Romelu Lukaku | Napoli watch

[Rozay]

Is the lukaku hatred because hes a ex-utd player? There are some myopic views on this thread. Some of the comments have been; Inter not being a big club. Zlatan wasnt rated in his younger years. Lukaku not good enough for the elite clubs. Myopic british views of players and teams based abroad.

Regardless of his time at Utd, hes a top striker, who puts the ball in the net. Goals win you games. He may not be everyones cup of tea but he gets goals. Goals against any opposition is important. He works on his game and often stays behind after training to do more work. Did that at Utd. He went to italy because he wanted to test himself in a different league and improve. Italy is still the toughest league to score in due to the defensive nature of the football and the league.

Take the ten of so biggest teams in europe: juventus, AC, Inter, Barca, Real, Atletico, PSG, Bayern, Man Utd, City, Liverpool, Chelsea. The only team you couldnt see lukaku playing for and starting for would be Barcelona and Real Madrid. Thats more to do with the type of football they play.

Would be interested to see what belgium and inter fans not on here think of him. Theres clearly a anti-lukaku agenda on here. Which is a shame as it would be nice to be able to dicuss him without prejudice and bias.

This is basically it in a nutshell. The entire thread reads like an attempt to rationalise/validate an irrational hatred by masking it in genuine ‘facts’ - majority of which, if held under a magnifying glass, do ot hold up.

For what it’s worth, I’m no Lukaku lover by a long stretch myself, but I appreciate what he offers, and this thread is a clear effort to discredit what he offers due to simply not liking him.

 

[Rozay]

You've just spun the argument yourself! The point made was that for us (the collective us referring to United) he was a flat-track bully. How good a player does for another club in an entirely different context is arbitrary when debating a player's effectiveness for United. 23 games is a perfectly legitimate sample size to assess his performances. His renaissance in Italy doesn't steer away from the fact that for United he didn't cut the mustard. He's a good player that can score goals but he wasn't able to do it efficiently and consistently well enough for us. It really is as simple as that.

But he hasn’t been a United player for two years. I’m not spinning any argument at all. Many have clearly tried to discredit his achievements at Inter, and discredit the claims of some that he is one of the world’s top strikers by arguing that either Serie A doesn’t count, or that he is a flat-track bully. More than one poster has tried to spin recent goals against AC or Lazio as less relevant for whatever reason. Many have questioned his European record over the entirety of his career. And I can go on and on. So the conversation, not by a long stretch, has not been about Lukaku’s two years at United. If that were the case, the conversation would have ended two years ago, and wouldn’t have daily updates attempting to discredit everything he does!

 

[lsd]

Lukaku is clearly a top striker who has scored consistently and against anyone despite what people try to say.

Ole made a huge mistake in trusting Martial over him i cannot believe anyone can still dispute that.

By all means if Ole did not want him then let him go but he should have replaced him with a proper number nine which Martial will never be and that has proven to be the case we would be so much better off with Lukaku leading our line than Martial thats for sure

I wish Lukaku all the best and really enjoy watching him prove his haters wrong time and time again.

 

[Rozay]

So is this thread still getting spammed with people bitching and moaning about other people criticizing Lukaku?

Imagine in this entire conversation, the people defending Lukaku’s achievements being dismissed as the ‘spammers’!

 

[mu4c_20le]

I wish Lukaku all the best and really enjoy watching him prove his haters wrong time and time again.

It's not healthy to live your life through another person. I can't speak for anyone else but personally I just think he is incredibly sensitive to criticism, which makes it more hilarious to watch him fail than succeed. The thing is though, most people predicted he would do well over there, so it's odd that there are constantly people gloating in this thread as if it's a surprise.

 

[roonster09]

The entire thread reads like an attempt to rationalise/validate an irrational hatred by masking it in genuine ‘facts’

Imagine in this entire conversation, the people defending Lukaku’s achievements being dismissed as the ‘spammers’!

Contradicting posts.

So Lukaku defenders are spammers and people criticizing Lukaku are haters.

 

[MalcolmTucker]

Wasn't @Rozay the guy who bowled into this thread and tried to claim people who didn't rate Lukaku as racists?

Tbf to Lukaku, I've watched him a handful of times this season and on a couple of occasions he actually played very well, even his first touch and link up play - he's always capable of a complete shank but he does look much better than he ever looked for us, where he was absolutely awful for the most part.

 

[cyberman]

Lukaku is clearly a top striker who has scored consistently and against anyone despite what people try to say.

Ole made a huge mistake in trusting Martial over him i cannot believe anyone can still dispute that.

By all means if Ole did not want him then let him go but he should have replaced him with a proper number nine which Martial will never be and that has proven to be the case we would be so much better off with Lukaku leading our line than Martial thats for sure

I wish Lukaku all the best and really enjoy watching him prove his haters wrong time and time again.

