I think we should have used that £75M and gotten a midfielder or better yet someone to play on the right. We should have used Martial and Rash - they were doing well with LVG - they just need proper coaching and confidence. I'd rather we had done that and have them develop, than waste all this money on someone who just isn't world class. He's also on massive wages. We're not an oil company, can't be spending huge sums like that and deciding a year later, oh he's not that good let's get another - Jose/the club should have known all about his deficiencies already before deciding to pay that crazy money.
Lukaku cost us tonight
- Thread starter TheReligion
- Start date
And if he was say £20m-£30m, it'd have been worth a punt and I could've understood it but £75m.... ?? We keep getting fleeced.
I think Jose would have given him an earful after the game, he admitted to it as much in the post game interview when he said not scoring the first goal but conceding first was basically the difference for a team that is down on morale.
Martial and Rashford showed nothing to prove they can lead a team to challenge for the title which was supposedly our aim in this summer. They were playing well for a team playing very static football, finishing 5th and not competing on anything with zero pressure on. It would have been an immense risk and SAF himself never entered a season without at least, at least one experienced striker up front even with any youngsters he had around. He even had 2-3 top strikers at several seasons.
I have nothing to criticize the club regarding this deal, even though 1-2 more seasons and we'll start looking for alternative. We were unlucky with Zlatan injury.
Very unlucky with Zlatan.
I personally would have taken the chance on Rash and Martial. Mourinho would have had to adapt his plans to fit more with what they could do, but it would have been worth imho. I'd rather that, than spend crazy money on someone who isn't worth the outlay. No one available, fine, make use of the resources at hand.
I am certain Fergie wouldn’t have. Nor do I think Woodward and co would be prepared to live with the result of missing out on CL football for a couple of seasons to give youth a chance. Nor many United supporters, when push came to shove.
Exactly what I feel. And the reason they crumble after conceding is because they don't have belief in what the manager is training them to do. If we had set attacking patterns and practised them the team wouldn't be at panic stations everytime we concede a goal. Mistakes happen but we don't have the fight to comeback these days. The nervousness to make a mistake is spreading fear across the whole team. Our whole game is based to minimise mistakes and keep it tight so when mistakes do happen we look even more clueless than we were before. If we were really confident in what we were doing we would've kept playing like we were before conceding and found a way. Our defenders like Bailly and Lindelof have no confidence because they are petrified of making mistakes. That shouldn't be the case. In 2012/13 we went behind numerous times but the team didn't panic because they knew how to attack. This team doesn't attack so a mistake in defence is basically game over for us.
Actually Jose overlayed Zlatan into the ground. Didn't rest him when it was obvious he needed a rest at his age. Then came the inevitable injury.
Lukaku is only good enough to be alongside a world class finisher. Or he can play on the wing.
Funnily, before Sanchez came, Lukaku and Martial seem to play well together for some reason. I wish Jose had just left that how it was and let it develop into some kind of partnership. Might have been better all around.
Always wanted Icardi at the club. Lukaku for a man of his size hardly bullies defenders. If anything he is a player that gets in behind more than an all rounder. And when playing for United that hardly works against teams sitting back. Will he ever be as good as Diego Costa? Hard to say. Dont know why we never went for Icardi. He is smaller than Lukaku but he is a bull, a grafter and he has a great leap. Also probably one of the most clinical finishers on the planet. His movement in the box is second to none especially in the Italian league.
Yes, I was his biggest supporter. Lately he failed me so much. Class is permanent? I hope so..
Funny you say that about cole. He had 0.45 goals a game in the premier league. Lukaku has 0.46. Bergkamp and Sheringham I agree that wasn’t their main game but they were good finishers given a chance. I think Phillips would have been a bit more talked about if someone big had signed him. Pretty good scoring record considering he played for some mid table sides in Sunderland and Southampton and then Villa.
Interestingly Kane and Aguero are on 0.71 and 0.70 per game. Shearer Henry and Ruud up around the 60’s. Just don’t think Lukaku is an out and out goal scorer stats just don’t back it up. Worrying for us really. We’ve pinned everything on him
People.on the Cafe tell me he wasn't available (Icardi)
The Cole in his first 20 months at the club would've missed that for sure. I remember countless times he squadered much easier chances than that tbh
TBF to Lukaku in comparision to Cole's first two years, he has been excellent. 27 goals in his first season, up front on his own (Cole played alongside someone) and on average 1 clear cut chance a game (Cole had and wasted chances galore).
Lukaku is still 24yrs old after a good promising first 12 months he deserves the time to develop at least FOR feckS SAKE
Based on their performances up front towards the end of last season when Lukaku was out I glad Mourinho didnt
They were fecking shit and we looked toothless. The Chelsea defenders in the FA Cup final had their deck chairs out they had it so easy.
As a number 9 playing with his back to goal he will never be as good as Costa. Costa is brilliant at it, one of the best.
xG doesn't. It only looks at where on the pitch the finish is made.
And of course it was a sitter, don't be silly.
