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2017-18 Performances

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6.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
51
Goals
27
Assists
10
Yellow cards
3
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His FA Cup semi final performance against us with Everton was something that really concerned me when we bought him. The biggest game of his Everton career and he was fecking dreadful. Clearly the pressure got to him that day and we saw something similar on Sunday.

I've got no doubt he'll get around 25 goals this season and he'll get around 25 goals every season he's at Utd as long as he stays healthy.

He's pretty much been what I expected. Hot and cold, scores goals but very poor in the big games. We've got a bit of an easier run coming up now and I expect him to go on another goalscoring run.
 
Smores said:
He definitely needs someone up close to him. Fortunately we'll usually have Pogba and i do think his return will see Lukaku pick up form.

I think when we don't have Pogba it should be 2 up top to support him more.
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I quite like this, maybe he just isn't the sort of player who can hold the attacking fort by himself. He needs help as well. He links up really well and Pogba and Martial though. Would be interesting to see we go for any more attacking mids in the market as we definitely need some back up for Pogba
 
Adisa said:
He's already here and he will score goals.
It's not as if his game can't improve.
He's 24.
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If he continues in the same vein meaning scoring against smaller teams and having a negative impact in the bigger games, how long until we legitimately think of replacing him.

I'm not a fan at all but like you I feel he should be afforded more time but how much more especially if there's no considerable improvement in his all round play and that horrid first touch.
 
I think part of the reason that the criticism is so hard is that every new player united signs must be a serious upgrade. I just dont think Lukaku is that at all. Zlatan may not ever return to his old self so he may still be better than the current z, difficult to say considering we haven't seen much of z yet since the injury. But what united needed imo was the new young zlatan and that he is not. Will he be a reliable player that will do a good job? Yes I'm sure he will given some time to adjust i just dont c him as part of the new era united that brings the club back to the top. Sure he is not any worse than many other united squad player but many of those have allrdy proven not to be enough to get the club back to where it is suppose to be and they dident cost 75-90 millions.

Is that harsh against lukaku? yes but its also the reality the club faces imo. We need all new signings to be or at least have potential to be part of the worlds elite players and i dont c that potential in lukaku.
 
Djemba-Djemba said:
His FA Cup semi final performance against us with Everton was something that really concerned me when we bought him. The biggest game of his Everton career and he was fecking dreadful. Clearly the pressure got to him that day and we saw something similar on Sunday.

I've got no doubt he'll get around 25 goals this season and he'll get around 25 goals every season he's at Utd as long as he stays healthy.

He's pretty much been what I expected. Hot and cold, scores goals but very poor in the big games. We've got a bit of an easier run coming up now and I expect him to go on another goalscoring run.
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I seem to recall Blind had him in his back pocket in the league game at OT too. Somewhat worrying when not even a world class CB can read you all too easily. That was my warning sign
 
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Wilson Litchmore said:
Each to their own and the games about opinions. I think he's going to be very special for us but not until we have better quality behind him. If it was Giggs, Becks and Scholes feeding him like the strikers before him fair enough but this is a very average team without the only world class forward player suspended. If Pogba hadn't played against Arsenal, we'd have lost that too....
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The question is though, who do we buy behind him that is "good enough"? In Martial and Rashford we have two of the most exciting talents in the world and in Pogba we have one of the best CM's in the world. Griezman might be a step up at #10, but if we are going to improve on the aforementioned players we would need to buy from the highest shelf.

Imo, it's to early yet to bring out the pitchforks and torches yet in regards to Lukaku, but he needs to evolve as a player if he deserves to lead the line for a club with tittle winning ambitions.
 
Lol you can only laugh at the hypocrisy on here. Some players get wrapped in cotton wool and defended like they’re children. A new striker in his debut season with a really good goal record (for a terrible defensive club) is giving zero leeway.

Any chance of a ‘Hating Lukaku’ thread to spark him into life?
 
Not worried about him at all. He's got a fantastic mentality and is a 25+ goal season striker. He's been fantastic in this league since 2012 and there's no reason why he can't deliver for us after he gets past this slump. He's 24 and I've got every confidence in him to iron out his game and get back to the goal scoring killer we know he is. What were Premier League greats like Drogba even doing at his age?
 
Sadly, I think his dip in form coincided with Mkhitaryan's dip in form which coincided with Pogba's injury.

Having those two behind him speculating with through balls and carrying the ball forward was a huge benefit to Lukaku. If Mkhitaryan isn't going to step up we need to find someone to do the same task consistently.

