Lukaku cost us tonight

Jed I. Knight

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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.
It makes no sense to look at a isolated chances from the perspective of xG. It doesn't take into account the fact that the keeper was gone when Lukaku finished, which sort of impacts how big of a chance it is. I do agree that Alli's chance was just as bad of a miss though.

It was an open goal, he should have scored. He didn't, and it cost us. If it was a one off, it wouldn't be worrying, be he also couldn't convert the chance just after Kane's goal, and he completely fluffed the finish and failed to test Lloris from ten yards out after Luke Shaw's cutback pass in the first half. All of these are opportunities where we need our striker to do better, if we want to win games like these.

Hopefully it's just a bad slump. Realistically, I don't think Lukaku will ever be good enough to be the lone striker in a team challenging for the top honours.
 

Annihilate Now!

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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.
Weird year to pick for Cole... he was lethal in 98-99... scored 17 goals in 26 starts in the PL and 5 in 10 in the CL... Cole more often then not buried most good chances he got.
 

Coops73

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Weird year to pick for Cole... he was lethal in 98-99... scored 17 goals in 26 starts in the PL and 5 in 10 in the CL... Cole more often then not buried most good chances he got.
I wasn’t referencing the treble season in my first post that was @#07 that brought up the treble season, I was just comparing his general play, yes he was lethal but Yorke was lethal as was Ole, the whole team was brilliant but I was just saying that “in general” Cole used to frustrate me with some of the chances that he missed and in that respect that’s how Lukaku sometimes makes me feel.
 

Robbie Boy

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Had Lukaku put his early chance away, I would imagine we would have went back into our shells and Spurs would have got one back. Then who knows what would have happened after that.

Both teams had 5 chances on target, so in all honesty, maybe a draw would have been the fairest result. That first half hour of a performance has officially become one of those 'Caf myths' that will be brought up for years to come. Something like the Clev / Ando combo that single-handedly destroyed the league for a period of time or when Welbeck ripped it up for like 6 games and was the new Henry. I mean, we may of had 23 shots, but we had the same amount as Spurs on target and to be completely honest, they missed some sitters of their own.

I mean who the feck knows what way the game would have went had Lukaku scored, so no, I don't blame him. I can imagine the people that blame him are the most pro-Mourinho fans around the place which is completely expected. It's always great to try lay the blame elsewhere.
 

BridgeBanter

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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.
Amazingly this seems to be lost on most people. It’s a greater indictment of the teams attacking quality as currently constructed that your bemoaning a missed chance in the first 7 minutes that a your own team didn’t engineer
 

Maccataq

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I agree that Lukaku taking chances would have made a big difference to both this and the Brighton game in terms of when the chances came and even at 2-0 down yesterday, I felt like if we got 1 we could get 2 but it felt like we could play all day and not score. The problem for me is that we often need to score first to play well, especially in big games and when we don't it all goes wrong (although in fairness we had a few notable comebacks last season). When it went 2-0 we stopped we seemed to forget that we were actually playing quite well and perhaps that is a matter of on field leadership and probably because the manager has created a negative atmosphere which drains confidence.

I remember loads of games under Fergie where we were playing quite well but found ourselves a couple of goals down but we came back because there was belief and because they knew how to. West Ham away 2 down at half time and won 3-2 and Chelsea away 3-0 down and drew 3-3 spring to mind.

Lukaku needs to be more clinical but we need to consistently create more because most of the time we barely create anything and that's the underlying problem. What I like about Lukaku is that he has good movement and will get chances and if he misses one he'll show for the next and not hide.
 

TheReligion

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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.
He had more than one chance
 

charlenefan

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Trying to think what was worse last night or his 'performance' against City at home last season. Guess the latter given his involvement in two (?) of their goals plus missing another sitter
 

Snow

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Those players were sold "for pittance" because they had a year left on their contracts in most cases and all wanted to leave to play first team football.

