Selling Lukaku...

ash_86

Full Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
6,337
One of the deals where both selling club and buying club and the player were happy at the end of it. Says it all about his time here. Didn't lose one night sleep thinking about if this would backfire.
 

Greck

Full Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
7,099
If selling Lukaku was like winning a cup sacking Jose was doing the double
 

amolbhatia50k

Sneaky bum time - Vaccination status: dozed off
Joined
Nov 8, 2002
Messages
95,336
Location
india
Everyone knows Lukaku is a very good goalscorer, but he doesn't suit the team we want to be IMO. Is our vision to play like Madrid, City, Bayern, Barcelona etc (all very different teams of course) or like Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan. If it's the latter then great, go for Lukaku as your lead striker, but I don't want that Manchester United team. I want us to be full of fun, technique and style, as opposed to functional efficiency. And style aside, it's debateable as to whether he is genuinely good enough for a top top team. No that we are one, but we aim to be.

So yeah, good luck to him but I'm glad he's gone.
 

Son

Full Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Messages
1,688
Countless other goals to win us points?

He scored 16 goals and 12 goals in his two seasons for us in the PL.

That's a goal every 179 minutes - Chris Woods had a goal every 175 minutes for Burnley last season
Didn’t we finish higher in the Prem with him leading the line than without?

I’m not saying it wasn’t good business to move him on but the idea that Lukaku was awful is a fantasy world.

When we got defeated by Sevilla and when we beat PSG he was one of the best players if not the best player in both of those big games for us and he had a very decent first season too as I remember. Did his job fine.

Then the second season he hardly played anyways. When he did still scored goals.
 

Nevilles.Wear.Prada

Full Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2015
Messages
2,691
Location
Malaysia
Supports
JDT
Didn’t we finish higher in the Prem with him leading the line than without?

I’m not saying it wasn’t good business to move him on but the idea that Lukaku was awful is a fantasy world.

When we got defeated by Sevilla and when we beat PSG he was one of the best players if not the best player in both of those big games for us and he had a very decent first season too as I remember. Did his job fine.

Then the second season he hardly played anyways. When he did still scored goals.
His skillset doesn't suit the direction of football club of this magnitude.vHe refused to play bit part role and inter paid what we wanted. Easy, straightforward and correct decision.
 

Champ

Refuses to acknowledge existence of Ukraine
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Messages
9,888
Countless other goals to win us points?

He scored 16 goals and 12 goals in his two seasons for us in the PL.

That's a goal every 179 minutes - Chris Woods had a goal every 175 minutes for Burnley last season
Yeah 42 goals in 96 games is poor isn't it.
A goal every two games or so.
How about you compare that poor scoring record to Martial or Rashford,
I dare you. :lol:
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
95,709
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
13,122
Yeah 42 goals in 96 games is poor isn't it.
A goal every two games or so.
How about you compare that poor scoring record to Martial or Rashford,
I dare you. :lol:
Challenge accepted.

its poor when he’s the sole striker, guaranteed to start and cost £90m. Then take a look at who he scored against. One goal in 23 appearances against the top 6. The absolute definition of a flat track bully.

Martial scored more league goals last season than Lukaku did for us. 17 vs 16 and 12.

Rashford doesn’t play as a no 9. Yet scored 17 league goals last season as well. Again, more than Lukaku.
 

Champ

Refuses to acknowledge existence of Ukraine
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Messages
9,888
Challenge accepted.

its poor when he’s the sole striker, guaranteed to start and cost £90m. Then take a look at who he scored against. One goal in 23 appearances against the top 6. The absolute definition of a flat track bully.

Martial scored more league goals last season than Lukaku did for us. 17 vs 16 and 12.

Rashford doesn’t play as a no 9. Yet scored 17 league goals last season as well. Again, more than Lukaku.
And before that season Martial scored ten premiership goals, before that nine and this season?? One.
And before that season Rashford scored ten premiership goals, before that seven, and this season? Two.

And I don't care who he scored against, does scoring against Bournemouth, Brighton etc not count anymore then? Because of so you can scrap some of Martials goal tally too!

