Romelu Lukaku | Mourinho Part III | Roma watch

RedStarUnited

New Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
8,136
This is looking like a better decision by the day: selling a striker who has scored 9 in 11.

People say selling him was the right choice and it was not getting a replacement that was the problem, but that inherently makes selling him the wrong choice. If you are saying that a player needs a replacement, it is clear that that player had a positive impact on the team.

If they had no impact or a negative impact, selling should have had either a positive impact or no impact at all. It is pretty clear that selling him has completely destroyed our goalscoring ability. Awful decision.
No - Because I am pretty sure we were never going to get anyone else willing to pay 75m for him again. We sold at the most opportune moment given ours and Inters needs.
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
No - Because I am pretty sure we were never going to get anyone else willing to pay 75m for him again. We sold at the most opportune moment given ours and Inters needs.
Not opportune for us by any means.
The italian clubs were interested in him all summer long and besides you never sell a player like that without replacing him first, specially when clubs know you are desperate
 

mu4c_20le

Full Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
43,840
I just have a question, what is this thing we're supposed to be winning anyway ? We face more "smaller" teams than bigger teams all year long so it wouldn't be a bad thing to keep a player who performs well against them, specially with poor depth in attack.

I don't think the club is that good to not need a guy like Lukaku
Actually his dry spell last season included many small teams. He scored 15 in 45 in all competitions, and there were several games in which he scored 2 or more, such as the PSG game. You can just imagine how many games he went dry, and the biggest problem is that his all around game is poor, so when he's having a bad game he's reaallllly bad and breaks up attacks.

Martial has been in and out of the team this season, but his goal scoring record is already better than Lukaku, he's scoring at least 1 in 2 at the moment. And he's not even a proper replacement, more like a stop gap.
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Actually his dry spell last season included many small teams. He scored 15 in 45 in all competitions, and there were several games in which he scored 2 or more, such as the PSG game. You can just imagine how many games he went dry, and the biggest problem is that his all around game is poor, so when he's having a bad game he's reaallllly bad.

Martial has been in and out of the team this season, but his goal scoring record is already better than Lukaku, he's scoring at least 1 in 2 at the moment. And he's not even a proper replacement, more like a stop gap.
My general point is that if the club was hell bent on selling him then we should have gotten a replacement before his departure.

However bad his scoring record was last season, he is an option we could have used so far. We left it late to find a replacement and sold him. That was crazy stupid. Basically praying that neither Rashford nor Martial get injured
 

mu4c_20le

Full Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
43,840
My general point is that if the club was hell bent on selling him then we should have gotten a replacement before his departure.

However bad his scoring record was last season, he is an option we could have used so far. We left it late to find a replacement and sold him. That was crazy stupid. Basically praying that neither Rashford nor Martial get injured
Yeah i dont think anyone can disagree with that. The problem though is that this thread keeps getting bumped everytime he does well, and someone says we shouldn't have sold him. With our limited funds, we were never going to properly replace him after spending 120m on the defense imo. It was always between him and Maguire. I am more disappointed that we didn't manage to bring in Mandzukic; I really hope the deal itself fell through rather than us pulling out because we thought Greenwood was going to be the next Mbappe.
 

giorno

boob novice
Joined
Jul 20, 2016
Messages
26,623
Supports
Real Madrid
Are you seriously comparing the Italian one and half horse league to the premier league?
What does serie A being a one and half horse race have to do with the quality of the bottom half of the table?
 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
I just have a question, what is this thing we're supposed to be winning anyway ? We face more "smaller" teams than bigger teams all year long so it wouldn't be a bad thing to keep a player who performs well against them, specially with poor depth in attack.

I don't think the club is that good to not need a guy like Lukaku
Well, again he didn't want to be here. You want to keep a player like that? Nor could the club turn their nose up on 70m, when we overpaid in the first place. The issue is the lack of replacement.

