I like him but am not convinced he’s got enough qualities to hold down that role in the manner Kane and Aguero do for their clubs. I’d like to see us try Sanchez up top in games we’re struggling to move the ball quickly.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
He’s not a match winner, which you really need to be up top for United. He’s a striker that will add to 4-0 scorelines. That headed sitter near the end of the game cost us big time today.
The one that was called offside ?
That goal that Icardi scored against Spurs midweek - could you ever see Lukaku scoring a goal like that?
I like him because he has the mentality but unfortunately he falls short because of his ability.
I like him because he has the mentality but unfortunately he falls short because of his ability.
Andy Cole had a much more reliable touch didn't he ? I don't even blame Lukaku for the style of goalscorer he ,it's just that I find him painful to watch fecking up easy controls, passes and shots
Agreed, especially re: the Cole comparison. Lukaku looks like half the all round player Cole developed into for us. Think people have forgotten a bit how great Cole was at times. Not just those chips and bicycle kicks, but stuff like this winner away to a really good Leeds side on the day Beckham was dropped and we were under a bit of pressure:
Just can’t imagine Lukaku tearing a top side apart to create a goal for himself like that.
Sorry, watched the match at work on a shitty stream, with no sound. Was still an awful miss regardless.
He isn't a target man like Costa. If that's the player that Mourinho wanted then he made a big mistake by choosing Lukaku because he is terrible with his back to goal and his touch is so bad. I've never seen him hold the ball up like a proper number 9 and wait for players to join him for support. He doesn't have the instinct of an elite striker. In tight games we need the striker to come up with a piece of skill or create a chance from nothing and he falls below that standard. Good for Everton but not good enough for United. Where has Lukaku ever scored an unexpected goal? All he wants is the perfect cross and it doesn't work like this. Especially when we are a team who don't have good crosses it gets highlighted even more.
Atrocious today.
Indeed. It was a terrible miss and fortunately for him, it was offside.
Play him on the right.
One of the worst performance I have seen from a player in a United shirt. Absolutely useless. Jose needs to bench him and play Sanchez or Martial there. Really cant find the word for his showing .
I remember so many people this summer over stating his impact last season and hyping him up. It was obvious last season he wasn’t as good as his made out to be. So so wasteful. The signs were there earlier this season with those misses. He plays in Timberland boots.
Captain Lukaku was it ??
Captain Lukaku was it ??
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Our rivals have Salah(Firmino), Aguero, Kane..... we have Lukaku 
Worst of the lot.
Worst of the lot.
Woefully mediocre player - epitomises everything wrong with footballers who act like NBA players off the pitch. Compare him, Lingard and Pogba to De Bruyne, Silva and Aguero on social media, and it’s focused footballers vs fecking moronic ‘ballers’.
United would be better off with Troy Deeney or Mitrovic up front under Mourinho than this fella - at least they’d be the focal point Lukaku is unable of being.
United would be better off with Troy Deeney or Mitrovic up front under Mourinho than this fella - at least they’d be the focal point Lukaku is unable of being.
Absolutely. His saving grace has been the number of goals he scores, but he just doesn't have the ruthlessness in front of goal that the top strikers have. You can't fault his effort and mentality - he's a strong personality, a leader, hard worker - but the quality to play for a club like United just isn't there. He doesn't have the class and is far too profligate.
I bet even someone like Mitrovic would get similar figures to him if he played for us (I think he could possibly even do better). Of the goals Lukaku has scored for us, I can't think of many where I think 'wow' - neither can I remember him scoring out of nothing like the great strikers do. He's not a player who could grab a game by the scruff of the neck and win us the game on his own. I suppose we've been spoilt in the past by having the likes of RvN, RvP, Ronaldo, Rooney, Saha, Tevez, Berbatov and Zlatan. Lukaku doesn't even come close in that list. Everton was about the right level for him.
He's in poor form at the moment.
But we were crap in attack before he arrived and objectively last season he was one of the good players we had.
It would take a lot more of these performances for me to give up on him.
But we were crap in attack before he arrived and objectively last season he was one of the good players we had.
It would take a lot more of these performances for me to give up on him.
Timberland boots and skinny jeans.
We do not have a top quality striker. Lukaku might be down to earth, hardworking etc etc. But he is not the player needed. We need a player to can bring himself in to the game rather than expect chances upon chances to be created to make an impact.