Seriously, how anyone can argue that Lukaku is a poor goalscorer is beyond me, he is a goalscorer through and through, we're better off without him here as he did t want to be at the club, but don't question his record as it's brilliant.
 

Patchbeard

Full Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
2,559
And before that season Martial scored ten premiership goals, before that nine and this season?? One.
And before that season Rashford scored ten premiership goals, before that seven, and this season? Two.

And I don't care who he scored against, does scoring against Bournemouth, Brighton etc not count anymore then? Because of so you can scrap some of Martials goal tally too!

Seriously, how anyone can argue that Lukaku is a poor goalscorer is beyond me, he is a goalscorer through and through, we're better off without him here as he did t want to be at the club, but don't question his record as it's brilliant.
To be fair the guy above has already argued this perfectly, but let me try again.

Lukako scored at best 16 league goals for us in a season as a CF.

Martial played his first season as a CF for us last season, and scored 17.

Rashford played last season as a wide forward and scored 17.

It's not relevant what their overall records are when Lukaku was signed in his prime to play as a CF, whereas Martial and Rashford have played for us since teenagers as wingers and wide forwards until Lukaku left.
 

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
Check this out
https://www.sportbible.com/football...ku-struggled-with-weight-last-season-20200211

The guy was actually overweight, pure madness at this level of football IMHO
Yep, Lukaku said they found something in his diet that was causing him to retain weight and that the inter dietricians fixed it pretty quickly.

Either our medical staff just don't take players diets seriously, or Conte had lukaku's respect enough that he tried even harder to get back into shape.

It was painfully obvious though that he was too heavy. That's the whole reason his touch looked awful 9/10 as he was puffing and panting way too much which breaks your concentration.
 

Feed Me

I'm hungry
Joined
Apr 8, 2004
Messages
29,319
Location
Midlands, UK
On RedCafe, Lukaku is like the turd that just won’t flush. He was so rubbish for us, and I’m glad the majority on here seem to be in agreement that he needed to go.
 

Nevilles.Wear.Prada

Full Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2015
Messages
2,691
Location
Malaysia
Supports
JDT
On RedCafe, Lukaku is like the turd that just won’t flush. He was so rubbish for us, and I’m glad the majority on here seem to be in agreement that he needed to go.
Overweight, gasping for air at times and disrupt the way we wanted to evolve as a team. Almost entitled mentality. Above everything he admitted he wanted to leave and very unsettled here. Good we got the money back.
 

Siorac

Full Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
23,789
Now there is an argument that he’s more talented than a mere target man, but he struggled to even provide that for United at times with his first touch which became somewhat of a parody to oppo fans.
He's less talented than a mere target man as he is by and large rubbish at the things you'd expect from a target man. He is and always has been a huge, powerfully built Javier Hernandez, minus the likeability.
 

Stacks

Full Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2015
Messages
10,903
Location
Between a rock and Gibraltar
What a petty post!
I mean, does anyone think Le Tissier or Defoe are awful players for example? Both never really played for too sides or actually won anything, yet scored goals for fun.
Saying that because he didn't go to Real or Bayern belittles him is a little foolish.

He's a quality player, scores goals for fun, I couldn't care less that he didn't score against the 'big six' in the prem, he scored countless other goals to win us points. He's also scored goals for fun for Belgium, a ridiculous amount of goals infact, and has scored against England, Croatia and Portugal, hardly cannon fodder.
He needed to go as he was mouthy as you said, no one is bigger than the club, but he would still be scoring goals here if he was playing.
They are not awful and neither is Lukaku but they are neither were the best nor greatest I have seen. Le Tissier and Defoe are 1 in 3 scorers and I never held them to the highest level to lead the line for a top team. I stand by what I said. Scholey backs me up there that no major team will win anything major with Lukaku as your main striker. I don't care that he has scored against 3 good sides when he scores for fun vs Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia etc and cannot do much in the major tournaments. I actually went through all his goals for Belgium and it reeked of his time in the premier league where he had literally the most woeful record against better sides. Even Rashfords was better as a teenager. If you don't care about his big 6 record that's ok but for me it is just one of many reasons why he can never be a top striker. I'd rather have Vardy than Lukaku.
 
