Not replacing Lukaku

[Maticmaker]

It is difficult to work out just what is going on, and where we should go next.

Clearly Lukaku wanted away and the club wanted him gone! Was Rashford and/or Martial suppose to take his place? If so then it was a cock-up because neither of them are true out and out C/F, together they might work out but neither (imo) have that natural instinct for scoring, at least not inside the box, just look at the positions they take up, its not C/F play. Yes then can both bear down on goal from outside the box but the record of(both of them) for scoring from such positions is getting worse not better!

Greenwood has the makings of a goal scorer, I heard someone say the other day " a van Persie… but faster!" however he's not there yet and will need a couple of seasons with much more game time. Until both Rashford and Martial accept their best position is not C/F and they stop crying on Ole's shoulder (if that's what they are doing) to let them play in that role, or they pulling a face when asked to play to their strength's, then we do need a replacement for Lukaku, maybe we can find an ageing C/F will give us two good seasons of leading the line and scoring regularly from inside the box, before he retires or moves on. Such a player shouldn't cost the earth and he, and the Club, and the fans know he's there just to fill in until Greenwood starts to motor?

 

[roonster09]

Replacing Lukaku has never mattered. Even when he was he the problem was zero creativity in midfield outside of Pogba, a dead right flank and no natural wingers


I simply fail to understand why anyone would believe a replacement for Lukaku would miraculously suddenly start scoring regularly for United, when for the reasons above a natural goal scorer like him couldn't.

Yeah, signing 9 wouldn't have changed much. We needed goal scoring RW and also one more CM more than Lukaku's replacement. Martial was Lukaku's replacement, we needed someone to give good balance on right side.

 

[haram]

I liked Jose, it's not surprising that he was sacked though, he said that himself the other day.
Doesn't have anything to do with Lukaku/our striker situation anyway, but then I think you probably don't have anything more to say about that.

We should have built on that season. We can look at Lukaku last season but the whole team was bad.

 

[Amerifan]

The mistake was not anticipating the sale of Lukaku. An ambitious club might have targeted a replacement from the outset, not waiting to see if Lukaku left to try to find a replacement

This was the root cause of our problem. Someone apparently forgot our window closes earlier than everyone else’s. Up until our window closed it looked like Lukaku would still be here. Apparently we were not willing to risk having two 70 million pound strikers on the team, and once Lukaku left there was no time to secure a replacement.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Make the full use of search feature, not hard.

What you actually think I am going to sit here and search your name to read your posts hahaha what you been smoking!

 

[roonster09]

What you actually think I am going to sit here and search your name to read your posts hahaha what you been smoking!

How would I know, you looked like desperate enough to read me posting something else.

Good to know, look forward to seeing a post about something else soon

 

[André Dominguez]

This was clearly a pushover maneuver by our board. "We are going to sell Lukaku and you'll have to handle it without new striker incoming". Can't see any manager in the world agreeing with this if he wasn't obligated to.

 

[Dec9003]

We should have built on that season. We can look at Lukaku last season but the whole team was bad.

Like I said, I'm not having the same conversation with you again.
Lukaku wasnt and isn't good enough.
I won't respond again, just taking up space.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

How would I know, you looked like desperate enough to read me posting something else.

Haha as in posting something other than trying to act hard, abusing anyone with an opinion, not trailing through your historical posts Einstein.

 

[roonster09]

Like I said, I'm not having the same conversation with you again.
Lukaku wasnt and isn't good enough.
I won't respond again, just taking up space.

Exactly. Lukaku wasn't good enough, Jose wasn't good enough (he was for 1.5 years). We should have replaced someone else to bring balance to the attack and also signed better manager.

Messing up replacements doesn't mean Lukaku and Jose were good enough. We weren't going anywhere with them.

 

[roonster09]

Haha as in posting something other than trying to act hard, abusing anyone with an opinion, not trailing through your historical posts Einstein.

