I'd put in a cheeky bid for Costa. He is clearly not wanted at Chelsea, has a relationship with Mourinho and the thought of having to defend against him and Lukaku at the same time would terrify most defences. Probably unlikely Chelsea would accept the bid but given the fact that no one else seems to be interested and Atletico have the transfer ban, its worth a punt.
Do we need a Lukaku backup to win the league?
- Thread starter Mindhunter
- Start date
Martial hasn't the ability to lead the line. He's a wide forward or at the very minimum needs a partner. He's at his best with the ball at his feet running at teams, leading the line, he'd need to play with his back to goal. That's just not his game.
We will have Zlatan back anyway so I don't think it'll be a problem.
If that's the quality of your jokes then I really hope you have good tickling skills.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.
That's the worry I have as well. Martial is a special player and I really want him to do well but simply put he doesn't instill a lot of confidence in me. He isn't someone who is dynamic enough to break through games where we struggled to score goals last season and given our injury record for the last 4-5 years I am not too confident that we will have Lukaku available for the entirety of the season (I really hope I am wrong though).
I'm more worried about not having a Matic back up. We have other midfielders but no one who does what he does and his importance to this team is probably going to be close to Scholes levels (in terms of how much we would miss him if he's out)
Yeah, I think Mourinho will risk it with Rashford and Martial as backups to Lukaku, and then with the addition of Ibrahimović in January.
Rashford is his back-up, he did fine last year after Zlatan's injury.
Surprised so many seem to think Zlatan resigning in January is a certainty. Personally i don't think he will want to play second fiddle to Lukaku.
Surprised so many seem to think Zlatan resigning in January is a certainty. Personally i don't think he will want to play second fiddle to Lukaku.
The lad needs to be prepared to play, and play, and play... We saw how Jose treated the old fella last season, so Lukaku needs to have a good supply of boot to hand, because he's going to need them.
When he doesn't play, my guess is we'll go to Marcus, as we did last season. The lad seems to get bigger by the week and is gaining experience; so he should be more than capable of the lone role when asked, again this season.
Anthony will again be 3rd choice through the middle for me
When he doesn't play, my guess is we'll go to Marcus, as we did last season. The lad seems to get bigger by the week and is gaining experience; so he should be more than capable of the lone role when asked, again this season.
Anthony will again be 3rd choice through the middle for me
We've had them last season with not much consistency. OP's point I presume is that a traditional Big CF makes the difference and so backup Lukaku type player.
I'm OK with Rashford playing that role, but yeah...wouldn't hinder if we can get someone on the cheap.
I'm not sure we need to go out and buy another striker as such. I remember seeing a post mentioning how Lukaku rarely misses games, he seems to always be a reliable part of the starting eleven. Now, obviously he's not immune to injuries but, that's a good sign.
We also have Martial and Rashford as others have said, Rashford has a habit of missing quite a few chances, I really hope it doesn't continue into the season, but we saw one in particular against West Ham and one against Real Madrid. Martial is cold in front of goal, nerveless, but I think he's better from out wide. I'm often torn between the two and which player should play.
As for Zlatan, I'm indifferent as to whether he comes back in January, it would be a boost to the team if we're in a position of challenging on a couple of fronts, but I wouldn't cry any rivers if he went elsewhere.
I'd also like to add that the last game we managed two goals from the striker, one from a CM and another from a winger. That share of goals looks healthy, hopefully the other players start chipping in and not criminally missing chances.
We also have Martial and Rashford as others have said, Rashford has a habit of missing quite a few chances, I really hope it doesn't continue into the season, but we saw one in particular against West Ham and one against Real Madrid. Martial is cold in front of goal, nerveless, but I think he's better from out wide. I'm often torn between the two and which player should play.
As for Zlatan, I'm indifferent as to whether he comes back in January, it would be a boost to the team if we're in a position of challenging on a couple of fronts, but I wouldn't cry any rivers if he went elsewhere.
I'd also like to add that the last game we managed two goals from the striker, one from a CM and another from a winger. That share of goals looks healthy, hopefully the other players start chipping in and not criminally missing chances.
First reply ends the thread.
Zlatan coming back sorts this out for the business end of the season. You're not going to get many good strikers wanting to sit on the bench all season.
Yes, we're really desperate and we'd be buggered without him. I've thought really hard about it and I we should try and get at least two of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial or Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who I hear will be available on a free in January). Their mixture of pace, skill and power would really make us threatening when Lukaku is unavailable.
If we can't score goals with Lukaku, Rashford, Martial, Mkhitaryan, Mata, Pogba, Lingard and Zlatan returning in January whilst there's also a strong chance we'll sign a winger/wide forward before the deadline then we have to seriously look at the tactics rather than the personnel as that should be bucket loads of goals right there.
Exactly! Teams have been and are scoring more with far less. If we can't score enough with what we have, the problems most definitely lie deeper than any individual shortcomings.
Well, if Rashford, Mata, Miki and Pogs start chipping in the goals, we don't need a backup striker. If every attacking player scores 5-10 goals/season and if lukaku gets 20-30, we're in a good spot.
I think we are done in this window unless Jose wants another full back
I can still see us getting any old player for the left wing to strengthen the depth.
Again we have Zlatan who joins the group in 4 months. Like seriously, what do you guys want?
We can adapt. Once Zlatan comes back we'll have great options but we can adapt. If you need a target man, Fellaini holding up and laying it off to Martial or rashford facing the defenders from deeper. There's no point thinking negative.
Cole Yorke Ole Teddy
Lukaku Rashford Martial Zlatan
4 is the key number. Rotate them
Lukaku Rashford Martial Zlatan
4 is the key number. Rotate them