Also there's a difference of facing a smaller team, than the mentality of one. Norwich is a small team, but don't necessarily play like one in their style, they are small in status but the way they play is Rashford and Martials bread and butter. Bournemouth were like them but have become more solid and less gung ho
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Well, again he didn't want to be here. You want to keep a player like that? Nor could the club turn their nose up on 70m, when we overpaid in the first place. The issue is the lack of replacement
Also there's a difference of facing a smaller team, than the mentality of one. Norwich is a small team, but don't necessarily play like one in their style, their are small in status but the way they play is Rashford and Martials bread and butter. Bournemouth were like them but have become more solid and less gung ho
Well yeah, the club's needs surpasses his little ego. He wouldn't be the first player in the history to be denied a transfer, who would sulk and eventually resumes his focus because at the end of the season there is this big international tournament.
The issue is indeed lack of replacement but since after a while, it was clear no one was gonna get brought in as a replacement, Lukaku should have been kept. He officially joined Inter on August 8th, which was pretty late for the PL summer window. Why did the club approve of this if we couldn't buy anybody so close to the end of the window ?
There are always players who wanna leave every club every transfer window, not all of them are given this freedom.
 

bond19821982

Last Man Standing champion 2019/20
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
10,424
Location
Nnc
Well yeah, the club's needs surpasses his little ego. He wouldn't be the first player in the history to be denied a transfer, who would sulk and eventually resumes his focus because at the end of the season there is this big international tournament.
The issue is indeed lack of replacement but since after a while, it was clear no one was gonna get brought in as a replacement, Lukaku should have been kept. He officially joined Inter on August 8th, which was pretty late for the PL summer window. Why did the club approve of this if we couldn't buy anybody so close to the end of the window ?
There are always players who wanna leave every club every transfer window, not all of them are given this freedom.
He only wanted to leave when he knew he was not going to be first choice. Not sure how we came to a conclusion that he is not good enough for us.
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
Scout
Joined
Jan 31, 2014
Messages
65,928
Location
France
He only wanted to leave when he knew he was not going to be first choice. Not sure how we came to a conclusion that he is not good enough for us.
He was angling for a move when Mourinho was the manager, it started around October 2018.
 

Zlatan 7

We've got bush!
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
11,797
Which part didn't you understand ?

Personally i find it a bit odd that people have such love for Lukaku, it would suggest they are bigger fans of the player than the club.

Lets look at his time at the club, he has a good first season at the club,he has his obvious issues but overall it's promising and hopefully something we can build on, he then returns to the club looking like he's gone full Akinfenwa, clearly in no shape whatsoever to play football at the highest level, he'd make a few runs and spend the majority of the match looking knackered. Between the start of the season and 1st of jan he scored 7 goals for the club, combine that with his absurd holier-than-thou attitude, telling other players to shut up and deal with the pressure, only to instantly mouth off about sodding off to Italy as soon as it was made clear that he'd no longer have the same position in the squad. Some strong mentality that, yeah, proper big man. Oh and yeah, it was then followed by him and his agents attempting to force the club into accepting lowball offers from Inter, how much pre-season was he involved in again ? But yeah, lets rub one off for Lukaku and pretend we should've kept him.
And the time he was on a massive sulk and wouldn’t celebrate when he scored a goal through his bad patch.

Good riddance
 

Kush

Hyperbolic and will post where they like!!
Joined
Mar 30, 2010
Messages
3,443
The amount of vitriol against him always surprises me here. The only ones who are rewriting history are those suggesting he's not a good goalscorer, that's utter bullshit. He scored 17 goals in the league for a Tony Pulis coached West Brom side ffs!