Abusing?

Such a pointless posts. (again this is not abusing).

 

[VP89]

This was clearly a pushover maneuver by our board. "We are going to sell Lukaku and you'll have to handle it without new striker incoming". Can't see any manager in the world agreeing with this if he wasn't obligated to.

Not the greatest quality in a manager to be a pushover so Ole doesn't come out in great light there either.

 

[Dec9003]

Exactly. Lukaku wasn't good enough, Jose wasn't good enough (he was for 1.5 years). We should have replaced someone else to bring balance to the attack and also signed better manager.

Messing up replacements doesn't mean Lukaku and Jose were good enough. We weren't going anywhere with them.

Agreed mate.
We're desperate for a striker, surely we'll have to go for one in January, even if it means paying over the odds.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Abusing?

Such a pointless posts. (again this is not abusing).

Well yeah, trying to abuse, fair point to say you didn't do it very well, will agree on that one

Pointless post yeah, agree, was just curious if you ever said anything constructive or just keyboard bashed.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Getting rid of him was brilliant, he didn't want to be here and was never a United player.

Criminal not getting a replacement though.

 

[Siorac]

While "not replacing Lukaku" is an obvious problem, not replacing Mourinho is another problem.

In both cases, getting them in the first place was the big mistake, everything else is just damage control after that.

 

[roonster09]

Pointless post yeah, agree,

Good.

 

[Siorac]

Agreed mate.
We're desperate for a striker, surely we'll have to go for one in January, even if it means paying over the odds.

We're desperate for a lot of things in January. Let's not do more panic buys. This season is a write-off anyway. If someone who is really good and possibly a long-term solution is available then go for him. No more plugging the gaps with short-sighted signings though.

 

[roonster09]

Agreed mate.
We're desperate for a striker, surely we'll have to go for one in January, even if it means paying over the odds.

Yeah, ideally we should sign someone who is a goal scoring threat from right side. Brings balance to the team. I don't think adding a 9 will change much when we don't have anyone who can play as RW or anyone who can create a chance from midfield.

With the squad we have, if we can sign only one then I wiuld go with RW and switch to 4-3-3 with Pogba playing attacking role.

It's been nearly 6-7 years since we had a good RW.

 

[André Dominguez]

Not the greatest quality in a manager to be a pushover so Ole doesn't come out in great light there either.

I don't think any other manager would have a word on this subject, attending how the deal was made. Other managers would probably vent on media, but that's all they could do.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

The decision to not replace him and Herrera will cost Ole his job. If he's been a soft touch and gone along with Woodward's orders then he deserves what's coming for me.

 

[Kush]

Replacing Lukaku has never mattered. Even when he was he the problem was zero creativity in midfield outside of Pogba, a dead right flank and no natural wingers

I simply fail to understand why anyone would believe a replacement for Lukaku would miraculously suddenly start scoring regularly for United, when for the reasons above a natural goal scorer like him couldn't.

Because plenty had convinced themselves that Lukaku was destroying all our attacks due to his inability to link up the play. So playing more technical players in ilk of Rashford, Martial would suddenly improve the potency.

Funny how things don't work out like imaginary scenarios people conjure up in their minds.

 

[André Dominguez]

Agreed mate.
We're desperate for a striker, surely we'll have to go for one in January, even if it means paying over the odds.

The thing is: what striker can you buy in January? Clubs will ask a even bigger absurd of money because they know January transfers are usually panic transfers out of necessity, meaning the team made a poor squad engineering.

Unless you take risks and hire the player who had stepped up this season, I can't see how can you solve this problem without splashing big bucks (or pounds, in this case)

 

[tomaldinho1]

It's not about losing Lukaku and not replacing him, it's about how long it's been since we had a genuine top level striker.

