And so can Lukaku. You don't become an international footballer without being able to control a football.
Romelu Lukaku vs Alvaro Morata 2017/18
- Thread starter Paxi
- Start date
Based on very limited viewing of Morata, I have always rated him highly and wanted him more than Lukaku at United. I'm happy with Lukaku but I think Morata just needed regular game time to become a great striker. Hope I'm wrong.
I want to burn this thread and that is the only post I'll make in here
These threads never end well for us.
I actually preferred Morata originally but now I'm not so sure. Was hoping Chelsea would sign Belotti and Morata would end up at AC Milan, but alas, t'was not to be.
Morata would have transformed us into a more entertaining side. Lukaku will outscore him.
Morata would have transformed us into a more entertaining side. Lukaku will outscore him.
Still not sure exactly why Morata is so highly rated, but hopefully everyone who seems to rate him much higher than I do, turn out to be correct.
I've said numerous times on here than Lukaku will struggle at a good side, I still expect that to turn true.
No idea how Morata will get on for us, genuinely never understood the hype, especially at the price but hopefully he is good for us.
I've said numerous times on here than Lukaku will struggle at a good side, I still expect that to turn true.
No idea how Morata will get on for us, genuinely never understood the hype, especially at the price but hopefully he is good for us.
Perspectives. If we had someone like Di Maria (sigh!), Griezmann or Sanchez in our team, along with another goalscoring #10 or RW, I'd pick Morata over Lukaku all day. Because while I expect Morata to score 15 goals only, he will get a lot of assists and he has class movement. Since the goalscoring burden will be shared by the other players, its' a risk well-worth it.
If we had kept Di Maria, for instance, and signed Griezmann, how beautiful it would have been to sign Morata. Imagine our front 3!
But we have a bunch of bottlers in our team and are desperate for goals, so it makes sense to sign a proven goalscorer in Lukaku. He has the ability to hit 30 goals. But the regret still lingers - If only we weren't in a rebuilding phase, we would have taken more risks.
Can you split into starts and mins played etc?
Morata spent a fair bit of time on the bench.
However his shot conversion was the highest in the league...
This thread is going to be torture this season... I can see Morata doing very well for Chelsea. Good technique, Spanish, clinical. He'll fit in well at Chelsea alongside Pedro and Hazard in the front line.
Do you think his record against the top 6 will improve now he's at United?
He hasn't done so well in that regard.
Scored more goals than other strikers against top 6.
Big gutted really. I liked the idea of having Morata at United.
I do think Lukaku is the safer bet though, so I'm not fussy either way
I do think Lukaku is the safer bet though, so I'm not fussy either way
Lets just see what happens. I have been pleasantly surprised by #redrom so far.
If I remember correctly, his record against top 6 is one of the best in the league last season. From the top of my head I can remember goals against City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs in different competitions. He's been poor against us though and that seems to skew a lot of opinions I feel.
Against big teams if we decide to park the bus, he won't do well. If we gain control and dominate the midfield, he's a box striker and he'll be lethal. He occupies both centre backs due to his physicality alone. If we plan to stick 10 men close to our box and leave Lukaku alone by himself, he'll do nothing.
Regardless of top 6, we'll have 26 league games against non-top-six teams and they all count for 3 points.
Morata hasn't been consistent and can forget he's playing a team sport but he's threatening in the air, good combination of pace and bulkiness, good striking technique, and hard working. Excellent in big games for Juventus and great scoring record in youth levels. Both Morata and Lukaku have question marks but I think both set of supporters will be happy long term. Except some posters in caf because they can complain about anything, but that goes without saying.
One is proven in the league and has scored 43 in 74 league apps last two seasons, the other will have his first season in this league and has scored 22 goals in 60 apps last two seasons.
Lukaku has been the main man for he last four years while Morata has never been.
I think passing and dribbilling Morata is better but right now Lukaku is better. Will be a great battle between the top 5 strikers this season.
Lukaku has been the main man for he last four years while Morata has never been.
I think passing and dribbilling Morata is better but right now Lukaku is better. Will be a great battle between the top 5 strikers this season.
I would have preferred Morata + a prolific wideforward in the mould of Sanchez. I think that would have produced more aesthetically pleasing football, and been a better fit for the players already at the club.
However, I'm warming to Lukaku. Mourinho clearly has his ideas about the system this United squad should aim for. If it's a battering ram CF flanked by a traditional winger, I'm not going to argue it's any less effective. Because it's not. It's just a a matter of preference.
It's all about getting the most out of the resources available. I have faith that Jose has a much better gauge of that than me! So far, the signs are mildly positive.
