[redIndianDevil]

Let's not throw him under the Jose bus as yet. I'm sure many of us were happy we signed him watching him at the WC. Let's not forget either the bloke playing in blue that many on here wanted us to sign instead....

I confess I preferred Morata over Lukaku too, my reasoning was that Morata had experience playing in top clubs and I saw him as a player with better technique(first touch, creativity etc) than Lukaku. Sadly it looks like Lacazette was the best option available at that window.

 

[redIndianDevil]

I can't even imagine Icardi in a team that is not designed to create chances for him.

Well you can't imagine any striker in a team that is not designed to create chances for him, but I think Icardi's touch won't be as bad or his hold up play would be as poor as Lukaku's. My concern with lukaku is not that he is not scoring goals, it's that he is not even doing the basics right.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

It’s due to his tactics. Jose doesn’t want to train our defenders to pass out from the back and play under pressure but instead to hoof it forward bypassing the opposition midfield to lukaku. The problem with this is that lukaku is a terrible targetman. For a big guy he isn’t aggressive in the air and hardly lays it off to any of our players when given the chance.

I believe this is the sole reason lukaku will never be dropped. If our tactics were to somewhat change lukaku wouldn’t really be needed in the team.

People also asking for Sanchez to play the number 9 will encounter the same problem and start to blame him for being ineffective. Because alas we will see de gea hoofing it to a 5’6 player expecting good results in the air. Still happy to try it though because lukaku right now is sort of a mess and needs a good resting.

We won’t ever see De Gea accurately hoofing it. His distribution with his feet is usually pretty poor, he looks like he’s incapable of performing the technique required for a long, accurate pass.

 

[Mcking]

Well you can't imagine any striker in a team that is not designed to create chances for him, but I think Icardi's touch won't be as bad or his hold up play would be as poor as Lukaku's. My concern with lukaku is not that he is not scoring goals, it's that he is not even doing the basics right.

Do you watch Icardi - I mean watch him play regularly? C. 10-15 games per season?

 

[Aloysius's Back 3]

A team that is there to supply Lukaku will not be able to provide a goal scoring threat when Lukaku is not scoring.

To get the best out of Lukaku you need the whole team drilled to deliver everything on a plate for him & even then he would not be as consistent as a technical finisher can be in the mould of RVN.

When he does have a lapse in goal scoring form in a game you have to then change the team to do the work themselves & Lukaku breaks down play more than makes it happen.

Perisix - Lukaku - willian will be fine until its not & then no other target man not even arnautpvic can make that sort of difference which is needed.


I much prefer a style of team oriented attack that was seen very occasionally with LVG - where we could score a goal from martial on one side, Rashford in another, mata in another etc etc. With Lukaku he becomes our main & only threat. Was the same with Ibrahimovic but he was a more rounded player.

 

[11101]

Well you can't imagine any striker in a team that is not designed to create chances for him, but I think Icardi's touch won't be as bad or his hold up play would be as poor as Lukaku's. My concern with lukaku is not that he is not scoring goals, it's that he is not even doing the basics right.

Icardi is much better than Lukaku technically but he uses it almost entirely to control the ball before he shoots. He does pretty much nothing in the build up to goals, he'd be useless as a hold up player.

 

[Striker10]

He will come good. Last season was kinda similar. He did have a dry patch but opinion quickly turns. It would be nice if he was scoring but Martial is doing ok. If we could defend properly, it wouldn't be much of an issue. What I would say is what is the point of bulking up so much if you can't play as a target man? I think he probably could do with losing a bit of that.

 

[Irrational.]

If only Greenwood was physically ready. Shame he is at least 2-3 years away - we'll have to dip into the transfer market again if we even want to think about competing with the big boys.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Needs to score goals to mask over his shortcomings.

 

[RedFish]

Seems to lack the mindset and ferocity of say a Ruud who you could see lived for scoring goals. He’s not sustainable, United need a striker who is battering down walls to score goals. Comes across as weak.

 

[Andycoleno9]

I believe in him. We are starting to play attacking football so i have no doubt that he will start scoring now.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Seems to lack the mindset and ferocity of say a Ruud who you could see lived for scoring goals. He’s not sustainable, United need a striker who is battering down walls to score goals. Comes across as weak.

I see the words weak, coward, bottler on here a lot, and they are overused, and most often used unfairly. You could certaint use them all for a player like Di Maria, but not Lukuku. I’m not Lukuku’s biggest fan, but he’s not mentally weak, he’s just nowhere near as good as someone like RVN, who is the best striker I’ve seen play for Utd in 30+ years, he was truly world class and one of the best in the world at the time.

 

[RedFish]

I see the words weak, coward, bottler on here a lot, and they are overused, and most often used unfairly. You could certaint use them all for a player like Di Maria, but not Lukuku. I’m not Lukuku’s biggest fan, but he’s not mentally weak, he’s just nowhere near as good as someone like RVN, who is the best striker I’ve seen play for Utd in 30+ years, he was truly world class and one of the best in the world at the time.

