Romelu Lukaku image 9

Romelu Lukaku Belgium flag

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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I’m not going to be too hard on him, because overall he is doing okay and he has no control over the transfer fee.

But I would like him to show some more aggression. Far too many tv shots of him applauding teammates and giving everyone thumbs up! for my liking.

Matchday is not a training ground and if the opposition is timewasting and being little shits it’s okay to slam into one or two players and rough there defenders up.

Just my 50 pence from today.
 
I thought he did okay today in all fairness. He needs to get involved more. Hes not been getting alot of chances recently, although he should of scored the header just before half time. I think the team are slowly getting their confidence back like it was at the start of the season.
 
bosnian_red said:
Yeah wasn't a huge deal today, thought he did well for the most part. Just in general. He doesn't offer too much more then any average premier league striker aside from what we expect his goalscoring rate should be, so when he goes through a dry run goalscoring wise then he'll be hammered with criticism since that's the one thing that makes him a very good player and not some average player. And for that, it just gives me the feeling of being underwhelmed about him, considering we paid 75m for him and he'll be the main guy up top for the next 5 years and I can't see him changing all too much. Maybe get more consistent and a bit better with his movement, but his all around ability on the ball, probably more or less the same.

One thing that he definitely can improve loads on and he really should, is his aerial ability though. He's massive physically, so really should learn to be like Fellaini in the air, either with learning how to control it on his chest under pressure like Fellaini does, or winning headers, improving his leap, etc.. Been pretty disappointed and surprised by that part of his game.
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That's a depressing thought, to be honest. We really have to put together an absolutely world class supply line for that to work. He is a quite poor footballer when he's not scoring - as he showed it again today - so we really must build the team around getting him on the scoresheet.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
He is part of the problem in terms of our chances starting to dry up.

Frustrating performance. And like some others have said, he doesn't seem to have much variety in how he strikes the ball either.
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I would agree with this. He lacks subtly at times. His default strike sometimes is to hit it as hard as he can - sometimes straight at the keeper - which can be very frustrating.
 
edgar allan said:
I agree with the first bit, we have seen many a good player fail to meet the level of expectation of playing for us.

On one level I feel sorry for him, he is playing often on his own with little support. Trying hard but struggling.
But he is never going to have the same attacking freedom as he had at Everton. He is constantly having to play against deep lying defences who are never going to give away the same space to run in behind that the thrives on.
Is he the right creative forward we need to be able to play and create with his back to goal?

When are we likely to see this cohesion and creativity we need? A lone centre forward with a heavy touch doesn''t help with either.
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Well we had Ibra last season and I don't think we were any better. Yes, he was better with his back to goal than Rom, but Lukaku does stretch teams more, which we saw in the first few games. Unfortunately, apart from Pogba, no one has the ability to consistently find the runs of Lukaku.

Hopefully, we will see more cohesion and creativity when we buy a proper playmaking number 10, and a right attacking midfielder suitable for a 4231 formation.

Lukaku
Dribbler Playmaker Wide Playmaker​

It's no surprise that Rom was scoring freely when Mkhi was on fire. Since his form has dropped, and with Pogba being injured, Rom's goals have dried up.

Think once we address these issues, if of course Jose does stick to a 4231, then we will see more fluidity in our game.


​
 
Kapardin said:
Had that from Pogba in the first few minutes of the game and messed it up.

The excuses are running thin. It is true we lack good wingers and he's not getting as many crosses as he should, but it doesn't mean he should be as useless as this either. It is just poor all-round game, as I feared when we bought him.
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Are we playing to his strengths?

Simply put, no. And when you pay in the region of £90m for a player, you should at the very least play to his strengths. That’s the point.

We all know he isn’t a technically gifted nifty little player. He is by definition a flat track bully who needs decent service and an efficient unit behind him. You might not think united should have a player like this, but he’s with us for the best part of the next 5 years at least, so we have to play to his strengths.
 
RuudTom83 said:
I’m not going to be too hard on him, because overall he is doing okay and he has no control over the transfer fee.

But I would like him to show some more aggression. Far too many tv shots of him applauding teammates and giving everyone thumbs up! for my liking.

Matchday is not a training ground and if the opposition is timewasting and being little shits it’s okay to slam into one or two players and rough there defenders up.

Just my 50 pence from today.
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A lot different to this.

 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
A lot different to this.

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This is at OT right?

Lukaku was generally awful against us in a Everton shirt, his hold-up play being criticised was most likely deserved.

Looking through the comments on that tweet seems like he was invisible that game.
 
NotoriousISSY said:
Are we playing to his strengths?

Simply put, no. And when you pay in the region of £90m for a player, you should at the very least play to his strengths. That’s the point.