Martial isnt having a good goal scoring season but the way he holds the ball up is essential in bringing Bruno further up the pitch and into goal scoring positions and his quick feet and interplay with Rashford and Shaw opens up the left side for us.
Lukaku does none of that. Well done on scoring goals in Italy and I hope they win the title but playing in Italy and for the gold fish bowl that is United are 2 different things.
So much attacking moves broke down for us with his shit passing, touch and hold up play. His position became untenable because of it.

 

[NotThatSoph]

Wasn't @Rozay the guy who bowled into this thread and tried to claim people who didn't rate Lukaku as racists?

Tbf to Lukaku, I've watched him a handful of times this season and on a couple of occasions he actually played very well, even his first touch and link up play - he's always capable of a complete shank but he does look much better than he ever looked for us, where he was absolutely awful for the most part.

No, but you're one of those who lied about it back then and now you're doing it again.

 

[Rozay]

Contradicting posts.

So Lukaku defenders are spammers and people criticizing Lukaku are haters.

Okay mate.

I’ll step out and leave you all with your pitchforks. You can have one big ‘we all hate Lukaku’ Internet convention, good luck to you all.

 

[90 + 5min]

172 pages and near 7000 posts for a player that left us? Oh my.

When will Djemba Djemba get this kind of attention? Or Ronny Johnsen?

 

[Jim Beam]

I’ll step out and leave you all with your pitchforks. You can have one big ‘we all hate Lukaku’ Internet convention, good luck to you all.

Thanks!

 

[evil_geko]

So some fancy stats in Italy and people forget about his shit touch and hold up? Ok.

 

[Loon]

I can’t remember if he ever said anything negative about United. If not, good luck to him.

 

[MalcolmTucker]

No, but you're one of those who lied about it back then and now you're doing it again.

Yes he was. He claimed that people wouldn't call him a donkey if he was white, when it's obvious that everyone calls him a donkey because he has a terrible first touch.

 

[stevoc]

Imagine in this entire conversation, the people defending Lukaku’s achievements being dismissed as the ‘spammers’!

Is that what i did? How do you know i was referring to any of your posts?

For the record i'm talking about those who don't actually engage in any sort of discussion but just pop into to moan about the thread. You know the type.

 

[Handré1990]

172 pages and near 7000 posts for a player that left us? Oh my.

When will Djemba Djemba get this kind of attention? Or Ronny Johnsen?

That’s a pretty nasty insult to Ronny Johnsen but yeah, imagine pining after Lukaku?

 

[romufc]

Lukaku is clearly a top striker who has scored consistently and against anyone despite what people try to say.

Ole made a huge mistake in trusting Martial over him i cannot believe anyone can still dispute that.

By all means if Ole did not want him then let him go but he should have replaced him with a proper number nine which Martial will never be and that has proven to be the case we would be so much better off with Lukaku leading our line than Martial thats for sure

I wish Lukaku all the best and really enjoy watching him prove his haters wrong time and time again.

Well he did try to sign Haaland last January.

 

[roonster09]

Okay mate.

I’ll step out and leave you all with your pitchforks. You can have one big ‘we all hate Lukaku’ Internet convention, good luck to you all.

So all the moral high ground and then accuse other side of the argument as haters.

Well you can hug and kiss your Lukaku posters, couldn't care less. This is Lukaku thread, just like every player this player will have posters who doubts him and posters who love him.

fecking hell, forget player who acted like a twat, missing preseason training to force a move, we have Bruno who has won close to 50% of player of the month awards and still we have ManUtd posters who criticize him whenever he has couple of poor games.

 

[stevoc]

172 pages and near 7000 posts for a player that left us? Oh my.

When will Djemba Djemba get this kind of attention? Or Ronny Johnsen?

Probably would have petered out long ago if there weren't so many popping in all the the time to fight the good fight for Rom.

Also Ronny Johnsen was actually a very good player for United, doesn't belong in a comparison with Djemba x2.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Well he did try to sign Haaland last January.

He also didn't replace him with Martial. The idea was to play a more fluid front three with Rashford also chipping in more goals, as well as bringing up a prodigious talent in Greenwood. Cavani was later brought in to add experience and squad depth.

 

[90 + 5min]

That’s a pretty nasty insult to Ronny Johnsen but yeah, imagine pining after Lukaku?

Haha. Don't get me wrong. Ronny Johnsen was excellent and should have more attention and credit.

Djemba Djemba not so, but one of greatest name ever in our team?

 

[90 + 5min]

Probably would have petered out long ago if there weren't so many popping in all the the time to fight the good fight for Rom.

Also Ronny Johnsen was actually a very good player for United, doesn't belong in a comparison with Djemba x2.

Don't get me wrong. Johnsen was excellent according to me.

Djemba, well. His name was lot better and cooler then his overall play.

