[ricky-romeo]

16 league goals at this stage of the season is not a decent enough return imo. he should be at least around the 25 goals mark.

27 goals in all competition is okay but we need him to get 35 goals plus next season with at least 25 from the league campaign. he needs better services from his teammates though. still believe we can win the league with Lukaku as our main striker but he needs to improve and to his credit he is, but the team overall also needs major improvement.

 

[NikSab]

He’s mediocre, at best.

Elite forwards require so much more these days, and I think Sanchez and Martial could perform that modern #9 role with more quality than this fella.

Jose clearly prefers mobile muscle up top, and that was fine when he had Drogba, Costa or Milito up front......but those kind of thoroughbreds are as rare as rocking horse turd these days, and we’ve settled for an actual fecking rocking horse.

This is a fecking joke. Right?

 

[haram]

He’s mediocre, at best.

Elite forwards require so much more these days, and I think Sanchez and Martial could perform that modern #9 role with more quality than this fella.

Jose clearly prefers mobile muscle up top, and that was fine when he had Drogba, Costa or Milito up front......but those kind of thoroughbreds are as rare as rocking horse turd these days, and we’ve settled for an actual fecking rocking horse.

What’s a modern number 9?

 

[RedCurry]

What’s a modern number 9?

Less than 6ft tall.

 

[Scroto Baggins]

Dont understand the flack Redrom cops a lot of the time, he has been good, 16 goals 7 assists is a healthy return, others are chipping in with attacking output so the goals are shared around a bit. There was a thread talking about underrated players and Firmino's name was prominent in it. But Lukakau didnt get a mention and Lukaku has a similar output this season. Look at say Drogba, considered a Chelsea legend and he only had two seasons with 20 goals or over return.

Maybe because Rom is playing at the same time as the second coming of Shearer, Kane?

 

[Jeppers7]

Dont understand the flack Redrom cops a lot of the time, he has been good, 16 goals 7 assists is a healthy return, others are chipping in with attacking output so the goals are shared around a bit. There was a thread talking about underrated players and Firmino's name was prominent in it. But Lukakau didnt get a mention and Lukaku has a similar output this season. Look at say Drogba, considered a Chelsea legend and he only had two seasons with 20 goals or over return.

Maybe because Rom is playing at the same time as the second coming of Shearer, Kane?

Scoring goals isn't Firminos primary function though ? I'd put it as a negative that Lukaku's goal output is similar to firmino (despite playing 300 more minutes) not a positive

 

[laughtersassassin]

I stand by my assessment great in the cups not good enough in the league.

Nowadays strikers are scoring more goals than ever. Needs to be hitting 25 in the league nevermind 16. Yes, our team isn't best set up to help him do that but one way or another he got to up that tally next year.

Cant compete with a 16 goal striker unless you got someone else doing the scoring like Liverpool have with Salah.

 

[ti vu]

Scoring goals isn't Firminos primary function though ? I'd put it as a negative that Lukaku's goal output is similar to firmino (despite playing 300 more minutes) not a positive

But at same time it can point to something else. First of all, Lukaku is not just camping in the box all game neither. Firmino is a cog in a machine, so is Lukaku. And in our machine, Lukaku can't just solely focus on goal scoring, when we have problem creating, stretching play, delivering... from other positions. Same Lukaku is considered our best crosser. Wonder why?

 

[Jeppers7]

But at same time it can point to something else. First of all, Lukaku is not just camping in the box all game neither. Firmino is a cog in a machine, so is Lukaku. And in our machine, Lukaku can't just solely focus on goal scoring, when we have problem creating, stretching play, delivering... from other positions. Same Lukaku is considered our best crosser. Wonder why?

There's a hell of a difference between Lukakus role and Firmino ? Would you compare Firminos role to Kane's ? Would you not compare Lukakus ?

 

[ti vu]

There's a hell of a difference between Lukakus role and Firmino ? Would you compare Firminos role to Kane's ? Would you not compare Lukakus ?