We seem to have resigned to the fact that we might only create 2-3 proper goal scoring chances including corners and we need that top quality striker to make it work. Lukaku is not that striker unfortunately. We need a RvN but we have the opposite.
We seem to have resigned to the fact that we might only create 2-3 proper goal scoring chances including corners and we need that top quality striker to make it work. Lukaku is not that striker unfortunately. We need a RvN but we have the opposite.
For me a top Utd striker has the ability to create something himself when others fail to provide for him. He's very good at what he does but he's limited in what he offers. When you need something different, it's not gonna come from him.
He's like the teacher's pet who could do no wrong. I just hate it. Mou's insistence on playing Lukaku will cost him his job. Just like LVG blindspot with Rooney, when every people and his dogs know they are just not good enough.
Stick with Sanchez up front, like in that Summer. This will also 'cure' the need to play Martial on the left.
Stick with Sanchez up front, like in that Summer. This will also 'cure' the need to play Martial on the left.
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Never understood him and Pogba being touted as captains. Lukaku especially giving out some sentences on the ground where all the cameras are. Really not the standard we require. From captains like Keane, Neville, Rio & Vidic, we have come to Lukaku, Pogba & Smalling. The quality certainly has dwindled.
Interesting view as usual, Mockney.
One thing that people really missed when comparing to Andy Cole, is that you just never questioned Cole's work rate. Also every run was never like he run out of breath, or close to having heart attack.
Wish people wouldn't keep bringing up Rooney as a negative, but anyway.
Lukaku's a conundrum. Seems so harsh to bench a player who scores the majority of our goals and is as likely as not to score a goal against the run of play as long as you can get a good cross in. But his lack of technique is really a hindrance to the quality and fluency of our play. He's not our biggest problem, but he has too many days like today when I feel like we should just try someone else up top (yeah Sanchez) for a while and see if we can't play some better stuff or at least make more of the half chances that we have.
Think we need some serious quality up front to challenge Lukaku some more. At the moment he doesn't have any competition, hardly pushing him to be better is it.
Hes a hindrance to the team and how it flows imo. The team is built around him, yet hes not a world class player, and have extreme doubts he ever will be.
Hes only 25 but would imagine we would still take a loss, cant see anyone coming in and paying 90m for him
Hes only 25 but would imagine we would still take a loss, cant see anyone coming in and paying 90m for him
He sends to have bulked up way too much.
Against a top quality centre back in Radebe too.
Love that goal.
Against a top quality centre back in Radebe too.
He's a rubbish CF for a team wanting to challenge but could end up becoming a good right forward. This has been obvious for many, many months.
He's not even the type of CF José is trying to use him as, to be fair. Constantly lumping long balls to his isn't his game, and this is one of the many problems we have entirely caused by José himself.
We'd be better just using Fellaini as our CF with these tactics and Lukaku on the right. At least the hoofing would make sense then.
He's not even the type of CF José is trying to use him as, to be fair. Constantly lumping long balls to his isn't his game, and this is one of the many problems we have entirely caused by José himself.
We'd be better just using Fellaini as our CF with these tactics and Lukaku on the right. At least the hoofing would make sense then.
Day to forget. That brain freeze he had when the ball was dropping at the end of the game summed his game up. He was too much in his own head the whole game and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that he literally didn’t touch the ball once in our first 30minutes. He started over thinking everything as a result. Not an excuse but an explanation. He should have the mental strength to go cold blooded and smash that ball on the volley in the last chance of the game
I really, really don’t get this at all. A few decent crosses and a good game against Brazil and he’s suddenly made for the right side? Modern wingers have extreme acceleration, agility and technique. Lukaku is extremely slow on the turn, his touch and technique is rubbish. Last but not least, the defensive job is very important. Lukaku is way too heavy to be covering our right side, it would be targeted every single game and the space between him and the defender would be painful to see.
What’s the average weight for a great winger these days? Not 90+ kilos, that’s for sure.
I always new lukaku was going to be a problem once he became a united player. We’ve always compared him to the likes of Harry Kane since his Everton days with 100 percent of everyone wanting Kane. We’re do I even start?
Let’s list the things he isn’t good at. He isn’t good at being a target man and can’t win the ball in the air most of the time. He has a terrible touch. He can’t play intricate passes. His workrate is even worse than that of martial who everyone thinks has a poor workrate for some reason. Not a very good dribbler in tight spaces. I could go on but whats the point.
