Do we need a Lukaku backup to win the league?

[Mindhunter]

Apologies for the quickly written OP as I am doing this on my mobile at work.

After watching Lukaku, I am convinced that we need someone like him to open up a game that we would have otherwise drawn due to lack of goals.

Frankly, all our other strikers are a bit low on versatility and can only score when they are at the end of a through pass or they have dribbled past the defence.

If we lose Lukaku to injury or tiredness during the course of the season, the lack of goals syndrome could return. Do you think we need another striker in the Lukaku mold to score against entrenched defences and open up games?

 

[Sereques]

We have Martial, Rashford and Zlatan will join in January. What more do you want?

 

[sokol11]

Jesus wept.

 

[pascell]

I think relying solely on Lukaku and his goals to win the league would be naive of us. The rest of the team need to chip in with goals and there's plenty of goals in our squad.

I also think we'll sign Ibra up for the 2nd half of the season to give Lukaku more frequent rest.

 

[Obiorahking_]

I think we should trust martial and rashford. If we can't trust them as back up talents until January then there is a serious problem.

 

[11101]

It would be nice but no team in the league has two top class strikers in their squad. How do you keep them both happy for starters? We have Rashford who will get a few goals, and Martial who will perform when his brain is switched on. If either of them learn to be consistent we will have the best backup in the league. No point spending big to buy a substitute.

 

[Mindhunter]

We have Martial, Rashford and Zlatan will join in January. What more do you want?

I am referring to the type of striker not the number. Zlatan is not final and Martial and Rashford are not prolific goal scorers.

We lost our highest goal scorer after a low scoring year and brought another one in as his replacement. So goal scoring may again become an issue when the said replacement isn't available for selection.

 

[VP89]

Jesus wept.

He plays for City though

 

[Scarecrow]

I am referring to the type of striker not the number. Zlatan is not final and Martial and Rashford are not prolific goal scorers.

We lost our highest goal scorer after a low scoring year and brought another one in as his replacement. So goal scoring may again become an issue when the said replacement isn't available for selection.

So how do you convince a prolific goalscorer to come and sit on the bench, in case Lukaku gets injured or stops scoring for some reason?

 

[VanHaal'sRedArmy]

No better backup than the man who scored 17 league goals for us last season; Rashford can do his job as well.

 

[SirAF]

Jesus wept.

 

[Escobar]

No

 

[VancouverUtdFan]

We have Martial, Rashford and Zlatan will join in January. What more do you want?

This.

As it stands, one of Martial/Rashford will respectively be starting and sitting on a regular basis come pretty much any game. The one sitting will make way for the other or can be subbed in for Lukaku when need be. Enter Zlatan come January and he'll be the permanent sub for Lukaku while Martial/Rashford alternate amongst each other...and that's some crazy depth lol. Zlatan ain't washed up either; don't forget he would've won the golden boot had he not gotten injured last year. That's silly to think we'll be fortunate enough to be in a position to have an absolute starter the quality in Zlatan as a bench option. Unheard of really. And it'll allow José to try different formations and experiment with both Zlatan+Lukaku starting simultaneously in certain matches (such as weaker PL sides to ensure 3 points / more goals) which will be a boatload to handle. And you never know with champions league competition what José can come up with having the abundance of options at his disposal that he'll have.

/ we good, no worries

 

[Mindhunter]

So how do you convince a prolific goalscorer to come and sit on the bench, in case Lukaku gets injured or stops scoring for some reason?

Are we saying that none of the European powerhouse clubs have better backup strikers than Martial and Rashford?

 

[King_Cantona07]

Martial should be up top when lukaku need a rest. Rashford for all his tricks lacks in close control and composure of finish. Martial is much better in one on ones and control which will ensure finishing off chances than rashford. They should be able to support lukaku.

 

[badkins]

I'd say we still need one offensive player, preferably a winger as Martial/Rashford can play as a strikers.
As we could see yesterday, if Mourinho goes for offensive line up, we only have two players on the bench (yesterday it was Martial and Lingard) - that's not enough for the ~60 games of a season.
We should be fine if Zlatan signs in January though, as Mourinho will surely play Matić/Herrera/Pogba for away/bigger games, so one of the offensive players will be additionaly dropped, but I'd like to have more depth than we had last season.