 

[Tony247]

Hypothetically, given an option, do I want to see him playing for united again?

Noooooooooo!

 

[NotThatSoph]

Yes he was. He claimed that people wouldn't call him a donkey if he was white, when it's obvious that everyone calls him a donkey because he has a terrible first touch.

No, he didn't. He said that he believes that overall Lukaku would have been spoken of differently if he were white. He never said that no one would call him a donkey, and he never said that people not rating him are racist. You lied about it then and you're doing it again now. The only alternative is that you have some serious issues with reading, in which case I apologize.

 

[rotherham_red]

Lukaku is clearly a top striker who has scored consistently and against anyone despite what people try to say.

Ole made a huge mistake in trusting Martial over him i cannot believe anyone can still dispute that.

By all means if Ole did not want him then let him go but he should have replaced him with a proper number nine which Martial will never be and that has proven to be the case we would be so much better off with Lukaku leading our line than Martial thats for sure

I wish Lukaku all the best and really enjoy watching him prove his haters wrong time and time again.

That's an argument borne out of recency bias and hindsight. I highly doubt you were saying that at the end of last season when he finished as our top scorer and his all round play helped to bring out the best of Rashford and Greenwood, and even at the time that Lukaku and Ole's time overlapped, you could see we played our best football with him not being the CF. Martial was given the chance to stake his claim once Lukaku left, and he eventually took it last season.

This season however, he has had, for the first time in his career, a really prolonged period of poor performances in front of goal. Previously, even when he was at his most anonymous or frustrating, the finishing by and large never truly deserted him.

I'm sure Martial will come back to form eventually. Whether that will be enough for him to be first choice is another matter, as it seems the inconsistency in performances and application/endeavour is something that he still hasn't gotten over and he is now coming to the point where he needs to be at it every week.

On Lukaku, he's a limited but very effective player in the right setup. But he really isn't much cop beyond that. He had a promising first season (particularly towards the end, where even though he wasn't scoring much, his all-round play was improving) but he very quickly burned through all the good credit he assembled with his piss poor displays and overall lack of application in his second season. His subsequent interviews since leaving the club tell me he's a man who is extremely sensitive and he's someone who has an inflated sense of his own worth. Good luck to him out in Italy, but I'm not missing him at all, and by all accounts, he was a colossal prick in the training ground once Jose left.

 

[Matt851]

Clearly a very good player even if it doesn't work out for him at united

Don't want him back but happy for him

Helps that he has realised its not a good idea to be built like a bodybuilder if you want to play football and that Conte isn't using him as some sort of Heskey mark 2

 

[romufc]

He also didn't replace him with Martial. The idea was to play a more fluid front three with Rashford also chipping in more goals, as well as bringing up a prodigious talent in Greenwood. Cavani was later brought in to add experience and squad depth.

Its all well and good in hindsight saying Martial isnt good enough but last season he showed he could do a job.

The problem is we have not had a consistent front 3 that are either fit or in form together. Its always been 1/3 in form which is annoying.

 

[Jim Beam]

He said that he believes that overall Lukaku would have been spoken of differently if he were white.

So, he did put the underlying thought that there are some racist issues in overall thinking when it comes to Lukaku. Like he does with Pogba. How nice of him.

 

[NotThatSoph]

So, he did put the underlying thought that there are some racist issues in overall thinking when it comes to Lukaku. Like he does with Pogba. How nice of him.

Yes, or how maybe there is something to how Sterling or Greenwood gets portrayed in the media compared to white players. That doesn't mean that you can't criticize Sterling or Greenwood without being racist, no functioning person would interpret it that way. Liars would pretend to.

 

[Matt851]

Yes, or how maybe there is something to how Sterling or Greenwood gets portrayed in the media compared to white players. That doesn't mean that you can't criticize Sterling or Greenwood without being racist, no functioning person would interpret it that way. Liars would pretend to.

Yep

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Good centre forward before we bought him.
Good centre forward when he played for us.
Good centre forward after he left.

He’s always going to score goals. He’s a good centre forward. Never in that top bracket of those you’d pick for a tough chance in a Champions League Final if it was to be your only one. But that’s rare in itself.

His ability and goal record is probably around the same as someone like Robbie Keane. Really good footballers both.

 

[Zlatan 7]

If he was playing in Serie A from 90's to mid 00's, he'd have been chased out by now. Not even on the same page to many of the greats on the Serie A charts and thats when Defenders in that league were the best in the world.

I totally agree, I meant the recent serie A top scorer stars

 

[Jim Beam]

Yes, or how maybe there is something to how Sterling or Greenwood gets portrayed in the media compared to white players. That doesn't mean that you can't criticize Sterling or Greenwood without being racist, no functioning person would interpret it that way. Liars would pretend to.

