Lukaku cost us tonight

[meamth]

I'm never confident when he got the final ball from crosses and final third.

I miss the old times when the ball fell down to Saha, RVN, RVP, Rooney, Chicharito, Berbatov and they would simply buried it.

Lukaku beat the keeper and didn't even look at the goal, hurried his shot and missed. Frustrating..

 

[Bobcat]

He's a good striker but he'll never be RVN, more a bigger less consistent Andy Cole.

Mind you in modern football who is as lethal as RVN? Ronaldo and Messi I suppose.

I fecking wish he was Andy Cole

 

[meamth]

This is such a lame duck of a thread for me. A striker missing chances should never be what costs you a game because there should be so many other factors. Ultimately our defense (Shaw aside) was appalling and our other attackers did sweet feck all in front of goal themselves.

Lukaku was poor no doubt but blaming one player for a 3-0 loss is ludicrous.

Let's be honest, this is a thread designed purely to absolve Mourinho of blame, by a poster who defends him to the hilt.

Everyone is to blame really, but Lukaku played his role in our demise today.

It's a game of redemption and as a United player he should have buried it to calm the restlessness. He didn't, because of him we chased the game in high intensity and finally lost it.

It's okay to miss agaisnt Watford, but not against tight games like this. This is that sort of match where errors are excuseable, you have to absolutely deliver.

He missed a couple of chances not just that one, that's why we came to this conclusion that he cost us the game. Pretty much as the defenders did.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I'm never confident when he got the final ball from crosses and final third.

I miss the old times when the ball fell down to Saha, RVN, RVP, Rooney, Chicharito, Berbatov and they would simply buried it.

Lukaku beat the keeper and didn't even look at the goal, hurried his shot and missed. Frustrating..

Most of those missed plenty of sitters for us.

RvN was a ridiculous finisher but the others were all capable of howlers, like Lukaku. RvP and Rooney were no doubt completely different class to Lukaku on form, though.

 

[meamth]

Most of those missed plenty of sitters for us.

RvN was a ridiculous finisher but the others were all capable of howlers, like Lukaku. RvP and Rooney were no doubt completely different class to Lukaku on form, though.

Yeah, but not as unconvincing as Lukaku though. Whenever Berba, Saha and Chicharito had a clear path towards goal, they buried it without any doubt. You have that confidence.

If you have to pick between him and berbatov for a 1 v 1 against golie, who would you choose?

 

[Massive Spanner]

Yeah, but not as unconvincing as Lukaku though. Whenever Berba, Saha and Chicharito had a clear path towards goal, they buried it without any doubt. You have that confidence.

If you have to pick between him and berbatov for a 1 v 1 against golie, who would you choose?

Not true at all, pure blinded revisionism. They all missed plenty of 1v1's.

And Lukaku is an excellent finisher who is just having a poor start to the season where he doesn't look match fit yet.

 

[el3mel]

Not true at all, pure blinded revisionism. They all missed plenty of 1v1's.

And Lukaku is an excellent finisher who is just having a poor start to the season where he doesn't look match fit yet.

Lukaku is a good finisher on instinct, when he hits the ball without thinking, but whenever he stops and think his terrible finishing becomes obvious.

 

[ZlatMan]

100m donkey. That's all I got to say. Even Zlatan on one leg would convert those chances.

 

[meamth]

Not true at all, pure blinded revisionism. They all missed plenty of 1v1's.

And Lukaku is an excellent finisher who is just having a poor start to the season where he doesn't look match fit yet.

What I meant is the aura, the confidence we have as fans when he got the final ball. Lukaku seems inferior to me. I don't know, since the world cup i felt this way towards him.

 

[daveoliver91]

Sorry for this guys, but anyone has a video of his missed chances?
Was flying during the game so I missed everything..

Hopefully he'll find his form soon, we desperately need him!

 

[Aren86]

What I meant is the aura, the confidence we have as fans when he got the final ball. Lukaku seems inferior to me. I don't know, since the world cup i felt this way towards him.

Likewise. Flat track bully springs to mind and you never get that confidence if he is to get one chance hell bury it. Rooney RVP RVN always gave me that feeling of confidence and lukaku just doesnt. I always get anxious when the balls sent his way just hoping he can control it first.

 

[cantaldo]

he's cost us both of our last 2 games, he's never going to be drogba, lukaku doesn't own the big games like a true top strikers can, It's funny but if martial starts one game up top and doesn't deliver he would straight away get dropped and mourinho would bemoan about the lack of quality up top but lukaku get's a free pass because he's one of his signings and fits into the mould of a big lump up front.

