I'd have Toni in the same bracket as Forlan, Makaay and Klose, tbh.
Romelu Lukaku | Napoli watch
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Just saw a stat saying that Lukaku is the first player since Il Fenomeno Ronaldo to score 20 league goals in Serie A for Inter. I mean what were the likes of Zlatan and co doing. It can't be right, could it?
That's wrong, Zlatan scored 25 league goals in 2008/09.
In a debut season perhaps?
I think that sums it up nicely. A transfer that worked out well for everyone involved. I’m glad it’s working out well for him and usually don’t like to see players do well after leaving us. Just feels like he could never be what we need/want but would still a useful player for some other club.
First since R9 to score 20 in their first 30 games apparently.
@Aboutreika18 @ArmchairCritic I thought so. That particular stat felt incredibly off to me.
Makes a lot more sense.
Makes a lot more sense.
He's not pointing where he wants the ball he's saying "Thats where I would be, if I could be arsed to run"
Quality player, who would have thunk it
Maybe it's just me, but when you have a competent midfield that can create chances, instead of asking your striker to create chances out of thin air, then your strikers suddenly look great...
Nah that's nonsense.
didn’t realise everything had to be put on a plate for him to score. Mind you, you put any amount of food on a player and clearly he eats it.
1 goal in 23 games against the top 6 shows he’s far from a quality player. Complete failure, and it’s all down to his lack to professionalism, fitness and woeful first touch. I’m not sure how you can blame the midfield for his complete inadequacies.
Despite his lack of professionalism and match fitness, his antics ; and not to forget his terrible misses for simple tap ins and sitters, horrible touch and completely missing performance against top 6; I bear no ill will against Lukaku.
Now, Angel Di Maria on the other hand. I dislike him to the core, but that is for another thread.
My only wish is that we draw Inter in the Europa, We whoop them over the 2 legs (or 1 leg whichever it is) and Lukaku misses numerous tap ins and sitters while ourfront 3 scores a hattrick each.
We recouped most of Lukaku's transfer fee from Inter, and it was a good move for both parties.
It would be even better if we get bonuses for Lukaku's performance at Inter.
Ora signor Conte, se stai leggendo il Red Cafe, Alexis Sanchez è persino meglio di Romelu Lukaku.
Compralo in fretta, abbiamo bisogno dei soldi per Jadon Sancho che è inutile a differenza di Lukaku.
Now, Angel Di Maria on the other hand. I dislike him to the core, but that is for another thread.
My only wish is that we draw Inter in the Europa, We whoop them over the 2 legs (or 1 leg whichever it is) and Lukaku misses numerous tap ins and sitters while ourfront 3 scores a hattrick each.
We recouped most of Lukaku's transfer fee from Inter, and it was a good move for both parties.
It would be even better if we get bonuses for Lukaku's performance at Inter.
Ora signor Conte, se stai leggendo il Red Cafe, Alexis Sanchez è persino meglio di Romelu Lukaku.
Compralo in fretta, abbiamo bisogno dei soldi per Jadon Sancho che è inutile a differenza di Lukaku.
Maybe it's just me (I could be a simpleton on this topic), but maybe your strikers look better when your team is real good at creating chances. Maybe, if I go into the Martial thread, there is a noticeable before/after effect corresponding to the acquisition of Bruno and the return of Pogba, where before was many people saying he should be upgraded on, and after was many people declaring our striker issues solved. Maybe the likes of Lingard and Periera were castigated for this very reason. Ditto for Wan Bissaka and Shaw.
pretty sure Rashford, Greenwood and Martial were all doing well before Bruno came along.
would you really want Lukuku at the club? He’s simply not good enough.
Lukaku had the benefit of playing with Pogba in his first season though and he still only got 16 league goals in a season where we came comfortably 2nd. We've definitely improved with the addition of Bruno and even more so after the break with Pogba and Rashford coming back but I'd say that Martial/Greenwood/Rashford had a worse midfield to deal with for the first 6 months of this season compared to what Lukaku had when he was here and all three have better goal per minute ratios than Romelu had even before Bruno arrived.
He's the third top goalscorer in the fourth best league in Europe. Quality is a subjective term so you're welcome to it, but he proved he wasn't United quality while he was here.
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Pretty sure we had the same players then as we do now?
Rashford - Check
Martial - Check
Pogba - Check
He was simply crap for us! The warming touch of Jimmy Saville, clumsy and routinely missed chance laid on for him.
I don't want to face them. Think lukaku can punnish us and Sanchez might be able to play too.
Rather let them play Wolves and bore each other to death with 3-5-2 formation.
Keeping Lukaku would've meant less minutes for greenwood and for martial at 9, who I think is a better allround 9 than Lukaku.
Add to it that if you don't give him minutes he starts sulking and trash talking his own mates.
