Romelu Lukaku | Mourinho Part III | Roma watch

Walters_19_MuFc

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Lukaku himself wanting a move and Inter offering huge money which might have not been an option later, probably.

I don't think Ole would have pushed him out if Lukaku himself was happy here and there was no big money offer to cover our losses. Despite all the mocking and him genuinely not being fit to be the main man here, he would have been a great option to have as a rotation in the squad in a Cavani-like role.
Yeah, that makes sense.
 
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So, in Ole's recent press conference, having been asked about Cavani he said:

"Edinson has trained well when he's been banned," Solskjaer said. "He's had a couple of days off, of course, as well - you can't train too much.

"But he's ready to go, he gives us a different option. He's a different type of striker or forward than Mason (Greenwood), Anthony (Martial) and Marcus (Rashford), so I'm glad to have him back. That's why we brought him in.

I can only imagine that when Ole is saying Cavani is a different type of striker, he means he is more of a box player than the other three, who all like to roam across the front line.

However, if Ole wanted a different type of striker, it begs the question as to why he was so quick to offload Lukaku, who, despite not being as neat in the build-up play as our current strikers, is a box player and proven goalscorer.
because he didn’t want an overweight, unmotivated flop who had an attitude problem. Cavani is the anthesis of Lukaku.
 

STYLOISRED

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Point taken but I think you're missing my point, in that he's a box player and proven goalscorer, which are hard to find.
Think of it this way. In the dying minutes if a crucial title deciding match and your main striker gets a chance at goal, who would u bank on to finish that chance between Cavani and Lukaku??
 

GifLord

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Point taken but I think you're missing my point, in that he's a box player and proven goalscorer, which are hard to find.
Proven goalscorer against who? When you need him the most he will not turn up.
Happened numerous times for us. vs Stoke, City, Spurs, Sevilla, Newcastle...
Why pay 180k per week for someone who can't be relied upon when you need him to put the chances away?
 

Kag

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So, in Ole's recent press conference, having been asked about Cavani he said:

"Edinson has trained well when he's been banned," Solskjaer said. "He's had a couple of days off, of course, as well - you can't train too much.

"But he's ready to go, he gives us a different option. He's a different type of striker or forward than Mason (Greenwood), Anthony (Martial) and Marcus (Rashford), so I'm glad to have him back. That's why we brought him in.

I can only imagine that when Ole is saying Cavani is a different type of striker, he means he is more of a box player than the other three, who all like to roam across the front line.

However, if Ole wanted a different type of striker, it begs the question as to why he was so quick to offload Lukaku, who, despite not being as neat in the build-up play as our current strikers, is a box player and proven goalscorer.
Because his attitude was stinking and he didn’t have the chops to make it at a club like United. He wanted to leave and did so with his tail between his legs.
 

Ace of Spades

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Howson has said that Lukaku threatened to break legs if he wasn't allowed to leave
That was rumours, what was not a rumour was that he basically refused to even return to training with us, and was staying in Belgium training with his old club till the move went through.
 
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Howson has said that Lukaku threatened to break legs if he wasn't allowed to leave
he tried. He missed.

basically Ole put him in his place. He was told he wasn’t going to be a starter as a no 9, he wasn’t good enough. He would get games as a squad player, and on the right.

Then Lukaku decided he wanted to leave. Which is fair enough.

what happened subsequently, was him retelling a story, which he believes makes him look good.

- he wanted to leave after the 2nd game. Lie
- it was United who failed to diagnose an issue with his diet, and that’s why he was overweight, and unfit. Lie
 

Redlyn

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He not our player on loan or an interesting player to keep tabs on. Why can't this thread just feck off into the dungeon.
 

Markolan

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Because this is Football Forum and Lukaku is a top 5 striker now so it's absolutely normal he has his own thread in this section like Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland,

Impressive even outside Serie A:

World class
 
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Because this is Football Forum and Lukaku is a top 5 striker now so it's absolutely normal he has his own thread in this section like Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland,

Impressive even outside Serie A:

World class
Did i miss the white text?
 

amolbhatia50k

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Point taken but I think you're missing my point, in that he's a box player and proven goalscorer, which are hard to find.
He needed to start and all round game was crap. Cavani is fine with being backup to Martial or rotating with him.
 

roonster09

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World class
:lol: Amazing how all of a sudden his international record is important when people barely talked about it when he was at ManUtd. He had similar if not better record for Belgium when he was in PL.
 