 

[vadimivich]

I think people are being a bit harsh on that miss in the first half - that was a much more difficult chance than it seemed ... going away from goal and on his right foot so the ball will naturally curl away from the post. xG had it as a 0.28 chance, which makes it one a star striker can score but not reliably.

Kane missed a 0.36 chance (the header in the 2nd half) and Alli missed 0.64 (when he rounded De Gea). Both were substantially worse misses than Lukaku's.

 

[Amir]

His misses are a problem but the fact we keep talking about ONE miss a game is a far bigger issue. We didn't even create his chance last night, it was handed to him. We can barely create anything and that's the problem.

 

[Massive Spanner]

What I meant is the aura, the confidence we have as fans when he got the final ball. Lukaku seems inferior to me. I don't know, since the world cup i felt this way towards him.

So a whole three games then.

 

[Vidyoyo]

We're shit because our attackers are shit all round, not just because Lukaku isn't 100% clinical. In a better team, our wingers drag defenders away and create space for Lukaku to operate in (and vice versa). Sure Kane and Aguero are better individually but none of the top teams in the league rely on one striker to bag them the goals as their wingers and midfielders contribute much more to the attack than ours do.

However, I am willing to admit that Lukaku does appear to miss every big first chance he's presented with. It's a bit weird. Very much a weakness of his.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This is such a lame duck of a thread for me. A striker missing chances should never be what costs you a game because there should be so many other factors. Ultimately our defense (Shaw aside) was appalling and our other attackers did sweet feck all in front of goal themselves.

Lukaku was poor no doubt but blaming one player for a 3-0 loss is ludicrous.

Let's be honest, this is a thread designed purely to absolve Mourinho of blame, by a poster who defends him to the hilt.

Bingo.

If we’d only lost one nil he could start threads blaming Jones for being easily beaten in the air, for Hererra not understanding the offside trap or for Smalling being rinsed far too easily by Moura.

We didn’t lose one nil, though. Which makes Lukaku’s miss even less relevant...

 

[devil in me]

It wasnt just the miss last night. His all round game was poor. First touch not sticking to him and passing was crap too. 2 poor games in a row but just a little out of form at the moment. He is the least of our worries.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

He also misplaced passes, was shit at holding it up and I didn't see any brilliant movement or work rate at all.

Very worrying.

 

[TheReligion]

It wasnt just the miss last night. His all round game was poor. First touch not sticking to him and passing was crap too. 2 poor games in a row but just a little out of form at the moment. He is the least of our worries.

He also misplaced passes, was shit at holding it up and I didn't see any brilliant movement or work rate at all.

Very worrying.

I think we all know he can do these things and showed it last season and at the WC. For me he's not match fit and shouldn't have been rushed back.

 

[Lash]

I think we all know he can do these things and showed it last season and at the WC. For me he's not match fit and shouldn't have been rushed back.

I appreciate this line for say, the Leicester miss - that genuinely was his first minutes a couple days back to training, but he's has a weeks training after and done the same against Brighton. Another week's training and performed the same against Tottenham.

I don't see the solution with him. Do we just keep playing him until he get's up to match fitness, while he's playing badly? Do we drop him, but that begs the question, how does he get match fit? It doesn't particularly help we have Martial and Rashford as the only other options and they're playing just as poorly.

 

[Ronaldo's ego]

Give the guy a chance. We got him on the cheap, can’t expect him to be world class after having only a full season to settle in

 

[TheReligion]

I appreciate this line for say, the Leicester miss - that genuinely was his first minutes a couple days back to training, but he's has a weeks training after and done the same against Brighton. Another week's training and performed the same against Tottenham.

I don't see the solution with him. Do we just keep playing him until he get's up to match fitness, while he's playing badly? Do we drop him, but that begs the question, how does he get match fit? It doesn't particularly help we have Martial and Rashford as the only other options and they're playing just as poorly.

I agree we are in a pickle. I mentioned before that the plan was Lukaku could be eased back in and Martial start the season as our number 9. Obviously Martial went AWOL and messed this up so we started with Rashford who really struggled in the 9 role and had to bring Lukaku back early.

It's hard not to be frustrated with Martial really considering he had no WC.

 

[coolredwine]

I don't see the solution with him. Do we just keep playing him until he get's up to match fitness, while he's playing badly? Do we drop him, but that begs the question, how does he get match fit? It doesn't particularly help we have Martial and Rashford as the only other options and they're playing just as poorly.