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
13,122
And before that season Martial scored ten premiership goals, before that nine and this season?? One.
And before that season Rashford scored ten premiership goals, before that seven, and this season? Two.

And I don't care who he scored against, does scoring against Bournemouth, Brighton etc not count anymore then? Because of so you can scrap some of Martials goal tally too!

Seriously, how anyone can argue that Lukaku is a poor goalscorer is beyond me, he is a goalscorer through and through, we're better off without him here as he did t want to be at the club, but don't question his record as it's brilliant.
you asked for a comparison, I gave it to you - the season after he left. which is the first year Martial has played as a no 9.

You should care who he scored against, as he’s awful against any half decent team. Of course goals still count, but have a look at Rashfords record against the better teams, and it’s like night and day. If you pay £90m for a striker, he’s got to be able to score against a decent side, don’t you think?

one goal in 23 against the top 6. Yeah, that’s a top goal scorer, through and through as you say!

he won’t be remembered with any affection at United, and that’s rare. He’s in the same group as Di Maria and Sanchez.

even Sanchez had a better attitude than him, blimey, maybe even Di Maria!

also this BS about wanting to leave after the second game he played, is just his usual spin. It’s never his fault, the man can’t take any responsibility for his shocking attitude and quite frankly appalling fitness.

I’ve never seen a striker as unfit as him. I really can’t see why anyone defends him.
 

Champ

Refuses to acknowledge existence of Ukraine
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Messages
9,888
They are not awful and neither is Lukaku but they are neither were the best nor greatest I have seen. Le Tissier and Defoe are 1 in 3 scorers and I never held them to the highest level to lead the line for a top team. I stand by what I said. Scholey backs me up there that no major team will win anything major with Lukaku as your main striker. I don't care that he has scored against 3 good sides when he scores for fun vs Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia etc and cannot do much in the major tournaments. I actually went through all his goals for Belgium and it reeked of his time in the premier league where he had literally the most woeful record against better sides. Even Rashfords was better as a teenager. If you don't care about his big 6 record that's ok but for me it is just one of many reasons why he can never be a top striker. I'd rather have Vardy than Lukaku.
I don't think anyone is suggesting Lukaku is the Greatest, other than Lukaku himself of course!
Just merely highlighting that he's a brilliant goalscorer who consistently scores goals and has done where ever he's gone.
I'm sure he will win something eventually in his career, but holding that against him is like saying Gerrard was rubbish in the premiership because he never win the competition! A strange outlook indeed.
 
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
13,122
Yep, Lukaku said they found something in his diet that was causing him to retain weight and that the inter dietricians fixed it pretty quickly.

Either our medical staff just don't take players diets seriously, or Conte had lukaku's respect enough that he tried even harder to get back into shape.

It was painfully obvious though that he was too heavy. That's the whole reason his touch looked awful 9/10 as he was puffing and panting way too much which breaks your concentration.
I don’t believe that for a second. It’s the usual crap that he spouts so that nothing is his fault.

Just like I don’t believe that he wanted to leave after his second game.

it’s just Lukaku not taking responsibility.
 

OleBoiii

New Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2019
Messages
6,021
He's not the sort of striker that starts consistently for a PL winning team and does well. If that's our goal, then getting rid of him was the right decision.

He's doing well in Italy and that's fine. I don't understand why I so often see his name on the front page. Is he that interesting to discuss? Or does he have a bunch of whiny fanboys or smug haters who keep bumping this thread?
 

Champ

Refuses to acknowledge existence of Ukraine
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Messages
9,888
you asked for a comparison, I gave it to you - the season after he left. which is the first year Martial has played as a no 9.

You should care who he scored against, as he’s awful against any half decent team. Of course goals still count, but have a look at Rashfords record against the better teams, and it’s like night and day. If you pay £90m for a striker, he’s got to be able to score against a decent side, don’t you think?

one goal in 23 against the top 6. Yeah, that’s a top goal scorer, through and through as you say!

he won’t be remembered with any affection at United, and that’s rare. He’s in the same group as Di Maria and Sanchez.

even Sanchez had a better attitude than him, blimey, maybe even Di Maria!

also this BS about wanting to leave after the second game he played, is just his usual spin. It’s never his fault, the man can’t take any responsibility for his shocking attitude and quite frankly appalling fitness.

