Does anyone still see potential for Lukaku?

Eyepopper

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I really wanted him at Utd and I dont think hes a bad player, in the right system.

But, right now, I just can't get past his first touch... fecking hell, remember when we used to take the piss out of Kuyt - his second touch is always a tackle? Lukakus wishes he had the first touch of Kuyt.

If we can get close to what we paid for him back, get rid.
 

Champ

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Which is why Ole shouldn’t be allowing him to leave unless we have him replaced. If we go into the season with Rashford as our number 1 striker, it’s going to be a challenge for top 6 instead of a top 3/4
Agreed.
 

redIndianDevil

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We use him wrong.

At his best he has been used to run in behind defences with his pace but here for some reason we have tried to use him as a target man.
Our opponents usually park the bus against us, where is he going to run in such situations? His hold up play is really crap and his first touch is horrendous, these are the two reasons he is not making it here.
 

Striker10

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If we can bring in p/x 2 players then that maybe the route to take because we need new players and we need bodies so that we can sell players. Money can buy a top player if you do it right but we lack depth. If Lukaku could hold the ball up? Then his future would be much more certain then it is. Because when he gives it away, we're in trouble. He needs to lose weight since he never uses the weight to his advantage anyway but let's see what we do.
 

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No, lost all faith in the player. Just don't believe he will ever cut it with utd. Needs to move on to another club. Hasn't, for some reason, ever hit the heights he hit with Everton. Could well produce that form again at another club but he won't do it with us.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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I really wanted him at Utd and I dont think hes a bad player, in the right system.

But, right now, I just can't get past his first touch... fecking hell, remember when we used to take the piss out of Kuyt - his second touch is always a tackle? Lukakus wishes he had the first touch of Kuyt.

If we can get close to what we paid for him back, get rid.
Aye. You can't shake the feeling he's another expensive square peg. You look at the likes of Kane and Firminho, effective modern centre forwards who excel on the ball bringing teammates into play, and you look at how technically poor Rom is at times and worry about the kind of football we'd have to play to accommodate him.

I hope Ole can get the confidence and swagger back in the squad next year, so Rom can at least sink or swim based entirely on his own limitations and not those of an entirely dysfunctional team. But yes if someone offered £50+ I'd pack his bags.
 

kkengvib

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He’s nowhere near Cole’s ability. Lukaku’s technique is way below Cole’s. Cole can scores the kind of goals that Lukaku can only dream of.. I suggest you try googling some goals scored by cole to refresh your memory.
Perhaps you've forgotten how much Cole struggled when he first joined United, missing simple chances. His first 3 seasons wasn't exactly proflific.
If you choose to only remember only the good seasons he had (e.g. treble season with Yorke, season after), then you'd think he's better than he really was.

I'm not saying Lukaku is a top player by any means, but the underrating of him here is criminal at times. His technical ability may not be on par with Cole's in terms of first touch and control, but the guy is on par in terms of overall ability as a striker.

With all that being said... I still want him sold :lol:
 
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Rood

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I'd happily see Lukaku stay - he had a poor season but still scored some important goals

The question is whether he's happy to be a squad player rather than first choice
 

Ashley R1+O

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Yes.

But it's either Pogba or Lukaku. Both together won't work. Pogba's "dessert served at breakfast" creativity fennelling long balls to Lukaku won't work. There is no point Lukaku being here if we are building the attack around Pogba. But if Pogba leaves, there is definitely room to re-structure the attack to press high and compress the space in front of the defence and draw them in for Lukaku to play on the shoulder.

Pick one and run with it. I don't think I'd bother with them both.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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Perhaps you've forgotten how much Cole struggled when he first joined United, missing simple chances. His first 3 seasons wasn't exactly proflific.
If you choose to only remember only the good seasons he had (e.g. treble season with Yorke, season after), then you'd think he's better than he really was.

I'm not saying Lukaku is a top player by any means, but the underrating of him here is criminal at times. His technical ability may not be on par with Cole's in terms of first touch and control, but the guy is on par in terms of overall ability as a striker.

With all that being said... I still want him sold :lol:
I don't see the Cole comparison to be honest. If we're going to talk about both as patchy players who didn't always produce we also need to look at both players' top levels. Andrew had his faults and his difficulties at United but his best work buries anything Rom has given us.

Cole was in a far better team, I'd certainly concede that, but judging their overall ability as strikers being about even doesn't wash when you look at their respective end products for United.
 

tenpoless

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I'm willing to give him one more season.

