Would it be possible you looked at it from a 3-year trend point of view, as opposed to just 2016-17?
Also, you can make a case all these strikers you mentioned have had better supporting cast than Lukaku's, but I may be wrong.
Romelu Lukaku | United confirm deal subject to medical and personal terms
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Would it be possible you looked at it from a 3-year trend point of view, as opposed to just 2016-17?
Also, you can make a case all these strikers you mentioned have had better supporting cast than Lukaku's, but I may be wrong.
You can sit around and fantasize about having the most technical striker who is brilliant on the ball and can score highlight reel goals but the reality is that Jose Mourinho is your manager and Lukaku is exactly the type of striker he loves - a big guy who can win aerial duels against two CBs and hold up the play, who has poacher's instincts and a knack for finding the net, and who is fast enough to be a real threat on the break. Its not an easy combination to find and, given who is managing your team, you should be excited about the prospect of bringing in somebody like that. This type of player is an important piece of the standard Mourinho puzzle. He could be like Drogba or Milito.
Dont see why Everyone is so down beat on Lukaku. I think he would be a great signing. He could become even better at United. Pace, power, goals, areal threat, all what you want in an EPL striker.
I don't get the hate he gets here. He's portrayed like a Sunday like striker while he's scoring goals for fun.
I do agree that if we get him we should buy Griezmann or some other player in that ilk for support.
I do agree that if we get him we should buy Griezmann or some other player in that ilk for support.
This is where it's at now this summer.
If it were between him and Belotti then I'd take Lukaku every day of the week. He is proven in this league, yes he'll cost a lot but so will Belotti and nothing suggests he'll come and score goals in this league. Rom might have a poorish record against the bigger teams but he absolutely bullies the smaller clubs and that's something we lacked last season.
http://www.squawka.com/teams/everto...eason-2016/2017#641#all-matches#1-38#accuracy
1230 successful long balls, 1322 unsuccessful. Ours is 1085 successful, 960 unsuccessful. I'm much too lazy to search the rest but if you type the team you want to see on Squawka you'll find their ratios too.
Suarez, Costa, Higuain, Aguero, etc, all have an inconsistent touch. They all put the ball in the back of the net when it counts, though. Lukaku is the same.
Bale, Lukaku and Griezmann! nearly £300m between them all
Meh, don't really want this guy. Only a few times has he impressed me when watching Everton. He has a great strike-rate, i'll give him that. Would rather we went balls deep in Spurs and offered a shitload for Kane.
It's hard to argue with his goal record but his hold up play is abysmal and his touch is poor. I fear he's the sort of player that needs an entire attacking system flowing through him to succeed and I'm not sure he's good enough for us to do that. There are plenty of aspects to Zlatan's game that we take for granted and we will really miss them if we end up with Lukaku.
He'd be on the list of players I'd really rather not sign, particularly for an inevitably huge fee.
He'd be on the list of players I'd really rather not sign, particularly for an inevitably huge fee.
If we can't get Mbappe or Morata I'd rather buy a stop gap like Dzeko and see where things are at next summer, see who has developed, see if any top striker at a current club has maybe fallen out with the manager or whatever, Lukaku is the one transfer beyond them all I don't want to happen this summer, he's not like Peirisic who will be close to £30M and easily upgradeable the following summer, this will be the kind of money that defines how we play for the next 5 seasons, a direct lump who needs the entire system catered to his limited ability.
Not sure about him,especially for 100 mill,tends to blows hot and cold.
Lukaku means tons of goals against average PL sides... sadly that's what United also need at the moment.
I doubt very much he'll go for that sort of money. It would pretty much dry up the budget for anyone going for him. And he's just not that good.
He played 8 games before his injury. Freely admit that he went forward better in those games but if we take his 60-odd Soton games and his remaining 20+ United games, nobody could honestly claim he's a good attacking fullback.
He's fast. Has great recovery speed and can overlap. His technical ability going forward is weak. He's young. If he recovered I'm sure he'll improve. But he's very much a defender, first and foremost.