I’ve never seen a striker as unfit as him. I really can’t see why anyone defends him.
That's fine, I get where you're coming from.
And yeah, the record against the big six is poor, but he scored plenty of goals for us, and they all count despite who they are scored against!
Put it this way, would you rather have a player score 6 goals a season against the top six, or 14 goals a season against the rest? I know what I'd prefer!
Martial is playing as a number 9 this season, so far, one goal.
I'm happier with Martial in the team as it's the way we should be playing, however I would prefer it if Martial has Lukakus level of consistent scoring.
 

Champ

Refuses to acknowledge existence of Ukraine
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Messages
9,888
To be fair the guy above has already argued this perfectly, but let me try again.

Lukako scored at best 16 league goals for us in a season as a CF.

Martial played his first season as a CF for us last season, and scored 17.

Rashford played last season as a wide forward and scored 17.

It's not relevant what their overall records are when Lukaku was signed in his prime to play as a CF, whereas Martial and Rashford have played for us since teenagers as wingers and wide forwards until Lukaku left.
Ok so what you're saying is Lukaku is as good as Martial and Rashford playing as a CF, but he's not good enough to be here now?
That right yeah? :houllier: strange logic if correct.
 

Siorac

Full Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
23,789
Martial is playing as a number 9 this season, so far, one goal.
I know it doesn't matter that much to your overall argument but it keeps bugging me that you said this multiple times: he has two goals!
 

Siorac

Full Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
23,789
Ok so what you're saying is Lukaku is as good as Martial and Rashford playing as a CF, but he's not good enough to be here now?
That right yeah? :houllier: strange logic if correct.
Nothing strange about it: if Martial and Rashford score goals at the same rate that Lukaku did for us, their vastly superior overall play leaves absolutely no place for Lukaku.

He could be here to play a Cavani role but he wasn't even happy as a starting XI player so that was never going to happen.
 

MS4

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Feb 17, 2015
Messages
539
People still feel the same about this? Scored 9 European games in a row for Inter :houllier:. Excellent game in the Nations League as well...
One of the best transfers we done in the last 10 years. We are bad at selling - but this was good
And i can't stand his finger pointing while nobody is pointing at him when he is donkey'ing around
 

golden_blunder

Site admin. Manchester United fan
Staff
Joined
Jun 1, 2000
Messages
119,443
Location
Dublin, Ireland
The milk that wanted to be spilled btw. He was thinking about leaving manutd on the second day according to him. So even if he do a Ronaldo what can you do other than what we did to him?
I just think he’s not worth the time discussing. We didn’t like him, he didn’t like us. Save our energy.
 

RUCK4444

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2015
Messages
9,553
Location
$¥$¥$¥$¥$
He's less talented than a mere target man as he is by and large rubbish at the things you'd expect from a target man. He is and always has been a huge, powerfully built Javier Hernandez, minus the likeability.
Yeah largely agree. Except Chicharito scored against the big teams as well. :D
 

InfiniteBoredom

Full Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2013
Messages
13,548
Location
Melbourne
I think is more a matter of each player characteristics, your equation is too simple. Very good Premier League players like Ramsey or Eriksen are having a nightmare in Serie A.
Ramsey were always inconsistent in the PL, him netting that 200k/week contract at Juve pretty much was out of the blue. Eriksen was also on the decline for 18 months before his transfer.

You are talking about a league where Young and Smalling are doing well in. Just look at the performance of Serie A teams vs PL teams in Europe. We managed to beat Juve with Ronaldo when we were pure crap in 18/19 under Mourinho.

Lukaku is a good goalscorer, but he’s not an elite goalscorer and he’s not a good footballer. That’s the long and short of it. Bar one season at Everton, he never got past the mid-teens in league tally, which would be fine for someone like Rooney who had a similar striking record but did so much more for the team and didn’t require the team to revolve around him, but pretty rubbish for any team with title ambition.
 