I didn't have much problem with selling him but not signing a replacement was utterly mental, and its ultimately going to cost Ole his job. We can't punish shitty teams which was Lukakus' bread and butter, oh well!
 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
Well yeah, the club's needs surpasses his little ego. He wouldn't be the first player in the history to be denied a transfer, who would sulk and eventually resumes his focus because at the end of the season there is this big international tournament.
The issue is indeed lack of replacement but since after a while, it was clear no one was gonna get brought in as a replacement, Lukaku should have been kept. He officially joined Inter on August 8th, which was pretty late for the PL summer window. Why did the club approve of this if we couldn't buy anybody so close to the end of the window ?
There are always players who wanna leave every club every transfer window, not all of them are given this freedom.
Well if he wasn't sold this summer with Inters offer on the table, you run the risk of his value plummeting, who else was spending money the summer gone, let alone next summer on him given his United performances were on a downward trajectory.
And I am not convinced we would be much better off if he stayed anyway. It's all hindsight, yes he could have come in for Martial when he was injuried, but you can't foresee Martial being out for so long.
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Well if he wasn't sold this summer with Inters offer on the table, you run the risk of his value plummeting, who else was spending money the summer gone, let alone next summer on him given his United performances were on a downward trajectory.
And I am not convinced we would be much better off if he stayed anyway. It's all hindsight, yes he could have come in for Martial when he was injuried, but you can't foresee Martial being out for so long.
Not for so long but you could defo foresee he would get injured, or even simply tired. It's not really hindsight, a lot of us were afraid that the attacking options were very thin and we would see its consequence throughout the season. Martial went injured early granted but the issue will remain the same if something isn't attempted in January.
What happened wasn't the hardest thing to predict IMHO. We asked for trouble when we went into the season with this squad. Hoping none of the main players get injured or go off form is crazy.
 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
Not for so long but you could defo foresee he would get injured, or even simply tired. It's not really hindsight, a lot of us were afraid that the attacking options were very thin and we would see its consequence throughout the season. Martial went injured early granted but the issue will remain the same if something isn't attempted in January.
What happened wasn't the hardest thing to predict IMHO. We asked for trouble when we went into the season with this squad. Hoping none of the main players get injured or go off form is crazy.
Yes, but it doesnt equate to keeping a overpriced player who didn't want to be here
If we get Halaand in the January (doubt it) it will justify not getting someone in the summer, if we were holding out for the right player.
 
Last edited:

lsd

The Oracle
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
10,866
Actually his dry spell last season included many small teams. He scored 15 in 45 in all competitions, and there were several games in which he scored 2 or more, such as the PSG game. You can just imagine how many games he went dry, and the biggest problem is that his all around game is poor, so when he's having a bad game he's reaallllly bad and breaks up attacks.

Martial has been in and out of the team this season, but his goal scoring record is already better than Lukaku, he's scoring at least 1 in 2 at the moment. And he's not even a proper replacement, more like a stop gap.

In no way is Martial a better forward than Lukaku .When he scores 20 plus goals a season he can maybe have an arguement but even then Lukaku will still be a more rounded forward .
 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
In no way is Martial a better forward than Lukaku .When he scores 20 plus goals a season he can maybe have an arguement but even then Lukaku will still be a more rounded forward .
Lets give Martial a chance as a centre forward first. He's been a rotation player so far during his time here. Last season he score 10 PL goals 1623 mins. Lukaku hardly pulled up trees with 12 in 2130 mins
 

Stadjer

Full Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
7,569
Location
The Netherlands
In no way is Martial a better forward than Lukaku .When he scores 20 plus goals a season he can maybe have an arguement but even then Lukaku will still be a more rounded forward .
More rounded? Lukaku isnt rounded at all. If he doesnt score a goal it is like you are playing with 10.... actually it is even worse since he will ruin multiple promising moments with his touch. Martial is a much better and rounded player. Martial can score goals but also offer more. Martial can create something himself and his hold up play isnt bad either.

Selling Lukaku and placing Martial as CF has been a great decision. It is just very unfortunate that Martial got injured after starting the season really well.
 

Jean-Philippe Jason

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Nov 27, 2016
Messages
40
Location
Malmedy
Supports
Belgian red devils
I can understand how frustrating Lukaku's attitude was once he had decided to leave so I can understand how salty some comments are. But I just won't buy that he wasn't good enough when he has scored more goals this season than the entire United team.
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Yes, but it doesnt equate to keeping a overpriced player who didn't want to be here
If we get Halaand in the January (doubt it) it will justify not getting someone in the summer, if we were holding out for the right player.
That's a big "if", by January the season might be over basically. Keeping an unhappy player isn't unheard of.
 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
That's a big "if", by January the season might be over basically. Keeping an unhappy player isn't unheard of.
Theres a difference between Pogba, for example, who also doesn't want to be here, compared to Lukaku. Pogba's value will be the same this summer as the next and will have a number of suitors.
Lukaku's could have dramatically dropped
There's a lot of things to juggle selling him now, potentially saving 10s of millions in transfer fee, aswell as clearing 250k wages off the books for a player that would be spending most of his time on the bench.
You are convinced he would have made a major difference, that too is a big "if"..
 