Sanchez?

 

[singhters]

He isn't good in front of goal give him 3 chances he will luckily score 1 totally wrong for utd even 1 on 1 he hasn't got the brain to place a ball just head down blast it, he's not bad for setting other people up though but overall he's a Heskey i personally think he needs dropping, put sanchez up front for a change.

 

[singhters]

He isn't good in front of goal give him 3 chances he will luckily score 1 totally wrong for utd even 1 on 1 he hasn't got the brain to place a ball just head down blast it, he's not bad for setting other people up though but overall he's a Heskey i personally think he needs dropping, put sanchez up front for a change.

 

[Coops73]

There’s something Andy Cole about him, not his playing style but the fact he needs several chances to put away a goal, I like him and I liked Andy Cole, both work hard but can frustrate the feck out of me, the difference though is that Cole got several opportunities every game, whereas Lukaku only gets a couple in this side, maybe just not clinical enough.

 

[Foxbatt]

It was not a one v one chance. There was no keeper at all in the picture. He had all the time in the world to even walk the ball into the net. When you look at his facial expressions you see the intensity on his face and you know that he is not calm and collected. You need to be calm to score . Then the scuffed shot from the cross from the left and also his header. All three should have been scored and we would have been 3-0 up and I cannot see us losing from a 3-0 scoreline. Jones and Herrera are scapegoats. Yes one mistake in defence and we concede. Three missed chances and most people give him a pass. He should not be our number one striker. He cannot hold the ball, He cannot head, he cannot control and he misses sitters too often.

 

[Danny]

Don't post often as you can see, but last night Lukaku was absolutely woeful. I'm no sure how he actually bags 25+ goals. The main issues in his game are obvious. Lack of awareness of the game going on around him at times- he's always 2/3 steps behind play which gives the defenders time to tidy up. He doesn't bully people enough given his size, he isn't safe with the ball into feet or chest, doesn't position himself in the box properly and looks predictable. His short passing contributed to the break down of three or four couters in the first half alone.

People saying it's a lack of match fitness. I'm not so sure. He misses BIG chances in the majority of games, or so it feels. Kane, Aguero, Salah etc would have put their team clear last night. And it wasn't just his chance around Lloris.

 

[Lash]

I agree we are in a pickle. I mentioned before that the plan was Lukaku could be eased back in and Martial start the season as our number 9. Obviously Martial went AWOL and messed this up so we started with Rashford who really struggled in the 9 role and had to bring Lukaku back early.

It's hard not to be frustrated with Martial really considering he had no WC.

Yeah Martial is a real disappointment. He had every opportunity this pre-season to come back and be ready for the Leicester and Brighton games. Mourinho even said himself, Lukaku wasn't ready for the Brighton game, so he could have easily got the game time he so desperately craved up top.

I guess we just have to give him another go against Burnley and hope he improves.

Sanchez?

I would like to see that, but I don't really ever see him leave that left side for us.

 

[#07]

There’s something Andy Cole about him, not his playing style but the fact he needs several chances to put away a goal, I like him and I liked Andy Cole, both work hard but can frustrate the feck out of me, the difference though is that Cole got several opportunities every game, whereas Lukaku only gets a couple in this side, maybe just not clinical enough.

Why do people keep saying this about Andy Cole? Andy had a difficult start to his career at United but around the Treble season he got razor sharp. How do people think Cole scored so many goals without taking penalties?

Andy Cole would've buried that chance last night. If Lukaku gets to Cole's level we'll be blessed.

 

[sullydnl]

Don't post often as you can see, but last night Lukaku was absolutely woeful. I'm no sure how he actually bags 25+ goals. The main issues in his game are obvious. Lack of awareness of the game going on around him at times- he's always 2/3 steps behind play which gives the defenders time to tidy up. He doesn't bully people enough given his size, he isn't safe with the ball into feet or chest, doesn't position himself in the box properly and looks predictable. His short passing contributed to the break down of three or four couters in the first half alone.

People saying it's a lack of match fitness. I'm not so sure. He misses BIG chances in the majority of games, or so it feels. Kane, Aguero, Salah etc would have put their team clear last night. And it wasn't just his chance around Lloris.

Already posted a lot of stats in the other thread but.....

Lukaku scored as many "big chances" as he missed last season (11), as did Aguero (14). Aguero just got an awful lot more chances across the board. Kane's ratio was better than both though, scoring more "big chances" than he missed.