(Ozil wouldn't provide that consistency :P)
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
Not worried about him at all. He's got a fantastic mentality and is a 25+ goal season striker. He's been fantastic in this league since 2012 and there's no reason why he can't deliver for us after he gets past this slump. He's 24 and I've got every confidence in him to iron out his game and get back to the goal scoring killer we know he is. What were Premier League greats like Drogba even doing at his age?
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Some players are late bloomers. Can't see Lukaku becoming as good as Drogba in his pomp. Drogba's hold up play was probably the best this league has seen.
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
Not worried about him at all. He's got a fantastic mentality and is a 25+ goal season striker. He's been fantastic in this league since 2012 and there's no reason why he can't deliver for us after he gets past this slump. He's 24 and I've got every confidence in him to iron out his game and get back to the goal scoring killer we know he is. What were Premier League greats like Drogba even doing at his age?
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Do you think he can improve his first touch and get to the level where his hold up play is reliable?
 
You guys need to stop mentioning Lukaku in the same breath as Cole and Drogba. He won't reach that level.
 
Z2United said:
I think part of the reason that the criticism is so hard is that every new player united signs must be a serious upgrade. I just dont think Lukaku is that at all. Zlatan may not ever return to his old self so he may still be better than the current z, difficult to say considering we haven't seen much of z yet since the injury. But what united needed imo was the new young zlatan and that he is not. Will he be a reliable player that will do a good job? Yes I'm sure he will given some time to adjust i just dont c him as part of the new era united that brings the club back to the top. Sure he is not any worse than many other united squad player but many of those have allrdy proven not to be enough to get the club back to where it is suppose to be and they dident cost 75-90 millions.

Is that harsh against lukaku? yes but its also the reality the club faces imo. We need all new signings to be or at least have potential to be part of the worlds elite players and i dont c that potential in lukaku.
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A concern was that we only swapped one type of goal scorer for another. How he started the season made people change their opinions slightly but it remains the same picture, especially if he can't out do Zlatans scoring rate. It could just be a bad patch or lack of confidence though.

I was always a bit sceptical in terms of seeing Lukuku spearheading us to major silverware but then it could be argued that we would be in a title race if City weren't doing so well. Its tough to say really. Would Kane or Costa make more of a difference?
 
Alright, the lad is getting unfairly slaughtered now. First of all, a goal drought isn't rare, RvP had it in 12/13. And even though he was terrible against City he was decent in previous games. Shit performances happen and unfortunately Lukaku had one at home in the derby. It sucks but it is what it is.

At 24 years of age he might not improve his close control and stuff but I expect him to become smarter and utilize his strength better. Also, generally the 1st season at a top club is hard for most players.

I think for now you could get away with having Lukaku as your #1 striker but if he doesn't show significant improvement in the next 2/3 years then yeah perhaps he should be replaced with a better striker.
 
The United said:
I do think people are harsh on him at the moment.

But, he can sometimes easily be defended by smart defenders. They don't even have to have a good physique to go toe to toe with him which Blind showed against him in a few games back in LVG era.

I was just hoping it was because of the team he was playing for.
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This was exactly why I didn't want us to buy him.

But who knows? Maybe he'll knuckle down and the coaching team can get a lot of improvement out of him. They'd probably have to, considering we spent 70+m on him and pay him big wages with the view that he'll be our main striker for years to come.
 
Bastian said:
Do you think he can improve his first touch and get to the level where his hold up play is reliable?
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Not saying he'll turn into Berbatov but reliable? Most definitely. With his hard work, love of the game and mentality, there's no reason why it shouldn't improve if he works on it. I just wish our fan base was a little bit patient with him. We have a 30 goal season man here, just give him time to adapt to the team. He's working with a higher class of players, give him time to understand his teammates, work on his own game and he'll be banging them in for fun.
 