Snow

Somewhere down the lane, a licky boom boom down
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
33,433
Location
Lousy Smarch weather
The amount of vitriol against him always surprises me here. The only ones who are rewriting history are those suggesting he's not a good goalscorer, that's utter bullshit. He scored 17 goals in the league for a Tony Pulis coached West Brom side ffs!

I didn't have much problem with selling him but not signing a replacement was utterly mental, and its ultimately going to cost Ole his job. We can't punish shitty teams which was Lukakus' bread and butter, oh well!
Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
 

Amir

Full Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2000
Messages
24,922
Location
Rehovot, Israel
I can understand how frustrating Lukaku's attitude was once he had decided to leave so I can understand how salty some comments are. But I just won't buy that he wasn't good enough when he has scored more goals this season than the entire United team.
He's clearly a very, very useful striker. He does, however, need to play for a team that suits his abilities and has creative forces that will set him up with chances, and we clearly haven't had that in recent years.
 

Amir

Full Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2000
Messages
24,922
Location
Rehovot, Israel
Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
I think he just realised he's not wanted and not appreciated, so he wanted out by all means. We knew from very early on that Ole would prefer Rashford, and Lukaku must have felt as well that he didn't stand a chance.

Look at Fellaini - he fought for his place for years, but within weeks of Ole's arrival he left.
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
Scout
Joined
Jan 31, 2014
Messages
65,928
Location
France
Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
His brother has very little to do with him, he opens his mouth to everything and everyone that's why journalist like to interview him everywhere he goes. I have never seen a player as bad as he is get that many interviews.
 

Snow

Somewhere down the lane, a licky boom boom down
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
33,433
Location
Lousy Smarch weather
I think he just realised he's not wanted and not appreciated, so he wanted out by all means. We knew from very early on that Ole would prefer Rashford, and Lukaku must have felt as well that he didn't stand a chance.

Look at Fellaini - he fought for his place for years, but within weeks of Ole's arrival he left.
The means that he uses to leave is what makes all the difference. Talking trash and being unprofessional is not cool. You're under a contract, act professional.
 

Snow

Somewhere down the lane, a licky boom boom down
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
33,433
Location
Lousy Smarch weather
His brother has very little to do with him, he opens his mouth to everything and everyone that's why journalist like to interview him everywhere he goes. I have never seen a player as bad as he is get that many interviews.
His brother that was hanging around with him in the summer when making those comments has very much something to do with him.
 

Seaman

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 18, 2019
Messages
328
Supports
Barnet
Lets give Martial a chance as a centre forward first. He's been a rotation player so far during his time here. Last season he score 10 PL goals 1623 mins. Lukaku hardly pulled up trees with 12 in 2130 mins
so we gonna use Lukakus worst season by far as measure stick for strikers? Why do people act like last season Lukaku was standard Lukaku?
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Theres a difference between Pogba, for example, who also doesn't want to be here, compared to Lukaku. Pogba's value will be the same this summer as the next and will have a number of suitors.
Lukaku's could have dramatically dropped
There's a lot of things to juggle selling him now, potentially saving 10s of millions in transfer fee, aswell as clearing 250k wages off the books for a player that would be spending most of his time on the bench.
You are convinced he would have made a major difference, that too is a big "if"..
That's not a big "if" at all, expecting him to score a few goals against average opponents, he's basically built his career on scoring against the likes of Bournemouth, Palace etc etc...
It's less risky to go into the season with him than without a replacement for him. The whole thing was too predictable.
Going into the season with him beats going into the season without anyone
 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
so we gonna use Lukakus worst season by far as measure stick for strikers? Why do people act like last season Lukaku was standard Lukaku?
Do you wish to cherrypick it in Lukaku's favour?
They are stats from last season in which Lukaku played over 500 minutes more and still managed only 2 goals more, what's the problem?
Can we not give Martial a entire season upfront before judgements are made?
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
He was with the team in the summer tour.