I think over time, we forget just how different a level of player someone like RVP was to what we've had recently, we haven't signed a top level striker since then despite spending big in trying to do so. We could sign another 9 who is 'okay' and might bag 12 goals a season but it changes nothing, we've significantly lowered our filter when it comes to bringing in players and this is true across the whole team.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Because plenty had convinced themselves that Lukaku was destroying all our attacks due to his inability to link up the play. So playing more technical players in ilk of Rashford, Martial would suddenly improve the potency.

Funny how things don't work out like imaginary scenarios people conjure up in their minds.

Amen

 

[André Dominguez]

It's not about losing Lukaku and not replacing him, it's about how long it's been since we had a genuine top level striker.

I think over time, we forget just how different a level of player someone like RVP was to what we've had recently, we haven't signed a top level striker since then despite spending big in trying to do so. We could sign another 9 who is 'okay' and might bag 12 goals a season but it changes nothing, we've significantly lowered our filter when it comes to bringing in players and this is true across the whole team.

This is the major thing: you rarely win titles without a forward that will score 25+ goals. One just need to look at goal average on the last seasons to realize that a team to win the league needs to score a lot.

 

[dev1l]

Because plenty had convinced themselves that Lukaku was destroying all our attacks due to his inability to link up the play. So playing more technical players in ilk of Rashford, Martial would suddenly improve the potency.

Funny how things don't work out like imaginary scenarios people conjure up in their minds.

Didn't work out that way, mainly due to Martial s injury. Then we lost Pogba too

 

[roonster09]

It's not about losing Lukaku and not replacing him, it's about how long it's been since we had a genuine top level striker.

I think over time, we forget just how different a level of player someone like RVP was to what we've had recently, we haven't signed a top level striker since then despite spending big in trying to do so. We could sign another 9 who is 'okay' and might bag 12 goals a season but it changes nothing, we've significantly lowered our filter when it comes to bringing in players and this is true across the whole team.

Yeah, that's a very good point. It's not just #9, it's in most positions too. With RVP and player of his quality (like Rooney), you know they will come up with magic to score or open up the defense, they had that ability to change nothing situation into goal scoring one.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

It's not about losing Lukaku and not replacing him, it's about how long it's been since we had a genuine top level striker.

I think over time, we forget just how different a level of player someone like RVP was to what we've had recently, we haven't signed a top level striker since then despite spending big in trying to do so. We could sign another 9 who is 'okay' and might bag 12 goals a season but it changes nothing, we've significantly lowered our filter when it comes to bringing in players and this is true across the whole team.

Even if you found a new Van Nistelrooy. We have zero creativity outside of Pogba. No striker will ever score goals regularly in such an environment.

 

[freeurmind]

2 more for Llorente this weekend.

 

[dev1l]

Apart from Greenwood are there any promising forwards in U23 s?

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

I don't think Rashford looking tired and getting injured was what primarily cost us the game yesterday.

It is a rare case when 2 of your 3 CFs are injured and the third is having an off day. You can't plan for that. What you can plan for is having quality in multiple positions so that the goals come from elsewhere. If Spurs were in this situation without Kane and say Llorente, Eriksen would have turned up. Or Moura. Or Son.

We have James on our LW, who's good but not expected to be the winner, and Pereira on the right, with Mata in the hole. Not getting an RW or an attacking midfielder screwed us over. Even if we had started with Gomes and Chong/Dalot and one of them had a good day along with James, I think the game would have been different. Imagine having Maddison take a good corner or a free kick.

Ole's persistence with old underperformers like Matic, Mata and Young is costing us heavily, and that's surprising given all his talk of supporting youth. If you don't believe in just young players, you should have gone hell for leather getting better players in the 'experienced' bracket. Don't play the same past-it players who've let us down now for 2 seasons, and expect them to be different. The same shit set pieces, the same shit disjointed attacks, the same lack of midfield control.

Our transfer window wasn't great, and that's on Woody. But Ole isn't doing a good job of what he has got either, and our coaching looks terrible as well. When the CEO is this incompetent and the staff can't do their jobs properly, the manager doesn't get a chance to underperform without leading to disaster.