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Treble said:
Some players are late bloomers. Can't see Lukaku becoming as good as Drogba in his pomp. Drogba's hold up play was probably the best this league has seen.
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We'll have to wait and see. I for one haven't given hope on it. Just to add some perspective, at age 24 he's 9 goals away from scoring more goals than Drogba in the Premier League. And yes, I realise that there's still a lot for Lukaku to work on before he's "that striker" but I think our fans need to take a deep breath and realise what kind of a killer we've got here. Give him the time and he'll make most of these posters eat their words. He's a frightening player but being inconsistent when you have 1 chance per game is no surprise to me. At least when we have Pogba playing there's a capability for moments of magic like this to happen, but other than that it's undeniable that the service to him has been dry. It's no surprise that when he goes to Belgium he's back to scoring again. I really hope it's something a couple transfer windows can rectify but what shouldn't be questioned is Lukaku's capability to deliver when given the service.
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
We'll have to wait and see. I for one haven't given hope on it. Just to add some perspective, at age 24 he's 9 goals away from scoring more goals than Drogba in the Premier League. And yes, I realise that there's still a lot for Lukaku to work on before he's "that striker" but I think our fans need to take a deep breath and realise what kind of a killer we've got here. Give him the time and he'll make most of these posters eat their words. He's a frightening player but being inconsistent when you have 1 chance per game is no surprise to me. At least when we have Pogba playing there's a capability for moments of magic like this to happen, but other than that it's undeniable that the service to him has been dry. It's no surprise that when he goes to Belgium he's back to scoring again. I really hope it's something a couple transfer windows can rectify.
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Drogba's strength was never scoring goals - It's something he became better at. What he was is one of the greatest target men to ever play the game. He could have a 10/10 performance without even taking a shot. The comparisons with Lukaku pretty much end at being big strong and black. They are polar opposites in terms of how they play. Lukaku is about as useful under a long ball as Peter Dinklage. Calvert-Lewin is genuinely a better target man than he is and demonstrated as much on Sunday.
 
Irish Jet said:
Drogba's strength was never scoring goals - It's something he became better at. What he was is one of the greatest target men to ever play the game. He could have a 10/10 performance without even taking a shot. The comparisons with Lukaku pretty much end at being big strong and black. They are polar opposites in terms of how they play. Lukaku is about as useful under a long ball as Peter Dinklage. Calvert-Lewin is genuinely a better target man than he is and demonstrated as much on Sunday.
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He's also 3 goals away from scoring more than Nistelrooy, 2 from Berbatov and 10 or so from Ian Wright and he's done that playing for mostly sub-par clubs at the age of 24. The point is, I don't think people realise what kind of a killer this guy can be if given a little time and a little more positive play rather than being left isolated upfront. Ignore the Drogba mention if that suits you, I didn't intend on seeming racist, it's just that he's a known as one of the Premier League's greatest strikers.
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
We'll have to wait and see. I for one haven't given hope on it. Just to add some perspective, at age 24 he's 9 goals away from scoring more goals than Drogba in the Premier League. And yes, I realise that there's still a lot for Lukaku to work on before he's "that striker" but I think our fans need to take a deep breath and realise what kind of a killer we've got here. Give him the time and he'll make most of these posters eat their words. He's a frightening player but being inconsistent when you have 1 chance per game is no surprise to me. At least when we have Pogba playing there's a capability for moments of magic like this to happen, but other than that it's undeniable that the service to him has been dry. It's no surprise that when he goes to Belgium he's back to scoring again. I really hope it's something a couple transfer windows can rectify but what shouldn't be questioned is Lukaku's capability to deliver when given the service.
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Not sure what you mean. Lukaku ain't RVN or Batigol.
 
Treble said:
Not sure what you mean. Lukaku ain't RVN or Batigol.
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Being a 25+ goal a season striker for the sub-par teams he played for prior to United and his international goal record shows you he really knows how to find the back of the net. I don't think many other Premier League strikers would have done as well as he did for the clubs he played for. Can only reiterate so much that Lukaku needs a little time and a style of play that doesn't leave him so isolated. Not even the greatest strikers in the world could work with hoofed passes from 40 yards, no player within reach of 30 yards and just one chance per game to show their worth.
 
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Lots of overreaction in this thread. Its early in the season and we have seen both the best and worst of Lukaku. Really what he has shown isn't anything we didn't already know from the player. His flaws were apparent on Sunday but lets not forget his good play earlier in the season. Better times are coming for the striker.

