Put it over the top of get it wide to him that's his game, ask him to link up play and you have wasted 90m. He was never going to take you to where you wanted.
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9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
So weird with all the sports scientists that work with him none seem to think he'd be more effective about 40 lbs lighter. He's basically the only striker with that body type at any major club in Europe.
If we can get at quality striker as a replacement for Lukaku we’ll start winning again. A good link up player who has a better technical ability, and the other technical players we have will perform better.
Something just isn’t right with him. He doesn’t fit in a utd team. We have never had a big immobile striker like him. He’s far off from a Drogba, which is how he is played here..
Something just isn’t right with him. He doesn’t fit in a utd team. We have never had a big immobile striker like him. He’s far off from a Drogba, which is how he is played here..
i didn't even realize he gained this much muscle through the years 
might be better off if he slims down a bit, especially since he doesn't seem to make the most of his weight
might be better off if he slims down a bit, especially since he doesn't seem to make the most of his weight
He must be sacrificing pace / acceleration for strength / power. I’m assuming that someone at the club has decided that this is a trade off worth making and that this isn’t just his decision.
I know, it’s shocking when put side by side. You can see it just in his face even before looking at body shape.i didn't even realize he gained this much muscle through the years
might be better off if he slims down a bit, especially since he doesn't seem to make the most of his weight
Lukaku gets pushed off the ball relatively easy for a guy his size. If he’s sacrificing aspects of his game for that type of flabby strength then that trade off is def not worth it
That’s truly awful! He looks fat and 53 years old.
He needs to drop 2 stone in my opinion.
Wow, just wow
To be honest it's a waste of 90m to spend that much on a player if he can only thrive off of crosses and balls over the top. Two of the easiest methods to defend against.
I agree with him.
Shame he can’t use that strength/power more effectively.
He was already huge when he joined United; most of the bulking up must have happened while he was at Everton. Still, he’s been at United well over a year now and has continued to get bigger, so presumably someone at the club is happy with it. Unlike Shaw under LvG!
I do too. My wow was directed to the picture. Apologies for the confusion.
Martinez is doing really well with Belgium to be fair. Playing great football.
Whilst I never wanted him here in the first place and still think we should upgrade its very telling that Romelu,Sanchez,Rashford,Martial,Mkhi and Pogba have all struggled under Jose and have all had periods where they have looked terrible.
Its also telling that Romelu bangs them in left right and centre for belgium yet looks absolutely hopeless for us.
Its also telling that Romelu bangs them in left right and centre for belgium yet looks absolutely hopeless for us.
He doesn't look fat at all. I cannot believe I'm about to say this but have you seen him shirtless ?
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He isn't fat at all, it's all muscle. Far too much of it.
He's built like a flanker in rugby, for feck sake.
He's built like a flanker in rugby, for feck sake.
27 is a bloody poor return in the number of matches he played. Just 16 in the league. He will fail to break the 30 mark this season, which is a major issue if you are looking for trophies and he's your number one goal getter. Wouldn't be an issue if other players spread the load but they don't.
Yeah it baffles me. You have to work hard to have that much mass given then amount of calories he burns everyday.
If was a beast in his play that would be one thing, but he largely plays like a poacher.
He has the look and body of a target man but plays like a poacher
I am completely sure that Mourinho has wanted him to work on his target game and part of that might have been to bulk up a bit. Muscle, not fat. Anyone in this thread that calls him fat is delusional btw...
Zlatan did the same when at Inter. You could easily have a before and after photo with Zlatan as well at the same ages and it would be even worse. Zlatan was a scrawny dude at Ajax tbf.
The difference is that Zlatan was able to carry with him his technique into a much bigger frame. Lukaku has not; or you can argue that he didnt have the technique to begin with, I guess.
I rate Lukaku as a player, but he will never be a #9 in a defensively oriented system like Mourinhos. His game is not playing with his back to the opponents goal and it will never be even if he puts on 10 kgs muscle more.