Throwing in a player that didn't work out as some kind of argument just doesn't work. Di Maria what at the top of his game, was bought as such and just didn't perform. He didn't adjust to the city or team, his family didn't, he was unhappy and therefor played badly. Schweinsteiger and Falcao were free punts. One was finished as a player and the other came to us too soon into his recovery. The kind of injury he had takes usually about a year to recover from and I mean a year of which he's fit which he wasn't for all his time here. He managed to perform for Monaco because he recovered whilst with us and Chelsea.

How are players supposed to "earn the shirt"? You say that like Mata, Di Maria, Falcao and Schweinsteiger weren't great at other clubs. Are we just going to stop buying young players?

If you read my post on V Lindelof you will see the opposite, I am saying that our transfer policy as been scattergun at best and we should be recruiting mostly young British Talent like we used to but with more thorough background checks and a more long term strategy. Wellbeck, who I know personally had 3 years left on his contract, he simply didn't get on with LVG plus he had serious off field problems in the same way that Javier Hernandez didn't get on with LVG. If Danny Wellbeck could sort his injury problems out, even now at probably £25M I would have him back at the club, because he's understands what you must do to play for United. All of the players you mention came from foreign leagues and like most foreign players find the PL pace incredibly difficult to adjust to. Agree on Di Maria but LVG also caused the problem adding to the family not settling by not picking him plus we sold at 15M loss to PSG of all teams, madness!
You're mixing in transfers from 3 different managers in 6 seasons. Of course they aren't going to be the same.
 

DownRiver

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He is built like Mark Henry, yet holds off defenders like Mata. He has such a great physique with such poor trapping of the ball skills. I would swap Diego Costa for him in a heart beat.

Mourinho thought he would get a Costa or a Drogba from him.

Don't even try to say that he was taught to play on the ground, because his second touch is basically a tackle.
 

finneh

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Absolutely agree with the OP.

Replies that suggest we should be creating 5-6 great chances against a team like Spurs are wide of the mark to me.

You get a chance where you've beaten the keeper and could literally walk it in and missing it is bound to cost you in a big game against a rival.

In terms of Lukaku he'll always be a very good Everton level player to me. Unfortunately he just doesn't have the ability to build an entire team to his strengths, because his off days will cost you the 15 games a season where he can't pass, can't run and can't control the ball. Far more than a team like United can afford.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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It's not easy to forgive defender who makes one or two mistakes and cost us points, but it's easy to forgive striker who misses one or two chances.

People say, it's only one or two chances, he didn't get too many chances. But that's the point is, playing against tough opposition like Spurs with solid defense isn't easy to create chances. If he gets the opportunity like one on one against the keeper like yesterday then he should have take the chance. Apart from the Chelsea game Lukaku has been struggling to score against top team or in a big game for long period of time now (including in World Cup when he had Hazard & KDB behind).
 

Cassidy

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The problem is not Lukaku. The problem is we have absolutely no width. We haven’t got a single winger, and don’t get me started on Sanchez.
He isn't the problem, but his inability to convert chances yesterday and even against Brighton cost us
 

Litch

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Goals changed games but he didn't cost us the victory. There's nothing in the rules to say someone else couldn't score too. Spurs seem to manage it yesterday as do Liverpool, City et al....
 

VorZakone

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What was the chance after Kane's goal again? I've forgotten it.
 

TheReligion

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What was the chance after Kane's goal again? I've forgotten it.
It was immediately from kick off after the goal. He forced Lloris into a save down low across the face of goal but again if he scores it, and despite it being 0-1 at that point, I'm confident we go on to win and Spurs heads drop.
 

VorZakone

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It was immediately from kick off after the goal. He forced Lloris into a save down low across the face of goal but again if he scores it, and despite it being 0-1 at that point, I'm confident we go on to win and Spurs heads drop.
Oh that one. I thought he did well forcing Lloris to make a save there. The open goal miss deserves far more criticism than that chance.
 

