
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