However, I'm warming to Lukaku. Mourinho clearly has his ideas about the system this United squad should aim for. If it's a battering ram CF flanked by a traditional winger, I'm not going to argue it's any less effective. Because it's not. It's just a a matter of preference.
It's all about getting the most out of the resources available. I have faith that Jose has a much better gauge of that than me! So far, the signs are mildly positive.
You can't bear the press in case Morata scores against us
If I remember correctly, his record against top 6 is one of the best in the league last season. From the top of my head I can remember goals against City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs in different competitions. He's been poor against us though and that seems to skew a lot of opinions I feel.
Against big teams if we decide to park the bus, he won't do well. If we gain control and dominate the midfield, he's a box striker and he'll be lethal. He occupies both centre backs due to his physicality alone. If we plan to stick 10 men close to our box and leave Lukaku alone by himself, he'll do nothing.
Regardless of top 6, we'll have 26 league games against non-top-six teams and they all count for 3 points.
The stats don't lie - yet they perhaps paint a different picture.
Juries out imho.
What about Rashford vs Inehacho?Plus they rarely end well! Such gems include Welbeck v Sturridge, Januzaj v Sterling and Depay v Firmino (bit of a theme there
It's clearly wrong.
Liverpool were not in top 6 in 2015-16 season, they finished 8th.
He scored 1 vs Leicester, 2 vs Southampton (6th in the table).
No striker scored more goals against the top six and only hazard, alli, and sigurdsson scored more against the top six.
Was that a thread? In that case that turned out okay for us. There was also Di Maria vs Sanchez
Morata rating rose(at least here on the Caf) because he got linked to us. Initially people weren't that thrilled about the large sum quoted for Morata, then naturally people started trying to get around that decision and made themselves accept his high price.
In order for that to happen people started rating him higher than they were before and it caught on. Since then Morata has become one of those very highly rated players, sometimes even higher than those with better stats then him like Lukaku who happened to be proven a better striker. Of course people will bring all round play to try and even things out.
But go back 2 months ago before us being linked to Morata and he wouldn't have been rated anywhere near as highly as he is currently on the Caf.
Just to add to my previous post;
In 2015-16 he scored 2 goals vs Chelsea in the FA cup, scored against City in League cup semi finals
In 2013-14: Scored against City in both games.
Scored 2 goals vs Liverpool
Scored vs Arsenal
That's 5 goals in 7 games vs top 6. He also scored against Arsenal in the FA cup.
Didnt he put 3 past you when he was at West Brom in SAFs final game?
He sure did. At Everton though he was usually crap against us. Think he missed a penalty against us in the FA Cup semi final too.
I think Morata'll do wonders for Pedro next season. We'll see numbers on par with his peak at Barca.
Yh he's definitely overrated on here. A good player but a shadow of the player Costa is, for all his flaws.
In 2015-16 season Lukaku scored 18 league goals for Everton while Morata scored 7 for Juventus in the league, total 12 goals in all competitions. Morata scored two goals against top six and one of them was a penalty.
I see the Beeb have already started the comparisons. Check out this pro-Chelsea article:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40662659
Apparently the fee was £60 million.
A quote from one of their 'experts':
Thanks Mina.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40662659
Apparently the fee was £60 million.
A quote from one of their 'experts':
Thanks Mina.
And one of them was playing for Juventus and one for Everton.
Hat-trick against the champions at the time.
Lukaku is no less intelligent. Just watch one of his interviews. He's sharp as a tack, and true student of the game.
Yet in relation to other top strikers in the league he was better, so I don't understand your point.
It's not like his fellow strikers scored hattricks left and right against Top teams, they actually performed worse than him last season.
These stories about x striker or x top players not performing against Top teams get said a lot about almost all of them.
It's just this random and wierd perception people have because they sometimes fail to notice the very obvious yet simple fact that playing against Top teams is harder than performing against weaker ones. It doesn't matter who the player is, so of course they score less than they normally would.
I wanted Lukaku more, much more. I rate Morata but I just couldn't get excited about us potentially signing him. Lukaku is where it's at.
Both players end of season stats...will depend on the the players around them. The better manager who creates an ethos, team spirit and tactical setup that the players are comfortable in will determine who has the better season.
For example, a manager that tries to be too defensive (rather than expansive) will likely have a detrimental effect on the forwards end of season stats. Not rocket surgery.
For example, a manager that tries to be too defensive (rather than expansive) will likely have a detrimental effect on the forwards end of season stats. Not rocket surgery.
Strange one really, both us & Chelsea have spent a fortune on our new strikers, yet could actually have downgraded on what we had last season, admittedly for very different reasons.
I am saving your post for the end of the season, however I will take the title over Lukaku outscoring Moratta any day.