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2018-19 Performances


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4.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
45
Goals
15
Assists
3
Yellow cards
5
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You could say the same about why Liverpool spent so much on Carol at the time.
Football clubs don’t always make the right decisions plus we were kind of desperate at the time. You can not judge the quality of a player by their transfer fee.

I think we’ve looped enough now anyway, I’d prefer that he wasn’t our main striker and we looked for someone else, even if not immediately as I know we have other positions more in need.
You seem to be happy with him here and he’s doing well enough for you.

That’s football and opinions

Always anomalies when comes to fees and some players cost a lot cause like Martial at the time, you are buying potential with the hope that the play forfills it. When we bought Rom, there was only two other players in the Prem that had better goal scoring records than him. One we sold to Everton as his career was coming to an end, and the other is Harry Kane. What did people expect to pay for him based on that?
 
Always anomalies when comes to fees and some players cost a lot cause like Martial at the time, you are buying potential with the hope that the play forfills it. When we bought Rom, there was only two other players in the Prem that had better goal scoring records than him. One we sold to Everton as his career was coming to an end, and the other is Harry Kane. What did people expect to pay for him based on that?
That was my point. You can’t use us paying £75 for him as a point for his quality as a striker. There were no other options and Everton had us by the balls
 
What rubbish you're spouting here. What have Aubameyang, Lacazette and Firmino achieved in the premier league that Lukaku hasn't? Lukaku wasn't benched for Rashford, he lost a father and Rashford took his chance in Lukaku's absence. Get a grip of yourself man, the grass is not always greener on the other side.
You're joking I presume, right?

Aubamyang came in last season in January and scored 10 goals in 13 games, God knows how many he'd have scored if been here longer than that period; this season he's already on 14 goals with 17 games remaining, he'll smash those Lukaku's 16 goals.
Lacazette, 1st season in this country and got 14 goals in 32 games; this season he has 7 in 13 starts and he isn't even Arsenal main striker.
Firminho doesn't score much but the role he's playing in that Liverpool side is something Lukaku can only dream of, even if you gave Lukaku for free plus 50M of cash to Klopp I don't think he'd ever accept to replace Firminho with our donkey of striker.

Grass is not always greener on the other side? But the other sides have Aguero, Kane, Hazard, Aubamyang, Firminho, all better players than Lukaku. Funny people are starting to remind me of Mourinho fans claiming that nobody can come and do a better job than him.

Oh, where did you get this info that his father passed away?
 
That was my point. You can’t use us paying £75 for him as a point for his quality as a striker. There were no other options and Everton had us by the balls

Why not? I'll say it again....are you quality or just extremely lucky, if fact more lucky than any other footballer to lace up a pair of boots to score over 100 goals in such a short period of time? Only 4 others have done it in the history of the prem. Scoring goals is the hardest thing in football, so if it's not quality, what is it then otherwise everyone would be doing it? What do you call it?
 
You could say the same about why Liverpool spent so much on Carol at the time.
Football clubs don’t always make the right decisions plus we were kind of desperate at the time. You can not judge the quality of a player by their transfer fee.

I think we’ve looped enough now anyway, I’d prefer that he wasn’t our main striker and we looked for someone else, even if not immediately as I know we have other positions more in need.
You seem to be happy with him here and he’s doing well enough for you.

That’s football and opinions

How can you even begin to compare Carol to Lukaku? Liverpool were the only 'big' club in for him and everyone found his transfer and the fee laughable. Carol managed 11 goals for them in 58 appearances, Lukaku had 27 in 51 in his first season at United! The Lukaku signing was greeted mostly with excitement by United supporters. A lot of Chelsea fans felt sick that day. Who would you sign to replace Lukaku this summer?
 
Lukaku needs to be running onto balls, not having them passed into his feet. The more we do that, the more we get out of him.

He obviously needs to get a bit leaner and be more mobile to get down the wings etc... but I think he's showing a willingness to do that in these last few appearances.
 
You're joking I presume, right?

