Told ya, turns draws into wins.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 51
- Goals
- 27
- Assists
- 10
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
The problem I have is Henry was obviously sent out to criticise Lukaku no matter what. It kind of looks stupid when he played so well so maybe they should have called an audible
Yes. I've never known a striker to be put under such intense scrutiny on their first league game for their new club.
Thought he played well and I liked his desire to get to the ball for the first goal. I liked Zlat but it was refreshing to have a big man up top who also has pace.
Yeah his pace is a real asset, my old man was surprised how fast he actually is I think its underrated purely because he's such a beast.
Overall an excellent league debut took his goals well and occupied their center backs giving others freedom to operate can see him fast becoming a fans favourite.
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If he works a bit on his dribbling and even more movement he'll be absolutely unstoppable for us. I can't imagine CL defenders are looking forward to facing that physicality they won't be used to it.
This is why I wanted him. He's by no means my favourite player to watch but he's more clinical than Zlatan. He may struggle in the big games but something we've sorely lacked for a long time is a player who can just punish the weaker teams in the league.
Did about as well as could be expected on his league debut for us. Still concerned about the frequency he loses the ball but hope he takes Henry's criticism on board and improve in that regard.
The header was a beauty. That was one attack move that we often failed to capitalise on in the past, may it continues.
The header was a beauty. That was one attack move that we often failed to capitalise on in the past, may it continues.
He's sure to score bucketloads of goals in the league but my favourite moment from the game was his almost nonchalant flick to Pogba. Didn't know he had that in him. If he's able to do that on a regular basis then he'll be a genuinely elite striker.
Oh so the super cup is a meaningless friendly? Seemed to me both teams wanted to win it badly. Obviously you think you know better....
If they wanted it badly enough they would have played Ronaldo.
It's a glorified friendly, only get a bit feisty when it's between Spanish teams, as they don't want to lose face. Same with the Community Shield or Spanish/German Supercup.
However, it's true that when footballers step out on a pitch they all want to win.
BIG ROM!!!!!
I'd be pissing myself as a defender having to deal with him. The guy is an absolute unit.
You even saw it today on his 2nd goal, the guy "covering" Lukaku wanted nothing to do with him when the cross came in
Beast!
You even saw it today on his 2nd goal, the guy "covering" Lukaku wanted nothing to do with him when the cross came in
Beast!
enjoyed that too .... was almost as delicate as a ballet dancer!
He's going to score loads of goals for us.
And I've been surprised by the rest of his game. Some good bits of hold-up and link-up play.
And I've been surprised by the rest of his game. Some good bits of hold-up and link-up play.
Henry can do one. Alan Shearer gave far more insightful analysis on MOTD. Called it a 'complete CF performance' backed up with stats etc.
As a practicing Christian, has no real 'bad habits' to distract him so literally lives and breathes to play top level football.
He is now playing with better players and training with better coaches in better facilities. He stated in his joining interview how he constantly studies VDO's of previous great strikers as well as always analyse his previous performance and is his own harshest critic.
I have no doubt he will improve maybe 50% from what we have seen today. On top of that, the team will learn to get on his wavelength.
He will be the tip of our arrow for years to come. Imagine how good he will become!
It was played at half pace, yes it was a friendly, Real Madrid didn't move out of second gear, watch their game tonight when it was competitive due to playing Barca, they were much more aggressive and dynamic, the European supercup game is a friendly like the Charity Shield.
Hernandez was all of those things and while I love the little lesbian looking chump to bits, his poor ball control never really left him despite the fact that he did make a visible improvement in link up place during his time with us.
Lukaku is here now and I sincerely hope that he'd take that step up to become a truly elite footballer, but it's as true now as it was one day, one week or one month ago that there's a question mark regarding whether he'll get there.
I was one of many who accused Lukaku of going missing anytime he played against us over past 3 years. Couldn't understand the hype. And so I was initially against signing him.
But my opinion was limited to only watching him play against us and I was unaware of his prolific PL goal scoring record. I'm happy to admit my previous opinion on him was uneducated: he was very young and playing in a much inferior set up and I'm hoping any deficiencies he previously had was down to those reasons.
One of Mourinho's many proven managerial skills is spotting a world class striker, improving him and setting up a team to get the best out of him. He has done that consistently from Porto to Chelsea 1 to Inter to Madrid to Chelsea 2 to Ibra last season. Mourinho clearly wanted Lukaku as option no 1, he must believe he can improve him, and I saw enought today already to think he will.
But your point on Hernandez is correct and duly noted.
There were two things that were a nice surprise today. The first being how hard he worked off the ball - something I don't think he's renown for. The second being nice pieces of play here and there. Some nice link-up play and, around the 85th minute mark, a really nice chipped pass to Pogba.
What a beast, stretches the defense back at goal and his two runs down past the dugout were fantastic. That dart and finish was sublime and I think that aspect of pushing defenses back with pace and power will open our team up in ways that Zlatan struggled to last season contracting the front line of attack back into our own attackers.
Salivating prospect, he is incredibly clinical.
Salivating prospect, he is incredibly clinical.
So much for the stat that he doesn't score goals that win points. His first 2 goals set us on easy street. Delighted so far.
