Superb finish and a great goal, worked his balls off. Won't retread old ground because quite frankly some of the drivel in this thread is just mind boggling and not worth engaging in. I want to see him getting three to five of these types of chances per game. We need to be delivering chances for him on a platter and not just for him but for everyone.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 51
- Goals
- 27
- Assists
- 10
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
And the spell is not exactly all down to him either. He may not be an indecent forward like,people want, but provide enough service, he would not lose out into putts no goal stats.
Of course he needs to improve his,overall game for the benefit of himself and the team, but he's not as bad as people are trying to make.
Edit: he needs to be more hairy though. He's better looking with facial and long hair on his head.
It wasn’t that good a cross in all honesty. A good cross should either be
1. at someone’s head or
2. at someone’s foot or
3. directed at someone who is unmarked in a good position
Lukaku made the cross better than it was imo. It was around his hip level very close to the keeper. It was all about the finish.
Sorry I meant it's awkward to connect a left cross with a left leg especially if your dominant foot is not the left foot.
@prath92 did a great job covering your ass, yet you came back and put all the effort to waste
Rom is left footed...
Been saying it all along but that's where he should spend the whole game, on the last man and looking to get beyond them. He's not a great footballer but he is a great striker/finisher. We should be playing to his strengths not amplifying his weaknesses by asking him to get involved everywhere.
It's so frustrating watching him drop to the level of our midfield especially now Sanchez is there. Sanchez controls, turns and leaves his man for dead with his first touch. It's a lottery if Lukaku will keep his first touch within 6 feet of him.
It's so frustrating watching him drop to the level of our midfield especially now Sanchez is there. Sanchez controls, turns and leaves his man for dead with his first touch. It's a lottery if Lukaku will keep his first touch within 6 feet of him.
His dominant foot is left foot though?
I don't restrict a good cross to those situations only but I get you.
Lukaku is left footedCaf laughs at RAWK but some of you need to have a word with yourself. Does anyone remember how RVP was when he was 24? He really only started performing when was 27 and had 6 seasons at Arsenal. This is Lukaku's first season at a big club and he is bullying the small teams something which we missed last season with so many draws. With Lukaku in the team, we have converted them to wins with so many crucial goals and we have jumped from 6th to 2nd. Yes there is a lot of improvement still to be done and yes he is not Kane, Lewandowski, Suarez level of striker but I am glad we got him in the summer because he was the best option available instead of Morata who is mentally fragile. Yes Lukaku will infuriate more than most strikers but people need to look at what he brings to the team, as since Fergie's departure we have struggled against average opposition as against the big teams. The service to Lukaku is usually feckall, and yes he has missed a fair number of chances too but having said that he has got us more points than anyone else in our squad this season and that includes DDG. He is only going to improve from here. His performances vs Saints and Burnley away are the hardest I have seen anyone work for us this season and we got 6 in those 2 games. We need to improve our all round attack and give him more service but we need to give him time to improve himself too. He is just 24, remember that. Martial will turn 23 this year and he always gets a free run despite his questionable attitude for most of the last 18 months. Thank god Lukaku scored last night and we won otherwise he would have been roasted here by the usual pessimistic people who have nothing better to do and who only creep up once we lose.
TBF, it's not bad cross but inconvenient one which requires plenty from a forward to turn it into a goal. Good volley (technique to keep the ball down and into narrow angle near post), strength to screen the defender (weaker and the defender can push you off balance), instinct to be in that area in the first place...I don't restrict a good cross to those situations only but I get you.
Considering the kinda crosses we're regularly seeing from this team, I'd rank it as a "cracking" one.
I don't argue... I bet Lukaku either
Let's stop beating the dead horse. Lukaku general play is fine. He makes nice passes in the final third and generally he has better awareness compared to Rashford or Martial. I would even say he is the best crosser in our team.
