Romelu Lukaku image 9

Romelu Lukaku Belgium flag

2018-19 Performances

View full 2018-19 profile

4.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
45
Goals
15
Assists
3
Yellow cards
5
Status
Not open for further replies.
In a match we controlled and won 3-0, our CF somehow managed a 4/10
performance. Good run for the penalty was his only moment of note and even that involved him playing a simple pass behind Mata. Is Greenwood anywhere near being ready to start getting minutes when we need to rest Rashford?
 
Is it just me or are Martial and Pogba hesitant in passing it to Rom? He also looked clearly frustrated that he wasn't involved among the goals.
 
People defending him today remind me so much of the people that defended Mourinho. Just call a spade a spade, he's absolutely the worst striker i have seen in my time watching Utd. Cant control, cant pass, cant really head, not much energy and to top it off he isn't even that prolific. Defending players that are simply not good enough causes massive damage to the club in the long run, its much better to be open and honest and get rid of players that are so clearly out of depth in a Utd shirt. For those of you praising the 3rd goal, he's accidentally stumbled through a challenge, run in a straight line and then played a terrible pass behind Mata who has enough genuine ability to make something out of it.
 
Painfully out of form. Hand in the penalty otherwise was like playing with 10.
Needs to get a few flukes and hopefully kicks on from there.
 
kr0nix said:
I'm usually one of the first to lay into Rom but I thought he was okay, nothing exemplary, but his first touch seemed better today and he won his share of duels in the air too.

Maybe it's just a case of lowering my standards but I must say I'm a bit surprised to see this much criticism for him.
Click to expand...
I was going to say his touch today was quite good and a few times even sort of impressive I just think today if you’re not getting the ball then work your ass off and get it and today he seemed somewhat content to just play on the shoulder and wait for a ball way too often.

There was certainly good movement it’s just it was at times where to get the ball in to him would be really difficult and you can see Shaw looking at it multiple times to see if he can get that ball in as Lukaku is moving all over the place trying to create the chances and in fairness he did, the ball just wasn’t put in because it was a hard pass.

Realisticly Pogbas goal, Lukaku is there for that to be rolled across the box which was probably the better option than what Pogba did but if he did that then we are denied that moment of brilliance. Pretty sure he was there for the Martial goal as well and his work for the Mata pen was brilliant and what he is good at but Lukaku that was at Everton scores that himself on his left or right foot.

Anyway overall a bit of a weird one as if you watch him and don’t get carried away you can see that he is making multiple little runs or opening space for a ball to be played so he can go through and they are decent openings just not being taken but when that isn’t happening do other things like run the channels, hustle people as I just felt like he on a day where he should have been giving his all to make an impact did a lot of the right things but just not the effort in other areas to try and force himself in to the managers thoughts.
 
Art said:
Is it just me or are Martial and Pogba hesitant in passing it to Rom? He also looked clearly frustrated that he wasn't involved among the goals.
Click to expand...

He always looks hidden amongst the defenders. Don't know if he's just waiting to make runs or what but he sure doesn't make things happen.
 
Not much to discuss, he's not good enough. I have a feeling that not even the players around him trust him any more. I hope we can get at least 65-75% of the money we paid for him.
 
My abiding memory of his time here at United will be him giving a thumbs up for every pass he’s miscontrolled, mistimed his run for, been offside for, or just missed completely.
 
90 full minutes and only one moment of note.

His touch is poor
Aerial control is terrible and can’t judge a ball in the air
Movement and positioning is very poor, no channel runs and always in the wrong place

We played as if he wasn’t there at all.

I don’t think he can play through the middle for a top club, he can’t receive balls with one touch or transform a play with one touch passing, he has low agility and can’t turn on a dime, he’s always off position.. I’d say moving him to the right seems better.

So disappointing
 
This! People have been saying he has a weak technique and immobility which will get exposed soon, even under mourinho we wouldn't have expected to win anything with as striker. He needs to be offloaded first thing this summer.

