I think this season showed we don’t have a credible backup striker for Lukaku. Sanchez and Rashford are better utilised elsewhere and are no more than “fill in” players in the central role. Surely a club of the stature and ambition of Manchester United needs more than than that.
Do we need an experienced backup striker?
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Mandzukic can play as striker and winger. Very reliable player with strong mentality.
We really need one, i don't trust anyone else other than Lukaku to lead our line.
Same here , we need to rotate the strikers too as it shows this season that we are too dependent on Lukaku
I concur! When you only have one 'firing' striker and then suddenly he's not...or injured, history has proven that having a seasoned scorer to bring on worked wonders under Fergie. Solskjaer...you knew he was gonna score! Maybe times have changed, but certainly worth considering!
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Higuain might be available.
I think Rashford/Martial will be fine back ups providing we can get service to them from the wings.
We have Rashford, Martial, and Sanchez who can play this role. What we need is a top Tricky right winger who can create and score goals.
Not our first priority. We can play sanchez martial rashford at st position. Better sign mbappe/bale so he can sort rw and st position problem
No we can't play either of those in striker position. None of them is good enough to lead the line and none of them fits the striker profile Jose wants. Last few games without Lukaku where we scored only 1 goal shows that.
Its a priority. We need Mandzukic to back up Lukaku.
Lewandowski did say he wanted to leave Bayern 
The only clubs that could afford him are you guys, City, PSG and Madrid.
The only clubs that could afford him are you guys, City, PSG and Madrid.
OH yes, a 60m striker as backup striker , who can't even hold up the ball. It is Mandzukic that hold up the ball, Higuain is more like a 9 1/2
You're giving ideas to Mourinho with this thread now he's going for Arnautovic.
Yeah he is different but he's about as good as Aguero. We need another top striker not just a backup ( we have that).
Personally I don’t think we do as if we sign Bale then between Bale, Sanchez, Lingard, Mata and Martial we’ve got plenty out wide to allow Rashford to play only as a central striker and he’ll progress from there.
Don’t get me wrong Mandzukic would be a great back up option for Lukaku BUT Rashford will progress once he has a settled position, he played so many different positions last season it really stunted his progress but we saw in his breakthrough season and a lot of last season too that HE CAN lead the line but differently to Lukaku and that variation is a good thing.
Don’t get me wrong Mandzukic would be a great back up option for Lukaku BUT Rashford will progress once he has a settled position, he played so many different positions last season it really stunted his progress but we saw in his breakthrough season and a lot of last season too that HE CAN lead the line but differently to Lukaku and that variation is a good thing.
what top striker is going to come to United to sit on the bench, Lukaku is Mou's guy and sticks with him. I don't see Mourinho all of sudden playing two strikers, he sparingly did in his two seasons thus far. Zlatan was rarely substituted, same with Lukaku. I don't think he trusts Rashford or Martial to play striker so a big physical veteran striker he can bring on as a sub or to start 10-15 games a season is a more practical fit.
Just a question to the question : Do we have a top class striker ? Lukaku has from memory scored around 16 league goals season 2017 / 2018, do we now class that as a top class striker because if we do then we have seriously dropped our levels of expectation. Perhaps it is Lukaku who should become the back up striker, and before we use " but he has not had the service line "., I believe that top / world class strikers have the ability to make their own chances when the need arises.
His statistics at previous clubs and at utd., do seem to point to a difficulty in scoring against top English and European sides which does in my estimation does not put him in the top striker bracket. Let us hope that he improves in the coming season.
His statistics at previous clubs and at utd., do seem to point to a difficulty in scoring against top English and European sides which does in my estimation does not put him in the top striker bracket. Let us hope that he improves in the coming season.
The key word of note here is Priority. Yes we could do with a back up striker but let's face it, if we are running with a defined budget, aren't we supposed to be improving areas like RW then full back positions before the conversation of a back up striker begins?
You see I don't want to think for a moment that the management of our team is oblivious to these priority areas and so I believe work is being done to address back up striker role as well as the aforementioned areas simulateously and I want to believe we have a big enough budget for all these. But anyone that thinks we can go into the new season with Mata and Lingard as RW whilst we sign a back up striker has got some explaining to do to me.
You see I don't want to think for a moment that the management of our team is oblivious to these priority areas and so I believe work is being done to address back up striker role as well as the aforementioned areas simulateously and I want to believe we have a big enough budget for all these. But anyone that thinks we can go into the new season with Mata and Lingard as RW whilst we sign a back up striker has got some explaining to do to me.
No you are right we are definitely getting a right winger this summer. But we need to have another striker with strong presence in the box. Other then Lukaku we don't have that kind of player, not even an older back up alla Drogba.
There are enough games for two top strikers to play. Lukaku would probably do better if he got more rest.
That would be absolutely perfect.
Since Lukaku is starting almost every single game for us, a backup would look at about 10 starts and some last minute subs for us. Which striker of good quality would like to join us for so little playing time?
Looking at priorities, we need one, perhaps even two new cm’s, we need a rw, a rb, and preferably a lb. Don’t think backup striker is as important right now.
But since we are connected to Arnautovic Mourinho might think differently.
Looking at priorities, we need one, perhaps even two new cm’s, we need a rw, a rb, and preferably a lb. Don’t think backup striker is as important right now.
But since we are connected to Arnautovic Mourinho might think differently.
Mourinho clearly believes we do need a back up target man. Hence the interest in Aranutovic and Mandzukic
Yeah let's sign one of these two mediocre strikers while our competitors go for real deals!
Exactly. Time to go for a top target.