 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
That's not a big "if" at all, expecting him to score a few goals against average opponents, he's basically built his career on scoring against the likes of Bournemouth, Palace etc etc...
It's less risky to go into the season with him than without a replacement for him. The whole thing was too predictable.
Going into the season with him beats going into the season without anyone
Well it's a big if, due to him scoring in patches. Last season he had 3 periods in the league in which he went 6 games without a goal
Maybe he's score goals and we are x points better off from it. The decision to sell him and not get a replacement will be down to what happens in January...
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Well it's a big if, due to him scoring in patches. Last season he had 3 periods in the league in which he went 6 games without a goal
Maybe he's score goals and we are x points better off from it. The decision to sell him and not get a replacement will be down to what happens in January...
You're focused on his worst season in a long while, under special circumstances (Mourinho losing the team in the summer). Look at his resume, he's always been scoring goals so expecting him to score isn't something outlandish at all. Look at his scoring this season. It's one thing he's always done throughout his career despite his terrible tekkers, he'll always score goals.
 

starman

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
7,092
Location
Under a tree.
You're focused on his worst season in a long while, under special circumstances (Mourinho losing the team in the summer). Look at his resume, he's always been scoring goals so expecting him to score isn't something outlandish at all. Look at his scoring this season. It's one thing he's always done throughout his career despite his terrible tekkers, he'll always score goals.
In patches, you are under the assumption he would have done it in the specific games we had trouble scoring, these claims can be made with confidence about world class players, which Lukaku is not.
And if Lukaku had stayed it would have been as bench player, not the one you are referencing when he's been deemed indispensable and the main man.
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
It was in August that he didn't return from Belgium.
That was few days before closure of the window and even though he was mistaken to not return in time, he was about to leave already and the deal was about to get finalized. Not much of a big issue.
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,103
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
In patches, you are under the assumption he would have done it in the specific games we had trouble scoring, these claims can be made with confidence about world class players, which Lukaku is not.
And if Lukaku had stayed it would have been as bench player, not the one you are referencing when he's been indispensable and the main man.
He wouldn't have been a bench player the whole time Martial was injured and who knows, stranger things have happened than a player earning his way back to a manager's plans but that's another debate.
Let's look at facts, without him, we've been scoring less goals, whether he'd be a starter or an option off the bench.
He left on August 8th, our club had this small club mentality of selling him then because the offer could disappear before securing a replacement.
Each time we score more than 1 goal in a game we celebrate it like a miracle
 

Amir

Full Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2000
Messages
24,922
Location
Rehovot, Israel
The means that he uses to leave is what makes all the difference. Talking trash and being unprofessional is not cool. You're under a contract, act professional.
Honestly, I can understand him - for two reasons.

A) Clubs can be bitches when treating a player they don't want. I'm not saying it was the case here, but those things do happen. We always want players to be professional, but people care a whole lot less when clubs don't do that.

B) A career in football is short. Clubs have existed for 100 years and will last for centuries, probably. A footballer has few years at the top. And as the summer went on it looked as if Lukaku might end up being stuck with us. I can understand him for being desperate to go. At the end of the day, once he got his transfer all that matters is that he gets goals for Inter.
 

Snow

Somewhere down the lane, a licky boom boom down
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
33,433
Location
Lousy Smarch weather
Honestly, I can understand him - for two reasons.

A) Clubs can be bitches when treating a player they don't want. I'm not saying it was the case here, but those things do happen. We always want players to be professional, but people care a whole lot less when clubs don't do that.

B) A career in football is short. Clubs have existed for 100 years and will last for centuries, probably. A footballer has few years at the top. And as the summer went on it looked as if Lukaku might end up being stuck with us. I can understand him for being desperate to go. At the end of the day, once he got his transfer all that matters is that he gets goals for Inter.
A: How were United unprofessional towards him?

B: You think he's getting paid more at Inter than at United?