Aubamyang came in last season in January and scored 10 goals in 13 games, God knows how many he'd have scored if been here longer than that period; this season he's already on 14 goals with 17 games remaining, he'll smash those Lukaku's 16 goals.
Lacazette, 1st season in this country and got 14 goals in 32 games; this season he has 7 in 13 starts and he isn't even Arsenal main striker.
Firminho doesn't score much but the role he's playing in that Liverpool side is something Lukaku can only dream of, even if you gave Lukaku for free plus 50M of cash to Klopp I don't think he'd ever accept to replace Firminho with our donkey of striker.

Grass is not always greener on the other side? But the other sides have Aguero, Kane, Hazard, Aubamyang, Firminho, all better players than Lukaku. Funny people are starting to remind me of Mourinho fans claiming that nobody can come and do a better job than him.

Oh, where did you get this info that his father passed away?

It wasn't his father it was someone else, I had wrong information. You're really clutching at straws here, dealing in maybes and what ifs, no certainties. You just called our top scorer a donkey, there's no point continuing this discussion. Jealousy is a terrible thing
 
How can you even begin to compare Carol to Lukaku? Liverpool were the only 'big' club in for him and everyone found his transfer and the fee laughable. Carol managed 11 goals for them in 58 appearances, Lukaku had 27 in 51 in his first season at United! The Lukaku signing was greeted mostly with excitement by United supporters. A lot of Chelsea fans felt sick that day. Who would you sign to replace Lukaku this summer?

I didn’t compare Carol and Lukaku, I compared Liverpool and united both overpaying for a striker as they were desperate with no other options, so you can stat away again with no real need.

I was not excited when we bought Lukaku, quite gutted infact that we went for him and found £75miion laughable, I remember telling a mate it was a mistake and he disagreed with me, Lukaku started well here for a few games so I was having the “see I was right talk” then he went to shit, he’s struggled since.

I don’t know who we could replace him, don’t know if there even is anybody, that still doesn’t mean I can’t think that Lukaku is not good enough for us. It’s not my job to scout world talent.
 
It wasn't his father it was someone else, I had wrong information. You're really clutching at straws here, dealing in maybes and what ifs, no certainties. You just called our top scorer a donkey, there's no point continuing this discussion. Jealousy is a terrible thing
Jealousy?:lol::lol::lol:. what are you on about there, mate? I gave you stats of Aubamyang, Lacazette and Firminho, where are the "maybes" and "what ifs" you're talking about?
 
Right now we are playing in a style that will expose Lukaku’s weakness.

You have been told Jose has left right? That was a side or style that exposed Lukaku’s weaknesses.

How does this Ole side expose Lukaku’s weaknesse? If anything it shows his strengths, Lukaku has mentioned it and so has Ole. People really do need to erase the Lukaku they saw under the Toxic one and go watch some of his Everton stuff to get a better idea of what the player we bought is about because I read this forum and it’s like no one has ever seen him outside of playing for Jose.
 
What rubbish you're spouting here. What have Aubameyang, Lacazette and Firmino achieved in the premier league that Lukaku hasn't? Lukaku wasn't benched for Rashford, he lost a father and Rashford took his chance in Lukaku's absence. Get a grip of yourself man, the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Except it is. Firmino and Aubamayang are, objectively, better than Lukaku and comfortably so. Anybody actually watching these players would echo that thought unless they're extremely biased.

What next ? Lukaku is better then Salah and Hazard?
 
You have been told Jose has left right? That was a side or style that exposed Lukaku’s weaknesses.

How does this Ole side expose Lukaku’s weaknesse? If anything it shows his strengths, Lukaku has mentioned it and so has Ole. People really do need to erase the Lukaku they saw under the Toxic one and go watch some of his Everton stuff to get a better idea of what the player we bought is about because I read this forum and it’s like no one has ever seen him outside of playing for Jose.

Good. His strengths can be coming off the bench and by plundering goals playing against Championship sides in the cup. Rashford and Martial can be the starters in the league and CL, with Lingard/ Sanchez on the right. Everyone's happy.
 
Chelsea would take him back in a heartbeat. I could also see him at Spurs, PSG, Monaco or one of the serie A clubs. You'd be surprised.
Huge down grade from Kane.

