Romelu Lukaku vs Alvaro Morata 2017/18

KM

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Based on very limited viewing of Morata, I have always rated him highly and wanted him more than Lukaku at United. I'm happy with Lukaku but I think Morata just needed regular game time to become a great striker. Hope I'm wrong.
 

worldinmotion66

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I actually preferred Morata originally but now I'm not so sure. Was hoping Chelsea would sign Belotti and Morata would end up at AC Milan, but alas, t'was not to be.

Morata would have transformed us into a more entertaining side. Lukaku will outscore him.
 

Spiersey

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Still not sure exactly why Morata is so highly rated, but hopefully everyone who seems to rate him much higher than I do, turn out to be correct.

I've said numerous times on here than Lukaku will struggle at a good side, I still expect that to turn true.

No idea how Morata will get on for us, genuinely never understood the hype, especially at the price but hopefully he is good for us.
 

Kapardin

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I seem to remember not that many wanted Morata when we were first linked, lots of complaints about the insane price for Madrid's backup striker and listing his scoring record at Juve. It was just over the month we were "getting closer and closer" to signing him that more and more people came round to the idea.

And now that he's moving to another PL team, the "grass is always greener" guys are jumping on the Morata train as well.
Perspectives. If we had someone like Di Maria (sigh!), Griezmann or Sanchez in our team, along with another goalscoring #10 or RW, I'd pick Morata over Lukaku all day. Because while I expect Morata to score 15 goals only, he will get a lot of assists and he has class movement. Since the goalscoring burden will be shared by the other players, its' a risk well-worth it.

If we had kept Di Maria, for instance, and signed Griezmann, how beautiful it would have been to sign Morata. Imagine our front 3!

But we have a bunch of bottlers in our team and are desperate for goals, so it makes sense to sign a proven goalscorer in Lukaku. He has the ability to hit 30 goals. But the regret still lingers - If only we weren't in a rebuilding phase, we would have taken more risks.
 

Irrational.

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This thread is going to be torture this season... I can see Morata doing very well for Chelsea. Good technique, Spanish, clinical. He'll fit in well at Chelsea alongside Pedro and Hazard in the front line.
 

Red Pavan

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With the way this all panned out I guess some United and Chelsea fans will be backtracking on their opinions.

In June a Chelsea fan took the trouble to make this:
That miss against Real Sociedad was a bit shocking.
 

roonster09

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Do you think his record against the top 6 will improve now he's at United?

He hasn't done so well in that regard.
Scored more goals than other strikers against top 6.
 

Igor Drefljak

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Big gutted really. I liked the idea of having Morata at United.
I do think Lukaku is the safer bet though, so I'm not fussy either way :lol:
 

Raees

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Lets just see what happens. I have been pleasantly surprised by #redrom so far.
 

RedCurry

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Do you think his record against the top 6 will improve now he's at United?

He hasn't done so well in that regard.
If I remember correctly, his record against top 6 is one of the best in the league last season. From the top of my head I can remember goals against City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs in different competitions. He's been poor against us though and that seems to skew a lot of opinions I feel.

Against big teams if we decide to park the bus, he won't do well. If we gain control and dominate the midfield, he's a box striker and he'll be lethal. He occupies both centre backs due to his physicality alone. If we plan to stick 10 men close to our box and leave Lukaku alone by himself, he'll do nothing.

Regardless of top 6, we'll have 26 league games against non-top-six teams and they all count for 3 points.

 

Hojoon

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Still not sure exactly why Morata is so highly rated, but hopefully everyone who seems to rate him much higher than I do, turn out to be correct.

I've said numerous times on here than Lukaku will struggle at a good side, I still expect that to turn true.

No idea how Morata will get on for us, genuinely never understood the hype, especially at the price but hopefully he is good for us.
Morata hasn't been consistent and can forget he's playing a team sport but he's threatening in the air, good combination of pace and bulkiness, good striking technique, and hard working. Excellent in big games for Juventus and great scoring record in youth levels. Both Morata and Lukaku have question marks but I think both set of supporters will be happy long term. Except some posters in caf because they can complain about anything, but that goes without saying.
 

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One is proven in the league and has scored 43 in 74 league apps last two seasons, the other will have his first season in this league and has scored 22 goals in 60 apps last two seasons.

Lukaku has been the main man for he last four years while Morata has never been.

I think passing and dribbilling Morata is better but right now Lukaku is better. Will be a great battle between the top 5 strikers this season.
 

Dante

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I would have preferred Morata + a prolific wideforward in the mould of Sanchez. I think that would have produced more aesthetically pleasing football, and been a better fit for the players already at the club.

However, I'm warming to Lukaku. Mourinho clearly has his ideas about the system this United squad should aim for. If it's a battering ram CF flanked by a traditional winger, I'm not going to argue it's any less effective. Because it's not. It's just a a matter of preference.

It's all about getting the most out of the resources available. I have faith that Jose has a much better gauge of that than me! So far, the signs are mildly positive.
 

Ru55

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If I remember correctly, his record against top 6 is one of the best in the league last season. From the top of my head I can remember goals against City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs in different competitions. He's been poor against us though and that seems to skew a lot of opinions I feel.

Against big teams if we decide to park the bus, he won't do well. If we gain control and dominate the midfield, he's a box striker and he'll be lethal. He occupies both centre backs due to his physicality alone. If we plan to stick 10 men close to our box and leave Lukaku alone by himself, he'll do nothing.

Regardless of top 6, we'll have 26 league games against non-top-six teams and they all count for 3 points.