 

[Hanky panky]

Winger ahead of striker. Lukaku, Rashford and Martial are enough. And if Zlatan comes back, there is even more depth and quality. No need to striker. Some other attacking choice yes, if he's world class. No need to buy any average players.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

No, we have enough strikers. Rather than a player getting on the end of things we need one complete attacker capable of creating as well as scoring preferably from out wide right.

 

[Irrational.]

Jesus wept.

 

[Rory 7]

I think we need a Matic backup to win the league. Carrick/Herrera are not that back up.

 

[Kostur]

Are we saying that none of the European powerhouse clubs have better backup strikers than Martial and Rashford?

Well let's see.

Bayern: Lewandowski is their main #9, depending on formation/who plays/injuries they've got Muller but he's not really Lewy's backup. Ribery, Robben, Coman, James to be absolutely fair to them, it's like 6 players for 4 positions I think, or 3, nothing special in depth.
Real: Benzema, Ronaldo, Vasquez, Assensio, Bayol, all pretty much rather play on the sides I think apart from Benzema. There's Mayoral too but I don't know about him, if BBC plays, probably Assensio is their best bet.
Barcelona: Neymar, Messi, Suarez, Munir, Alcacer, Deulofeu, Turan. Speaks for itself really.
Chelsea: Costa(?), Hazard, Batschuayi, Morata, Willian, Pedro, Remy. Well, if Morata will be their starter then they've got Batschu as their first guy to change their striker, probably Willian too, Costa is basically gone, haven't seen Remy play for ages.
City: Aguero, Jesus, Bony(?), Sterling, Sane. The last two are probably wingbacks or something, their strength lies in attacking midfielders but yeah, Jesus/Aguero probably provides a reliable and solid goalscorer should one of them get injured/be absent, whatever.
Juve: Dybala, Mandzukic, Higuain, Bernardeschi(?), Cuadrado, Costa and that Kean kid. Yeah, don't know about their system but they have some depth it seems.

So yeah, I don't know, I'd say we were a bit spoiled when we've had RVP, Rooney, Chicharito and Danby as our strikers alone.

 

[Spaghetti]

I think we need back up for Lukaku's back up. What if they both get injured / tired?

 

[Scarecrow]

Are we saying that none of the European powerhouse clubs have better backup strikers than Martial and Rashford?

Yeah, pretty much.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Nah, once Matic starts banging them in to begin his onslaught for Ballon d'Or 2018, we'll be fine.

 

[AN17]

If Zlatan rejoins in January, I don't think we need even Perisic.

Just give Martial and Rashford more playing time. Or play Mkhi as false 9 if Lukaku needa a rest or is out.

 

[Mindhunter]

Well let's see.

Bayern: Lewandowski is their main #9, depending on formation/who plays/injuries they've got Muller but he's not really Lewy's backup. Ribery, Robben, Coman, James to be absolutely fair to them, it's like 6 players for 4 positions I think, or 3, nothing special in depth.
Real: Benzema, Ronaldo, Vasquez, Assensio, Bayol, all pretty much rather play on the sides I think apart from Benzema. There's Mayoral too but I don't know about him, if BBC plays, probably Assensio is their best bet.
Barcelona: Neymar, Messi, Suarez, Munir, Alcacer, Deulofeu, Turan. Speaks for itself really.
Chelsea: Costa(?), Hazard, Batschuayi, Morata, Willian, Pedro, Remy. Well, if Morata will be their starter then they've got Batschu as their first guy to change their striker, probably Willian too, Costa is basically gone, haven't seen Remy play for ages.
City: Aguero, Jesus, Bony(?), Sterling, Sane. The last two are probably wingbacks or something, their strength lies in attacking midfielders but yeah, Jesus/Aguero probably provides a reliable and solid goalscorer should one of them get injured/be absent, whatever.
Juve: Dybala, Mandzukic, Higuain, Bernardeschi(?), Cuadrado, Costa and that Kean kid. Yeah, don't know about their system but they have some depth it seems.

So yeah, I don't know, I'd say we were a bit spoiled when we've had RVP, Rooney, Chicharito and Danby as our strikers alone.