Chelsea would take him but most likely because they've got a terrible CF.

PSG. Can't see it. Their style is too technical. Cavani is far better than Lukaku. As a squad player maybe.

Monaco? Sure. Really elite team that are.

Lukaku is a good CF but he's never going to be a top class one and is doesn't suit the technical football people want to see at a big club. As a squad player I'd be delighted to have him at United. As a starter, we need better. If Rashford can keep improving, the pair of them rotating if have the quality elsewhere to compensate may just work
 
One thing I have noticed. For many fans, Mou was the virus. He was not letting Martial play, he was not letting Rashford play, he was not letting Pogba play. He stank up the the quality of United's football this season.
But when it comes to analyzing Lukaku performance, Mou is never seen as a factor. Even though, in the last 3-4 years the only attacking player to have performed consistently for even half a season has be Lukaku. In Lukaku's case, it is all Lukaku's fault.
 
Huge down grade from Kane.

Chelsea would take him but most likely because they've got a terrible CF.

PSG. Can't see it. Their style is too technical. Cavani is far better than Lukaku. As a squad player maybe.

Monaco? Sure. Really elite team that are.

Lukaku is a good CF but he's never going to be a top class one and is doesn't suit the technical football people want to see at a big club. As a squad player I'd be delighted to have him at United. As a starter, we need better. If Rashford can keep improving, the pair of them rotating if have the quality elsewhere to compensate may just work

Football ultimately is about scoring goals. Strikers main role is about scoring goals. There's no extra points for how they go in the net, once it goes in. The fact of the matter is whether you like the way he does it or not, his record over a number of seasons is only bettered by 2 current players. Now either over the 5 years Or so he's been the most extremely luckiest player to put on a pair of football boots or he has an ability to score goals better than 99% of the players in this league. I thought the test of someone's ability is to do it consistently over a period of time so how then is he rated as one of the worst? Also he's proved it internationally and now in a World Cup where he was unplayable at times. Not proven it in CL, cause not played in it that many times.

People would sooner focus on him occasionally not controlling the ball than doing the hardest thing in football, and scoring it cause somehow this new technical football doesn't still need someone on the end of it, to score. I'd say Belgium are a technical side, maybe given their players one of the most technical teams in the world but somehow Rom managed to become their leading goal scorer......how lucky is he?
 
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One thing I have noticed. For many fans, Mou was the virus. He was not letting Martial play, he was not letting Rashford play, he was not letting Pogba play. He stank up the the quality of United's football this season.
But when it comes to analyzing Lukaku performance, Mou is never seen as a factor. Even though, in the last 3-4 years the only attacking player to have performed consistently for even half a season has be Lukaku. In Lukaku's case, it is all Lukaku's fault.

Every forum needs at least one dog to Kick...
 
Good. His strengths can be coming off the bench and by plundering goals playing against Championship sides in the cup. Rashford and Martial can be the starters in the league and CL, with Lingard/ Sanchez on the right. Everyone's happy.
So we should just ignore that he has scored against I think I’m correct in saying all the top sides in our league Chelsea, City,United,Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal and was the 2nd best goal scorer in the league behind Kane who had 5 penalties to Lukaku’s 1 and that turned out to be the GD between the 2.

If we want to look deeper Lukaku created more big chances, had more passes, made almost double the amount of crosses, far more passes per match and missed less big chances than Kane.
 
One thing I have noticed. For many fans, Mou was the virus. He was not letting Martial play, he was not letting Rashford play, he was not letting Pogba play. He stank up the the quality of United's football this season.
But when it comes to analyzing Lukaku performance, Mou is never seen as a factor. Even though, in the last 3-4 years the only attacking player to have performed consistently for even half a season has be Lukaku. In Lukaku's case, it is all Lukaku's fault.

Fair point. I think people assume that because he's a ''Jose striker'' that he must have been using him correctly, when Lukaku isn't really a Costa/Drogba/Ibra like target man, but more of a poacher who should be in the box at all times.
 
This is my point though, why does it always need the caveat? They have been 'in it' that long for good reason and we have seen across the league how many 'one season wonders' there have been. The idea that Rom year in, year out scores so many goals in order that he's the first non British player to do so before 25 is crazy when you think about the players that have come here from an early age and only played in big teams.