I'm Zlatans biggest fan, but his injury forced us into a move a season earlier than we would have needed to make sooner or later, anyway.
Really miss his touch and link up play though. Lukakus supposed advantage with pace has failed to materialise into better attacking play.
This. Costa is the finished article as a world class striker imo. Lukaku, a level below at least.
Maybe in retrospect Lukaku and Martial was worth a try. Truth is though, if we'd missed out on the Sanchez transfer most United fans would've been gutted. Then, once we'd signed him it would've been silly not to play him. Although he probably should've been phased in as a sub to see how he would work with Lukaku.
I don't think you know as much about xG as you think you do if you state, "It only looks at where on the pitch the finish is made." It depends on the model used. There is not a single, unified xG model. Some are more sophisticated than others. Some account for shot location, shot type, assist type, defensive pressure, goalkeeper location, form of attacking play etc.
See, for example, Caley.
Wow people being harsh on Lukaku on here...
The guy's 25 - a few years away from his peak.
Went all the way (kinda) in the WC - so physically needs to warm back up into form/sharpness.
Yes he missed that chance the other night - but class strikers miss glorious chances now and again. Happened with Ruud, Rooney, etc. etc.
The guy's 25 - a few years away from his peak.
Went all the way (kinda) in the WC - so physically needs to warm back up into form/sharpness.
Yes he missed that chance the other night - but class strikers miss glorious chances now and again. Happened with Ruud, Rooney, etc. etc.
Torres could have scored that...
Its attitude too. You have to fight with the defenders in that role. Lukaku is too much of a nice guy.
He was bought by Mourinho?! Or have we now decided that every player in our squad these past years have all been Woodward buys.
The force is strong behind a manager that has yet to prove he is worth the adoration of certain parts of the caf.
Fully agree.
No no no the fans on here are brilliant supporters, they only don't support when things aren't going well. Unless it's Martial then all hail the great one!
I'm a fan of Lukaku, but I have still always thought he was too bulky and a little bit lacking technically. I don't know what the answer is as I don't see too many outstanding number 9s in World Football to be honest. Sanchez is not working on the wing. We should play him as striker or if Lukaku is just a bit jaded then maybe play Sanchez with him, but Lukaku alone up front, is looking a little cumbersome at the moment.
He still has a lot to work on to become an elite striker but against Brighton and Spurs I'd say it's obvious he has an issue with confidence. How come less than 2 months ago he looked so good for Belgium? That sitter he missed on monday was Torres esque. He didn't even look this shite last season. Honestly everyone bar Shaw is looking like complete buffoons out there atm and that's down to management, they are playing with their confidence shot. I know this is a thread about Rom but since I'm only allowed 5 posts a day I just want to take this opportunity to praise Shaw for his recent performances. After all the shit he took from Mourinho he's the only one out there giving it his all during this incredibly rough patch. Wouldn't surprise me if he is playing this good to raise the attention of other clubs, he only has 1 year left on his contract and I wouldn't blame him if he wants to leave.
He did cost us, but let's not forget his only chance was a gift from an opponent. Not like our midfield provided him with much service
That'd be where Mou needs to coach him
It won't happen, but I'd like to see Lukaku benched and Martial to lead the line against Burnley and given a run of games. Martial almost certainly would have put that chance away.
The fact is he has never been in the top tier bracket of forwards, and probably never will be, I personally think we overpayed for him and an option like Timo Werner would of been far better to go along with the likes of Rashford and Martial who are now marginalised.
Martial was going to lead the line. Mourinho said so himself during our tour. Sadly he went AWOL and it's kind of messed everything up.
Missed a chance but I’ve been happy with Lukaku. 27 goals last season was some achievement given our style of play.
He should be dropped.
We definitely over payed for him - by a lot!
I also just remembered that Costa was having his troubles with Chelsea. Maybe in hindsight we should have taken him on a season long loan whilst we waited to see if we could get anyone better.
For who? Even with his wastefulness, it would be madness to play anyone else there.
What cost us, was a CB not being able to mark his player on a corner, and another one or two feck ups in defense. It killed us, and it was all chaos after that, the pressure got to them.
I think accepting mistakes and believing in the team is what it is all about. Pep accepts that if his defenders or keeper make a mistake that it may well cost them a goal but he stands by the philosophy (although he has spent an awful lot on getting better players) and he has recognised that to win in the PL you need to average 2-3 goals per game and so they try to win games by outscoring teams and are relentless in their pursuit of scoring goals. Utd used to be like this under Fergie but we aren't a team that does this anymore. Under Jose's first season, the football was actually pretty good and we created a lot but this is because we kept drawing games so we kept attacking and often drew because we failed to score (games like Burnley etc at home) but take Leicester as example, we start well, get an early goal and then stop trying to take the initiative and cautiously play hoping to pick teams off. We did this very well at the start of last season when we kept winning 4-0 but in truth we were getting one in front and then finishing teams off in the last 10-15 mins when the opposition had opened up which is fine but doesn't always pan out that way clearly.