We wouldn't be certain top 4 with him and by no regards title challengers, so I think letting him go and planning for the future with Greenwood was undoubtedly the right call.
Add to it that if you don't give him minutes he starts sulking and trash talking his own mates.
We wouldn't be certain top 4 with him and by no regards title challengers, so I think letting him go and planning for the future with Greenwood was undoubtedly the right call.
He was crap the second season apart from 1 week with 6 goals and knocking PSG out, but I thought he was pretty good the first season. Had a nightmare vs City though in the first game.
The problem Lukaku has at United is the first manager wanted him to play back to goal and be a target man to which his touch isn't good enough to do and his second manager wanted him to press the opposition defence which he doesn't have the stamina to do
He's a very limited player who's only able to thrive in a one specific system which is the one both Everton and Inter deploy
It was expected he will score a lot in Italy. Happy to see him succeed.
Even in a what if scenario, his bulked up structure and his lousy first touch would have been a problem for our Ole ball though. Besides he kind of wanted to leave from his second game (his words)
Even in a what if scenario, his bulked up structure and his lousy first touch would have been a problem for our Ole ball though. Besides he kind of wanted to leave from his second game (his words)
He’s got double figures in the league for 8 straight years, he’s a quality player.
A one dimensional kick & run merchant but he got 12 league goals with Timberlands on last season - bad players don’t do that.
Congrats to Ed & Co. for recouping the fee they did.
A one dimensional kick & run merchant but he got 12 league goals with Timberlands on last season - bad players don’t do that.
Congrats to Ed & Co. for recouping the fee they did.
Don't think he would have fit the new style that Ole has built at the club. I don't hate on him as so many others do on here - but he will score lots of goals in his career.
Unfortunately for him, his weaknesses just were not a good fit for Ole's approach for United. A lot of our interplay in the final 3rd would have broken down with his first touch. Equally he would have scored more in a team that is supported by Bruno and Pogba.
What irks me is the level of useless dross he comes up with when asked about his time at United.
Unfortunately for him, his weaknesses just were not a good fit for Ole's approach for United. A lot of our interplay in the final 3rd would have broken down with his first touch. Equally he would have scored more in a team that is supported by Bruno and Pogba.
What irks me is the level of useless dross he comes up with when asked about his time at United.
In all honesty, from what I've seen of Lukaku there isn't much he's done in Italy that we don't already know about. He's continued to put goals past shit sides and continued to look out of place against better ones. Had he stayed he'd have provided a useful option, but Igahlo has been able to provide that withoit any of the baggage that comes with Lukaku.
He’s a decent goal scorer but definitely not right for us. Ole made the correct decision to move him on when he did.
People who think he’s quality, is any real top club going to want him? Let’s say he was on the market, fee irrelevant for this hypothetical. Which Premier League club would be interested? Out of the current top six, maybe Wolves. I’m not even sure Leicester would take him, the other four certainly wouldn’t want him. Which top clubs in Europe would take him? Can’t see any of the big teams in Spain or Germany wanting him, PSG no as well. So how “quality” is this guy, really? His goal record is good but he’s hardly ever there when you need him.
People who think he’s quality, is any real top club going to want him? Let’s say he was on the market, fee irrelevant for this hypothetical. Which Premier League club would be interested? Out of the current top six, maybe Wolves. I’m not even sure Leicester would take him, the other four certainly wouldn’t want him. Which top clubs in Europe would take him? Can’t see any of the big teams in Spain or Germany wanting him, PSG no as well. So how “quality” is this guy, really? His goal record is good but he’s hardly ever there when you need him.
I think a large part of my dislike of Lukaku was how that first manager used him. In the right role against the right teams hes clearly valuable, he's just not suited to a lot of games. He'd be a great squad player but you wouldn't want him to be an automatic starter.
He's a run-of-the-mill striker on the highest level.
Which is nice - not bad at all. Good luck to him at Inter, etc.
To even suggest that we shouldn't have sold him, however, is - well, wrong.
We are clearly better off without him.
Which is nice - not bad at all. Good luck to him at Inter, etc.
To even suggest that we shouldn't have sold him, however, is - well, wrong.
We are clearly better off without him.
Of course it is a fair point that our forwards look better when they are getting better supply, that is a universal truism in football. Not sure how anyone can argue with you on that. What is also true is that Lukaku always looked far off being a United striker. Even when other forwards performed, he rarely did. His all round game is dreadful, but he is a useful poacher. Against top opposition he was always very easily nullified. His record against the top six is demonstrable of this, while Rashford's for example is very good under the same conditions. It is no surprise that he is knocking in goals in Serie A where the quality of opposition is inherently weaker. It's a good transfer for Inter and the way Conte likes to play. For United, Ole is all about having a fluid front three, with high technical ability, and the ability to play rapidly on the counter. Romelu is antithetical to this approach.
