Romelu Lukaku image 9

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2018-19 Performances


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4.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
45
Goals
15
Assists
3
Yellow cards
5
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Based Adnan

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Didn't see much that showed he can fit in with the new style of play. Goal should have been called for offside but decent finish. Needs to lose a bit of weight.
 

#07

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A great alternative option for Ole to have. You saw in the build up to his goal and some moments afterwards how much his physical presence can offer us a different way to attack if needed. I don't want to make too many comparisons to the past but, in the golden era, United had so many different types of strikers: strikers who could go up against a centre back, strikers who could dribble and play, strikers who could ghost into positions, strikers who could drop deep and pull the strings. Having the variety of Lukaku, Rashford and Alexis isn't quite the same as it was back in '99 but its a real depth that gives the manager so many options if we're up against different types of defensive set ups. Glad to see his touch return, his confidence is back too I guess.
 

kiristao

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Can't remember seeing him chase down a ball like he did when he won that throw in. Not being an assured starter may just be the motivation he needs to work harder.
He always seemed to wait for things to happen rather than try to make them happen. The need to score or assist to now stake a claim in the starting 11 should force him to be more proactive.
 

Sylar

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Happy for him he scored. Hopefully he continues to work. Seemed he was content as he was always guaranteed a start.
 

Andersons Dietician

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Can't remember seeing him chase down a ball like he did when he won that throw in. Not being an assured starter may just be the motivation he needs to work harder.
He always seemed to wait for things to happen rather than try to make them happen. The need to score or assist to now stake a claim in the starting 11 should force him to be more proactive.
Because that is what Jose wanted.
 

Inigo Montoya

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He will prove people wrong very soon, probably the best finisher at this club
:lol:

I like him but he so isn't.

Martial is better
Sanchez is better
Greenwood is better too

Hell, Ole is still better than him.

Hope he starts netting a shed load though
 

KennyBurner

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Good player to have on the bench.
Perfectly said. He really isn’t suited to the way we play these past few days.

There was a moment when Jesse took forever taking on 2 defenders and when he finally got past them had nobody to pass too. When the camera zoomed out you could just see lukaku jogging behind when he should have been in the box waiting to receive a pass. I’m 100% sure rashford would have been at the end of that.

He is a good player but similar to benteke at liverpool, he just won’t fit here if he can’t put in the work. He is just to lazy. Maybe if Ole can play him against the dross then maybe it can work but it won’t be fair on rashford constantly putting in the effort.
 

Minimalist

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Nice to grab a goal. Didn't stink up the place either for a change (after his recent form).
 

ManchesterYoda

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I don't think he should start. We should use him as a super sub to finish teams off. I wanted him to bust a gut but he hardly moved. If he can't run his socks off for 20 minutes, how can he do it for 90 minutes?
 

LoveFootball

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He's still the same player for me with a first touch of a trampoline, saw nothing new to change my mind. Great finish thought.
 

Janson

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:lol:

I like him but he so isn't.

Martial is better
Sanchez is better
Greenwood is better too

Hell, Ole is still better than him.

Hope he starts netting a shed load though
How is Martial a better finisher? I'm not even gonna adress Greenwood, I'm guessing that's a joke. Sanchez has a great record, but he is much older too and has already had his prime, while Lukaku should be hitting his.
 

Litch

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Comes on and scores. Job done. For me like all the best teams, you need competition for places and also some games are more suited for some players than others. I think he's gonna do well in Europe and wouldn't be surprised if he starts against PSG....
 

UncleBob

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Nice to grab a goal. Didn't stink up the place either for a change (after his recent form).
Main problem is his issues with difficult passes. Martial, Rashford and Lingard (to an extent) have great close control and quick one-twos are rarely a problem, even in tight situations. Happened a few times after he came on today, ball bounces off his foot and he needs extra time to control it, ruins the momentum. If Rashford continues to perform like he has recently, there's not really any need for Lukaku.
 

El Zoido

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He’ll score loads with the team playing like this. Ole will teach him a thing or two as well.
 

Devil may care

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Finish was fine even if he was offside, I think Carragher summed it up though, Rashford might never score as many goals but offers so much more to the team. I'd sell him in the summer as I don't see him being happy as Marcus back up.
 

MikeKing

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Imagine having such an amazing striker like Lukaku playing back up to our main striker who is showing himself as a class above. That is healthy competition we have. How much can possibly change on such short amount of time:lol: I just hope we don't play Lukaku too much but use him when he is needed, not as a target man.
 

Eugenius

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I think the finish showed some of his limitations still. Needed to let the ball bounce twice before he wanted to hit it and almost let the chance go. Some may call it composure, but it's exactly why he struggles in big games when you only get half chances.

I'd like to see Rashford playing until the end of the season. Lukaku has been playing senior football for 10years - we've seen the best of him IMO. If Rashford can finish clinically he will be some player.
 

3KDré

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Imagine having such an amazing striker like Lukaku playing back up to our main striker who is showing himself as a class above. That is healthy competition we have. How much can possibly change on such short amount of time:lol: I just hope we don't play Lukaku too much but use him when he is needed, not as a target man.
Who were you supporting today?
 

Sayros

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Martial needs to prove he can do it consistently first.
He already has when you look at his goal/per 90m stats since he started his career here. Martial is a better finisher than Lukaku, I don't think it's a very controversial opinion. He also needs far less help getting a goal than Lukaku, who depends far more on the rest of the team putting him in goal-scoring positions.
 