We all know he isn’t a technically gifted nifty little player. He is by definition a flat track bully who needs decent service and an efficient unit behind him. You might not think united should have a player like this, but he’s with us for the best part of the next 5 years at least, so we have to play to his strengths.
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The problem isn't us not playing to his strengths at all.

The problem is Lukaku himself isn't even playing to his strengths. He doesn't use his body well and that's my current problem with him.
 
el3mel said:
The problem isn't us not playing to his strengths at all.

The problem is Lukaku himself isn't even playing to his strengths. He doesn't use his body well and that's my current problem with him.
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That's never been Lukaku's strength, though. He's very much someone who likes to drift wide and run channels, rather than coming short and holding it up.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
That's never been Lukaku's strength, though. He's very much someone who likes to drift wide and run channels, rather than coming short and holding it up.
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A striker with such a body should have zero problem holding the ball up against defenders. He's physically stronger than anyone he faces in the league.
 
el3mel said:
A striker with such a body should have zero problem holding the ball up against defenders. He's physically stronger than anyone he faces in the league.
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When playing in a slow tempo yea he can hold the ball but if the tempo is high he won't be able to hold the ball consistently due to his poor first touch. I have seen so many times Smalling was able to put Lukaku into his pocket.
 
Let's look at his positives, he can run into spaces in the wings(more to the right) and gather the ball and thus creating an attack and can deliver swinging balls from the left wing. Besides that, his heading is top notch and he has a really powerful shot.

Negatives are he can't hold the ball, is too strong and big to take a first touch, can't create a lot of opportunities like a top striker should and doesn't score his one on one chance 80% of the times. He can't even pass a ball properly.

Most of his goals have been really from 3-4 yards out and he shouldn't be our #1 striker if we want to win the PL and are serious about winning the CL. Maybe being our second choice striker suits him more but it looks like he'll easily get 20+ goals this season.
 
el3mel said:
A striker with such a body should have zero problem holding the ball up against defenders. He's physically stronger than anyone he faces in the league.
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It's not all about physical strength, though. A big part of it is the position you have your body in. Often Lukaku's technique is all wrong when approaching the ball hold it up, hence why he doesn't keep hold of it.
 
El Jefe said:
I must give him credit for the defensive side of the game today. He was almost Rooney/Tevez like in that regard today.

With that being said, he just isn't a good enough footballer. He's a level below where we want to be long term IMO.
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We have to go step by step. Lukaku is a very good striker even though it’s against the theme of the thread at the moment. He’s good enough to be quite an upgrade on what we’ve had since RVP.

Lukaku has a lot of room to improve and he may improve and become a world class elite striker. Or he may not. We can’t always keep thinking “long term”. This season he’ll provide enough goals for us to compete at the top of the league. If in future a world class striker becomes available, Man Utd is big enough to go for that player.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It's not all about physical strength, though. A big part of it is the position you have your body in. Often Lukaku's technique is all wrong when approaching the ball hold it up, hence why he doesn't keep hold of it.
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Exactly. Strength is just a part of it, protecting the ball takes real skill and intelligence.
 
kouroux said:
Exactly. Strength is just a part of it, protecting the ball takes real skill and intelligence.
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Salah is half the size but a lot stronger than Lukaku on the ball. It's about how you position the body, keeping a low centre of gravity and core strength.

I think because Lukaku grew so fast as a youngster he was always using his size to shrug off younger players and thus didn't have to battle so hard to work on his hold up play or developing that core strength. Whereas guys like Messi or salah or Iniesta they've had to overcompensate for their lack of size and are like bloody elephants - you can't shift them off the ball.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It's not all about physical strength, though. A big part of it is the position you have your body in. Often Lukaku's technique is all wrong when approaching the ball hold it up, hence why he doesn't keep hold of it.
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That's why he needs to work on that so that he uses his body better in these situations.
 
Lukaku is far from perfect, but hes is still a damn good player.

Imo, our problems go beyond any one player. There is no cohesion or chemistry in our attack and all our attacking players look worse for it. The obvious exception is Pogba/Zlatan who really seems to shine in each others company, always looking to play the other one better.
 
el3mel said:
That's why he needs to work on that so that he uses his body better in these situations.
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Spot on. The coaches should correct it. He never moves towards the ball but leans back and tries to stop the defender. This is all wrong. Most of the time, the defender nicks it away from his because his first touch is so poor. I think Jose has made a huge mistake in getting Lukaku.
 
I’m absolutely shocked Match Of the day did not pick up on the Lukaku incident.

At the time, I was worried he would get a 3 match ban minimum. It was blatant violent conduct!

I don’t know if anyone’s seen it here....in the build up to the goal, as the ball comes out to Young on edge of box, Lukaku blatantly swing kicks the player behind him twice!! Amazed if he doesn’t get in trouble for it!
 
Huge next 3 games for him. If he does not score against city or arsenal it will raise more and more questions. He really needs goal in big game to prove that he is a striker for big matches .
 