Ahh im so happy we got rid of this guy. A striker for the small games.
I don't know what the bolded means
Against top opposition he wasn't the lone underperformer dragging down the rest of the team. I don't recall too many games where he was an actual detriment (City at Old Trafford), but I do recall him providing a key assist to Rashford against Tottenham or Liverpool. Rashford has a great scoring record against the top 6, granted, but that's just one aspect of being a top scorer. All of our strikers, Rashford, Martial and Lukaku, have had dips in performances and have all been questioned and criticized leading up to Ole's arrival.
Yeah he's a poacher. So if you are buying a poacher, what are you supposed to do? Devoid him of supply and hope he can magically convert chances at rates far higher than the league average? Our chance creation was pitiful throughout his time here. And it was just a microcosm of our idiotic transfer "strategy" mostly carried out by Woodward
I agree he's not suited for Ole's style of play and he's found a club with high ambitions he can start at, and by any rational metric he's having a good starting season. Meanwhile we have a young bunch of forwards who can play in Ole's style, and we've finally sorted out our chance creation problem with more to come (maybe Sancho?). It's a happy ending for everyone
If we make the CL then it's all good but he was badly missed while we were in the bottom half of the Premier League, no Martial, Rashford struggling on his own up front and carrying a back problem which he fell foul to. We dropped a huge amount of points in the first half of the season.
With the covid-19 we wouldn't be getting our money back though so that aspect has also worked out well but ideally we could've used Lukaku to sure up the first half of the season and ease in Mason over Rom, have more points and sell him for 60 mill while making sure we get the CL money, which is what 30 mill min. If we miss the CL again it won't look so good but still the future seems good even if we do.
With the covid-19 we wouldn't be getting our money back though so that aspect has also worked out well but ideally we could've used Lukaku to sure up the first half of the season and ease in Mason over Rom, have more points and sell him for 60 mill while making sure we get the CL money, which is what 30 mill min. If we miss the CL again it won't look so good but still the future seems good even if we do.
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Remember all the Muppets saying Ole doesn't know what he's doing Lukaku should have stayed .
What a great decision to sell him . He will always score goals but with a negative effect to any team trying to play a decent brand of football
What a great decision to sell him . He will always score goals but with a negative effect to any team trying to play a decent brand of football
Past United strikers/CF in the PL - Hughes, Cantona, Yorke, Cole, Ole, RVN, Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, RVP. I'm sure I'm missing one or two, but the main similarity is that all of these players had the technical ability and matching winning skill to feed off scraps and be the difference. These players played football and could succeed in a variety of styles, no questions asked because their technical ability allowed them to do that. Make something out of nothing not only for yourself but your teammates. Lukaku never had the technical quality a proper United CF/striker has had. Martial has more technical quality than Lukaku in one foot than Rom's two feet combined. That's just a fact. Rom is arguably the better and more natural goal scorer compared to Martial, but you have to do more than just score goals now unless you're Lewandowski. Rom could pass and cross with his left foot well at times, but Martial is the better dribbler, quicker feet (much quicker), links up better in tight spaces, can shoot better from range. Rom is the better header of the ball, makes powerful runs into the box, and can finish well.
We could never have played the fluid, interchangeable front three that Ole wanted had he stayed. An absolute priority for Ole was getting rid of Lukaku and now we can see why.
I really wanted him here as at the time I was fully behind Jose and I believed he would improve Lukaku as a player. For me, Lukaku's spell here is best forgotten as he was pretty meh in all honesty and had a very questionable attitude. He's just not an elite level striker in today's modern game and no top sides would accommodate him.
I really wanted him here as at the time I was fully behind Jose and I believed he would improve Lukaku as a player. For me, Lukaku's spell here is best forgotten as he was pretty meh in all honesty and had a very questionable attitude. He's just not an elite level striker in today's modern game and no top sides would accommodate him.
You can't really lay the blame at Woodward's feet when he is buying the players the manager wants. It is also worth noting that having three fluid forwards means that they create chances for each other. Lukaku was capable of swinging in the odd decent cross, but his general approach play was appalling, which is why he's been moved on. He only would've been an impact sub here. Yes our play wasn't as good before, but Lukaku was also part of that problem, rather than just a victim of it. Mourinho wanted a big target man and signed Lukaku. Generally a terrible transfer because despite his size, Lukaku has terrible ball control and his hold up play was shocking. When Ole came in, Lukaku gradually lost his place, and we look infinitely better since his departure.
Good post. About as balanced as you can get in a thread as toxic as this one.
i would love this aswell. Only thing is with no fans there he might play ok.
Why don't We just use the money from his sale to fund Sancho? We replaced him with a player from academy.
"Since [second game for United] I imagined how it would feel to leave the club."
So did I....
So did I....
I think everyone saw the title thread and had the same thought. But you've been the only one with the balls to actually type the intellectually simplest response.