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
I don’t believe that for a second. It’s the usual crap that he spouts so that nothing is his fault.

Just like I don’t believe that he wanted to leave after his second game.

it’s just Lukaku not taking responsibility.
More than likely, but if he had a wheat intolerance or something it could make him retain weight more than usual. Hard to know - either way he looks like a different man.

This was the Lukaku we paid all that money for, seems like United just keep getting stung in these big deals.
 

MalcolmTucker

Full Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2014
Messages
1,810
Yeah 42 goals in 96 games is poor isn't it.
A goal every two games or so.
How about you compare that poor scoring record to Martial or Rashford,
I dare you. :lol:
Lukaku averaged 176 minutes per goal in all comps while he was here. Last season Martial's record was 155 minutes per goal, Rashford's was 158 minutes per goal and Greenwood's was 144 minutes per goal.

What do you say to that?
 

Mailo

Full Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
889
Location
Denmark
He's shit. No one can change my mind. So shit, that his club had to post a tweet, where his donkey touch was malfunctioning and he took down a ball. A ball that Rashford or Martial does 10 times a game.
 

romufc

Full Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
12,555
He's shit. No one can change my mind. So shit, that his club had to post a tweet, where his donkey touch was malfunctioning and he took down a ball. A ball that Rashford or Martial does 10 times a game.
No one can say that it was a mistake selling Lukaku. He may score loads of goals, look good on highlights but if you watch a 90 min game, he is one of the most frustrating strikers ever. He couldn't play the intricite play because his passing and touch was absolutely shit.

His finishing is not as good as some people make it out to be either. I have seen him miss alot of sitters with us.
 

Stacks

Full Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2015
Messages
10,903
Location
Between a rock and Gibraltar
I don't think anyone is suggesting Lukaku is the Greatest, other than Lukaku himself of course!
Just merely highlighting that he's a brilliant goalscorer who consistently scores goals and has done where ever he's gone.
I'm sure he will win something eventually in his career, but holding that against him is like saying Gerrard was rubbish in the premiership because he never win the competition! A strange outlook indeed.
But Gerrard lifted his mediocre team to actually be challenging and was almost a one man show. Plus Gerrard has of course won loads and was often the difference maker to actually winning. Gerrard was also a regular award winner in the premier league and for Liverpool. Lukaku won club POTY once and made the Team of the year once during his entire stay in England. That's like 7-8 years.

Does Rom score goals where ever he goes? YES
Does Rom often get pocketed or shy away against better sides and in crunch games? YES
Is Rom a bad player? NO
Does Rom think he is a GOAT? Probably
Does Rom have serious limitations and huge demand on a team to fit him in? YES
Would I want him leading for my club? Nope
 

Zlatattack

New Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2017
Messages
7,374
I don't know why people are so obsessed with him. Serie A makes Sanchez and Young look very good too.
 

SSSSnake

Full Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
3,578
In all fairness he scored all types of goals which we are lacking now. But last season you could argue our front 3 were unplayable so selling him was justified. Not so sure with this season now the way Martial has started. I would always prefer a story and quick number 9 over Martial who can’t hold up play.
 

OleTheGreat

Full Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2019
Messages
814
Location
Bangalore, India
I said this at the time and during the begining of the season, the fact that we got 65m or whatever for Lukaku last summer was one of the best bits of business we have ever done.in the future, I doubt any other team would have wanted Lukaku as badly as Inter did last year.

Ole took a gamble in not replacing him and trusting Martial/Rashford and to a lesser extent Greenwood. Those 3 owe a lot to Oles trust in them. Now all three players have matched or exceeded Lukakus goal output last year.

Not a big fan of Ole but his squad building has been the best of the last few managers we have had.
His squad building has been the best out of the managers who took the reigns after SAF. I loved it from the start when Fellaini was shipped off. He is not probably backed by the board but he has done a wonderful job with the players he has. I hope he works a lot more on the players in training. They need some direction and patterns during open play. Work on crosses and set pieces as well.