We will never win the league with Lukaku up front

Someone needs to say it.

I'm not scapegoating Lukaku after our woeful performance against Tottenham as the whole team was atrocious but Lukaku simply isn't good enough.

Would you ever see Lukaku up front for Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern or even PSG now.....no you wouldn't. He isn't a good enough footballer to play for those teams. Physicality with limited footballing ability can only take you so far in football and Everton was about his level. He never performs against the big teams and isn't especially good against the rest of the league at the moment. I know having a big physical striker up front is Mourinho's style but if he wants to do that then at least find someone who can control the ball and link up play reasonably well.

I can't imagine how much better we would be with a more technically gifted striker. If Lukaku is to stay then he really shouldn't be playing in the big games unless there's a drastic improvement in his play.

No way can I see us winning the league or the Champions League with him playing up front every game.

"We will never win the league with Lukaku up front."

OK.

Pretty much the same probably, if nothing else changes.

I think Lukaku is the least of our problems. He's been involved in 24 goals this season. I mean, what more could you want?

Of course, there is room for improvement, but I think that will come. I think he'll get better.

Knee. Jerk.

Could not agree more with op.
Glad someone has finally come out and said it.

"Being involved" stat is kind of overrated. I mean, since he's the highest position on the pitch, by default he's going to be involved in a lot of goals.

Bollocks. Lukaku is the least of any problems.

We won it with chicharito who’s worse

Replace Lukaku with Mourinho and you are talking

Would Zlatan of last year or BRO in last title winning season make a difference today... NO

He has scored 18 and assisted 6. Sorry I meant directly involved.

Lukaku could play for Real Madrid now. He doesn't fit Barcelona's holy football and Bayern and PSG currently have better strikers but he would not be out of place at either club.

Agreed. He doesnt impose himself enough, and doesn’t have that ability to create something out of nothing.

I'm not scapegoating Lukaku here but I will post so much shit about Lukaku

I think he could play in a title winning team.

He just isn't the guy who'll lift us into being that title winning team.

I said in the summer he'll score a lot of goals for us, but he won't elevate is onto a higher level - which is what you're really looking for when spending that amount on a marquee striker. Not his fault, it's Mourinho's choice.

I understand that this is a popular feeling right now on the forum.

But seriously, we have so much more going wrong than Lukaku. Even if he was legit mid-table level, we should be playing better than this in the final third.

I'm genuinely convinced Ronaldo/Messi would look bang average playing this way.

I agree he his worse. No idea how Fergie pulled that one off.

This game? probably knee jerk, but, taking aim at Lukaku's overall game is a consistent theme of a lot of individuals on Redcafe this season; to the point that knee-jerk can be dismissed by a great number of anti-Lukaku proponents.

Dare I say it but neither will be here or key players if we are to win the league again

He's been alright lately, I don't think he's the best we could do, but he's shown improvement. He wasn't the issue today, and this isn't the moment to be calling him out at all.

No they don't because only a fecking idiot would say it

Bit reactionary if you ask me. I actually think Rom's been decent recently, especially in bringing other players into the game. He's getting assists which is positive, wish he had a few more goals under his belt though.

Seems about right for me too. Horrible thread.

Feck. Off.

I said this a few times. Just look at the difference between Kane when he was isolated vs Lukaku when he was isolated. One is like playing with 10 men and the other brings the forwards into play.

This has nothing to do with Lukaku. How many chances did we create for him tonight? The problem is in that midfield. Jose dropped a fat ball and i rarely criticise him.

Why did he abandon the 3 man midfield he’s been deploying in the big games that allows Pogba to roam forward without leaning gaping holes behind? Matic isn’t mobile enough to cover grounds like Kante. Herrera should be playing as the 3rd midfielder....

We got swamped & bullied by Spurs because of Jose’s lack of tactical nous. We were doing pretty well with a 3 Man midfield, Jose should have sacrificed one of Martial/Lingard for stability in the centre of the park. I hope Jose learns from this. If we play like this against top European sides, it could be grotesque....

I'll ask the question that has long been the one posed at Lukaku over the years.

Is his statistic of underperforming or being underproductive against the top six teams over the years any better or worse since joining United, statistically?

We'll win the title next year so shut up .

Completely agree. Think he'll be a stop gap until Rashford is ready

Real Madrid would never buy Lukaku in the first place, he isn't even good enough for their reserves.

Lukaku needs to work on his game. When we bought him, some guys purred at the guys physique. But he plays without passion or strenghth on the pitch sometimes. It's up to him to want to improve his general ability to become more rounded. It's important that the forwards hold the ball because tonight nothing was sticking. If it sticks we have a chance to release the pressure and to create but time and time again it was predictable

Just in the last league game he assisted the winner doing all the work himself and 1 game later he isn't good enough

Brave statement. Luckily someone has said it. It's wrong but finally someone has said it.

Yes he was, he was basically a tree today.

He did for man city earlier in the season

He just needs to work harder IMO. Gives centre backs a free pass.

I don't think Lukaku is our problem but if Rashford ever starts firing I'm sure he'll displace Lukaku. I see Rashford as a number 9 long term.

What a load of shite. Thankfully I think this thread will be bumped in the not too distant future with information to the contrary...

It’s not Lukaku’s fault, he’ll score goals if you supply him. We lost because we again played a midfield 2, one of which is Pogba who is more of a #10. Pogba needs to be in the final third, not getting overrun by Spurs while failing to defend. We need Herrera and Matic in the centre, Pogba attacking mid, Lukaku ahead with Martial and Sanchez either side. We also need better wing backs, not two wingers pretending to be defenders.