Weak, lacking tenacity, lacking a mean streak, lacking initiative on the pitch. He's a limited player, but he should be able to at least put himself about, make himself more available. He needs to make it happen, the team's not good enough to carry him.

 

[cantaldo]

Starting to think Fellaini would be better off in his position at this point if mourinho is so fixed on having a target man up front, Lukaku is probably gonna struggle to score even 15 goals in the premier league this season and at least Fellaini can actually play the target man role perfectly and better at helping us defend set pieces.

 

[Andrew~]

He's not shite. But he is really lacking something. He doesn't seem to cause defenders problems; I don't see the constant runs of a Hernandez; or the physicality of a Drogba/Diego Costa; or the touch, movement and finishing of a Van Persie.

He's just 'meh' on all fronts and it's made worse by the fact that the manager has decided he can't be dropped or subbed under any circumstances.

 

[11101]

He's not shite. But he is really lacking something. He doesn't seem to cause defenders problems; I don't see the constant runs of a Hernandez; or the physicality of a Drogba/Diego Costa; or the touch, movement and finishing of a Van Persie.

He's just 'meh' on all fronts and it's made worse by the fact that the manager has decided he can't be dropped or subbed under any circumstances.

He just looks too heavy to me. He's twice the size he was when he joined Everton and he's looking bigger than when he joined us. He is too slow to accelerate or change direction, defenders can stay with him too easily.

 

[Jazz]

Getting told off by our fans on United's twitter. Some of the comments are so funny.
A few pointing out that he's too heavy. Most people reminding him that he needs to do more as well.

His undroppable status needs to come to an end soon unless he makes a drastic turnaround, starting tomorrow.

 

[Andrew~]

He just looks too heavy to me. He's twice the size he was when he joined Everton and he's looking bigger than when he joined us. He is too slow to accelerate or change direction, defenders can stay with him too easily.

Perhaps, I'm not sure losing the weight will really help much because I don't see the energy in his play. He seems to be waiting around a lot for the ball to get to him rather than creating space for himself. If it's a weight thing, fine. But either way, the manager can't really think he's unsubbable right now.

 

[Canagel]

He's not shite. But he is really lacking something. He doesn't seem to cause defenders problems; I don't see the constant runs of a Hernandez; or the physicality of a Drogba/Diego Costa; or the touch, movement and finishing of a Van Persie.

He's just 'meh' on all fronts and it's made worse by the fact that the manager has decided he can't be dropped or subbed under any circumstances.

His first touch is the biggest problem. All the strikers you mentioned were consistent with their touches (maybe Chicharito touched the ball less than the others) but with Lukaku you just don't know if it will stick. A striker can go through bad periods but when Lukaku is bad he's really bad. Struggles with the fundamentals of the game.
Definitely should be taken out of firing line for a few games.

 

[POF]

I can't believe the slating he's getting here. I think he is an absolutely key man. He's in poor form at the moment and down on confidence but give it a couple of months and he'll have scored 6 in 6 and will be terrorising every defence in the country.

 

[kouroux]

I can't believe the slating he's getting here. I think he is an absolutely key man. He's in poor form at the moment and down on confidence but give it a couple of months and he'll have scored 6 in 6 and will be terrorising every defence in the country.

He never terrorised every defence at any point of his career.

 

[FootyGirl88]

He just looks too heavy to me. He's twice the size he was when he joined Everton and he's looking bigger than when he joined us. He is too slow to accelerate or change direction, defenders can stay with him too easily.

He is too heavy - I'm surprised our fitness coaches haven't told him to slim down.

I've seen two interviews with Kane and Trippier and they both said Poch made them both loose weight because they were carrying to much body fat. It makes you wonder what we're doing in our fitness camp.

 

[Cassidy]

I can't believe the slating he's getting here. I think he is an absolutely key man. He's in poor form at the moment and down on confidence but give it a couple of months and he'll have scored 6 in 6 and will be terrorising every defence in the country.

Not likely, but I do expect him to regain form and start scoring again

 

[11101]

Perhaps, I'm not sure losing the weight will really help much because I don't see the energy in his play. He seems to be waiting around a lot for the ball to get to him rather than creating space for himself. If it's a weight thing, fine. But either way, the manager can't really think he's unsubbable right now.

I don't know whether it would make a difference or not, but something i have noticed is that since he has put on weight he cannot get away from defenders. He still has the top end pace but defenders can match him all the way there. When he makes runs they're covering him the whole way. I wonder if he isn't moving as much because he's getting frustrated at not being able to get into space.

 

[Rozay]

His first touch is the biggest problem. All the strikers you mentioned were consistent with their touches (maybe Chicharito touched the ball less than the others) but with Lukaku you just don't know if it will stick. A striker can go through bad periods but when Lukaku is bad he's really bad. Struggles with the fundamentals of the game.
Definitely should be taken out of firing line for a few games.

I think his biggest problem is his shooting ability. For a striker, he has nowhere near enough quality attempts at goal. I believe this is down to an alarmingly limited variety in ‘types’ of shots he can take. Take Martial’s second goal against Chelsea, or Kane’s finish against Barcelona. These are regular shots for any decent striker, no ‘goal of the season’ contenders. But I can’t see Lukaku performing this kind of bend into the bottom corner. You look at Martial’s goal against Burnley last season, or Rashford’s bend against Liverpool last term. Another that Lukaku could never.