Most of the things he isn’t good at is required in most strikers at a top club. There is no doubt lukaku is an expensive mistake and one we will have to live with given his price tag.
Now that we know lukaku is here to stay for a while let’s talk about how he can improve. The first thing we will need to do is get rid of mourinho who currently has no idea how to coach an offensive team. The second would be to teach him what to do when he doesn’t have the ball (not standing around waiting for the ball like a donkey). His workrate has to improve as he is currently a liability when trying to press up top. Normally I would say he needs to improve his technical side of the game but I don’t believe a player can improve that aspect very much. It’s either you have it or you don’t.
There is so much he needs to work on and it will require a modern thinking manager.
On the bright side what I do like about him as a striker is he is always at the end of opportunities most time. It hasn’t really worked out for him like at Everton because we hardly service him. What I mean by this is giving him sitter chances to score because apparently he can’t create his own opportunities.
Rant over TLDR he is very limited and isn’t the sort of striker that will lead us to dominating the league but we can make it work like we did when chicarito was leadin the line.
Let’s list the things he isn’t good at. He isn’t good at being a target man and can’t win the ball in the air most of the time. He has a terrible touch. He can’t play intricate passes. His workrate is even worse than that of martial who everyone thinks has a poor workrate for some reason. Not a very good dribbler in tight spaces. I could go on but whats the point.
Most of the things he isn’t good at is required in most strikers at a top club. There is no doubt lukaku is an expensive mistake and one we will have to live with given his price tag.
Now that we know lukaku is here to stay for a while let’s talk about how he can improve. The first thing we will need to do is get rid of mourinho who currently has no idea how to coach an offensive team. The second would be to teach him what to do when he doesn’t have the ball (not standing around waiting for the ball like a donkey). His workrate has to improve as he is currently a liability when trying to press up top. Normally I would say he needs to improve his technical side of the game but I don’t believe a player can improve that aspect very much. It’s either you have it or you don’t.
There is so much he needs to work on and it will require a modern thinking manager.
On the bright side what I do like about him as a striker is he is always at the end of opportunities most time. It hasn’t really worked out for him like at Everton because we hardly service him. What I mean by this is giving him sitter chances to score because apparently he can’t create his own opportunities.
Rant over TLDR he is very limited and isn’t the sort of striker that will lead us to dominating the league but we can make it work like we did when chicarito was leadin the line.
Or Grant Holt!
Remember the free header that Lukaku missed today (was flagged offside eventually, but he did not know that when he headed the ball)?
Well, Holt was putting those away when he was only 11:
I've said this over and over but it's not based on his Brazil performance.
Whenever he drifts out to the right for us - with one of our other attackers (like Fellaini today) occupying the CF spot - he always plays so much better. He's our best crosser, he's consistently shown when drifting to the right he can beat his man, whip in a good cross, play some nice through ball, and still remain a goal threat. When he drifts to the right, it's as consistent as I ever see him play for us. To me, he's better there than as a CF who's used to hoof balls to which just isn't a good use of him, imo. I don't know why we still do this as, more often than not, he just can't hold the ball up this way.
You talk about our right side being targeted - it already is. Valencia is always on his own there as Lingard drifts inside to make us compact anyway. I reckon he'd do as well as Mata did when playing on the right defensively, and he'd be much more useful on the break there, too.
Maybe I'm wrong - I have been before - but I think it's worth a shot and have done before his performance against Brazil.
He doesnt have to play as a right winger - he can play as a right forward rather than directly in the centre.
As much as I think he's not up to our standard I have to say the service to him is hilariously poor. Chasing hoofs all fecking game, never ball to feet, never through passes even when he's got acres of space. Just jumping all around for hoofballs
We need proper wingers to get the best out of Lukaku and we have zero of them. That's one of the problem.
Glad to see more people are waking up and realising Lukaku is complete trash.
I was against us signing him from the beginning and I still stand by that. Painfully avaerage and one of the reasons we’ve fallen behind the rest.
I was against us signing him from the beginning and I still stand by that. Painfully avaerage and one of the reasons we’ve fallen behind the rest.
Cantona>Yorke>Cole>Nistlerooy>Rooney>Lukaku
that money should have always gone towards harry kane. I couldn't believe it was happening because we all watched lukaku in his everton days and knew what we were getting. Hid=s activity in games is forever nonexistent.
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