He will score goals but his hold up play and movement have to improve significantly.
 
RuudTom83 said:
I’m not going to be too hard on him, because overall he is doing okay and he has no control over the transfer fee.

But I would like him to show some more aggression. Far too many tv shots of him applauding teammates and giving everyone thumbs up! for my liking.

Matchday is not a training ground and if the opposition is timewasting and being little shits it’s okay to slam into one or two players and rough there defenders up.

Just my 50 pence from today.
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Funny you say that as one of the things I didn't like about him at Everton was the fact he was constantly awful to his teammates.

Maybe he feels he's the one with something to prove at United.
 
Foxbatt said:
Spot on. The coaches should correct it. He never moves towards the ball but leans back and tries to stop the defender. This is all wrong. Most of the time, the defender nicks it away from his because his first touch is so poor. I think Jose has made a huge mistake in getting Lukaku.
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This happens to him in every game and frustrates the life out of me. Due to his calves being so massive, he then doesn't have the quickness of feet to shift the ball away from the defender, they always manage to nip around him and get a touch on the ball to dispossess him.

When he pins his defender on the half turn he's very good but his touch is too poor to get him into this position. All great strikers are amazing at going from backing their defender to going on the half turn in one touch, thus unsettling their marker. Lukaku seems to need 3 touches to be able to do this and that is a massive problem.
 
He is like Peter Crouch in his prime, only with better physique and finishing, and worse heading abilities. Technique and touch perhaps even worse...
 
Lot of people over analysing things. He was perfectly fine yesterday. He even created a couple of chances and maybe should have scored (the header at Ryan and the early link up with martial). Frankly I have watched morata and he is pretty much the same. He is still a top striker
 
James Peril said:
Oh come on, it is not amazing! Please use words as decent, good or great - not amazing. Given his price and responsibility, playing as a lone striker for Manchester United with talented players around him, I would say his output thus far has been average to good, certainly far from amazing. 8 goals in 12 matches in the league, goals against West Ham (18th), Swansea (19th), Stoke (15th), Everton (16th), Soton (14th), Crystal Palace (20th) and Newcastle (11th). Goalless against Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea, in other words scoring against the relegation fodder (which is also a good thing of course, not taking that away from him). What is it now, one goal in eight games? He is no Lewandoswki or Kane.

He scores sitters and has a good presence in the box, he is a decent header of the ball, but he is average in everything else he does. He doesn't sniff chances like Cavani, he doesn't contribute to make others better, his passing and touch is Conference-level, he doesn't score goals "out of nothing" like Kane and he is so slow at turning his body and utilizing his strength and pace. He is fast, but that doesn't help when he is so big and needs time to get going.
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You surely can't compare him with Lewandowski or kane, but i think we too haven't utilized him in a proper way.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Of course, but he was never going to keep up at that rate.

Same happened to Ibra last season.
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He was getting 1 a game, the way we were playing that didn't exactly feel a huge haul.
To then slip to 1 in 10 is disappointing in the extreme
 
Annihilate Now! said:
I'll whisper it, but I would have preferred Morata in the summer, and I've yet to change my mind.
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Main reason why i was( and still i am) for lukaku because i thought that he will bully defenders. I preferred that instead skill which morata has . So i can say i am little worried now. He just can't or does not know how to use his body strength.
But i am still sure that he will end season with 30 goals overall
 
I may be in minority but I actually liked the efforts he put on yesterday. I thought he was not our worst attacker yesterday, if anything he put in more effort than martial,.Mata and rashford. Even mkhi didn't do much. My biggest concern when he joined us was not off his first touch but his attitude and him being cocky and lazy. I am glad so far I have not seen that side of lukaku.

I know some here are big fan of morata (even me) but was watching him against Liverpool and he just like lukaku does not impose himself. He ,luckily, has got a world class in hazard who does most of the work for him. Lukaku so far does not have that privelege. My point is I don't think lukaku is the sole reason for us not playing well as an attacking unit. Our other attackers are doing feck all and yesterday were horrendous.
 
el3mel said:
I don't want him to be better technically. He may improve a bit in this but he's not going to be a world class playmaker number 9.

What I want from him is to use his strengths to its fullest. He needs to use his physicality to always keep the ball under his feet, bully defenders, win most of the aerial duels and not get knocked out easily of the ball. These are the sort of things he can improve considering his current attributes, and it's his way to become an elite player.

I don't want him to play like Zlatan and try to do tricks and flicks with the ball. I want him to be the one we all know from. The faster Lukaku realizes this and stop trying to impress us with his technical aspects, the better.
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I agree with this. Improving his allrdy obvious talents instead of trying to discover what is likely never to be found.
 
Had it been Lukaku that had such a poor game against Liverpool and had missed two clear chances like Morata did yesterday we would not have heard the end of it from the anti Lukaku brigade here
 
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