Because they've been good enough to be in it for that long

Yeah he’s definitely good enough to play in the premier league. But that stat is rolled out to push the idea that he’s one of the leading strikers in the league or something. In reality he’s not.
 
So we should just ignore that he has scored against I think I’m correct in saying all the top sides in our league Chelsea, City,United,Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal and was the 2nd best goal scorer in the league behind Kane who had 5 penalties to Lukaku’s 1 and that turned out to be the GD between the 2.

If we want to look deeper Lukaku created more big chances, had more passes, made almost double the amount of crosses, far more passes per match and missed less big chances than Kane.

Don't be daft.....he can't control a football
 
So we should just ignore that he has scored against I think I’m correct in saying all the top sides in our league Chelsea, City,United,Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal and was the 2nd best goal scorer in the league behind Kane who had 5 penalties to Lukaku’s 1 and that turned out to be the GD between the 2.

If we want to look deeper Lukaku created more big chances, had more passes, made almost double the amount of crosses, far more passes per match and missed less big chances than Kane.

Are you really saying he has a good record against the better sides in the league?

I've just had a look, and he's scored one goal against Everton and one against Chelsea in 1.5 seasons - that's poor. None against, Arsenal, City, Liverpool or Spurs.

That's 2 goals in 18 matches against the top 6 that's pathetic.

Source is

https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=56521&season_id=150
 
Yeah he’s definitely good enough to play in the premier league. But that stat is rolled out to push the idea that he’s one of the leading strikers in the league or something. In reality he’s not.

So what makes a leading striker then than scoring goals? That's like saying DDG isn't the leading GK cause he makes too many saves?
 
So what makes a leading striker then than scoring goals? That's like saying DDG isn't the leading GK cause he doesn't make enough saves?
Not sure, but the ability to control a football should probably be on there.
 
So what makes a leading striker then than scoring goals? That's like saying DDG isn't the leading GK cause he makes too many saves?

You have used the perfect example to disprove your point.

It's like saying DDG is one of the worst keepers in the league, as he's kept so few clean sheets! He must be appalling, he's has maybe three San sheets all season?

If you just use blunt stats like goals or clean sheets, you miss what's actually happening on the pitch.
 
Are you really saying he has a good record against the better sides in the league?

I've just had a look, and he's scored one goal against Everton and one against Chelsea in 1.5 seasons - that's poor. None against, Arsenal, City, Liverpool or Spurs.

That's 2 goals in 18 matches against the top 6 that's pathetic.

Source is

https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=56521&season_id=150

And your point is? I'd take him scoring against everyone else all day and every season.
 
So we should just ignore that he has scored against I think I’m correct in saying all the top sides in our league Chelsea, City,United,Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal and was the 2nd best goal scorer in the league behind Kane who had 5 penalties to Lukaku’s 1 and that turned out to be the GD between the 2.

If we want to look deeper Lukaku created more big chances, had more passes, made almost double the amount of crosses, far more passes per match and missed less big chances than Kane.

People don't seem to consider that last year he had half as many shots on goal as Kane and got half as many goals and then tie that in to how Jose made the team play. It's all down to Lukaku which is just wrong. There are definitely issues there, but it's not all on him.

This year Kane has had 70 shots and 14 goals, Lukaku has 31 and 8. Give him the chances and he will score.

Under Mou he wasn't getting the chances and a large part of that was the way Mou had us play.

You have to go back to the 11/12 season to find a season in which he had less shots at goal than he did for us last season. Think about that for a second. Every year he has played as a starter in the PL he has managed at least 97 shots at goal, when playing for Everton and West Brom. He comes to United and suddenly drops off a cliff and its all on him? Not buying it. Everyone would expect United to create more chances for a player, not less.

West Brom
12/13 - 97 shots 17 goals

Everton
13/14 - 101 shots 15 goals
14/15 - 105 shots 10 goals
15/16 - 118 shots 18 goals
16/17 - 110 shots 25 goals

Signs for United
17/18 - 86 shots 16 goals

Still plenty to work on for him and that has to be clear. But he's better than many give him credit for.
 