The main reason being : We can't just sell him and use the money to improve the squad elsewhere (if that was possible, I'd sell him anytime of the day). If We sell him, We need to buy another striker to replace him and it will cost a shit ton of money as well just because the buyer is ManUnited. And who will We buy? there are no proven strikers around that are also not "old". Icardi? his attitude stinks. I will sell Sanchez first before Lukaku, Sanchez didn't contribute, will only get worse as his ages and stinking the attitude of other players because of his wage.

While Lukaku was a proven PL goalscorer, still has age on his side and He played for two managers with completely different play style. He's a Jose type of striker and still didn't do well under him, probably not down to tactics then? Had We not signed him and this transfer window He's one of the few striker options for us to sign, I'm sure people would suggest him. He's not as bad as people make him to be recently.

Remember the first several games where He looked like a proper number 9? it's probably down to his mentality than actual ability. His first touch too, it's never been so shite - I've seen better first touches in 5 a side. I don't think He's actually that bad.

One more season to see if He improves, if not then get rid. We need a lot of competition up front. Look at Lingard and Rashford, a few run of good games and They retreated back to their shells.
 
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fps

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When I see Lukaku's name on the teamsheet, I think lack of movement, lack of mobility, and that he's blocking Rashford or Martial from playing there and being given the chance to prove they're top quality.

He will continue to score around 1 every 2 games at every team he goes to, but his mobility will continue to become more and more limited and I think he'll be finished at top level by 29.
 

JPRouve

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With his mileage, I don't see where the potential is supposed to come from. He has been given the benefit of better coaching than most player could dream about and he also has been given a lot of game time. As for adapting tactical schemes to his strength, I believe that it would impair the team he is playing for, they would have to effectively carry him which isn't a recipe for success at the top, you can do that when you are Everton because finishing 6th or 7th is good enough most years but you can't do it if you aim higher.
 

Maestro14

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One of the main things we've lacked since SAF is a 20+ goal a season Striker. The closest we've come to that was Zlatan, who I think got 17 goals in the PL so he might have made it if he hadn't got injured at the end of the season. Lukaku has done that for Everton, so yeah the potential is there for him to do it at United. To be honest, I can't see Rashford or Martial getting 20+ goals as the main striker next season. Lukaku might be able to if he works on his fitness in the summer. I wouldn't be too bothered if he left, but if he does we absolutely have to bring in a top striker to replace him.
 

kkengvib

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I don't see the Cole comparison to be honest. If we're going to talk about both as patchy players who didn't always produce we also need to look at both players' top levels. Andrew had his faults and his difficulties at United but his best work buries anything Rom has given us.

Cole was in a far better team, I'd certainly concede that, but judging their overall ability as strikers being about even doesn't wash when you look at their respective end products for United.

Yeah I see where you're coming from. Cole's best season is far superior to Lukaku's.

We're judging Lukaku's short Utd career vs. Cole's 7+ years with us though. Perhaps it's more accurate to say he' going to be at around Cole's level when his career is done.
It's a bit of a recency effect with Lukaku as well. His first season wasn't bad with us. If that season was this past one I guess people would be much more positive about him moving forward. He did score 27 goals across all competitions for us.

Anyway, he's not good enough to be the main man on this Utd team.
 
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romufc

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Lukaku does not suit the style of football Ole is trying to play. He would work well for teams who play direct football and get early crosses into the box.

He is a good striker that will get you goals but when it comes to big games in big moments I dont think he delivers, that is where we need to aim to get to.

The style I see us playing next season is high press, quick interchange, quick passing which is not Lukaku's game. He is probably the most frustrating player when we win the ball back and a long pass is played to him and loses it. He cannot even win header's from a goal kick.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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Yeah I see where you're coming from. Cole's best season is far superior to Lukaku's.

We're judging Lukaku's short Utd career vs. Cole's 7+ years with us though. Perhaps it's more accurate to say he' going to be at around Cole's level when his career is done.
It's a bit of a recency effect with Lukaku as well. His first season wasn't bad with us. If that season was this past one I guess people would be much more positive about him moving forward. He did score 27 goals across all competitions for us.

Anyway, he's not good enough to be the main man on this Utd team.
Aye no complaints there. Rom could well end up around Cole statistically (187 goals in 414 PL apps, a 0.45 ratio) but if he ends up anything like as well-regarded by United fans once he's finished here I'd be very surprised (and delighted obviously).
 