Apparently Griezmann will solve all of our attacking issues. Freeing up Pogba and Herrera to attack more can just be as important.
Oh no he is a flat track bully..... wish we had one this season we would have helped us a lot
All those guys have a better first touch and footballing iq than Lukaku.
The only thing going for Lukaku is his age but his game has not improved well enough in recent years.
Here we go! Footballing iq? In what way?
And I have stats to prove that all the players do not have a better touch. And yes, I do watch all players.
Yet the goals keep coming. I'd sign him in a minute. Him and Griezmann would give us goals galore.
I know you were a big fan of Mane, and the same rubbish used to be said about him. Footballing iq, touch, etc. Now look at him. He'd walk into our team.
Such a hipster thing to say these. Romelu Lukaku clearly has a footballing IQ otherwise he wouldn't be an international footballer.
Yes, there are certain aspects of his game that he needs to improve, his first touch being one of them but how many players his age are the complete player?
His goal scoring record in the premier league alone is enough to make people want to have him, he is a bully who scores consistently rather than in stages during the season. Last season we failed to score against the weaker teams in the league, something Romelu did for fun last season.
Mixed feelings on the idea of signing Lukaku.
On the one hand, I'm pretty sure he would put a beat down on most PL teams and score more than enough goals to lead us to a title if the rest of the team is functioning properly. I also think his touch and hold up play is more erratic than poor, when he's on form it's nowhere near as bad as some think. As for being a flat-track bully, a lot of that is down to the Everton side he plays for, I think.
Even with all that said in his defence though, we'd still be spending a massive amount of money on someone who you'd have to have at least some doubts about when it comes to playing at the very highest level. He also isn't a flexible striker in terms of style of play, if you're going to buy him then you better be damn sure your team is set up to suit him.
If that's the way Mourinho envisions us playing anyway then fine, Lukaku would probably prove to be a very effective signing. If it isn't then we'd be limiting ourselves for the forseeable future at quite a large cost.
On the one hand, I'm pretty sure he would put a beat down on most PL teams and score more than enough goals to lead us to a title if the rest of the team is functioning properly. I also think his touch and hold up play is more erratic than poor, when he's on form it's nowhere near as bad as some think. As for being a flat-track bully, a lot of that is down to the Everton side he plays for, I think.
Even with all that said in his defence though, we'd still be spending a massive amount of money on someone who you'd have to have at least some doubts about when it comes to playing at the very highest level. He also isn't a flexible striker in terms of style of play, if you're going to buy him then you better be damn sure your team is set up to suit him.
If that's the way Mourinho envisions us playing anyway then fine, Lukaku would probably prove to be a very effective signing. If it isn't then we'd be limiting ourselves for the forseeable future at quite a large cost.
I'm not being flippant. I'm just wondering why he agreed to sell him the past then? Maybe it was just mutual decision about playing time, and he has grown into a better player, so Jose wold want him back.
The problem with Rom is that his back to the goal play is poor, and the worst of the Belgium NT strikers by a large margin. He's also not great in tight spaces again in comparison to Benteke and Batshuayi. When Rom excels is in open space facing the goal and he's capable of cutting in from 40 yards dribbling to 18 yard box and firing past the keeper. He's also is capable of scoring jammy goals as well.
He fits well as a second striker who isn't asked to play the target man role. Again Benteke and Batshuayi are far superior target men.
He fits well as a second striker who isn't asked to play the target man role. Again Benteke and Batshuayi are far superior target men.
He sold De Bruyne too...
We want to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, PSG, Juventus, City, Dortmund in some time, who have strikers like Suarez, Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Cavani, Higuain, Dybala, Aguero, Aubameyang and we want to go and sign Lukaku. Then get surprised if we battle for top 4 again and fall out of it, what a wow. It's not like he really fits our system either with much crossing and pumping the ball forward, or that he'll ever get the space he does at Everton. Similar to the space Schneiderlin, Depay, Falcao didnt get at other teams.
All great managers over time have sold great players. Even our own SAF.