There is who would be at the end of the chance if Lukaku would solely running his as off deeper. Martial, Rashford to match Salah goal scoring input?

So the question is simple, who is the main goal scorer of the team?

 

[Jeppers7]

There is who would be at the end of the chance if Lukaku would solely running his as off deeper. Martial, Rashford to match Salah goal scoring input?

So the question is simple, who is the main goal scorer of the team?

Lukaku

 

[ti vu]

Lukaku

So what does it tell about the point of him being the best crosser and more often than not one of the most hard worker of the team when the supposed partner either not chipping goals, creating chance, nor working hard enough?

 

[Jeppers7]

So what does it tell about the point of him being the best crosser and more often than not one of the most hard worker of the team when the supposed partner either not chipping goals, creating chance, nor working hard enough?

He can cross a ball.....ok so he doesn't need to score more than 16 league goals because sometimes he puts a good cross in. He's the only forward who's had any consistentency of selection he's played every league game as a focal point cf ala ruud, RVP, shearer, Kane, Aguero not a support forward like Firmino. He needs to score more goals and improve his touch and all round game massively if we're going to compete with city. That's nothing to do with any other player, all of which also need to improve massively.

It might be on the manager.

 

[ti vu]

He can cross a ball.....ok so he doesn't need to score more than 16 league goals because sometimes he puts a good cross in. He's the only forward who's had any consistentency of selection he's played every league game as a focal point cf ala ruud, RVP, shearer, Kane, Aguero not a support forward like Firmino. He needs to score more goals and improve his touch and all round game massively if we're going to compete with city. That's nothing to do with any other player, all of which also need to improve massively.

It might be on the manager.

Still going in circle? So why the team not support him enough? Where is the wide attacker version of Firmino in this team instead of adding more task on so called no 9.

Improvement is also needed, no one is denying that, but to ignore all the context, to expect him to suddenly score more on the amount of chances created for him is OTT, Even the best goal scorer can be damn wasteful.

 

[haram]

He can cross a ball.....ok so he doesn't need to score more than 16 league goals because sometimes he puts a good cross in. He's the only forward who's had any consistentency of selection he's played every league game as a focal point cf ala ruud, RVP, shearer, Kane, Aguero not a support forward like Firmino. He needs to score more goals and improve his touch and all round game massively if we're going to compete with city. That's nothing to do with any other player, all of which also need to improve massively.

It might be on the manager.

Lukaku does everything. Work the channel, create goals, best crosser in the team, best work rate in the team, hold the ball up, link the play, dominate in the air, score goals. The others need to do more. Lukaku does have things to improve on, but its mostly the others.

 

[Rasfene]

Lukaku is totally missed in the game against Brighton. What a player!

People needs to realise some players are just trash with potential ability of about 160 max.

With lukaku, his potential ability is at least 180

 

[kouroux]

Lukaku is totally missed in the game against Brighton. What a player!

People needs to realise some players are just trash with potential ability of about 160 max.

With lukaku, his potential ability is at least 180

Potential ability? 160 ? 180 ? What kinda videogames do you play ?

 

[VorZakone]

Potential ability? 160 ? 180 ? What kinda videogames do you play ?

FM I reckon.

 

[charlenefan]

Misses both the remaining league games, have to say I'm concerned about him playing the cup final having been out for weeks beforehand and I'm equally concerned about our chances without him

 

[bosnian_red]

So 16 goals and 7 assist in 34 premier league appearances is how he'll finish.... meh. He did much better in the cup competitions. Expect a much better season from him next year.

 

[El Jefe]

There's no way to spin it. A goal return of 16 goals in the league for Lukaku is pretty poor.

Tbf to him he's had a good season overall but we should be getting a much better goal rate from him considering all the minutes he's played and him being the focal point of our attack.

 

[charlenefan]

He needs to do better but then the team needs to do better for him as there have been countless games where he hasn't even registered a shot on goal so deprived of service he has been

 

[McGrathsipan]

There's no way to spin it. A goal return of 16 goals in the league for Lukaku is pretty poor.

