The thumbs up guy
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 5
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
- Status
The thumbs up guy
This.
We don't create enough chances for our forwards. Compare what City create and what we create. It's not a contest.
But sure, replace Lukaku with this mythical striker that has a chance conversion rate of > 70%
Ffs Altidore really? Aguero, Kane I can understand but come on be realistic.
Seriously! This place would probably complain about Aguero if he was part of our squad.
this really grinds my gears. Several of our players are guilty of this. Strolling about lauding a pass that did feck all like they’re a bunch of world class superstars. Get your head down and put in a shift and it might just turn into a win.The thumbs up guy
I miss the days of RVN or RVP where our strikers don’t need 10 chances to score a goal.
I guarantee you he converts that heading chance that Lukaku had.
Don't think his headed chance was as easy as Lingard's, which was a sitter. He had to go back to get it so directing it on goal with power is the best he could do with it. He also provided the excellent ball for the aforementioned Lingard chance and it was his decent cross that Pogba flicked on for McTominay's chance in the second half. He did ok imo considering these contributions.
No movement. No threat. £75 million.
Zlatan had loads of chances in a worse team. Chances are created through link up, control, movement etc. You don't just get tap ins
Aguero also beats players, scores wonder goals and dominates big games. Comparing apples and oranges. One is a title winning striker. The other a 6-10th place guy. He misses chances vs both Arsenal and Wolves. Rashford scores his early chance vs Watford in a game we were under pressure. Same as vs Leicester and also scored vs Wolves. Lukaku rebirth lasted 3 matches and he is no more clinical/reliablw than Rashford whilst he is a 74-90million striker
If he converted half of these sitters we would've been comfortable third by now.
Not entirely his fault as the service is abysmal at times but he's not good enough. He's feeding off scraps but he's missed so many chances that have the potential to change the course of games and he isn't the standard of striker we need to get back to where we want to be. If the management and board are aiming for top 6 then fair enough Lukaku is that level. You can forgive Rom if he was a threat in build up play and holding up the play like his athletic attributes should be helping him do, but he just doesn't do it.
Guilt edge chances against Spurs at Home, Brighton away, Palace away, Arsenal away & Wolves away (lost 4).
Aguero & Kane score these chances and that's the level of striker we need.
Guilt edge chances against Spurs at Home, Brighton away, Palace away, Arsenal away & Wolves away (lost 4).
Aguero & Kane score these chances and that's the level of striker we need.
I blame Lukaku for encouraging Young to play those dumb longballs. Not really
Would sell him in a heartbeat.
General play he offers nothing apart from some good crosses.
And in front of goal he misses as many easy chances as he scores.
Just a frustrating player who isn't good enough if we want to be a top team.
Bench option at best but would rather just sell him. Don't like players who can't play football.
Also, to the people who say he doesn't get enough service it is true but the main reason for it is how awful his movement is.
General play he offers nothing apart from some good crosses.
And in front of goal he misses as many easy chances as he scores.
Just a frustrating player who isn't good enough if we want to be a top team.
Bench option at best but would rather just sell him. Don't like players who can't play football.
Also, to the people who say he doesn't get enough service it is true but the main reason for it is how awful his movement is.
I wonder if anyone has the tools to create a chart of how many shots, key passes etc. we have as a team with him on the pitch versus when he doesn't play. I suspect it would make damning reading.
Should really go in the summer and use to the money to get someone more fitted to our play. For a player who's general play isn't up to standard for a team like us, the least you would expect is for him to be clinical, but he's far from that, not just based on this game either. You know things are bad when you get taken off and we needed a goal. Simply put, he doesn't fit the style Ole wants to play, we should get rid.
I think we're better off selling him this summer if we can get 50-60m. We're not going to be challenging for the title next season so we may as well start the rebuilding process in earnest. We need funds for other positions more urgently and something tells me the required budget will not be available without selling off current players.
No he didn't. Unless you have the numbers backing up the claim. Where was the movement from Lingard or Pogba or Dalot?
I don't even have a problem with Lukaku's scapegoat status, it is what it is. But I watched the game before this. Little different except for the final result. We suck at generating chances for the players in our team (Lukaku, Rashford, Martial, etc). Expecting them to be uber-clinical or perform magic on their own ignores the bigger issue.
Lukaku divides opinion more than end of career Rooney!
Don't agree. Think most people think he is a very average footballer and then some argue over if he is a good goalscorer.
Really everyone who watched the last 2 seasons can spot the difference between the number of chances both Zlatan and Lukaku were getting. He's right.
https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/big_chance_missed - change the drop down to 2017 and see Zlatan top with 18 missed. this is in only 28 apps. I don't know about you but to me this is confirmation of him getting lots of chances which supports what I viewed with my eyes.