I don't like using stats, but this is the only thing I can use right now.
I have compared Lukaku with all the elite strikers to see how bad his touch really is.
Unsuccessful touch: bad control
Based on whoscored.com, here are the following:
Stats from this season (league only) - 16/17
Romelu Lukaku - 77
Diego Costa - 107
Luis Suarez - 69
Gonzalo Higuain - 67
Harry Kane - 83
Sergio Aguero - 79
Karim Benzema - 42
Andrea Belotti - 87
Robert Lewandowski - 61
Antoine Griezmann - 47
So as you can see, his touch isn't as bad when comparing to others around him. Yes, it's not a full reflection, but it gives some sort of insight on the players control.
I have compared Lukaku with all the elite strikers to see how bad his touch really is.
Unsuccessful touch: bad control
Based on whoscored.com, here are the following:
Stats from this season (league only) - 16/17
Romelu Lukaku - 77
Diego Costa - 107
Luis Suarez - 69
Gonzalo Higuain - 67
Harry Kane - 83
Sergio Aguero - 79
Karim Benzema - 42
Andrea Belotti - 87
Robert Lewandowski - 61
Antoine Griezmann - 47
So as you can see, his touch isn't as bad when comparing to others around him. Yes, it's not a full reflection, but it gives some sort of insight on the players control.
If we had Lukaku this season we would have run Chelsea close
Costa 
He's an absolute shambles when he's off his game.
He's an absolute shambles when he's off his game.Exactly. Hence why I don't see your point regarding Lukaku.
Mata is a good example of being sold by the same manager then played quite often horses for courses scenario
From what I remember, they clashed over playing time and Jose didn't like Lukaku's attitude (he thought Lukaku was too entitled for a young player) so he loaned him at the beginning of 13-14 and then there was no path for him after Costa came the next summer.
Obviously Jose would only buy him now if he felt that Lukaku had matured and that they could work well together. I have no idea if that is the case or not but it seems pretty plausible to me.
You could make a pretty good attack out of the players that Jose let go during his second stint at Chelsea - Lukaku, De Bruyne, Salah, Mata, Cuadrado, etc.
It doesnt really,for example Lukaku has more space then all of those strikers, Everton probably hass the least possession of all those teams bar Torino. With less possession you will probably play a bit more counter attacking / reactive style of play which grants you more space, with more space it's easier to control a ball or at least not lose a ball because a defender is further away from you. Compare that to Suarez ar Barcelona where he has 3 defenders in his neck because of playing against teams that sit back with all their players. A good/bad ratio would also reflect better than totals. Mario Gomez has 8 touches in total vs Holland, whilst I can imagine a Rooney has so many more touches and thus also more bad controls. Stats without watching is a bit flawed.
People won't be complaining about Lukaku's bad control once he starts firing goals on a regular basis. We should learn from transfers like Mane and give importance to epl proven players. He has time on his side as well.
We don't have better options as well. We can't get Kane who would be my #1 muppet signing. I can't trust Belotti because he just had a breakout season and players from Italian league generally take time to adjust. Lukaku could be that dependable and solid if not spectacular striker which would bridge the gap between us and Chelsea.
We don't have better options as well. We can't get Kane who would be my #1 muppet signing. I can't trust Belotti because he just had a breakout season and players from Italian league generally take time to adjust. Lukaku could be that dependable and solid if not spectacular striker which would bridge the gap between us and Chelsea.
Don't get the Rooney swap deal some people are talking about. If they want Lukaku for 100mil we'd have to give them 200mil if we want them to take Rooney aswell.
It's hardly like Mane has fired them to the title, although he's been very good. EPL proven were also Shaw and Schneiderlin, but it doesnt say much, playing at Everton/Soton and United is a world of difference and required a completely different skillset. One time a PL proven player will work, next time it doesnt.
I do think he would be able to convert those stupid draws into wins, his finishing is excellent if we create so much chances. But then again Ibra was a reason why we created so much as his hold up, link up play, understanding of the game, touch and creativity is on a whole another level compared to Romelu.
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