Tbf to him he's had a good season overall but we should be getting a much better goal rate from him considering all the minutes he's played and him being the focal point of our attack.

To be fair to him , being a focal point of a toothless attack hasnt helped him.

If we had decent wide players he'd be flying.

 

[Adam-Utd]

There's no way to spin it. A goal return of 16 goals in the league for Lukaku is pretty poor.

Tbf to him he's had a good season overall but we should be getting a much better goal rate from him considering all the minutes he's played and him being the focal point of our attack.

Firmino has only scored 15 league goals, and that's an attack that's "blown teams away with fantastic football"

If only we had a Salah to make up for his hard work.

 

[sullydnl]

Before the season started I thought he'd get plenty of goals but might be found wanting in other areas.

Actually it's been mostly the opposite. 16 PL goals isn't exactly amazing but I've been really impressed with his attitude, work rate, leadership and (at times) general play. Personality-wise he's grown with the added pressure and responsibility of playing for a big club.

 

[James Peril]

He needs to do better but then the team needs to do better for him as there have been countless games where he hasn't even registered a shot on goal so deprived of service he has been

This goes both ways and the argument is flawed to begin with. Perhaps the pass didn't come because Lukaku made a terrible run, didn't bother going on a run or just made the wrong decision? Smart players love to play with other smart players, I would counter your rhetoric by saying he lets his team down by not following their moves, something the best players around the world definitely do. We aren't Everton or WBA, we don't just play to him by lumping balls over the defensive line on counters. Lukaku is big and strong and scores goals, but they are often just "classic" goals. He is not a very smart player, his touch is average and his interplay with the others is also mediocre at best. He never scores goals out of nothing or because of individual brilliance, he doesn't have an edge other than being bulky. One of the most annoying things this season is when he gets the ball outside the box and takes a touch, before unleashing a shot right into the block. Time and time again, always in the block, losing the ball. Time to evaluate decisions when the same things happen over and over, time to pass the ball or take a dummy, it's not rocket science. Top that with the fact that he hardly scores goals against the best teams, and that he sulked in front of the fans earlier this season because they were hard on him. He has in no way made it yet at Manchester United, he has to bang in lots of goals to be in a position to say "I told you so" in front of the crowd at Old Trafford. You can't act like Cristiano Ronaldo when your league tally is closer to Carlton Cole and Emile Heskey.

Next season I hope - and expect him to do much better and score around 25 goals if he plays as much as this season.

 

[Silas]

Firmino has only scored 15 league goals, and that's an attack that's "blown teams away with fantastic football"

If only we had a Salah to make up for his hard work.

Firmino's a completely different type of striker though. His main role isn't to score goals.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Before the season started I thought he'd get plenty of goals but might be found wanting in other areas.

Actually it's been mostly the opposite. 16 PL goals isn't exactly amazing but I've been really impressed with his attitude, work rate, leadership and (at times) general play. Personality-wise he's grown with the added pressure and responsibility of playing for a big club.

Very much the same. He has really won me over with his attitude here. Instead of looking forlorn from lack of service he has often turned provider himself doing the hard work out wide.

He’ll have an amazing season next year if we get some bloody fullbacks with quality

 

[haram]

We need better width and we need to create more chances for him. Good season, needs to get more in the league next year though.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Before the season started I thought he'd get plenty of goals but might be found wanting in other areas.

Actually it's been mostly the opposite. 16 PL goals isn't exactly amazing but I've been really impressed with his attitude, work rate, leadership and (at times) general play. Personality-wise he's grown with the added pressure and responsibility of playing for a big club.

Yes, very much agree with your assessment. Hopefully he can add to his goal total in the league next season.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Firmino's a completely different type of striker though. His main role isn't to score goals.

He's a striker of course it is. Yes he holds the ball up but so does Lukaku.