Adam-Utd

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I'd like to see how he is after a rest this summer and a good pre season.

When he's fit he's MUCH better than he's shown recently. If we get a huge offer from Inter then maybe we should cut our losses and start fresh.

If he plays regularly like he did against Chelsea in the first half then he could be great, but he just struggles to maintain that sort of level which is a worry.
 

Gopher Brown

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To answer the thread title, yes, potentially £70million.
We can’t even begin to countenance selling him until we have a replacement signed, or else we’ll end up going into next season with Rashford and Greenwood as our only two strikers, neither of whom are going to get us 15 goals next year. Possibly not even 15 goals between them.
 

Lynty

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Using him completely wrong. We haven't played to his strengths at all, and I don't think we are planning to either.

He was a complete menace at the World Cup. Much better than Kane. We haven't got the players to bring out his best.
 

JPRouve

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Using him completely wrong. We haven't played to his strengths at all, and I don't think we are planning to either.

He was a complete menace at the World Cup. Much better than Kane. We haven't got the players to bring out his best.
He wasn't a complete menace at the World Cup, he scored against bad teams and then disappeared.
 

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So the main defense of him seems to be that he needs to play in a very specific system in order to thrive, and without those conditions he’s a bit crap? That to me is a sign of a very limited forward, someone who the best defenses will have little problem shutting out whatever the system.
 

Lynty

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He wasn't a complete menace at the World Cup, he scored against bad teams and then disappeared.
Disagree.

Yes he dominated the bad teams in the groups.

But he was great against Brazil, and single handedly created De Bruyne goal with a great piece of football. Japan kept him quiet (Japan kept a lot quiet during the World Cup) but again a great dummy for Chadli goal.

You could argue he should have scored more against better teams, but his contributions was significant during Belgiums run. Nothing like the Lukaku we've had this season
 

Andersons Dietician

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Hell No. his technique and first touch is disaster and ruins all the fluidity of the attack. I don't buy the lack of service claims, not without to give him a share of the blame. Other strikers gets more chances because they move in clever ways. We have strikers in midtable clubs that scored more than him.
Don’t agree with this. His first touch yes isn’t great. But he doesn’t ruin the fluidity of the attack and if people actually pay attention his movement is by far the best out of our front 4. People mistake quantity over value when it comes to movement and the amount of spaces he opens up with a good run and the ball is never played to him is criminal. He’s also been involved in loads of our very rare best bits of play and is the only one that can cross out of the lot of them which begs the question why is Lukaku out crossing the ball for the likes of Mata, Rashford and Lingard?
I can tell you why and that’s because our useless dull, uncreative midfield will only ever notice someone sitting on the wing in space because they ignore all the good runs our forwards actually do make or even our fullbacks unless it’s Ashley Young.

I also really don’t see where we buy a better striker from who is a 25 goal + a season man and if we could buy one would he be able to do it in such a poor team because as many have said with the state of our team you need a miracle worker up front or someone who can inform Rashford that sometimes it’s better to pass the ball.

If honestly someone like a young Aguero or Suarez or something like that was available then yeah, bye bye Lukaku. The issue is there isn’t any out there currently.
 

berbasloth4

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I would keep Lukaku. I would get someone who can actually cross the ball and play to his strengths, could you imagine the goals he would score if he was having quality passes and balls to be on the end off?
 

sullydnl

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Depends what you mean by "potential" really.

His flaws aren't going to suddenly dissapear and he will always have limitations. However, he could certainly become a player who combines the best aspects of his first season here (attitude, personality & work rate) with the best aspects of his last season at Everton (20-30 league goals a season).

If he did that then he would be an excellent striker for big teams with certain styles of play, even with his flaws. You'd need to buy him knowing he fits what you're trying to do though.

Whereas in our case we seemed to initially buy him knowing what we wanted but not realising he wasn't it. Then once we got a new manager who figured out what he was we seemed less certain about what we wanted.
 

JPRouve

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Disagree.

Yes he dominated the bad teams in the groups.

But he was great against Brazil, and single handedly created De Bruyne goal with a great piece of football. Japan kept him quiet (Japan kept a lot quiet during the World Cup) but again a great dummy for Chadli goal.