TrustInJanuzaj said:
People defending him today remind me so much of the people that defended Mourinho. Just call a spade a spade, he's absolutely the worst striker i have seen in my time watching Utd. Cant control, cant pass, cant really head, not much energy and to top it off he isn't even that prolific. Defending players that are simply not good enough causes massive damage to the club in the long run, its much better to be open and honest and get rid of players that are so clearly out of depth in a Utd shirt. For those of you praising the 3rd goal, he's accidentally stumbled through a challenge, run in a straight line and then played a terrible pass behind Mata who has enough genuine ability to make something out of it.
Click to expand...
 
We paid 75m for this guy! It didn't feel that wrong at the time, but with benefit of hindsight, well...

Poor guy sticks out like a sore thumb in this team.
 
not sure he saw as much of the ball as De Gea did in open play

looking more and more like a striker who needs a new club
 
Absent in the 1st half, but ok in the 2nd.

I saw a better touch and hold up play, while he looked threatening when coming off the right flank. His pace is scary and he also played some good short passes to put players in.

Credit where credit is due, but he is still not performing to his price tag. Can be a useful squad player for the rest of the season (right flank not CF), bit I can't see him fitting into this new style of play
 
Anyone defending a £75m striker putting in a performance like that needs to take a good long look at themselves and have a think about whether that's really good enough for a club like United.
 
Offered very little, his passing and his hold up play are so poor, and he barely wins anything aerially, and when he does it's an aimless header. Even the one driving run he had he actually fecked up the pass and played it behind Mata who had to check his stride to control it. If we can get £50M in the summer we should take it and never look back.

Art said:
Is it just me or are Martial and Pogba hesitant in passing it to Rom? He also looked clearly frustrated that he wasn't involved among the goals.
Click to expand...

Yes, they were looking for each other all of the time, I don't think they trust playing the ball into his feet, because when Rashford or Lingard are in that position they don't just stick to playing it between themselves.
 
You really expect more from him in a game like this where we dominated and had so much space. It doesnt even have much to do with his reputation. A striker who wants to be an effective squad player at United simply has to be better. Hes so far off being good enough to be a starter at this point.
 
AndyJ1985 said:
Anyone defending a £75m striker putting in a performance like that needs to take a good long look at themselves and have a think about whether that's really good enough for a club like United.
Click to expand...

You always get that one angry, running against traffic guy looking for top red points in these situations, it's best just to ignore it.
 
Bola said:
Absent in the 1st half, but ok in the 2nd.

I saw a better touch and hold up play, while he looked threatening when coming off the right flank. His pace is scary and he also played some good short passes to put players in.

Credit where credit is due, but he is still not performing to his price tag. Can be a useful squad player for the rest of the season (right flank not CF), bit I can't see him fitting into this new style of play
Click to expand...

This is roughly how I feel. I didn't see him being completely useless in the second half, he played a key role in the third goal, but over the 90 minutes he did not offer anywhere near enough.

I thought the criticism he got from some quarters last season was out of order, when he wasn't scoring but playing well for the team, but he's having a very poor season without doubt.
 
If we somehow get a deal done with Chelsea, get CHO in exchange of him.
 
Ramshock said:
Yes because this one fecking game is all he has done for United
Click to expand...
How about all the games under Ole? He's literally had one decent game against Arsenal (even then people were reaching). Like I have repeated over and over, he doesn't get chances because he doesn't have the movement or have the technical ability to play for a top team. Ibrah got slaughtered on these boards but I would have given my left hand to see him play instead of Lukaku today even at his age because the gulf in class between those two is simply unimaginable and we paid 75 million for the privilege!

I would genuinely like to ask you what you think Lukaku brought to the game today (excluding the assist because I've covered that in my previous post) and also what his main attributes are going forward?
 
Watching him today really made me understand why it went wrong for JM's team. His off the ball work isn't enough, he often stands still and waiting for the ball to feet, but doesn't have good enough technical abilities to produce quick following football once he receives it.

The annoying thing is he doesn't make enough runs and doesn't stretch the opposition defence enough, under JM as the focal point our football was just too predictable and well organise defences could just shut the door on us.

