[kouroux]

Broken records in the prem and leading all time goal scorer for Belgium being a statue....some of the comments on here and simply ridiculous.

The way some comments are taken to an extreme is far more ridiculous if you ask me.Like you say one simple and something completely unrelated is being talked... Maybe you operate on a higher intelligence plane than us mere mortals

Thank you for your insight on this topic.

Do not bother. Some mind are so made up, it's impossible to even entertain talking about certain things

 

[kouroux]

That would take a lot of energy out of him. He's a much bigger and heavier man than Ronaldo.

Maybe, maybe not. I think a simple near post run from time to time won't hurt me that much in terms of fitness

 

[Litch]

Because his qualities suit to different tactics, not a rocket science is it. He still may improve, which I hope he does but just honestly can't see it being enough for us if we're aiming at top top honours. He's a very good striker just can't see him being a league winning one, which is why I come across as overly harsh on him.

Remarkably seems just fine in a Belgium team? Forums eh (?) We have a striker that this World Cup has proved he's right up there with the best with some truly world class moments yet he's not good enough for us. Did you see him in the Brazil game.....

 

[Rajma]

Maybe, maybe not. I think a simple near post run from time to time won't hurt me that much in terms of fitness

Funny thing you mentioned it, I remember Huddersfield game at home (I was at OT), and all game he didn't bother making any runs and the game was dull as feck. However, only time he decided to make a good run near post - boom receives it on a plate from Mata and gets an easy tap in. With teams sitting deep and organised against us it's not enough to be expecting a cross to land on your head or feet and even he struggles with bullying EPL defenders sometimes to get himself ahead he really needs to do something about this part of the game, badly.

 

[Rajma]

Did you see him in the Brazil game.....

Again, you seem to fail to grasp my point all over again...France never gave him the space Brazil did.

 

[Litch]

The way some comments are taken to an extreme is far more ridiculous if you ask me.Like you say one simple and something completely unrelated is being talked... Maybe you operate on a higher intelligence plane than us mere mortals

Do not bother. Some mind are so made up, it's impossible to even entertain talking about certain things

Maybe I do or maybe it's just an opinion (but less ridiculous)

 

[arnie_ni]

Thought he and the whole team were poor tonight.

A couple of times first half belgium got in down the left a fizzed good balls near post but lukaku was static in the center. He could only have got the ball had the defender missed it, whereas if he made the near post run he could have had a shot at getting on the end of the cross.

Then second half de bruyne, apart from that fabulous ball in near the end, couldn't find a team mate with any of has passes, hazard tried to do it all himself, and chadli kept hitting the 1st man from his crosses.

So i thought a bit more movement may have helped him a couple of times, but even with that I'm not confident his teammates would have found him tonight.

France just bossed them all and handled it quite easily in the end

 

[Ekeke]

Its partly down to how France set up and partly down to how Belgium set up. He was in the middle and never really found by his teammates in one on one situations when he pulled out wide a few times. As we've seen thats where he looks the best, when he's playing a more static central role he seems easier to deal with.

 

[MadMike]

Maybe, maybe not. I think a simple near post run from time to time won't hurt me that much in terms of fitness

Well, he does that already. Unless you mean to tell me you've not seen Lukaku do near post runs?

But he's not the kinda guy that will be constantly on the move and my point is that I don't think he can be. On the other hand he's great at shielding the ball and bringing others into play. Pros and cons and all that

 

[kouroux]

Well, he does that already. Unless you mean to tell me you've not seen Lukaku do near post runs?

But he's not the kinda guy that will be constantly on the move and my point is that I don't think he can be. On the other hand he's great at shielding the ball and bringing others into play. Pros and cons and all that

For instance I don't remember him scoring a goal by beating a defender to a near post cross. Yes he does it but it always feel like whenever his teammates are shaping up to a cross, he is always around the same areas which makes it easier to mark him.

Funny thing you mentioned it, I remember Huddersfield game at home (I was at OT), and all game he didn't bother making any runs and the game was dull as feck. However, only time he decided to make a good run near post - boom receives it on a plate from Mata and gets an easy tap in. With teams sitting deep and organised against us it's not enough to be expecting a cross to land on your head or feet and even he struggles with bullying EPL defenders sometimes to get himself ahead he really needs to do something about this part of the game, badly.

I swear I had that game in mind too. I remember having said the same thing that day too.
It's a pretty simple thing to understand, a little change from time to time won't hurt his chances and will confuse the defenders, specially when the near post can be easily reached in terms of passing

 

[Stadjer]

He seems like the type who is going to even more motivated by this and improve more/quicker.

He might not be absolute worldclass (yet) but he is a very good striker and good enough for United and good enough to compete for the league and CL if we sort out the rest of the team. Lets worry about Lukaku when the rest of the team is fixed.

 

[Litch]

Again, you seem to fail to grasp my point all over again...France never game him the space Brazil did.

Why should I grasp something that I think is wrong? For me, I think he's absolute quality and probably the best all round striker this World Cup. The goal against Brazil, where he created the goal without touching the ball was one of my football highlights of the tournament. For me I'll focus on the positives and leave the forensics of his game to others.

 

[arnie_ni]

Why should I grasp something that I think is wrong? For me, I think he's absolute quality and probably the best all round striker this World Cup. The goal against Brazil, where he created the goal without touching the ball was one of my football highlights of the tournament. For me I'll focus on the positives and leave the forensics of his game to others.

And i think thats your mans point. That goal, against japan by the way, was class. His movement was class.

He barely made a run tonight.

I think lukaku was actually one of the players of the tournament up until tonight. He and his teammates just didnt show up.