 

[Hawks2008]

He's a striker of course it is. Yes he holds the ball up but so does Lukaku.

Not really sure that was his point. It's very clear that watching Liverpool that Firmino plays a supporting role in that attack and isn't the focal point like Lukaku. Not saying either is better/worse than the other but their roles are vastly different. The similarities between them end at the fact they play the striker position.

 

[Canagel]

16 goals in PL is pretty average for the amount of minutes he's played. Cup competitions have been good but the league has been very average in terms of goals. Might be controversial this but if Martial had been given Lukaku's minutes as the main striker or even out wide I believe he would have more than 16. Needs a big improvement in the PL but a very solid season overall. Not bad but not spectacular either.

 

[haram]

16 goals in PL is pretty average for the amount of minutes he's played. Cup competitions have been good but the league has been very average in terms of goals. Might be controversial this but if Martial had been given Lukaku's minutes as the main striker or even out wide I believe he would have more than 16. Needs a big improvement in the PL but a very solid season overall. Not bad but not spectacular either.

Then again, Martial would offer way less to the team. So we would be much worse off.

 

[Kostov]

16 goals in PL is pretty average for the amount of minutes he's played. Cup competitions have been good but the league has been very average in terms of goals. Might be controversial this but if Martial had been given Lukaku's minutes as the main striker or even out wide I believe he would have more than 16. Needs a big improvement in the PL but a very solid season overall. Not bad but not spectacular either.

You put Harry fecking Kane as the focal point of this attack of ours and he wouldn’t score more than 20 goals in the league. Can somebody that is good with stats post the amount of chances each of the PL strikers get created for them?

 

[Adam-Utd]

Not really sure that was his point. It's very clear that watching Liverpool that Firmino plays a supporting role in that attack and isn't the focal point like Lukaku. Not saying either is better/worse than the other but their roles are vastly different. The similarities between them end at the fact they play the striker position.

And he would have scored more than 15 goals playing for Liverpool this year. Our team doesn't create many goal scoring chances, so his return while also doing lots of work for the team is decent IMO.

 

[Bwuk]

16 is pretty average. He's been the best of a bad bunch though.

Will improve next season hopefully.

 

[BusbyMalone]

His relatively poor output in the league isn't all down to him tbf. We, as a team, simply don't create a glut of chances. Out of the top four we rank last, by quite a considerable margin, in terms of chances created and overall shots taken. Both our passing and movement in the final third is simply not good enough.

I'm not absolving him of all blame here, but there's more to the story than simply Lukaku.

 

[Canagel]

You put Harry fecking Kane as the focal point of this attack of ours and he wouldn’t score more than 20 goals in the league. Can somebody that is good with stats post the amount of chances each of the PL strikers get created for them?

I don't doubt for once that Lukaku isn't clinical. In fact I don't recall many missed chances at all. Apart from one against Stoke in the 2-2 game and maybe the one in the derby at OT Lukaku has been very clinical. There might be others but don't recall them now. My gripe with him is that he is too reliant on service. If the team don't create for him there's little else he can do. He doesn't create anything for himself or score a goal from nothing like our former strikers because he doesn't have that predator instinct. His link up play has improved massively but again first touch is still poor and needs work. Harry Kane has chances created for him yes but he's selfish. Maybe too selfish. He'll take shots from any angle and more often than not it'll stick. Lukaku waits for the chance to be absolutely clear cut before scoring. The problem is we might not create clear cut chances in abundance every game so you need a striker that can sniff out maybe even a half chance of even less and force himself to the goal. Lukaku isn't good at that. But it's not all down to him. The team has no width and very little supply from wide areas plus we don't take enough shots as a team or commit enough players forward. We are lagging behind all the top teams so it's not just Lukaku but he also is a big reason why he hasn't got more than 16.

 

[Minimalist]

You have to be taking the piss to call Lukaku's output average without acknowledging the shite attacking play (which takes place mainly behind him) we've seen all season. We create less chances than the rest of the top six for a start.