Rashford doesn't have the experience of Lukaku, but with a higher technical ability and willingness to run in behind, it really gives other teams more to think about.
Lukaku will need to raise his game as he isn't a starter in this team any more and playing from the right is the only place I can see for him in this team as his technical abilities are clearly not good enough.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
People defending him today remind me so much of the people that defended Mourinho. Just call a spade a spade, he's absolutely the worst striker i have seen in my time watching Utd. Cant control, cant pass, cant really head, not much energy and to top it off he isn't even that prolific. Defending players that are simply not good enough causes massive damage to the club in the long run, its much better to be open and honest and get rid of players that are so clearly out of depth in a Utd shirt. For those of you praising the 3rd goal, he's accidentally stumbled through a challenge, run in a straight line and then played a terrible pass behind Mata who has enough genuine ability to make something out of it.
Click to expand...

It should be noted that the people in here who are defending Lukaku most vehemently were also Mourinho’s staunchest defenders, right up to the day he was sacked.
 
I’ve never been a big fan of Lukaku but in fairness to him making the adjustment to being a squad cannot easy for him.
 
Lukaku has always been a muscular lad but he looks way too bulky and cumbersome at the moment. This doesnt help with his already poor first touch and for a strong player his bulk means he wins few arial balls as he never seems to get of the ground properly with the weight. It no doubt also impacts his stamina over the course of 90 minutes. A slightly slimmed down version would be a different prospect. He's not the first player to pile on the muscle whilst at the club - what do the training/dietetic team at the club actually do ?
 
I wanted to give him a chance but he's shown nothing for me in a game against relegation fodder. He just doesn't suit the type of football we're playing under ole. For what we've paid what does he even offer at the moment. I'd rather see us sell him in the summer and use the money for a rw.
 
Huge mission for Ole to adjust him to the need of greater football of this club.

Not giving up on him just yet.
 
I think it's fair to say at this point, the idea you can't play good football with someone with Lukaku up top has proven not to be true. That was the major fear when we bought him and it turns out, the style of football you play isn't actually defined by one player, regardless of where that one player plays. And strikers in particular can be irrelevant in every aspect of the game except in front of goal, while the team plays great football regardless. Unfortunately Lukaku's irrelevant in every aspect of the game including in front of goal.

No idea why so many are saying he's a completely different player now. He was always extremely limited, clumsy and inactive. If he didn't have all of these limitations Chelsea would never have sold him in the first place. Anyone that didn't think we were taking a risk on him must have only watched the highlights.
 
Manages to look out of place in a game where we're cruising against the worst side in the league....

No chance he's still a United player 2 years from now. No chance at all.
 
Gordon S said:
We paid 75m for this guy! It didn't feel that wrong at the time, but with benefit of hindsight, well...

Poor guy sticks out like a sore thumb in this team.
Click to expand...

Felt awfully wrong from the day one for some of us but people like to speak according to the stats and not what's in front of their eyes. Last year when i said i prefer Martial or Rashford as a striker to him some people found it bizarre. He was never a 75m player. Never. I can't fault the guys effort but he does not belong to that level. Simple as that. If you put him in a 6th-8th team like Everton where he's the main man and play to his strengths he will get you goals but that's it. I'm sorry but he doesn't belong to top level. I just hope we cut our losses in the summer and move on.
 
He is having an off season, that happens, and it didn't help Ole coming in with a system that isn't suiting him at all. He must be under extreme pressure and i feel for him, you can see he is trying but it just isn't working for him at the minute. He looks a bit heavy, no?

There's a good player in there though and he need to play in a system that suit his strengths but sadly i don't think it's here.

Seems a top guy and i hope he can turn it around!
 
Because Rashford is such an all action player, it means it looks like Lukaku isn't doing anything when he plays. He needs to make himself more busy but he just isn't that type of player, unfortunately.
 
Art said:
Is it just me or are Martial and Pogba hesitant in passing it to Rom? He also looked clearly frustrated that he wasn't involved among the goals.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking watching that game, they seemed to be ignoring him. His movement is absolutely terrible also. Ruins our attack really.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.