 

[cyberman]

Just saw this over hit pass again.
Not only did Lukaku find room in the 6 yard box with his run, he would have to be 9 foot tall or be blindly ignoring the space smack in front of goal so he can blindly sprint to the byline to have a chance of reaching it.
In short, you're all insane

 

[Greck]

Think he gets a pass to tonight after his last few performances. He's good enough at what he can do to get a pass for what he can't. There are very few complete forwards in the game. If his game is centred around finishing in the box he'll typically always have some troubles in packed boxes. Especially without an ability to manufacture high degree difficulty shots like the greats of the position

 

[Jeppers7]

Had a decent World Cup, but similar to United last season, his goal threat dries up in the big games. As for captain material, he's a lot to do before he should be considered for that role. He was nothing like a leader for us overall last season.

 

[el3mel]

I see his critics are up to it again once they lose after they were absent last games when he was doing great.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

And now everyone is back to bashing Rom.

 

[SouthPredators4]

Maybe, maybe not. I think a simple near post run from time to time won't hurt me that much in terms of fitness

Very good observation. I was with my mates watching the game and said the same about Lukaku. For all the learning of the game through watching videos and all, his footballing IQ could be improved. He needs to mix up a little bit and stop buying into the "i am more of a scorer, wanna be more all rounder etc".. The crosses from Mertens wss always with him passively waiting at the far post, and as such Varane or Umtiti would get to the ball first. On occasions when they slipped out, it would be too close to react effectively. Also, i felt he was too static and made it so easy for Varane. Make some offball runs down the wing, and be an option when Witsel, Kdb or Hazard have the ball. Keep moving, and focus and anticipate better. He seems to be looking to make those runs when he has the ball at his feet, but offball running tends to open up spaces. Lastly, i thought Hazard was always playing for himself and wasn't utilising Lukaku well. That said, he has a good tournament but his touch, finishing and sense of positioning meant there is really only specific ways to bring the best out of him, and its definitely not through the middle against a well organised defence.

 

[kouroux]

Very good observation. I was with my mates watching the game and said the same about Lukaku. For all the learning of the game through watching videos and all, his footballing IQ could be improved. He needs to mix up a little bit and stop buying into the "i am more of a scorer, wanna be more all rounder etc".. The crosses from Mertens wss always with him passively waiting at the far post, and as such Varane or Umtiti would get to the ball first. On occasions when they slipped out, it would be too close to react effectively. Also, i felt he was too static and made it so easy for Varane. Make some offball runs down the wing, and be an option when Witsel, Kdb or Hazard have the ball. Keep moving, and focus and anticipate better. He seems to be looking to make those runs when he has the ball at his feet, but offball running tends to open up spaces. Lastly, i thought Hazard was always playing for himself and wasn't utilising Lukaku well. That said, he has a good tournament but his touch, finishing and sense of positioning meant there is really only specific ways to bring the best out of him, and its definitely not through the middle against a well organised defence.

I couldn't have said it better. This is something he can improve on in terms of movement.

 

[luke511]

He honestly looks twice the player as a right forward.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

I still think he needs to learn to make different runs inside the box and not be static. If you look at Cristiano, he's so hard to stop he is always changing, coming near post and far post

I think it would have helped if his team moved the ball a little quicker from the back/middle of the park. Martinez got it all wrong yesterday, to be fair. Dembele was a complete waste of space in the center of the park and De Bruyne was a shadow of himself; yes, Lukaku could have been a little more mobile but we all know how to difficult it is to find space when one team is sitting deep in their half. Yesterday was the fault of Martinez and the Belgian midfielders.

 

[Quizierda]

Must have felt like playing for United yesterday: red kit, "red devils" and no fecking service..

Was completely let down by poor crosses from Chadli and the selfishness of Hazard/De Bruyne yesterday.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Why should I grasp something that I think is wrong? For me, I think he's absolute quality and probably the best all round striker this World Cup. The goal against Brazil, where he created the goal without touching the ball was one of my football highlights of the tournament. For me I'll focus on the positives and leave the forensics of his game to others.

You think the factual statement that Brazil gave Belgium acres of space to counter attack, whereas France for the most part defended deep and denied Belgium and Lukaku space? Or you think it’s wrong to state that Lukaku’s strengths allows him to thrive in the former conditions, whereas he struggles more in the latter?

Either way, to bring up the Brazil match to argue against what @Rajma is claiming is pretty bizarre, as it illustrates his point perfectly.

 

[shamans]

Why should I grasp something that I think is wrong? For me, I think he's absolute quality and probably the best all round striker this World Cup. The goal against Brazil, where he created the goal without touching the ball was one of my football highlights of the tournament. For me I'll focus on the positives and leave the forensics of his game to others.

Although that was good movement, you need to realize that 80 percent of open play goals are scored like that. Players make run to leave spaces and score. Taking nothing away from it but have no idea why people are going to mad with that.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I absolutely love him but I think he was very poor last night. In saying that, France played a huge part in nullifying any decent service into him and also marked him well. KDB was far worse, for me.

 

[cyberman]

You think the factual statement that Brazil gave Belgium acres of space to counter attack, whereas France for the most part defended deep and denied Belgium and Lukaku space? Or you think it’s wrong to state that Lukaku’s strengths allows him to thrive in the former conditions, whereas he struggles more in the latter?

Either way, to bring up the Brazil match to argue against what @Rajma is claiming is pretty bizarre, as it illustrates his point perfectly.

Lukaku regularly scores against deep laying, compact defences.
He just does.

 

[0le]

He isn't an elite striker but he shows leadership qualities, at least for Belgium, which are virtually nonexistent in our team. I'd prefer if we started to play a 3-5-2 and played (and developed) Rashford and Martial alongside him.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

varane and umtiti simply took him out. That shit can happen to any lone cf against a quality pair of cbs. France marked him out! It wasnt a mere case of going missing. They freaking arrested him and placed him in solitary confinement