Thanks. Yeah, I see how that looks. Hold my hands up for that one. He was such a big lad as a kid that the parents couldn't believe he was playing in the right age group + I struggle to fathom how much he has declined in such a short timespan and in that age, it makes no sense. Put those two together and there you go, a simple explanation is he is just old. Wasn't conscious of the stereotype thing as I wrote it, my bad.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
Yup I've been saying this for ages, physical strength in football is pointless if you don't know how to use your body. Lukaku is a big guy but I guarantee a defender would find it easier to get the ball off him than David Silva or Salah - it's about where you put your body and, nine times out of ten, committing a defender which gives the opportunity to get away from him or draws a foul.
Couple that with low confidence and a trampoline touch and there's no wonder he's bang out of form.
Yes he is always a few seconds too late. Look at the swipe at the ball. If he had not done it we may have scored and gone 1-0. It was a good free kick.
We had strikers who are not so bulky and yet rarely lose the ball. Look at Berbatov. It is rare that once he gets it or it touches his feet that he will lose it. With Lukaku it is lucky that if he manages to control the ball. I really do not know why he is so slow off the mark.
We had strikers who are not so bulky and yet rarely lose the ball. Look at Berbatov. It is rare that once he gets it or it touches his feet that he will lose it. With Lukaku it is lucky that if he manages to control the ball. I really do not know why he is so slow off the mark.
Agree, I think the excess weight makes him poorly balanced, leading to poor coordination, meaning he struggles to actually use his strength. By the time he has his body moving and under control the guy he is battling with already has the physical momentum. It leads to him looking flat footed, and slow to react.
I look back at Rio and Vidic, those guys were very effective and powerful in one on ones but were so lean, Vidic especially in the flesh was much smaller than most people expected him to be.
He was just ok last season. Started well with scoring loads of tap ins, then played shit for months but improved his hold up play and passing and workrate for a while in the second half. Still was shit against big teams.
He scored against Sevilla but I recall him fecking up a few early moves and being pissed off with him as usual.
Chicharito is better and I'm sure has a better goals per minute ratio as well as a better touch and awareness.
I actually think jose will be given money in January and will bring in a actual target man and a defender.
He scored against Sevilla but I recall him fecking up a few early moves and being pissed off with him as usual.
Chicharito is better and I'm sure has a better goals per minute ratio as well as a better touch and awareness.
I actually think jose will be given money in January and will bring in a actual target man and a defender.
Quick google tells me vidic was the same height as Lukaku and a stone lighter (and I don’t know how up to date that Lukaku stat is)
It's true. Every time he opens his mouth he tries to sound like a big personality and all that, and on the pitch he's clowning about like some lost youth player.
That is a disrespect to our youth players.
Tbh it pains me a little that he's become this laughing stock.
Lukaku isn't that bad. He's a 20 plus goal a season striker. So at his best he is productive and nowhere near the miserable player he's become this season.
But he's not a Manchester United number 9 for me either way.
To be honest I try to defend him where possible as he's not really a terrible striker given his goalscoring record. But for a club like United he's simply too poor in his all round game and an extremely bad fit. His level is a 4th-6th place challenging team that plays a 'certained' way.
It is a little sad how far he's fallen. It's reached Andy Carroll at Liverpool levels of absurdity
I honestly thought when he came here he would iron out the deficiencies in his game and become a monster for us. The early signs were promising but feck me, he's been an absolute joke this season. I mean, his confidence must be absolutely shot but how he looks so bad is beyond me.
The way he is playing now, is worse than I have seen any youth player play. It genuinely looks amateurish stuff, the way he can't even seem to track the trajectory of a ball when it is punted long, and seem to be bullied quite easily by even techno midgets in midfield. Hell he waits for a ball to bounce, and then he is positioned in a way that it bounces over him and then he has to run to chase it down, by which time the ball is already picked up by a defender who has positioned himself perfectly. It is cartoonish stuff, hilarious if he was playing for any other team. Comparing his form right now to any of our academy players is definately an insult, they at least look like pro footballers.
He's not going to be getting 20 goals this season.
That's for certain.
That's for certain.
This will cost big money. A target man, to play as our main striker will likely cost around £100M. Someone like Toby A, will probably cost around £40M.
I just don't see us spending big money in January.
