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2017-18 Performances


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charlenefan

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Can anyone remember another striker with his attributes but also built like him? I mean he's huge, if he got a nasty streak in him he'd be unstoppable
 

roonster09

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Can anyone remember another striker with his attributes but also built like him? I mean he's huge, if he got a nasty streak in him he'd be unstoppable
No, with the way he is built, anyone would think he will win many headers, will be comfortable with hoof balls and bullies CBs but he loves ball to his feet and he is at his best when passed the ball to his feet or beyond CBs for him to run. He is built like a tank but always tops the speed charts.

He has improved since moving to ManUtd, hopefully he will learn to use his physical strength even better.
 

MuranoLover

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Hope he makes it a big game for him and wins it for Belgium .

I will be so glad for the guy .
 

Andersons Dietician

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Can anyone remember another striker with his attributes but also built like him? I mean he's huge, if he got a nasty streak in him he'd be unstoppable
Christian Vieri. Always remember him being built like a rugby player.

Moved from Juventus to Atletico in 97 for 15mil
Moved from Atletico to Lazio in 98 for 25 mil
Moved from Lazio to Inter in 99 for 42mil.

Some major fees for the time. He was also left footed and pretty decent with his right so has some similarities with Lukaku.

@Scarecrow Thought he was probably our best candidate for captain already but having seen these talks even more convinced now, I don’t recall seeing him being so hands on at Everton so I would say oneaspectof his game that has improved inc coming to United.
 

Buchan

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Making Hazard look redundant as a captain.
Maybe that’s where the slight animosity (all from Hazard’s side, mind you) stems from? Hazard looks like he’s rather lose possession than pass to a free Lukaku at times. He’s also said some pretty weird shit about Lukaku within the last month, too. The guy’s a weirdo.
 

breakout67

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Maybe that’s where the slight animosity (all from Hazard’s side, mind you) stems from? Hazard looks like he’s rather lose possession than pass to a free Lukaku at times. He’s also said some pretty weird shit about Lukaku within the last month, too. The guy’s a weirdo.
Hazard is just a cnut. He refuses to pass to De Bruyne aswell and prefers dribbling into blind alleys and flopping to the floor at the slightest touch.
 

Scarecrow

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@Scarecrow Thought he was probably our best candidate for captain already but having seen these talks even more convinced now, I don’t recall seeing him being so hands on at Everton so I would say oneaspectof his game that has improved inc coming to United.
Yes, I'm of the same opinion. He is showing all of the traits of a good captain more and more often.
 

FromTheBench

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He is not good enough to be a top class forward whom the team is centered around.

Martinez should have taken him off earlier today. He seemed leggy as well.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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Capable of good performances but still missing the consistency, the extra bit of quality you look for in a striker that leads your team.

Another rabbit in headlight performance after a couple performance's where he dominates.

We have had worse strikers in our team before; our CL winning teams have 3-4 quality strikers - but making this guy our one and only striker isn't going to work.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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I still think his movement is sometimes too static, but he certainly played well this WC.
 

Bobski

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He was nice and tidy on the ball but Varane and Umittit seemed to contain his movement fairly easily. That is on the passer as much as him though, had a couple of half chances he might have done better with.
 

DWelbz19

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Starved of chances but that’s to be expected against a side this good.

Unfortunately his only poor performance of the tournament and it was the most important. To continue his progression these are the games he needs to show up in.
 

sullydnl

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He is not good enough to be a top class forward whom the team is centered around.

Martinez should have taken him off earlier today. He seemed leggy as well.
Take off the country's best ever goalscorer when you're chasing a goal? Barely featured tonight but even still, there's no way he was being taken off.
 

Rajma

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I still think his movement is sometimes too static, but he certainly played well this WC.
He’s very static when played as no. 9 there’s no doubt, he doesn’t drag around CBs well enough, too easy to take him out of the game when there’s no space to operate in.
 

VP89

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From a selfish view, he can get a good break now before joining up with the squad. Good tournament from him and no injuries.
 

Minimalist

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Only a complete moron would watch that match and see Lukaku as the problem. France sat back, gave him no space and smothered him.

It was up to Hazard and KDB (amongst others) to do the business in that scenario. They failed to break through. Very frustrating evening for the big man but not his fault.
 

FromTheBench

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He was nice and tidy on the ball but Varane and Umittit seemed to contain his movement fairly easily. That is on the passer as much as him though, had a couple of half chances he might have done better with.
He has few lousy and slow movements in few moves. And his movement wasn't that active either.

For example that excellent de bruyne pass at the end where he just couldn't figure what to do.JJust should have thrown his head at the ball.
 

cyberman

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Must have felt like he was playing for us.
A dribbler on the left who doesn't get the ball in and a midfield playmaker who can't pick a pass.
Varane and Umtiti behind him with Kante closing the space in front didn't give him a thing
 

FromTheBench

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Take off the country's best ever goalscorer when you're chasing a goal? Barely featured tonight but even still, there's no way he was being taken off.
Yeah but he seemed gassed the last 30 minutes or so.