Why do we constantly compare the boy to Drogba? Just because he is black and he is huge? There area areas of his play which is much superior to Drogba. For example, his finishing and movement in the box. I get that with his physical side, his hold up play could improve but that could come with time. Don't forget, this is his first season and during his time at Everton, he probably didn't have to evolve his hold up play that much. Now, there's a different spotlight on him and he might just bring it up a notch.
Yes, Mata has a great first touch and technique. Lukaku's first touch isn't great and that's why he thrives on first time passes/crosses where he finishes them first time. We could flip it around and use Mata's physical attributes against him as well. He's physical attributes isn't good enough for a title winning side. At least not one who focuses on counter attacking.
You're saying Lukaku is miles behind the top striker in the world. I trust Mourinho's judgement on this and why he wants this kid so badly. Apart from his hold up play and first touch, which he could definitely improve, I think Lukaku is not so far behind.
What aspects of the game in your opinion do players with poor to average technical foundations project to get better at?
It was not a world class goal calm down.
Lukaku was bought in to score goals and convert chances, which he is doing quite well. His overall game will improve as he plays more and more with the same set of players, he'll learn to premeditate their runs and crosses and his link up play will improve. As for record against the top 6, those teams have top defences too and perhaps we can take into consideration how many chances we created.
I'm honestly not sure what would have been the opinion of RvN here, that guy for the most part hung around the penalty area and scored a crap load of goals. His contribution to general play was negligible.
Lukaku will be brilliant for us and is probably already a big reason why we are second, compared to last season.
I'm honestly not sure what would have been the opinion of RvN here, that guy for the most part hung around the penalty area and scored a crap load of goals. His contribution to general play was negligible.
Lukaku will be brilliant for us and is probably already a big reason why we are second, compared to last season.
The kind of crap which some of you post on here is amazing. No wonder the standards are falling with posters like you.
So someone with a differing opinion are pessimistic people lurking around to "creep" out after the team loses? Also, we won yesterday and people are still rightly criticizing his overall performance. If you are too wound up and caught up in your own ideas to understand that, then the issue is with you and not the rest of the caf who have been posting here for far longer than you.
Another listless display but being the biggest flat track bully in the league he got his goal.
Can people stop shitting on RVN? Was mine and many many people's favourite player while he was here and the difference is clear. We know what kind of poacher he was but he did things Lukaku could only dream of.
Does the player in the video look anything like Lukaku?
Look at his touch while he carried the ball from midfield, his first touch under pressure to shield the ball from the defender and the technique on the finish. That's what a top level poacher looks like. There's nothing wrong with saying you didn't watch the man play or can't remember how he played.
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And it was a problem, frankly. We became very one-dimensional and predictable with him. I still believe that had we not sold him in 2006, we wouldn't have done nearly as well in 06/07.
And this is Ruud van Nistelrooy we're talking about. He was an infinitely better footballer than Lukaku.
1/10 performance again. Why oh who is he always flat footed and on his heels? He always checks his runs too, despite consistently calling for balls into areas he then doesn’t run to.
Very frustrating player and seemingly immune from the bench.
Very frustrating player and seemingly immune from the bench.
You obviously weren't born when RVN was a United player. He was significantly better than Lukaku in every department.
Exactly. Once Ronaldo/Rooney came through, Fergie ditched RVN whose skillset lacked versatility to switch up our style and it paid massive dividends.
It would be exactly like Jose ditching Lukaku to play a system that maximises Sanchez/Martial/Lingard/Rashford ball playing abilities
Difference was RVN wasn't a hindrance to our general play where as Lukaku is especially cause he plays as a lone striker. RVN was double the player Lukaku is from a technical standpoint. He was also lethal in a way we've never seen Lukaku be. IMO either we play with a 2 striker formation or we get rid of him.
@Stacks and others who had a go at his poor pass completion percentage against top 6,
here is the breakdown.
Good enough pass completion on the ground, it's the headers that will bring his completion percentage to very poor state.
here is the breakdown.
Good enough pass completion on the ground, it's the headers that will bring his completion percentage to very poor state.
What's this supposed to prove?