Inigo Montoya

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Where's he's width at Belgium?
Good point.

But he does have KDB, Hazard etc creating openings for him. Our build up is slow and all too predictable.

Shaw actually provided a couple of good openings with his runs down the flank. Hopefully Dalot can do the same on the right and that may open up a little more space
 

KiD MoYeS

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Lukaku will score a lot of goals if he's provided a lot of chances. Last night was definitely not his fault, he should have scored after rounding Lloris but all strikers miss chances. He doesn't look fully recovered from the World Cup to be honest. He is not an issue.
 

Mainoldo

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There’s a hell of a lot more creative players in the Belgian NT than there are in United’s team. Plus the likes of meunière bombing forward
But that wasn't your point. You said play to his strengths, those aren't his strengths. Those are Mourinho's striker requirement's strengths. Belgium proves we just require creativity.
 

TMDaines

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It makes no sense to look at a isolated chances from the perspective of xG. It doesn't take into account the fact that the keeper was gone when Lukaku finished, which sort of impacts how big of a chance it is. I do agree that Alli's chance was just as bad of a miss though.
Some models account for these things more than others. I think it was a good chance, but it wasn’t a sitter by any means.
 

Henrik Larsson

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A goal against Chelsea last season and one against Sevilla were his only goals against proper opposition from what it seems, and at the World Cup all his goals came against Panama and Tunesia. This hasn't exactly shut up all the people who were concerned about him being a massive flat track bully.

Whether it actually cost us last night is impossible to tell, but it was a shocking and very poor miss at a moment where the momentum would've definitely swung our way. Really hope he can raise his game in the next months.
 

Jazz

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He needs to have some competition imho. This untouchable status given to him by Jose is unacceptable.
He will score at times, but he's not exactly consistent and lacks composure - see our FA cup semi final win over Everton when he missed a great chance there as well.

He also tends to have periods where he just doesn't score. Happened at Everton and happened for a bit last season with us.

I would put him on the bench for a bit. Let Sanchez play up top. Trouble is, if Jose plays Sanchez as a 'target man' then we're still fecked.
 

Jazz

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It feels like Jose wants another Drogba.... a forward who can hold a CH off with brute strength, play teammates in, turn a CH, etc.

Lukaku is too easily taken off the ball, has an awful touch and needs 5+ chances to score once.

Don't think he's good enough but Jose's not playing to his strengths either.
This was always known to everyone before he rocked up here. Why then did Jose want him? £75M as well makes me want to cry.
 

el3mel

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This was always known to everyone before he rocked up here. Why then did Jose want him? £75M as well makes me want to cry.
There're zero regrets on us signing him despite him not being good enough for long term plan and would need to be improved on soon. The other alternative this summer were Morata and Lacazette who are failure in their clubs and Morata would have costed even more. Nothing can't be helped as he was the best of the terrible bunch.
 

Flexdegea

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Lukaku is prob the right level of the team at the moment, but he defo not the required level to get us where we need to be.


Lacks ability on the ball, and his hold up play is shocking at times, for such a big strong lad he gets muscled of the ball way too much.


Defo a goal scorer but defo need a upgrade soon
 

Dumbat12

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There are two type of offensive players IMO. Poachers and offensive players that create space for their team by dribbling, passing, etc. Lukaku falls under the first category. Unfortunately, he is not that good in the first category either. You take RVN as a poacher example, and you can bet that he would have buried every single one of those chances Lukaku got yesterday.

Most top teams, from Real (even if Benzema is not that amazing) have the latter form of strikers. Players who can create space and cut through defense easily. Lukaku is simply uncapable of doing that, thus we can never soar to any meaningful heights with him as a main man. We need someone like Aguero, someone who can work magic with their feet. Personally, I prefered him over Morata, and it seems I was right in my choice, but he is simply not a world class striker and it's highly unlikely that he will ever be one.