You have used the perfect example to disprove your point.

It's like saying DDG is one of the worst keepers in the league, as he's kept so few clean sheets! He must be appalling, he's has maybe three San sheets all season?

If you just use blunt stats like goals or clean sheets, you miss what's actually happening on the pitch.

....If I use 'blunt' stats like how many goals a striker gets, I'm missing something? I'm done.....
 
Apart from "these are the crappest 3 strikers I can think of", is there a reason why you picked those 3? I am none the wiser of what you expect because Akinbiyi, Kiwomya and Ormandroyd are 3 of the most different style strikers I can think of. There are virtually no similarities at all in their style of play.

It's like comparing Emile Heskey, Ian Wright and Peter Crouch.
Ok fair point but you could say any of the strikers playing for teams outside the top 6 would still have the same stats as Lukaku if playing for United. He does what I would expect any other striker in his position to do.

What he doesn't do is elevate Utd to the position we aspire to. If Ole can coach him and the team and it results in Utd doing well then great but I think his overall game lacks the finesse needed for where we want to be. As mentioned elsewhere the time to judge will be the end of the season. I still suspect there will be some painful games to watch between now and then if he has a regular starting role.

I appreciate Martial & Rashford have had their poor moments but it's clear to my eyes that they offer something out of the ordinary & if coached properly they will have the bigger long term impact
 
And your point is? I'd take him scoring against everyone else all day and every season.

Seriously! He's a £75m striker and he can't score against the top 6 clubs on the country. 2 in 18, might as well play with 10 men. He doesn't score against everyone else either - but let's park that.

Do you really think having a striker that scores 15-20 league goals per season and can only score against the bottom clubs in the league is what we need, and you are happy with that?!
 
Are you really saying he has a good record against the better sides in the league?

I've just had a look, and he's scored one goal against Everton and one against Chelsea in 1.5 seasons - that's poor. None against, Arsenal, City, Liverpool or Spurs.

That's 2 goals in 18 matches against the top 6 that's pathetic.

Source is

https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=56521&season_id=150
Are you just looking again at his time here in Manchester and not about the player he has been his whole career? He scored against City in both fixtures and Then Arsenal and Spurs in 1 season so he has scored against all the big teams so the narrative he’s only scores against cannon fodder is wrong.

https://www.transfermarkt.com/romelu-lukaku/leistungsdaten/spieler/96341/plus/0?saison=2016

Look at his entire career and not his time here under the Useless one.
 
....If I use 'blunt' stats like how many goals a striker gets, I'm missing something? I'm done.....

Well you utterly miss my point.

You used the example of DDG, and the usual measurement of a keeper is on clean sheets, and based on that he must be one of the worst keepers in the league - agree? But we all know he's one of the best.

Therefore, it's churlish just to use goals as a measure of a striker. Get it?
 
People don't seem to consider that last year he had half as many shots on goal as Kane and got half as many goals and then tie that in to how Jose made the team play. It's all down to Lukaku which is just wrong. There are definitely issues there, but it's not all on him.

This year Kane has had 70 shots and 14 goals, Lukaku has 31 and 8. Give him the chances and he will score.

Under Mou he wasn't getting the chances and a large part of that was the way Mou had us play.

You have to go back to the 11/12 season to find a season in which he had less shots at goal than he did for us last season. Think about that for a second. Every year he has played as a starter in the PL he has managed at least 97 shots at goal, when playing for Everton and West Brom. He comes to United and suddenly drops off a cliff and its all on him? Not buying it. Everyone would expect United to create more chances for a player, not less.

West Brom
12/13 - 97 shots 17 goals

Everton
13/14 - 101 shots 15 goals
14/15 - 105 shots 10 goals
15/16 - 118 shots 18 goals
16/17 - 110 shots 25 goals

Signs for United
17/18 - 86 shots 16 goals

Still plenty to work on for him and that has to be clear. But he's better than many give him credit for.
that 17/18 season he also played something like 15-20 games more than usual on top of that so it’s a lot worse than what you’ve got there.