He's improved us so much. What a player. Still buzzing.
2:15 he says he asks other players to join in his extra finishing drills after training.
Goal. Goal. Nicely done. Great start and long may it continue. Caused problems all day for West Ham and while he did lose the ball a few times I'm happy that that side of his game will improve.
Do you think it's fair to say this wasn't entirely true, given yesterday's performance?
Of course we can't assume that we'll play like that all season, nor can we expect the opposition to perform so poorly, but you were very definitive in your stance that you can't play good football with someone like Lukaku...despite substantial historical evidence and now current indications to the contrary.
It was always a silly stat to use in the first place. If you really look for a problem, you'll find numbers to back up something. Next year I wouldn't be surprised to see some stat related to him not scoring in last 10 minutes of the game or not scoring enough from outside of the box or higher minutes per goal than some average striker somewhere. It's almost like people tend to concentrate on trivial micro stats than a quite simple yet the most powerful stat that is the number of goals scored in a season.
Moreso because a 1-0 and 2-0 score line in football are two vastly different scenario.
While I have some misgivings about his game, that was one of the nonsensical arguments.
I remember people saying his attitude was poor. Early days, but in every interview I have seen from him, you can tell that he's hungry, desperate to improve and wants to do great things at United.
Seems like a top guy.
Seems like a top guy.
When we play 352 and the counters with him ,Martial and Rashford - cant wait for our matches against Arsenal and liverpool 
No, I thought he showed power and pace and the ability to run in behind yesterday which we knew were his strengths, and I thought his movement was better than it often was with Everton, he wasn't standing around waiting, he was proactive. However technically I thought the deficiencies were still evident in his touch, and there's no real hold up play or the ability to bring others into play or run with the ball without it getting caught up in his feet, I know you liked that one flick he did.
I thought yesterday was powerhouse football, very direct, very Mourinho, if you deem that entertaining or attractive, then fair enough.
Why do people persist with this rubbish about him struggling in the big games? The stats from last season show it not to be the case. Why take stats from a 19 year old playing for WBA and a 22 year old playing in an average Everton side and say "Oh, this guy doesn't score against the top sides". What, are people expecting a kid playing for midtable clubs to be banging them in against the top sides in games where his team are under the cosh for 90 minutes?
I'm gonna keep saying it until everyone just agrees (seems one game in quite a few have already changed their minds!) he's going to be world class and will get 40 in all comps this season.
I would say the vast majority of neutral fans - which I suppose you now are - would describe that as entertaining and attractive football. I'm sure you could find lots of neutral journalists supporting that view. To think otherwise suggests a very close-minded and illogical view on what good football is, IMO, given the history of the sport and the variety of styles that have been on display throughout the ages. Your idea of good football is something that didn't exist in most generations of the sport so to limit it to that bizarrely tightly defined definition is counterproductive at an individual and group level.
One thing I like about the guy, he's dedicated AF, loves the game and wants to improve. He also seems not to be the usual football player idiot that most of them are, he seems quite educated.
In regards to his performance, yes, it was a good one, but he could've easily gotten his hattrick and also lost 2-3 balls for absolutely no reason. Just because he ran and scored 2 goals, doesn't make him our savior overnight. He's a good player, played rather well, but still has a lot of small details to work on. Time will tell if he's the man for us.
In regards to his performance, yes, it was a good one, but he could've easily gotten his hattrick and also lost 2-3 balls for absolutely no reason. Just because he ran and scored 2 goals, doesn't make him our savior overnight. He's a good player, played rather well, but still has a lot of small details to work on. Time will tell if he's the man for us.
He is ambitious and we need that. Just hope he will be equally clinical in Europe. Great debut yesterday.
If I was a neutral fan would I still be bothering having this discussion with you or the dozen other posters that have poked at me since yesterday? Would I have been watching all those crappy pre-season games at 3am when a lot of the posters here that go at me weren't, if I was a neutral? As for the other part good is effective, I'm talking purely entertaining, attractive football, in the 80's I found the A Team entertaining, not so much now, times change, what we enjoy and what entertains us in life alters over time, things change.
I'm pretty sure I saw a tweet yesterday saying he created the most chances among any striker in the league last year. Anyone see that or can still source it?
Know he made the most chances of any striker this weekend.
Also I'm confused, three of our goals yesterday came from very attractive football. Unless it's only not attractive if it has a red devil on the chest.
Know he made the most chances of any striker this weekend.
Also I'm confused, three of our goals yesterday came from very attractive football. Unless it's only not attractive if it has a red devil on the chest.
Very pleased with his game. He did what I expected. He did what he does well, very well - and did what he does poorly, quite poorly. I still believe he is a poor 'footballer', despite being a very good 'striker'. That's fine by me, but he still reminds me of Chris Smalling on the ball.
That said, as many many know, I'm a big Smalling fan too. Smalling is very good at defending, and Lukaku is very good at scoring goals. Neither are technically very good at all though.
That said, as many many know, I'm a big Smalling fan too. Smalling is very good at defending, and Lukaku is very good at scoring goals. Neither are technically very good at all though.
- Status