I can understand not being skillful on the ball although what he displays at times is truly shocking, I don't compute how he struggles physically to hold off defenders.
If he bulked up for the WC in order to face CBs (which makes no sense as the level of physical strength is lower at the WC than in the PL) how is he so weak during duels ?
If he bulked up for the WC in order to face CBs (which makes no sense as the level of physical strength is lower at the WC than in the PL) how is he so weak during duels ?
I think when Mourinho told Lukaku to press more, Lukaku thought he meant bench press.
If I was a new manager coming in I would probably tell him to take a few weeks off to get his head & weight sorted, in the hope that he'd come back somewhat refreshed. God knows he wouldn't be much of a loss playing as he is anyway.
Realistically that isn't going to happen though. My guess is he'll keep playing a lot this season and keep being shit a lot this season too. Then he'll have an actual break in the summer and come back looking a better player (though of course that still doesn't mean he'll really be good enough then either).
Keto diet incoming for the big unit!
Wonder if this helps him or hurts. Gives him a shorter leash for sure, but that might actually help. Hopefully we get an attack minded manager in, and if lukaku gets back to form then itll obviously help, just I hope whoever comes understands his significant limitations and doesnt use him for big games.
Depends on the manager(s) we get in I guess. Some styles would suit Lukaku, some wouldn't. Still, I don't think he can actually get worse under a new manager so I guess he'll either improve or not play.
This is the end of him starting unconditionally hopefully.
What do people think of Lukakus prospects under OGS & Phelan? Do we think he's going to be the regular number 9 or will he be shown the door?
Whether Solskjaer rates him or not I have no idea and I'd be very surprised if anyone else does either.
Ultimately his fate will be decided by the new permanent manager though. We're not going to have our interim manager sell a big money signing who doesn't want to leave in January.
Fair enough. I wasn't sure whether anybody had seen much of his Molde side and whether Lukaku was comparable to the kind of striker he plays there. It'll be good to see what the DoF thinks of him when he arrives, Rom could be in trouble if it ends up being GNev.
I seen Molde fans saying he made comparisons with his young top goalscorer to Lukaku... but then when they were asked who his front three would likely be, they said Rashford/Martial/Sanchez
I don't think Mourinho helped Lukaku, he tried to turn him into a target man like Drogba/Costa but he just doesn't have the technique for that.
Lukaku's always been at his best being a poacher who runs the channels. Get him back to that and he'll start causing problems again.
Lukaku's always been at his best being a poacher who runs the channels. Get him back to that and he'll start causing problems again.
Hopefully he isn’t played as a target man. Funnily enough I think he’d be better with someone alongside or just behind him... which OGS will probably play.
That’s probably the only thing that I have a hope on, regarding him looking good.
That’s probably the only thing that I have a hope on, regarding him looking good.
I think we'd see a whole new Lukaku next six months. Ole himself being a striker will have an impact on Lukaku definitely.
Aye, keep it on the ground and try playing him in and we might get some goals out of him yet.
Yeah agreed tbh. He became one of my most disliked players but I think Ole and Mourinho gone will help him loads. I dont ever think he'll be good enough to be a key player at United, but he has his qualities and he should be doing way better than he has been. This weekend is a chance for a fresh start for everyone, so I can definitely see him thrive a bit in an attacking system with a front 3 of martial, lukaku, rashford and lingard behind in the midfield 3.
He needs to lean down a lot for a start if he wants to see any improvement. But then he doesn't deserve to start at all for next few months.
Out of the next two apparently:
I don't think anyone can realistically argue we'd miss Lukaku anyway.
Well the compassionate leave thing doesn’t sound great. He’s a young man, so if he’s lost a parent or something it will be tragic.
It may further explain Mason’s absence tonight from the youth team. Without Sanchez too, we’re low on forwards.
In a way, his enforced absence actually saves Ole a headache. We’d been better with him not playing in recent weeks but immediately dropping him would have been a massively controversial decision.
Apparently will miss the next 2 games on Compassionate leave? Doesn't go into why
Tough break on big Rom. Let's all get behind him and show him support when he comes back. He deserves a fresh start as much as anyone else. A young man who has a warriors spirit and always gives a 100% for the badge. Hopefully we play some attacking football its been tough on him when his up there on his own with nobody creating chances for him.
- Status