A proper #10 like Ozil would bring out the best in Lukaku, hopefully we can bring someone in during January so we can fix whats broken in our play right now.
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
Being a 25+ goal a season striker for the sub-par teams he played for prior to United and his international goal record shows you he really knows how to find the back of the net. I don't think many other Premier League strikers would have done as well as he did for the clubs he played for. Can only reiterate so much that Lukaku needs a little time and a style of play that doesn't leave him so isolated. Not even the greatest strikers in the world could work with hoofed passes from 40 yards, no player within reach of 30 yards and just one chance per game to show their worth.
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If you took away his goals on his best season for Everton, their league position would've been exactly the same. Proves he's really good at riding the wave, but struggles to have an individual impact.
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
He's also 3 goals away from scoring more than Nistelrooy, 2 from Berbatov and 10 or so from Ian Wright and he's done that playing for mostly sub-par clubs at the age of 24. The point is, I don't think people realise what kind of a killer this guy can be if given a little time and a little more positive play rather than being left isolated upfront. Ignore the Drogba mention if that suits you, I didn't intend on seeming racist, it's just that he's a known as one of the Premier League's greatest strikers.
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One nill down vs Arsenal, second half, Lukaku has a clear chance in a crunch game. does Lukaku score it? I have doubts. RVN was a striker who was good at scoring his very 1st chance of the game. Theres a huge gulf in the killer instinct of Lukaku and guys like RVN and Batigol.
 
High time he was dropped for a bit. You can't keep playing shit and keep your place. Mkhi got dropped (eventually), time for Rom to sit on the bench.
 
Stacks said:
One nill down vs Arsenal, second half, Lukaku has a clear chance in a crunch game. does Lukaku score it? I have doubts. RVN was a striker who was good at scoring his very 1st chance of the game. Theres a huge gulf in the killer instinct of Lukaku and guys like RVN and Batigol.
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Because RVN has never bottled important chances in big games before. I agree there's a huge gulf right now but all I'm saying is give the guy time and he'll deliver, he's 24 and his best years are to come. I just find it ridiculous that most of this forum has ruled out a striker like him within 5 months of playing for the club. It's almost like the fans here have never seen improvements from players at this club before.
 
Djemba-Djemba said:
His FA Cup semi final performance against us with Everton was something that really concerned me when we bought him. The biggest game of his Everton career and he was fecking dreadful. Clearly the pressure got to him that day and we saw something similar on Sunday.

I've got no doubt he'll get around 25 goals this season and he'll get around 25 goals every season he's at Utd as long as he stays healthy.

He's pretty much been what I expected. Hot and cold, scores goals but very poor in the big games. We've got a bit of an easier run coming up now and I expect him to go on another goalscoring run.
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Sir Alex often got confirmation of PL players he was interested based on how they performed against us. We saw this with Saha, Rio, Ashley Young, Zaha and many others. Whenever a player played against us and performed he was sure he was after the right man. He even did this with Ronaldo after a pre-season friendly :lol:

Other than Lukaku's hattrick against us in SAF's last game which was a dead rubber tbf, Lukaku was trash in every game against us. He has been completely nullified by Bailly, Rojo, Blind and Paddy fecking McNair. I could be wrong but I don't think he scored against us playing for Everton.

Everything about his career so far, tells me he's not cut out for the big stage.
 
El Jefe said:
Sir Alex often got confirmation of PL players he was interested based on how they performed against us. We saw this with Saha, Rio, Ashley Young, Zaha and many others. Whenever a player played against us and performed he was sure he was after the right man. He even did this with Ronaldo after a pre-season friendly :lol:

Other than Lukaku's hattrick against us in SAF's last game which was a dead rubber tbf, Lukaku was trash in every game against us. He has been completely nullified by Bailly, Rojo, Blind and Paddy fecking McNair. I could be wrong but I don't think he scored against us playing for Everton.

Everything about his career so far, tells me he's not cut out for the big stage.
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Yeah, dead rubber for sure. We were so disinterested and lethargic that game... yet it ended 5-5.
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
Because RVN has never bottled important chances in big games before. I agree there's a huge gulf right now but all I'm saying is give the guy time and he'll deliver, he's 24 and his best years are to come. I just find it ridiculous that most of this forum has ruled out a striker like him within 5 months of playing for the club. It's almost like the fans here have never seen improvements from players at this club before.
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depends what ruled him out means. I don't think he'll ever be as great as Henry, RVN or Batigol because these are guys who would rival the Suarez's/Aguero's of today. We already knew he wasn't that bracket
 
Lukaku will be fine. Last season the knives were out for Pogba but this season he's looked mostly awesome. Same will happen with Lukaku. Next season he'll be far more consistent
 
For those of you who say Lukaku did so well during the start of the season:
Other than finish his chances (and having more chances served on a plate to him), what did he actually do well in his first 10 games that he did worse in the next 10 games?

IMO his all-around game has been unimpressive ever since he got here (and before he got here). The goals papered over some cracks, and it was impossible to criticise him for it as he did a striker's main job, finishing chances.
 
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