I am all for to keeping him around under a new more offensively oriented manager, but if we are going to play with a higher line and press he needs to slim down a bit or he will not have the stamina for it. Zlatan didnt make it at Barca under Guardiola just because of this and it will be the same for Lukaku under a new manager.
Lukaku needs to take up karate.
Zlatan is a black belt in tae kwon do, not karate if we are going to be all martial artsy)
In all seriousness though it looks as Lukaku could do well to work on his flexibility a bit if he is going to keep that weight on. Maybe he can calll Giggsy and ask about a good yoga teacher in Manchester....
Interesting.
I've googled photos of Zlatan at Ajax, and while he looks (relatively) scrawny, the comparison between then and now is nothing compared to Lukaku. I think you are right though; his bulking up has been at the cost of his mobility, yet he's never going to be a target man.
Some of the criticism of him on this thread has been ridiculously OTT, and needlessly personal. Maybe people are going overboard out of frustration that he's never subbed or dropped? It was the same with Rooney in LvG's second season, though the circumstances are obviously different.
He's likely working out like a bodybuilder not an endurance athlete. Sports trainers discourage excessive muscles and would have him focus on core strength not muscles like his traps.
Its OT, but the Zlatan comparison is interesting from many perspectives. There are stories of Zlatan gaining 10 kgs of muscle during his first season at Juventus. Which might ring some bells if you are a conspiracy theorist with that clubs history.
Thats irrelevant though, Zlatan did turn himself to one of the top target men that European football has seen. He was not even good at that part of the game at Malmö or Ajax. He bulked up, carried the weight and kept his technical abilities.
From what I have seen from Lukaku his weight gain hasnt helped with his hold-up play. And it has taken away quite a bit of his speed as well.
That is something that Zlatan didnt have to care about because he didnt have speed to begin with.
Agree but he was what we needed, but most Everton fans knew he would obviously score a lot of goals for you but not when it really mattered or was needed.But having said that I would take him back tomorrow.
I think it’s daft the criticism he gets off Everton fans. Has any other player hit the number of goals he scored in his 3 seasons with you?
I think he’s a good player playing with a team that doesn’t use his strengths properly.
Problem is his price tag. Much like Pogba, people assume when you pay £75m you get a player who performs every week, which he doesn’t.
We don't have matches that don't matter or where we don't need our striker to score, it's a different level of expectation being at United.
Not an expert, but I think Karate would help Lukaku more than TKD.
Karate deals with balance and composure, exploiting your centre of gravity strong enough to withstand physical pressures while retaining a composed body balance. Would help Lukaku's post play a lot. Taekwondo helps Zlatan in making those acrobatic kicks, and agile flexible body making use of that long leg and adventurous playstyle of his. Lukaku's down-to-earth basic playstyle doesn't need TKD.
So its almost like surrounding him with quality wide players and players with the balls to play through the lines gets the best out of him. What kind of sorcery is this?its almost like he hasn't missed guilt edge chances in every game for United this season. No sorcery just inconsistency in finishing
What striker could you not say this about? It is easy to score goals when they are gifted to you, a top quality striker does a lot more.
Indeed, it's crazy how the likes of Hazard, De Bruyne, Mertens and co. can make an average striker look good.
You do have matches that don't matter, and you can't expect your striker to score every game because if he could he would be at Madrid or Barca, it's got nothing to do with level of expectation.
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He didn't get hardly any criticism off our fans, we knew what he was, a very good goalscorer it wasn't about his 1st touch it was all about his last touch for us, by the by it was 90m
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I'd love to know, as somebody who isn't a united fan, which matches you think wouldn't matter to us?
I think you misunderstood or it was the way I put it, I didn't mean doesn't matter as in don't care, I meant doesn't matter as Huddersfield at home you know you will win whether he scores or not, I mean when you play City away and it's tough that's when you need him to slot and mostly be doesnt.
Not sure where the £90m came from except Sky? Everywhere I read was £75m plus add ons.
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