I was one of those who mocked Mou's preference on having 'presence' up front. Then I thought back on what type of strikers Fergie had to lead the line. Hughes, Andy Cole, RvN, Rooney, Saha, Berba, RvP, Tevez, Chicarito. Other than Chicarito (who was lively, fast and deadly in front of goal) and Berba (who was out of favor after a year or so), those strikers did have this 'presence'. Other than being skillful, they also could bully centerbacks and made their 'presence'.
So back to our current 'options' on Martial, Rashford, and Sanchez. Judging by his records, I don't think even Fergie would have them as his strikers, as they don't have enough 'presence' to lead the line.
So back to our current 'options' on Martial, Rashford, and Sanchez. Judging by his records, I don't think even Fergie would have them as his strikers, as they don't have enough 'presence' to lead the line.
I agree with you, unfortunately Mourinho doesn’t. He wants a presence up front when Lukaku or Fellaini aren’t available.
Arnautovic would be a great addition to our squad. He can play as a striker or LW, RW behind the striker. He can get goals and I believe we didn't see the best of him at West Ham.
wouldnt mind mandzukic but only if part of the deal for darmian. Wouldnt take funds out of budget for Mandzukic. If he isnt included in that deal then id say, give greenwood the chances when we really need it
I prefer to sign a player like Fekir, he scored 23 goals last season. Also, he can play behind the striker, as No.8, left winger, false 9... Arnautovic scored 11 goals.
Fekir is 24 years old while Arnautovic is 29. Overall, Fekir is a better player and we need the best to compete versus the best teams.
Fekir is 24 years old while Arnautovic is 29. Overall, Fekir is a better player and we need the best to compete versus the best teams.
I'd say no. Lukaku barely misses a game and if we add someone who's got attacking quality for our right side then I think Rashford is good enough to fill in though he's obviously not as good at the role as Lukaku but the type of money we'd have to spend on a back-up who'd almost certainly be unhappy with the role isn't worth it when we need to get the highest quality available in another 2-3 positions. Lukaku played 34 league games last season and I think all the European games. He's very seldom unavailable.
If we really want to win the league, you need a striker that give 100% in every game. Any striker can't do it, if you are playing 3 times in a week. Playing 3 games a week, Lukaku had to conserve energy, thus in some games, you can see that he looked "lazy". Mou didn't and doesn't trust any of Martial, Rashford, and Sanchez to lead the line, so he played Lukaku almost every game. And the cycle continues.
Thus, having a backup striker that Mou think can do the job well, is important.
I don't think we need one unless we lose Martial. We have the players up front to score without Lukaku. We just don't have the midfield or tempo of play to make it work.
It's evident when Lukaku does play. He is good enough to be getting 30+ goals a year in a good team, yet most games for us he is having to both create and score the chances by himself. You're not going to get another player who can do that and is also happy to be a back up.
It's evident when Lukaku does play. He is good enough to be getting 30+ goals a year in a good team, yet most games for us he is having to both create and score the chances by himself. You're not going to get another player who can do that and is also happy to be a back up.
Mandzukic would bench Lukaku, you better know it in advance, especially in big games (that’s part of the problem making him wanting out this Summer, the other part being he would like to sign his last, big lucrative deal). He would bench him anyway, though.
I don't like to speak about him as though we are signing him... but if we were to sign someone like Bale on the right. He's great in the air, he's got pace, and he's a goal scorer (and a varied one at that), and he can hold his own physically. We could play Martial or Rashford coming from the left, with Lingard or Sanchez linking, and Pogba making late breaks into the box.
We've looked trash up front with players other than Lukaku up front. Surely back up strong striker is a must at this point? At least, as long as Mourinho is still the manager.
To be fair, we've looked trash with Lukaku at times too.
yeh. Sometimes he needs to be rotated also.
If we don't change managers or sign a RW who can play up top like Bale, then yeah, we should probably bring in some physical 9 who can do a job as a target man even if it's someone theoretically below our club level like a Marcus Berg, Kalinic (though hard to see that after the WC debacle) or Llorente or Janssen from Spurs on loan or a lower-end of the table target 9 like Slimani or Solomon Rondon or even a golden oldie like Guerrero from Peru since he'd likely only have to play for an hour once every couple weeks or so when Lukaku needs a rest. Basically like when Mourinho had Demba Ba.
Ideally one of Rashford or Martial wins the job backing up Lukaku outright, but especially if Martial goes, it makes sense to have an insurance policy. We really do ask our 9s to do a specific task and it's not one for 20 year old pacy forwards. Just like Klopp might prefer Firmino as a 9 to someone theoretically better in a vacuum like Lukaku, so too might we prefer a hold up 9 of worse quality than Rashford or Martial struggling to hold up the ball draped in centerbacks or win headers.
Ideally one of Rashford or Martial wins the job backing up Lukaku outright, but especially if Martial goes, it makes sense to have an insurance policy. We really do ask our 9s to do a specific task and it's not one for 20 year old pacy forwards. Just like Klopp might prefer Firmino as a 9 to someone theoretically better in a vacuum like Lukaku, so too might we prefer a hold up 9 of worse quality than Rashford or Martial struggling to hold up the ball draped in centerbacks or win headers.
Let's count our attacking players. Lukaku, Sanchez, Martial, Rashford. All 4 are capable of, or should be able to, play the #9 role. So how many new strikers do you need? Getting them to work in different combination is the priority, not buying more striker.
Rashford looked average in that FA Cup Final and World Cup as striker. Less to say about Martial as you see from the pre-season games. Then Sanchez is even less chance, as Mou even prefer Rashford and Martial as strikers before him; even though the later two are so average.