Maybe you are right. I am too used to seeing good depth in strikers under SAF so it kind of worries me a bit that we will go back to the goal less draws if Lukaku is rested or injured.

Martial and Rashford definitely need to up their game then if we are aiming to challenge on multiple fronts. Will be interesting to see which competitions Mourinho prioritizes to play Lukaku in.

 

[Kostur]

Maybe you are right. I am too used to seeing good depth in strikers under SAF so it kind of worries me a bit that we will go back to the goal less draws if Lukaku is rested or injured.

Martial and Rashford definitely need to up their game then if we are aiming to challenge on multiple fronts. Will be interesting to see which competitions Mourinho prioritizes to play Lukaku in.

Aye, ditto Miki and Mata. We've got the right players imo, it's just that they need to show it more often, probably a goal or 5 from defence wouldn't hurt us either, it's not some unrealistic number either given that for example Glik from Monaco scored like 5-6 on his own last year. There're just those aspects that need to be polished that should take us where we should be.

 

[Raees]

Rashford Martial and Zlatan is more than enough cover imo. Would be different if it is a long term injury but assuming he doesn't miss many games then I think we should focus on strengthening other areas.

 

[Reynoldo]

Have we not naturally answered this question perfectly with Ibra looking likely to come back in after his injury?

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Martial is capable of performing in that position. Zlatan in January.

 

[Mcking]

Are we saying that none of the European powerhouse clubs have better backup strikers than Martial and Rashford?

Actually yes. Maybe bar juventus and Mandzukic.

 

[mitchmouse]

We have Martial, Rashford and Zlatan will join in January. What more do you want?

Sanchez to drive Arsenal fans mad

 

[SSSSnake]

We do but as people have said with have the great man back in January.

I've always agreed that we need two great strikers to win the league. Look at city when they had Aguero and Dzeko, United when we had Yorke and Cole.

 

[wythyred]

Yes and No.

No because we should be able to rely on the rest of the attack stepping up and adding to the goals this season.

Yes because reliance on one out and out striker is criminal and we done it last season with Zlatan and it certainly bit us in games when we needed a different option.

 

[Unmutual]

I'm not too worried about the striking position itself. Martial and Rashford are excellent players, I'd be happy enough to rely on one of those for a spell if Lukaku got injured.

However I do think we could do with another option in the other attacking positions. At the moment in those slots we have Mata, Mkhi, Martial and Rashford who I'd trust to create and score regularly. If we're playing 4-2-3-1 in home games like yesterday, then in total that's 5 players going into the front 4 attacking slots. Any time one of those is injured, Lingard becomes our only option from the bench to get a goal. Edit: or Fellaini.

I know Zlatan is, probably, coming back in January, but that's too late imo. We'll have played more than half our league games and all our champions league group games by then (plus most of the league cup). Zlatan should be a nice boost if we're running along nicely, but its too late in the season to fix things if we're not doing so well.

 

[settembrini]

No. We have lots of players who want to play upfront.

 

[Rob]

As I just said in another thread, you would do well to sign a proven goalscorer as a back up to Lukaku. He'll net you a shitload of goals, but if he gets a serious longlasting injury, I don't see Rashford or Martial as reliable back ups even if they're both talented. As for Zlatan, he could come back with a bang, but there's also a chance that he won't be the same player after an injury so serious, which often seems to the case, when players have been away for so long.

 

[KanieKaned]

Apologies for the quickly written OP as I am doing this on my mobile at work.

After watching Lukaku, I am convinced that we need someone like him to open up a game that we would have otherwise drawn due to lack of goals.

Frankly, all our other strikers are a bit low on versatility and can only score when they are at the end of a through pass or they have dribbled past the defence.

If we lose Lukaku to injury or tiredness during the course of the season, the lack of goals syndrome could return. Do you think we need another striker in the Lukaku mold to score against entrenched defences and open up games?

No we have Rashford and Martial who can deputise for the time being and with a little luck Zlatan will be making a return.

 

[Sky1981]

Lukaku is a beast, he doesn't run around like a headless chicken. He won't get tired in jose's system.

Even terry plays 50+ games a season under him.

 

[Sereques]

I think we need back up for Lukaku's back up. What if they both get injured / tired?

What about back up to that back up? Things can get nasty if those three are injured or tired with games coming thick and fast.