 

[Enigma_87]

Apart from Greenwood are there any promising forwards in U23 s?

Not that I know of.

Starting the season without a top striker is such an amateurish thing to do.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Even if you found a new Van Nistelrooy. We have zero creativity outside of Pogba. No striker will ever score goals regularly in such an environment.

RVN was also very good at keeping the ball though, whilst I agree with you that it wouldn't solve the problems we have (and there are many!) I do think he'd add a bit more guile to our attacking play. That would help Pogba out so much because it means his only option isn't along ball for Rashford to chase - I think that's why it looks like he enjoys playing with Martial at 9 because he can zing it into his feet and generally Martial holds onto it or lays it off to another player, which then allows the whole team to move forward. Also, whilst he was never ridiculously fast, the general timing of RVN's runs and awareness of where to run are leap years beyond what Rashford offers us now.

It wouldn't fix our issues but it would at least alleviate one of them.

 

[VP89]

Yeah, ideally we should sign someone who is a goal scoring threat from right side. Brings balance to the team. I don't think adding a 9 will change much when we don't have anyone who can play as RW or anyone who can create a chance from midfield.

With the squad we have, if we can sign only one then I wiuld go with RW and switch to 4-3-3 with Pogba playing attacking role.

It's been nearly 6-7 years since we had a good RW.

I think Haller would have been a lot better centrally than Rashford or Martial.

Im personally really annoyed we didn't go for Lozano. Went for 40m to Napoli and can play either flank, has the goal threat you speak of and is rapid. Looks to have a good physicality and work rate about him too.

 

[sincher]

Fine with Lukaku leaving. Fine with Sanchez leaving. Even just about fine with not replacing them, though certainly looks like a bad idea with Martial, Greenwood and Rashford all injured. The midfield is where I feel we have really dropped a bollock or two.

 

[roonster09]

I think Haller would have been a lot better centrally than Rashford or Martial.

Im personally really annoyed we didn't go for Lozano. Went for 40m to Napoli and can play either flank, has the goal threat you speak of and is rapid. Looks to have a good physicality and work rate about him too.

Yeah, Haller would have been better striker but given choice would go for RW. Martial is playing well as striker but we don't have anyone who can play at acceptable level as a RW.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

I think Haller would have been a lot better centrally than Rashford or Martial.

Im personally really annoyed we didn't go for Lozano. Went for 40m to Napoli and can play either flank, has the goal threat you speak of and is rapid. Looks to have a good physicality and work rate about him too.

Saying this all bloody summer mate, plays right wing, can play centrally as well, went to Napoli for 40m, unbelievable, made far to much sense for us to sign him.

Crazy

 

[charlenefan]

The decision to not replace him and Herrera will cost Ole his job. If he's been a soft touch and gone along with Woodward's orders then he deserves what's coming for me.

It's on Ole for not replacing Lukaku not anyone else. He took the decision for whatever the reason may be to go with Rashford and Martial as his two main goal threats. Maybe trying to play the long game so he can say 'look we tried them they aren't good enough now go and get me {insert striker's name here} or maybe he genuinely felt they could make the step up. Of course it's early days in this season but it's not looking like a gamble worth the taking

 

[dev1l]

It's on Ole for not replacing Lukaku not anyone else. He took the decision for whatever the reason may be to go with Rashford and Martial as his two main goal threats. Maybe trying to play the long game so he can say 'look we tried them they aren't good enough now go and get me {insert striker's name here} or maybe he genuinely felt they could make the step up. Of course it's early days in this season but it's not looking like a gamble worth the taking

Do you really think Ole didn't want a replacement?
Re Lukaku. Why our negotiating team left his transfer to the last minute?
I think they did on purpose. There was a report that United budget was 100m and looking back, our net spend was within that budget.