You could argue he should have scored more against better teams, but his contributions was significant during Belgiums run. Nothing like the Lukaku we've had this season
What you described is a decent player doing a few good things in 10 games, not a complete menace. And it's very much like the Lukaku that we have seen this season, he hasn't been bad 100% of the time, he does good things from time to time but the reality is that these good things are relatively rare and mainly against poor opposition.
That's one of the issues with Lukaku, he isn't useless so there is no point arguing that but he also isn't a top striker or a complete menace. The only reason we should think about selling him is because his monetary value exceeds his footballing value not because he is bad but because in this football world there are a lot of clubs like United who fail to realize that a player like Lukaku isn't supposed to cost a lot in wage and transfer fee.
 

Jed I. Knight

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Disagree.

Yes he dominated the bad teams in the groups.

But he was great against Brazil, and single handedly created De Bruyne goal with a great piece of football. Japan kept him quiet (Japan kept a lot quiet during the World Cup) but again a great dummy for Chadli goal.

You could argue he should have scored more against better teams, but his contributions was significant during Belgiums run. Nothing like the Lukaku we've had this season
I agree that he was generally very good in the World Cup, and overall much better than we've seen him over any prolonged period for United. Problem is, at United he rarely gets the conditions to thrive in. He's at his best when he gets the ball into his feet, with space to around him to run into with the ball. This lets him combine his power and speed.

At United we mostly lump it up to him, and he's often isolated against two centre backs and even a DM. This magnifies his flaws, and completely negates his strong suits. It's not just our style, either. It's also down to the fact that a lot of teams, especially at Old Trafford, know that being compact and sitting deep, is an effective way to nullify us. It has been the go-to way for beating United since the Van Goal days, and we haven't really become any better at breaking down established defenses since then. It's hard to see Lukaku being part of the solution to that, though.
 

Jezpeza

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In my opinion, he is lethal if you play him in over the top and he gets in behind. If you break or counter attack. Thats how he scored all his goals for Albion and everton.

Use him to hold the ball up with his back to goal or ask him for intelligent touches and link up play with other attackers - waste of time. Dont think he fits our system but he's not a shit player as some make out.
 

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I think Lukaku can be extremely useful for us. There's other areas of the pitch where I'd rather spend our money, and I feel that improvements there will also bring improvement in Lukaku.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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What you described is a decent player doing a few good things in 10 games, not a complete menace. And it's very much like the Lukaku that we have seen this season, he hasn't been bad 100% of the time, he does good things from time to time but the reality is that these good things are relatively rare and mainly against poor opposition.
That's one of the issues with Lukaku, he isn't useless so there is no point arguing that but he also isn't a top striker or a complete menace. The only reason we should think about selling him is because his monetary value exceeds his footballing value not because he is bad but because in this football world there are a lot of clubs like United who fail to realize that a player like Lukaku isn't supposed to cost a lot in wage and transfer fee.
Such simple truthful words. Love it.
 

red4ever 79

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If we sell him and replace him with someone better then fine he can go. If we sell him and rely on Rashy to lead the line then we are buggered
 

Mastoness

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I see him more as a goal poacher than the target man but the problem is that we have a fullbacks who barely contribute at all (no crosses in 16) and we don't have a proper wingers or attacking midfielder who would link up with him.

I would rather keep him, make him to drop some weight and improve his fitness and upgrade the other parts of the squad. I think any striker would struggle in this squad that we have right now because of lack of service in general.
 
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Lynty

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What you described is a decent player doing a few good things in 10 games, not a complete menace. And it's very much like the Lukaku that we have seen this season, he hasn't been bad 100% of the time, he does good things from time to time but the reality is that these good things are relatively rare and mainly against poor opposition.
That's one of the issues with Lukaku, he isn't useless so there is no point arguing that but he also isn't a top striker or a complete menace. The only reason we should think about selling him is because his monetary value exceeds his footballing value not because he is bad but because in this football world there are a lot of clubs like United who fail to realize that a player like Lukaku isn't supposed to cost a lot in wage and transfer fee.
Nobody can set a world cup on fire (fat Ronaldo maybe iirc). But I get what your saying. Are we seriously getting 50m for him though? And if we do, who is available at 50m to improve us?

Its a big gamble to replace a proven goal scorer after one poor season.

By the same logic, Pogba's monetary value probably also exceeds his footballing value.
 

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I think there is a real lack of world-class strikers in football today, So I don't think we are going to sign someone who is much of an improvement in the position, So for me, he is someone I am happy is at the club.

Also, think Lukaku could improve with some better coaching and attitude in and around the club, both of which are areas the club has struggled with for a number of years.

But on the other side, Lukaku may be one of those players contributing to what is obviously a bad attitude at the club.