The stats don't lie - yet they perhaps paint a different picture.
Just four of his 25 goals last season came against the big clubs with his strike against Arsenal on the final day of the season coming from the penalty spot. During the 2015-16 campaign, Lukaku grabbed 18 goals in the league with just one coming against the top six in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
Juries out imho.
 

roonster09

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The stats don't lie - yet they perhaps paint a different picture.


Juries out imho.
It's clearly wrong.

Liverpool were not in top 6 in 2015-16 season, they finished 8th.

He scored 1 vs Leicester, 2 vs Southampton (6th in the table).
 

Ubermensch

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The stats don't lie - yet they perhaps paint a different picture.


Juries out imho.
No striker scored more goals against the top six and only hazard, alli, and sigurdsson scored more against the top six.
 

Santoryo

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Still not sure exactly why Morata is so highly rated, but hopefully everyone who seems to rate him much higher than I do, turn out to be correct.

I've said numerous times on here than Lukaku will struggle at a good side, I still expect that to turn true.

No idea how Morata will get on for us, genuinely never understood the hype, especially at the price but hopefully he is good for us.
Morata rating rose(at least here on the Caf) because he got linked to us. Initially people weren't that thrilled about the large sum quoted for Morata, then naturally people started trying to get around that decision and made themselves accept his high price.

In order for that to happen people started rating him higher than they were before and it caught on. Since then Morata has become one of those very highly rated players, sometimes even higher than those with better stats then him like Lukaku who happened to be proven a better striker. Of course people will bring all round play to try and even things out.

But go back 2 months ago before us being linked to Morata and he wouldn't have been rated anywhere near as highly as he is currently on the Caf.
 

roonster09

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The stats don't lie - yet they perhaps paint a different picture.


Juries out imho.
It's clearly wrong.

Liverpool were not in top 6 in 2015-16 season, they finished 8th.

He scored 1 vs Leicester, 2 vs Southampton (6th in the table).
Just to add to my previous post;

In 2015-16 he scored 2 goals vs Chelsea in the FA cup, scored against City in League cup semi finals

In 2013-14: Scored against City in both games.
Scored 2 goals vs Liverpool
Scored vs Arsenal

That's 5 goals in 7 games vs top 6. He also scored against Arsenal in the FA cup.
 

Kentonio

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If I remember correctly, his record against top 6 is one of the best in the league last season. From the top of my head I can remember goals against City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs in different competitions. He's been poor against us though and that seems to skew a lot of opinions I feel.
Didnt he put 3 past you when he was at West Brom in SAFs final game?
 

tomaldinho1

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Morata rating rose(at least here on the Caf) because he got linked to us. Initially people weren't that thrilled about the large sum quoted for Morata, then naturally people started trying to get around that decision and made themselves accept his high price.

In order for that to happen people started rating him higher than they were before and it caught on. Since then Morata has become one of those very highly rated players, sometimes even higher than those with better stats then him like Lukaku who happened to be proven a better striker. Of course people will bring all round play to try and even things out.

But go back 2 months ago before us being linked to Morata and he wouldn't have been rated anywhere near as highly as he is currently on the Caf.
Yh he's definitely overrated on here. A good player but a shadow of the player Costa is, for all his flaws.
 

RedCurry

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The stats don't lie - yet they perhaps paint a different picture.

During the 2015-16 campaign, Lukaku grabbed 18 goals in the league with just one coming against the top six in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
Juries out imho.
In 2015-16 season Lukaku scored 18 league goals for Everton while Morata scored 7 for Juventus in the league, total 12 goals in all competitions. Morata scored two goals against top six and one of them was a penalty.
 

Irrational.

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I see the Beeb have already started the comparisons. Check out this pro-Chelsea article:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40662659

Apparently the fee was £60 million.

A quote from one of their 'experts':

European football journalist Mina Rzouki on BBC Radio 5 live

If you offered me the choice between Morata and Lukaku, I wouldn't even think about it.

I would pay £20m or £30m more if I had to and I would bring in Morata.

That is because I would always prefer an intelligent player in my team. Even if he doesn't score as many goals, even if he doesn't do whatever he needs to.

If he is more intelligent then he can be moulded quicker, he can do what he needs to do. And Morata has Champions League experience. He was second top scorer for Real Madrid despite not starting.

He has done it at Juventus and he has done it at Real Madrid.

He understands, he has the pace, he is intelligent, he links up play, he can be a counter-attacking threat.
Thanks Mina.
 

Dante

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Lukaku is no less intelligent. Just watch one of his interviews. He's sharp as a tack, and true student of the game.
 

Santoryo

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The stats don't lie - yet they perhaps paint a different picture.


Juries out imho.
Yet in relation to other top strikers in the league he was better, so I don't understand your point.

It's not like his fellow strikers scored hattricks left and right against Top teams, they actually performed worse than him last season.

These stories about x striker or x top players not performing against Top teams get said a lot about almost all of them.

It's just this random and wierd perception people have because they sometimes fail to notice the very obvious yet simple fact that playing against Top teams is harder than performing against weaker ones. It doesn't matter who the player is, so of course they score less than they normally would.
 

Robbie Boy

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I wanted Lukaku more, much more. I rate Morata but I just couldn't get excited about us potentially signing him. Lukaku is where it's at.
 

Soski

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Both players end of season stats...will depend on the the players around them. The better manager who creates an ethos, team spirit and tactical setup that the players are comfortable in will determine who has the better season.

For example, a manager that tries to be too defensive (rather than expansive) will likely have a detrimental effect on the forwards end of season stats. Not rocket surgery.
 

C'est Moi Cantona

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Strange one really, both us & Chelsea have spent a fortune on our new strikers, yet could actually have downgraded on what we had last season, admittedly for very different reasons.