Meanwhile Salah actually missed more "big chances" than he scored but recieved nearly double the amount that Lukaku did (43 vs 22).

 

[King7Eric]

To blast a CF for missing one chance is extremely knee jerk. The problem with Lukaku is much more than the fact that he missed a couple of sitters in the last 2 games. He may score 25-30 goals if they team is built around his style of play but to me, he is not a top class CF. He is technically just not good enough, can't fault his effort and attitude but in the very big games against top opposition he more often than not struggles due to not having the best technical attributes.

We bought him last season because he was the best CF available, but if we want to win league titles we will need to upgrade on him sooner or later. Though again the question arises who could we feasibly buy? The only name that springs to mind is Werner, but that'll require a big change in our style of play.

 

[TheReligion]

To blast a CF for missing one chance is extremely knee jerk. The problem with Lukaku is much more than the fact that he missed a couple of sitters in the last 2 games. He may score 25-30 goals if they team is built around his style of play but to me, he is not a top class CF. He is technically just not good enough, can't fault his effort and attitude but in the very big games against top opposition he more often than not struggles due to not having the best technical attributes.

We bought him last season because he was the best CF available, but if we want to win league titles we will need to upgrade on him sooner or later. Though again the question arises who could we feasibly buy? The only name that springs to mind is Werner, but that'll require a big change in our style of play.

It wasn't one chance. If he scored the one immediately after Kane scored I think we go on to win also.

Essentially the two key moments of the match for me.

 

[King7Eric]

It wasn't one chance. If he scored the one immediately after Kane scored I think we go on to win also.

Essentially the two key moments of the match for me.

Well he got that one on target and it produced a decent save from Lloris so if you're being ultra critical maybe you can blame him for that one but I wouldn't. But anyway my point is his game is lacking in more than just finishing accuracy.

 

[Danny]

Already posted a lot of stats in the other thread but.....

Lukaku scored as many "big chances" as he missed last season (11), as did Aguero (14). Aguero just got an awful lot more chances across the board. Kane's ratio was better than both though, scoring more "big chances" than he missed.

Meanwhile Salah actually missed more "big chances" than he scored but recieved nearly double the amount that Lukaku did (43 vs 22).

I guess the fact he doesn't have as much chances does sway opinion as it feels like he misses the more important ones at 0-0/0-1 etc

 

[Stacks]

I wasn't at all excited when we signed him so he was fighting to prove me wrong. He won me over with his attitude, willingness to improve, story etc so I route for him. That said I doubt he'll ever be good enough for what we aspire to in the end. Very much flat track, too many gaps to become elite and after 7 seasons of pro football, I doubt he will make the necessary step up as I feel he is close to his peak. It is tedious but stick RVN in there and we'd be top of the league now. Your midfield is only as good as your striker

 

[sullydnl]

I guess the fact he doesn't have as much chances does sway opinion as it feels like he misses the more important ones at 0-0/0-1 etc

Exactly. His conversion rate last year was actually quite good (and even better at Everton the year before). When we depend so much on every chance though then the ones he does miss do us more damage.

The problem (statistically at least) is the amount of chances he gets in comparison to other strikers. Which is partly down to the way we play (he recieved chances more regularly at Everton than he does here) but also probably down to the way he plays too.

If we're criticising him for anything it should be his general play, his ability to create chances for himself and/or his ability to get in position to recieve chances. Once he gets those chances though he's actually relatively clinical.

 

[Havak]

I'm willing to give him a bit of slack until after the International Break, as I am with most of our squad. But if people aren't performing to a high level consistently after that, there are no excuses. Can't blame not being 'match fit' or being rusty by then.

 

[Coops73]

Why do people keep saying this about Andy Cole? Andy had a difficult start to his career at United but around the Treble season he got razor sharp. How do people think Cole scored so many goals without taking penalties?

Andy Cole would've buried that chance last night. If Lukaku gets to Cole's level we'll be blessed.

If Cole had put away half his chances that treble season he would have scored a hell of a lot more than the 17 he did in the league that season, helped by the fact the Yorke got 18 and Ole 12. I’m not saying he’s a bad player, he just had better support and if Cole could of replicated for England what Lukaku has done for Belgium I might agree with your last sentence but we’re talking completely different teams, set ups, era etc so that’s difficult to compare.

I’m not saying he was a bad player, nor am i saying Lukaku is but for me they both frustrate when at times it’s seems easier to score than to miss.