My general feeling is that there are no racist issues with pretty much any person when it comes to Lukaku. So, when someone goes with that route it is actually offensive.

It has everything to do with the way he left the club, missed the preseason, was fully out of shape and then had the cheek to point the blame in other direction once he was no more here even saying he wanted to leave after first few days while putting £250,000 in his pocket every week. The criticism about the lack of technical ability and his playing style was always there.

Now, pretty much any logically thinking person would connect those dots as the crux of the problem in overall feelings towards Lukuku and not the one he went after. Rooney was under the barrage of personal abuse after the way he went with his contract renewal. In fact, he was physically threatened. It also hadn't anything to do with his skin color like it's not the case here. Anyway, free speach and all that, so he is free to go after any train of thought he likes to, but it doesn't make it any less bs in my opinion.

Not sure what Sterling and Greenwood media portrait have to do with any of the above tbh.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Okay mate.

I’ll step out and leave you all with your pitchforks. You can have one big ‘we all hate Lukaku’ Internet convention, good luck to you all.

Good on you. How can someone so vehemently want to defend lukaku, he was shit for us and a good laugh now when he fecks it as he thinks he’s so good. That’s all there is to it for me

 

[Handré1990]

My general feeling is that there are no racist issues with pretty much any person when it comes to Lukaku. So, when someone goes with that route it is actually offensive.

It has everything to do with the way he left the club, missed the preseason, was fully out of shape and then had the cheek to point the blame in other direction once he was no more here even saying he wanted to leave after first few days while putting £250,000 in his pocket every week. The criticism about the lack of technical ability and his playing style was always there.

Now, pretty much any logically thinking person would connect those dots as the crux of the problem in overall feelings towards Lukuku and not the one he went after. Rooney was under the barrage of personal abuse after the way he went with his contract renewal. In fact, he was physically threaten. It also hadn't anything to do with his skin color like it's not the case here. Anyway, free speach and all that, so he is free to go after any train of thought he likes to, but it doesn't make it any less bs in my opinion.

Not sure what Sterling and Greenwood media portrait have to do with any of the above tbh.

Very good post. Echoing my sentiment exactly. It’s a very blunt way to end the conversation, who wants to risk being painted as a racist, just to share their opinion on Lukaku? I was writing a response, but you covered it in your first paragraph.

 

[NotThatSoph]

Not sure what Sterling and Greenwood media portrait have to do with any of the above tbh.

I'm not able to make the point any clearer, so no point continuing then.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I do think the villainization of Lukaku goes overboard but he hasn't helped himself with the strange comments he's made about his time at United.

On the footballer himself, I don't think he's a "top" striker. There's no chance we sell a genuinely top CF the way we did. By top I mean, among the bracket of Kane, Lewandowski, Aguero, Suarez (in his prime) etc Of course Lukaku isn't at that level and will never be as he's technically far too weak and clumsy. However, he is without doubt a very good goalscorer.

With regards to our decision to sell him, it's an interesting one. He was clearly starting to make a real mess out of his United career and had nobody to blame for that but himself. And to be honest we aren't going to play football at the level that City and Liverpool do/did, with him as our main CF. I mean, it takes a Conte to build a title winning team around with Lukaku and Martinez as your two strikers. For our own sake, and mine as a fan, I've always preferred us to have a more technical/complete striker up top. And yes, in hindsight, you can argue that Ole possibly got that decision wrong given how poorly Martial has done this season but important to note that Martial was superb last season, and the club's direction is also important. Would we do better this season with Lukaku? Of course, we'd probably certainly finish 2nd. Do I want him as our CF long term? Nah, I want us to play sexy football. Inter were a functional team when they won titles in the 00s and they are now again that. Manchester United should be putting on a spectacle.

 

[Zlatan 7]

My general feeling is that there are no racist issues with pretty much any person when it comes to Lukaku. So, when someone goes with that route it is actually offensive.

It has everything to do with the way he left the club, missed the preseason, was fully out of shape and then had the cheek to point the blame in other direction once he was no more here even saying he wanted to leave after first few days while putting £250,000 in his pocket every week. The criticism about the lack of technical ability and his playing style was always there.

Now, pretty much any logically thinking person would connect those dots as the crux of the problem in overall feelings towards Lukuku and not the one he went after. Rooney was under the barrage of personal abuse after the way he went with his contract renewal. In fact, he was physically threatened. It also hadn't anything to do with his skin color like it's not the case here. Anyway, free speach and all that, so he is free to go after any train of thought he likes to, but it doesn't make it any less bs in my opinion.

Not sure what Sterling and Greenwood media portrait have to do with any of the above tbh.

Well said, lukaku acted the dick without performances or the skill to back it up

 

[Jim Beam]

I'm not able to make the point any clearer, so no point continuing then.

I understood your point and your last sentence in it, but still think it is, well, pretty much pointless in this particular case.