L1nk

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Lukaku has played 89 international matches in total
Ronaldo has played 170
Messi has played 142

So is it any real surprise he has a better ratio? Lets see him hit between 140 and 170 games and then see if he has a better ratio

Dumb article
 

11101

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Because this is Football Forum and Lukaku is a top 5 striker now so it's absolutely normal he has his own thread in this section like Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland,

Impressive even outside Serie A:

World class
Top 5? World class? :lol:

He knows where the goal is but he was utterly useless any time he faced any kind of quality opposition, and still is. He still hasn't scored against the only good team in his current league.

Getting rid of him was a brilliant move by Ole and took balls so early into his reign. We couldn't play at the level we are now with him in the team.
 

CG1010

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Point taken but I think you're missing my point, in that he's a box player and proven goalscorer, which are hard to find.
But probably not worth it for Ole to keep a 70m striker purely as an option who provides something different. With Cavani atleast there is no transfer fees (not sure about wages differences). Plus Cavani is much better than Lukaku in terms of football ability so he won't disturb the flow of attack due to his poor touch, etc.

To think of it, from Lukaku money we basically got Bruno and Cavani.. great bit of business there from us.
 

romufc

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But probably not worth it for Ole to keep a 70m striker purely as an option who provides something different. With Cavani atleast there is no transfer fees (not sure about wages differences). Plus Cavani is much better than Lukaku in terms of football ability so he won't disturb the flow of attack due to his poor touch, etc.

To think of it, from Lukaku money we basically got Bruno and Cavani.. great bit of business there from us.
Brilliant business. Not only the transfer fee and wage, Cavani brings in leadership and winning mentality.. Lukaku had neither.

His work rate and body language is alot better than Lukaku's on the pitch too.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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That has to be a wind up. Please say it's a wind up!

Top-5 striker? World class?

He's a striker for Belgium who put them on a plate for him, but in the Euro 2020 qualifiers Belgium scored 40 of which Lukaku scored 7. Hardly prolific.
He is a top 10 striker in the world for sure. Worldclass yes unless you define it to only be like 20 players.
 

Ladron de redcafe

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Because this is Football Forum and Lukaku is a top 5 striker now so it's absolutely normal he has his own thread in this section like Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland,

Impressive even outside Serie A:

World class
I actually agree with you. I'm not sure why Lukaku effectuates as much vituperation as he does among United fans. This isn't a case similar to Tévez going to City and disrespecting Ferguson. He simply needed a move and got one.

Moreover, even then, we'd ideally be more objective. Not only was Lukaku a top striker in the Premier League, but he's been one of the best performers in seria A and on the internationsl stage.

Sometimes things don't work out at a club and he wasn't the best fit here, but I'm not sure why we can't be slightly less myopic when it comes to him. He's clearly one of the best 10 strikers in world football. I don't know whether he cracks the top 5 but he's certainly close.
 

InterFan1998

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Beast. More goals in World Cup knockout matches than Messi and Ronaldo combined.
 

InterFan1998

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Jokes aside, I’m not the biggest fan of Lukaku. I like Cavani more as a player.
But, Cavani was also considered a big game choker in until his late 20s, early 30s.

Between 2012 and 2016, he managed to score in only 3 of his 13 CL knockout matches. Funnily enough, he only scored against Chelsea. It means he went 10 out of 13 matches without scoring a goal over 4 seasons, over 70 percent of the matches.

Lukaku still has time to improve his performances in big games. I don’t think he’ll ever be a big game player personally but his overall level has improved this year compared to the last one.
 
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Walters_19_MuFc

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But probably not worth it for Ole to keep a 70m striker purely as an option who provides something different. With Cavani atleast there is no transfer fees (not sure about wages differences). Plus Cavani is much better than Lukaku in terms of football ability so he won't disturb the flow of attack due to his poor touch, etc.

To think of it, from Lukaku money we basically got Bruno and Cavani.. great bit of business there from us.
I get that but when we got rid of Lukaku, Ole didn't initially buy a 'different striker'. We've only just replaced Lukaku, if you like, with a box player like Cavani and it was almost something we stumbled upon, as opposed to planned.

Just interesting because going forward, it's starting to become more clear that Ole may not fancy Martial as a 9. If that's the case, then I guess he'll be looking for a box player when Cavani goes.

That being said, it's always nice to have strikers that bring something different and I guess Ole sees that in Martial.
 

do.ob

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I mean who are the top tier strikers this season?

La Liga:
Benzema

PL:
Kane

Bundesliga:
Lewandowski
Haaland

Serie A:
Ronaldo
Lukaku
Immobile

It's not such an outlandish claim to think he's been among the top5 in terms of recent performances.
 