His reactions and movement were all slow as a result and he wasn't closing down.

Should have sent on batshuayi for fresh impetus for me. As it is lukaku isn't that good against organized deep defense.
 

Bobski

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He has few lousy and slow movements in few moves. And his movement wasn't that active either.

For example that excellent de bruyne pass at the end where he just couldn't figure what to do.JJust should have thrown his head at the ball.
Yes, I start with limited expectations with Lukaku because I doubt his top technical level. He is much improved though, and his mentality is very impressive, I trust him to keep working to improve.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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He has few lousy and slow movements in few moves. And his movement wasn't that active either.

For example that excellent de bruyne pass at the end where he just couldn't figure what to do.JJust should have thrown his head at the ball.
Exactly - he was perfectly positioned which is one of his good traits but he does not know how to move to capitalise on a chance - he was ultimately 2 seconds late on that chance deciding on what to do.
 

Jed I. Knight

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That was a fairly typical Lukaku at United performance, up against a team sitting deep and denying him space for the most of the match. But usually you’ll see him drop deeper and try to get more involved in these games.

Regardless, I still think he has a ways to go in terms of imposing himself and being the difference maker in games of this type. Overall a great World Cup for him though, no question about that, and hopefully it’ll spur him on to reach even greater heights next season.
 

cyberman

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Exactly - he was perfectly positioned which is one of his good traits but he does not know how to move to capitalise on a chance - he was ultimately 2 seconds late on that chance deciding on what to do.
It was an over hit pass. He's not Superman ffs
 

Jagga7

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Did his statue impersonation today. He offered nothing and Varane ate him up. When there is no obvious space to run into he just stands still, really disappointing for me.
 

Jed I. Knight

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Only a complete moron would watch that match and see Lukaku as the problem. France sat back, gave him no space and smothered him.

It was up to Hazard and KDB (amongst others) to do the business in that scenario. They failed to break through. Very frustrating evening for the big man but not his fault.
Most are saying that Lukaku could have done more, not that he was the problem. As @Rajma points out, Lukaku can still improve his movement and trouble the CBs more in tight games with little space like these. Other than that, I agree that Hazard and De Bruyne didn’t do much of note either.
 

FromTheBench

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It was an over hit pass. He's not Superman ffs
It wasn't that over hit at all. It was a tough chance but a top striker makes at least attempt at it.

He was slow to react a few times or missed the run to be made.

It's not easy to point. Out individually but then when you compare to say someone like Kane it becomes evident.
 

Smores

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He didn't have that freedom to interchange positions today. I assume that was tactical instruction because it was a big difference to previous games
 

bosnian_red

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Really not suited to these types of games. Invisible and just didnt know how to get involved. The key thing for him in games like this is to keep moving and stay focused and not let his head drop, but think he was too flat footed on a few occasions and the chances went begging because of that.

Overall had a pretty good tournament still, but he only scored against Panama and Tunisia, then was pretty meh against Japan IMO, very good in the first half vs Brazil, and then anonymous tonight. Hopefully he can grab a goal in the 3rd place game and end the tournament on a high, otherwise it wont be much more then a pretty average tournament for him.
 

Minimalist

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Most are saying that Lukaku could have done more, not that he was the problem. As @Rajma points out, Lukaku can still improve his movement and trouble the CBs more in tight games with little space like these. Other than that, I agree that Hazard and De Bruyne didn’t do much of note either.
Think he would be damned either way. If he came deep and didn't occupy Varane/Umtiti people would say he didn't push France back etc. He has a role to do at the end of the day.

The way the match set up (especially in the 2nd half), the equaliser had to come from the attacking midfielders or at very least, those behind Lukaku had to provide better passes/crosses.
 

cyberman

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It wasn't that over hit at all. It was a tough chance but a top striker makes at least attempt at it.

He was slow to react a few times or missed the run to be made.

It's not easy to point. Out individually but then when you compare to say someone like Kane it becomes evident.
Lukaku made the run and KDB tried to pick him out. He over hit the pass and Lukaku couldn't quite get there.
This isn't a ball played across from the byline, Lukakus run makes the chance.
You can't blame him for not knowing KDB will over hit it. What if KDB plays it perfectly and it goes behind him?
Still his fault?
 

Prometheus

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It was an over hit pass. He's not Superman ffs
How on earth was that an overhit pass!? Any elite forward would cherish that chance. When I was watching the game, I immediately imagined if Ronaldo was there (alright he's an anomaly but insert any elite forward there).
 

Zoo

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Needed support up there and Martinez should have brought on Batshuayi earlier. Varane was brilliant tonight and Umtiti pretty good too.
 
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