Typically, Lukaku will score a header or from a range where the power is more important than the accuracy. The types of finishes that require greater emphasis on finesse or accuracy, he doesn’t have. He’s a powerful guy, but doesn’t have the shooting technique for a really powerful shot from 15-25 yards, not without losing accuracy. Not the finesse to bend. It’s been a while since I played computer games, but on Pro Evolution, there used to be a player stat called ‘shot technique’ years ago. This is underrated and perhaps just taken for granted amongst top forwards. Players like Lukaku, or Valencia are not capable of a simple bent finish.

He has far too few shots on target for our leading striker. This is not down to ‘service’. ‘Service’ to Lukaku is limited as there is only a certain type of situation he can fashion a shooting chance out of with any consistent basis. There is no silk at all to his game. None. As a forward player, you need that, otherwise you’re not a million miles away from when a team sends the Big centre half up front to chase a goal. This is why many opportunities that seem presentable end in scuffed shots for Lukaku. He has very poor shooting technique.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Need a big performance from the big man tonight. If he doesn't score, he doesn't score, but I want to see him putting himself about more.

Hoping that we continue with a 4231 because I feel Lukaku is the type of player that needs someone close to him. He's a big lad, but he's not great at holding the ball when isolated. Much better when there's someone to link with.

I also think the way Jose played Martial and Rashford, in terms of hugging the touchline, will benefit Lukaku. He's a poacher, and he's normally very good at finding the right positions in the box. If we can get Rashford and Martial in good positions, where they can use their pace and trickery to get past the full back and deliver good crosses, hopefully Lukaku can get onto the end of them.

 

[Canagel]

I think his biggest problem is his shooting ability. For a striker, he has nowhere near enough quality attempts at goal. I believe this is down to an alarmingly limited variety in ‘types’ of shots he can take. Take Martial’s second goal against Chelsea, or Kane’s finish against Barcelona. These are regular shots for any decent striker, no ‘goal of the season’ contenders. But I can’t see Lukaku performing this kind of bend into the bottom corner. You look at Martial’s goal against Burnley last season, or Rashford’s bend against Liverpool last term. Another that Lukaku could never.

Typically, Lukaku will score a header or from a range where the power is more important than the accuracy. The types of finishes that require greater emphasis on finesse or accuracy, he doesn’t have. He’s a powerful guy, but doesn’t have the shooting technique for a really powerful shot from 15-25 yards, not without losing accuracy. Not the finesse to bend. It’s been a while since I played computer games, but on Pro Evolution, there used to be a player stat called ‘shot technique’ years ago. This is underrated and perhaps just taken for granted amongst top forwards. Players like Lukaku, or Valencia are not capable of a simple bent finish.

He has far too few shots on target for our leading striker. This is not down to ‘service’. ‘Service’ to Lukaku is limited as there is only a certain type of situation he can fashion a shooting chance out of with any consistent basis. There is no silk at all to his game. None. As a forward player, you need that, otherwise you’re not a million miles away from when a team sends the Big centre half up front to chase a goal. This is why many opportunities that seem presentable end in scuffed shots for Lukaku. He has very poor shooting technique.

Absolutely but to be an accurate shooter you need to have a good first touch to start with. It's the basis for everything. There isn't any silk to his game because he doesn't trust his first touch. He also doesn't look up. Once your technique is good and your first touch is good you can start to play with it.

 

[VorZakone]

Watch him score today.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Really hope he does well tonight. A goal will do wonders for his confidence.

 

[Rozay]

Watch him score today.

I hope so. Despite my criticism of him I of course wish him success with us.

 

[Samid]

Dogshite. Get rid in January.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Absolutely feckin awful.

A disgrace that a United player can put that little in and perform that poorly and play a full 90 minutes

 

[PepsiCola]

He really, really is terrible. Has no business playing in the champions league.

 

[Bobski]

He is what we thought he was.

Mourinho working with him, seeing his limitations at first hand then still bringing him to Utd is a frustrating decision. So tied into his old archetypes of what he wants in that role, so little imagination to change and try something different.

 

[Thiim]

How poor can this fraud of a footballer become? Is this the lowest or can he actually take it down another level still? Can't wait to find out.

 

[Cloud7]

We could replace him with a cardboard cutout of himself and level of performance wouldn’t be any different

 

[el3mel]

Became extremely boring to talk about him every game. He's not just a nothing player but a hindrance as well.

Feck him off in summer for 50m or so. Everton level.

 

[Hammondo]

There is nothing good about him.

 

[nycender]

Tough to go through matches watching this guy play for us. His movement is so laborious and he flounders way too much. His body never seems to be in the position to spring for the ball. It's depressing.

 

[LoneStar]

Really starting to hate this guy. The ball just seems to bounce off of him.

He has not a single redeeming quality. Get rid. He will probably start scoring at some point, but if he isn't, he really offers nothing to the team. Mid-table is his level.