In a nutshell, no one is saying he is Aguero or Suarez but in my eyes he’s easily capable of challenging Kane where it really matters and that is goal tally, I’m quite looking forward to see how this run until summer will go with him being allowed to make runs and have support and people to effect the game further up the pitch. If he plays I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores around 10-15 since Jose’s departure. Certainly needs to slim down a bit but that’ll just happen naturally with playing games I hope.
 
Don't be daft.....he can't control a football
That might be the secret as to why he scores so many goals. He is just trying to control it and by luck his rubbish control just ends up in the back of the net. I think we’ve solved it, close the thread.
 
Larsson was the consummate professional who effortlessly fit into a free scoring United team but you're overstating his 2 and a half month stint here
Those two months was the best football played in that era imo.
All I'm saying is we didn't need to play a mobile forward to get the best out of Ronaldo and Rooney. Their level of improvement was always going to happen and be sudden and Ruud being dropped had little to do with how they were utilised. They both just overlapped.
We won the league that year and Saha missed a large chunk of it through injury (scored one goal in the second half of that season) yet I bet nobody will claim we were rigid or slow going forward in that period without him.
 
Ok fair point but you could say any of the strikers playing for teams outside the top 6 would still have the same stats as Lukaku if playing for United. He does what I would expect any other striker in his position to do.

What he doesn't do is elevate Utd to the position we aspire to. If Ole can coach him and the team and it results in Utd doing well then great but I think his overall game lacks the finesse needed for where we want to be. As mentioned elsewhere the time to judge will be the end of the season. I still suspect there will be some painful games to watch between now and then if he has a regular starting role.

I appreciate Martial & Rashford have had their poor moments but it's clear to my eyes that they offer something out of the ordinary & if coached properly they will have the bigger long term impact

Everton were a top 8 team when Lukaku was there and he was easily their best player. Saying he's a cart horse and anyone would score those goals completely invalidates all of these arguments because it clearly is not true.

Does he have a heavy first touch and cause some attacking moves to break down? Of course. Will he cause the team to play with less fluidity? Yes. Have Rashford and Martial got more upside and better all round games? They absolutely do.

But Rashford and Martial are young inconsistent players and will go through spells where they are not ripping teams apart. It may even happen more often than not. When that happens (like at Newcastle) it will be extremely useful to have a big powerful pacy striker who can score goals. It gives the squad another dimension.
 
that 17/18 season he also played something like 15-20 games more than usual on top of that so it’s a lot worse than what you’ve got there.

In a nutshell, no one is saying he is Aguero or Suarez but in my eyes he’s easily capable of challenging Kane where it really matters and that is goal tally, I’m quite looking forward to see how this run until summer will go with him being allowed to make runs and have support and people to effect the game further up the pitch. If he plays I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores around 10-15 since Jose’s departure. Certainly needs to slim down a bit but that’ll just happen naturally with playing games I hope.

Those are only PL numbers so they are accurate for the sake of comparison but yeah I agree with you entirely. Trim down and get used to the new system and I think he'll bang them in.
 
Huge down grade from Kane.

Chelsea would take him but most likely because they've got a terrible CF.

PSG. Can't see it. Their style is too technical. Cavani is far better than Lukaku. As a squad player maybe.

Monaco? Sure. Really elite team that are.

Lukaku is a good CF but he's never going to be a top class one and is doesn't suit the technical football people want to see at a big club. As a squad player I'd be delighted to have him at United. As a starter, we need better. If Rashford can keep improving, the pair of them rotating if have the quality elsewhere to compensate may just work

Huge downgrade? Name one other number 9 the same age as Kane and Lukaku who's as adept at finishing in the premier league. If Spurs lost Kane do you think they'd be able to find a like for like replacement? They might not even be able to afford Lukaku. Chelsea will take him because they need a CF who scores on a regular basis. I can see him at PSG, he speaks French, is young and is an international star. He ticks a lot of boxes. Cavani is north of 30. Lukaku was linked with PSG at while he was at Everton by French media outlets. Sure that's not saying much, but like i've said again and again, Lukaku has always been courted by big clubs and there's no reason for that to stop should he leave OT.
 
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