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:lol:

I like him but he so isn't.

Martial is better
Sanchez is better
Greenwood is better too

Hell, Ole is still better than him.

Hope he starts netting a shed load though
Greenwood is a good finisher but he's going against skinny GK in his own age bracket.
There's a reason why fans,pundits and managers say GK improve with age.
Put him consistently against experienced GK and we'll likely see a different story and with good reason too.
Tone down on the hype.
 

Janson

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He already has when you look at his goal/per 90m stats since he started his career here. Martial is a better finisher than Lukaku, I don't think it's a very controversial opinion. He also needs far less help getting a goal than Lukaku, who depends far more on the rest of the team putting him in goal-scoring positions.
His goal scoring ratio is encouraging, but he hasn't had several 20+ scoring seasons like Lukaku has yet. Yes I know he hasn't been able to do that since he hasn't got the chance to be a constant starter, but there's a reason he hasn't. He has had limitations to his game which made him not suited to Mourinhos system. Doing it full time and having that pressure on you is much harder than what Martial's role has required.

He'll get a chance now probably til the end of the season, and we'll see if that ratio can really translate when the team is always dependent on him.
 

Janson

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Greenwood is a good finisher but he's going against skinny GK in his own age bracket.
There's a reason why fans,pundits and managers say GK improve with age.
Put him consistently against experienced GK and we'll likely see a different story and with good reason too.
Tone down on the hype.
He was probably joking on Greenwood.
 

WR10

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Good for him with the goal. It was a confidence booster with its relative difficulty. I was also glad to see him successfully trap a ball.

Worrying part: he looked like a deer in headlights when Lingard/Martial/Pogba dribbled around him. He had no clue what to do. He more often than not stood still. He made a decent run for his goal but that was clearly offside. I hope he also syncs with this team and gets his timing back too.
 

Ødegaard

formerly MrEriksen
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How is Martial a better finisher? I'm not even gonna adress Greenwood, I'm guessing that's a joke. Sanchez has a great record, but he is much older too and has already had his prime, while Lukaku should be hitting his.
Martial is statistically one of the best finishers in the league. Was the best before this round, not sure if he still is.
 

Janson

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Martial is statistically one of the best finishers in the league. Was the best before this round, not sure if he still is.
You mean his goal scoring ratio? See my post above. He hasn't even had a full season as a starter yet. If that translates when he is a constant starter for a full season/seasons than I will agree. Right now though, Lukaku is the one with several 20+ goal seasons in the PL.

We also don't even know that our new manager will play him all the time. It could be the same deal as under Mourinho.
 

Sayros

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His goal scoring ratio is encouraging, but he hasn't had several 20+ scoring seasons like Lukaku has yet. Yes I know he hasn't been able to do that since he hasn't got the chance to be a constant starter, but there's a reason he hasn't. He has had limitations to his game which made him not suited to Mourinhos system. Doing it full time and having that pressure on you is much harder than what Martial's role has required.

He'll get a chance now probably til the end of the season, and we'll see if that ratio can really translate when the team is always dependent on him.
Which, every game, shows this was not a good reason. I don't see any reason why Martial can't surpass what Lukaku is doing, even without being the main man up front if given the same playing time over a whole season. And I'm someone who's nowhere near as down on what Lukaku is capable of as some others on here.
 

Real Madras

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Loved what Ole had to say about Lukaku after today’s game. Really insightful yet incredibly refreshing and simple to see. Lukaku is a good target man, but a target man does not face the goal. Ensuing that when Lukaku does get into the side, he should be able to play within a framework that allows his game to be based around facing the goal. So simple right? But for the last year or two he’s been playing as the guy that holds the ball and whilst it did work for a while, surely something as simple as playing facing the goal has to be re introduced and we can actually start seeing him play run the channels. Rashford was immense tonight and I think we have some fantastic options if we can have simple pathway on how we should play. We need some more wins like this starting with Newcastle. Top 4 is most certainly a possibility if we can maintain this momentum. Can’t remember the last time we recorded 10 wins on the bounce.
 

Janson

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Which, every game, shows this was not a good reason. I don't see any reason why Martial can't surpass what Lukaku is doing, even without being the main man up front if given the same playing time over a whole season. And I'm someone who's nowhere near as down on what Lukaku is capable of as some others on here.
Maybe it wasn't, but we don't even know how the new manager will use him. He will likely start under Ole until the end of the season, so we'll see if he can keep that ratio up. Maybe he could do better than Lukaku if he was given the chance, but we won't really know until he does. We all know he has the potential to.
 

izec

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Finish was fine even if he was offside, I think Carragher summed it up though, Rashford might never score as many goals but offers so much more to the team. I'd sell him in the summer as I don't see him being happy as Marcus back up.
If at least a 50m offer came in, i would do it too. Otherwise keep him around for a year, could be useful as a squad player.
 

OldTrevil

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I think the finish showed some of his limitations still. Needed to let the ball bounce twice before he wanted to hit it and almost let the chance go. Some may call it composure, but it's exactly why he struggles in big games when you only get half chances.

I'd like to see Rashford playing until the end of the season. Lukaku has been playing senior football for 10years - we've seen the best of him IMO. If Rashford can finish clinically he will be some player.
Agreed. Think for example a Martial with that chance, controls it on the half-volley and slots it past the keeper with ease before anyone gets close. At the very least a player with an assured touch will always opt to control that ball in the box or go for a first-time hit. At the highest level, that is often the split second you have or the chance is gone.
 
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