Morty_

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I mean who are the top tier strikers this season?

La Liga:
Benzema

PL:
Kane

Bundesliga:
Lewandowski
Haaland

Serie A:
Ronaldo
Lukaku
Immobile

It's not such an outlandish claim to think he's been among the top5 in terms of recent performances.
I know he has been injuried, but still, Lukaku better than Zlatan, really?
 

MalcolmTucker

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I mean who are the top tier strikers this season?

La Liga:
Benzema

PL:
Kane

Bundesliga:
Lewandowski
Haaland

Serie A:
Ronaldo
Lukaku
Immobile

It's not such an outlandish claim to think he's been among the top5 in terms of recent performances.
Thing is, there are very few traditional number 9s currently, but do you really think Lukaku would be getting in the starting line-ups for Man Utd, Liverpool, City, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea (possibly?), Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG?

It's nice him and Immobile can score loads in Serie A but I can't see many managers at top end of La Liga and the PL wanting them leading the line. Muriel is scoring every 45 minutes and a 39 year old Zlatan is scoring every 63 minutes in Serie A this season. The likes of Vardy and Ings have put in better PL seasons than Lukaku ever managed in his 8 or so seasons in the premier league.
 

InterFan1998

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Im rating him skill wise and he's very average in that department.
Just curious, how do rate skill? Is it about first touch, technique,
Thing is, there are very few traditional number 9s currently, but do you really think Lukaku would be getting in the starting line-ups for Man Utd, Liverpool, City, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea (possibly?), Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG?

It's nice him and Immobile can score loads in Serie A but I can't see many managers at top end of La Liga and the PL wanting them leading the line. Muriel is scoring every 45 minutes and a 39 year old Zlatan is scoring every 63 minutes in Serie A this season. The likes of Vardy and Ings have put in better PL seasons than Lukaku ever managed in his 8 or so seasons in the premier league.
Immobile is also scoring in the Champions League not just serie a. Meanwhile Jamie Vardy had a very weak campaign in the CL from what I recall. He’s good enough for EPL but definitely not a striker you’d want for a major competition like the CL.

Maldonado Barcelona has Braithwaite playing number 9 recently. You don’t think Lukaku gets in the Barca team over him?Griezmann has also been largely terrible for Barca as a 9. Arsenal has Lacazette and I’d say Lukaku is better than him.

Also those guys scoring lots in Serie A doesn’t mean they wouldn’t in La Liga or EPL. Like you said, guys like Vardy and zings who have never done much at te biggest stage are killing it in the EPL. Even Bruno has double digits in goals, while he struggled to score 5 in a season in Serie A.
 

GifLord

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Just curious, how do rate skill? Is it about first touch, technique,
Football technique, both his heading and shooting accuracy, positional awareness, dribbling skills, football intelligence, mentality in important matches...
I mean you watch Inter you should know how awkward he looks at times.
 
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Thing is, there are very few traditional number 9s currently, but do you really think Lukaku would be getting in the starting line-ups for Man Utd, Liverpool, City, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea (possibly?), Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG?

It's nice him and Immobile can score loads in Serie A but I can't see many managers at top end of La Liga and the PL wanting them leading the line. Muriel is scoring every 45 minutes and a 39 year old Zlatan is scoring every 63 minutes in Serie A this season. The likes of Vardy and Ings have put in better PL seasons than Lukaku ever managed in his 8 or so seasons in the premier league.
yes good post. He wouldn’t play at a top club.

clearly world class is very subjective. But world class players would make a difference at a top club.

would Lukaku make a difference at one of the top 6 clubs in the PL, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG, Barca, Madrid? as a sub maybe...

would be even be a starter at any of those clubs?

No.

You aren’t a world class player if you can’t get in the starting 11 of the top 10 clubs in the world.

yes there are less no 9’s. But clubs don’t play that way, the likes of Rashford, Son, Salah, Mane have been putting in the no’s in the PL and they aren’t no 9’s.

Remember Lukaku scored for United:

16 league goals
12 league goals

Now he’s gone to an easier league. And scoring more goals.
 

Idxomer

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Pace and strength are rare commodities in Seria A, his success with Inter is largely due to these two qualities.

80% of teams simply can't deal with him. Mkhitaryan's pace for another example in the PL looked nothing special, but the other day against Inter he looked the fastest player in the game. He's the most productive player in Seria A this season with Ronaldo.