That lukaku could also dribble past 4 or 5 and score
RVN was different class though, his first touch was among the best in the league.
Yes lukaku has the instinct to run, the strength to push away his defender to get into the right position and give a good volley shot. Not easy at all.
But I didn't know whether he's left legged or right. If he's right leg dominant, then this goal would prove both his legs are good.
You really need me to show you the technical differences in both players' goals? Because that was the point
Even Paolo wanchope has one of these solo goals. The technical comparisons are the relevance of these videos not just clumsily knocking it past 4 or 5
Nothing the matter with being a flat track bully a lack of one last season killed us. His link up play is poor but really he’s a poacher who because of his size people expect a bartering ram and when they don’t get one they are disappointed. Kane is a far better player but there is certainly room for two off them in a team as both occupy completely different spaces and score very much different types of goals. Now that’s a front two worth paying money for.
If that’s what you think lukaku did, then fine
Yup and in the box it was so reliable. Lukaku's touch get worse the closer he is to the goal.
In any case, I doubt you're about to tell us a solo goal puts Lukaku on RVN's level in the techinical department so what really was the point of posting that besides trying to scrap a moral victory?
Yeah, RVN had very good close control too even though he barely dribbled past players.
For example look at this goal against Arsenal in the most important game that season. That touch to take the ball away from player and then the ball was always under control.
I’ve got no real issue with him honestly, he’s on track for a 30 goal season which is incredible given his 6 week dip in form where he didn’t get a single goal.
He’s not the finished article and he can improve (being more consistent for one) but it’s a decent return for a first year with a new team. Having Alexis around him will probably spur him on too.
He’s not the finished article and he can improve (being more consistent for one) but it’s a decent return for a first year with a new team. Having Alexis around him will probably spur him on too.
Technical, technical, technical. I'm so sick of people butchering and beating the same dead horse.
You guys make it sound like Lukaku's first touch is so bad that if flew to the corner flag every time he touched the ball. Let it go. He made a few mistakes and it gets magnified because we aren't actually putting him in an all you can buffet with chances. Do you think all this supposedly mistakes would be remembered and highlighted if he didn't actually have to feed of scraps?
Okay, to indulge your obsession with his first touch. For argument sake, if his first touch is so bad, why don't we play to his strength? he obviously thrives with first time passes into space where he could either run or finishes it. Why aren't we providing him with that? The reason is, the three behind, i.e., Lingard and Martial is pretty selfish/unaware. I remember the goal before last night's game, where he received a pass from Martial. Martial pretty much passed the ball with force into the boy's stomach. He had to control it, make space for himself, before scoring. Now, look at the passes Lukaku gives to others. The best examples are passes to Martial.
Long story short, we aren't actually playing to his strength. I'm not saying Lukaku isn't free from blame. There are aspects of his game that could certainly improve but let's stop beating the dead horse.
-His first touch might as well fly to the corner flag. At least we won't get countered then
-His below par first touch is part of why he feeds on scraps. Hold up the ball, bring attacking partners into play and he'll be more involved as a focal point.
-When teams park the bus, which they always do, opportunities to pass into space become fewer than with a high line.
-Even with fewer opportunities, Lingard was somehow able to get in behind their defence more times than lukaku. I'll have to rewatch to pinpoint why but without the threat to link up, Lukaku's movement can sometimes becomes easier for defenders to mark. I feel Hernandez encountered similar while he was here
Edit: just to add regardless of the harshness of the post, he's a good player for our current level (a team that can't put away smaller teams)
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Ok let me rephrase that, in terms of making runs and openings for his teammates he is not very good. Maybe the word lazy is too much as he does work hard in terms of effort, but he needs to be more intelligent in how to utilize that effort.Seen it all now Lukaku is the laziest striker you have ever seen for Utd ?
Take it you were not a Utd fan when we signed a certain Spurs striker
Also, the comparison with Berba is harsh. The spurs striker we signed was much better at holding the ball and does not need to make the kind of runs that is expected of Lukaku as he would be able to control a much bigger % of balls directed at him.
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