2018 its Salah is top on big chances missed with 23. Kane is 3rd with 18 (Same as Zlatan in 2017).
Zlatan also scored 17 league goals in 28 apps as he got injured so yes, he was having lots of chances, converting some, missing others, but he was having them. Bear in mind he only played a portion of the league campaign.
RE :Lukaku being the scapegoat, it's not just him but you are correct, it is what it is.......
like Wayne in his waining years no? give him a chance and he'll finish it but can do feck all else!
So not like Wayne then cause you give Lukaku a chance and he is 50/50 on wether he will finish it.
And if the chance is in the first 10 minutes io the game he misses every time. Happend so many games this season.
So in that same link, change the stats you're looking at to "big chances created". Which I think is a better metric of how many chances we generate for our forwards and other players.
Or use this link: https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/big_chance_created
We have not had a Manchester United player in the top 10 of chances created, since Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney in 2011/12!
It's no debate. We're not creating enough, period. Now if you're content with that aspect of our attack and need Lukaku to be more clinical beyond what is usually expected then fair enough.
Edit: Since I was curious, I checked the stats for last season. Aguero created 11 big chances. Lukaku created 9 big chances.
I thought he was actually decent last night, definitely one of the better performers along with Dalot. He linked up really well and looked good with the ball at his feet. However he deserves flack for that missed header which he really needs to bury - same as the Arsenal miss.
So many haters here with revisionist mentality. Talking about Rom like he's the worst striker in the league. Also as far as chance creation, the chance creation has been the same with Rom in the team as it has been without him. Rashford misses a ton of chances, Martial fails to do anything other than dribble and the rest of the players can't cross and make terrible decisions. How is it that Lukaku still is the top scorer for this season? Also good luck finding a better striker on the market that you don't have to pay 2 or 3x the price of him for.
He is our best finisher, facts not feelings.
He is our best finisher, facts not feelings.
You would struggle to find a better striker or goalscorer for 50-60m right now. If you say Icardi, he is not better than Lukaku and far more disruptive for the teams harmony.
His record says he is a good goalscorer. You can't deny that. He has scored over 20 goals a season in all competitions for the past 5 seasons and is the all time top goal scorer for Belgium. He also is in the top 20 all time top goal scorers in the prem at 25.
He was brilliant a few weeks ago and was taken out of the team again...I agree he’s frustrating but he’s shown there is a decent player in there. We are so slow and predictable getting the ball into the box badly from the flanks or lofted from the middle. I genuinely think any striker would struggle with how we set up sometimes.
So far in the season, we've created less big chances (56) than Man City (86), Liverpool (63), Arsenal (63) and Chelsea (63). Tottenham have 54. Wolves have 52. 4 less than us. I think that says it all.
The whole 'doesn't get enough service' thing is fine, except that is also true of Martial and Rashford yet people don't normally use this fact to defend them.
I've got no problem with Lukaku as a finisher, all strikers miss chances. It's the fact he only has one string to his bow. I don't think those kind of strikers can excel at the top clubs.
I've got no problem with Lukaku as a finisher, all strikers miss chances. It's the fact he only has one string to his bow. I don't think those kind of strikers can excel at the top clubs.
Over his career yes. At United it can certainly be argued. His finishing has been abysmal you can't deny that. He has his moments of being a good goalscorer but that isn't enough.
Lack of creativity is a problem but the stats doesn't tell you the number of gilt edged chances he wasted to open the deadlock or add to it. Chances that change the dynamic of the game got wasted . In football you have to finish your dinner otherwise you get punished. If the above numbers are correct it's still more than Spurs and comparable with the teams we're fighting against. Arsenal strikers have been very clincal.
It's not a Lukaku problem. It's a problem plaguing our attack. I have issue with the idea that you can swap him out with another striker (except for Kane and Aguero) and see a significant bump in production.
Now from a stylistic perspective, we like what we like, and I accept the fact that his way of play will never win some over.
If we are looking to win titles then we are way behind the standard set by Liverpool and City.
Regarding big chances missed, he has 14. In comparison, Aubemayang has 19, Salah has 15. Rashford has 13. Aguero and Kane have 10 each. But there is more slack allowed when your team can generate more chances.
So yes, Lukaku needs to be more clinical in order for us to have a chance. However the level we require from him to be competitive, given what we create, is an outlier in terms of what is usually expected of forwards.
I wouldn't buy a striker, I would buy a winger or a CM that can create chances and score goals.
Regardless I think he'll remain in the squad for next year whilst we rebuild the rest of the team and offload the dross but if he's still wasting chances next season then it'll be clear who the problem is. His general play already leaves a lot to be desired.
- Status