Time to drop Lukaku for Martial/Rashford?

[fezzerUTD]

Both as bad as each other for me, always throwing there hands about when they don't get the ball.

 

[Mozza]

Only player as an attacker to come out with any credit against Spurs

 

[Irish Jet]

He hasn’t been terrible but if he doesn’t produce in a big game soon I wouldn’t be against using him from the bench in the CL, with Sanchez playing through the middle. I said before Spurs was a big game for him and while he wasn’t alone in not performing it was yet another weak display.

I think the Pogba substitution was a sign of Mourinho’s frustration in these fixtures. I don’t think anyone other than Sanchez is getting a free ride from now on. If it remains a problem we could even go for a CF again in the summer.

He has been a weapon against smaller sides though. That can’t be downplayed either, especially after the struggles of last season. He has his qualities.

 

[whatwha]

For yesterday's game I would have dropped Lukaku. I would've added Herrera to the midfield and put Sanchez as #9.

I'm afraid that's never gonna happen while Lukaku is fit. Mourinho is pretty damn rigid like that.

 

[haram]

No no no

 

[Red Royal]

Just like everyone else, bar De Gea, Big Rom and Matic need some time out at some point. it's not Droping it is squad utilisation. A few weeks rest will see them back firing

 

[Devil may care]

Mourinho has spent way too much money buying him and way too much time kissing his ass for this to happen, he'll keep playing in spite of everything, he wont be treat the same way Martial, Rashford, Lingard and Mata are treat, where they have to play well to keep their starting spot.

 

[KristianMackle]

No Lukaku can be a very deadly striker. I say play Pogba behind Lukaku and watch the show.

 

[buckooo1978]

I think Sanchez on the left means we might see Martial at 9

Lukaku has had no impact in the big games due to a combination of poor service or him not able to get involved

either way I'd like to see Martial play at 9... the last time he did at Everton we were excellent

 

[Oscie]

He's not a scapegoat, he's a very useful striker

 

[dal]

The attack we play in the tough champs league games is almost certain to be this Herrera/fellani.

---------lukaku-----------
Sanchez -----lingard
-------pogba---fellani----
----------matic------------

we could win the champs league with that with rashford and Martial on the bench.

 

[finneh]

You can see the five stages of grief manifesting themselves in regards to Lukaku. You can probably pinpoint the amount a poster has watched him by which stage they're at. Denial they've probably seen him only for United but seen his stats on wiki. Anger they've probably seen his highlights and a few YouTube videos of him for Everton. Bargaining they've probably seen a dozen or so full games of varying effectiveness. Depression they've probably seen a lot of him but hoped he'd step up for a bigger club. Acceptance they've probably seen him.several dozen times previous to him signing and despite being fully behind him knew he was a very short solution.

 

[Luffy]

Lukaku should be tried out on the wings, as with all decent Man Utd strikers.

 

[J_Red 11]

The lack of fluidity, not mobile enough, not enough intelligence movement to stretch defenders are the main reason why we struggle against these teams who press high. We rely too much on long ball for Lukaku's strength to win aerial duel and flick it. He let defenders to mark him & follow him easily, unable to handle tight defense when play with his feet, he stopped the fluidity of our team

It's not like we are going to miss Lukaku anyway, only 2 goals against the top 10 sides. I think it's about time to drop him against the top sides and start playing fluid front 3. Lingard Sanchez Martial.

 

[CM]

I genuinely think we'd play our best football with Lukaku out of the way but he's an untouchable and untouchables don't get dropped.

 

[Sagittarius13]

Lukaku is to Mourinho what Rooney was to LvG in terms that Lukaku is undroppable to Mou no matter how unproductive he is. To me we should have bought other striker instead of him.

 

[Scholsey2004]

Not in my opinion. Lukaku is our CF for the next few years. You don't drop him, you find a system that works for him. Also not every game will be away against Spurs in which our new star player is still finding his feet.

This.

 

[Swift Football]

Not only due to form, more to try using a more explosive and mobile forward to lead the attack.

Thoughts?

Its a joke to mention mobile and Martial in same sentence. In other post, I mentioned Martial off the ball movement is as good as De Gea's. And another youngster is goal shy and non-existent link up play. Lukaku is the best striker we have and we need to play using him as point man, we are strongest that way.

While you are so fond of dropping players, why not drop martial/rashford for tahith/gomez?

 

[Rozay]

If we’re honest, doubt many of us wanted to sign him in the first place. I certainly didn’t. Some may have wanted us to sign him ahead of Morata, but in the whole, Zlatan’s injury fecked us by causing us to need a centre forward in a very poor market for strikers. I think it was clear during the season than Jose wanted Mbappé, but that became apparent as a non-starter. The market only had Lukaku and Morata on the market, and both had huge question marks, and neither were players the caf would have wanted us to sign last season. We just had to buy from what was there, but he was never a real top striker in the modern game for me.

 

[ThatsGreat]

Martial would perform at CF at a similar level to Lukaku. Plus having him there will make for a more fluid attack. Someone has to go to the bench, and it'll make more sense for dropping Lukaku rather than Martial.

 

[nah_it_wont_happen]

Its a joke to mention mobile and Martial in same sentence. In other post, I mentioned Martial off the ball movement is as good as De Gea's. And another youngster is goal shy and non-existent link up play. Lukaku is the best striker we have and we need to play using him as point man, we are strongest that way.

While you are so fond of dropping players, why not drop martial/rashford for tahith/gomez?

It's nonsense to claim that Martial's movement is that bad.

Several times this season Lukaku managed to find Martial and Martial scored from those situations. I've noticed that his movement is actually great when our game is near to the final 3rd. I'd rather say it's the problem of playing Martial too deep, it makes him confused, he is not sure whether to focus on defending the wing or to make a run. However, whenever we are near the final third, he makes that deceptive run closer to the goal so that man on the ball can find him.

 

[Craig Bellendy]

Jose won't drop him anyway so it don't matter, He will get better playing with the likes of Sanchez and ibra (would think anyway) can see him being our main man at least for the next couple years

 

[Swift Football]

It's nonsense to claim that Martial's movement is that bad.

Several times this season Lukaku managed to find Martial and Martial scored from those situations. I've noticed that his movement is actually great when our game is near to the final 3rd. I'd rather say it's the problem of playing Martial too deep, it makes him confused, he is not sure whether to focus on defending the wing or to make a run. However, whenever we are near the final third, he makes that deceptive run closer to the goal so that man on the ball can find him.

Martial has played so many games on lefts side on 4-2-3-1 , so if he is still confused what to do , then i doubt he is a top player. He should have clear idea what to do!!
He stand still so often that its ridiculous. Also, he hardly takes full backs on the outside. he should try to do that more often to make his game more unpredictable. He is talented and has good dribbling but in terms of movement, he is far behind mata, lingard and rashford.

 

[Minimalist]

Nope. Fix the attack as a unit (Mourinho get your finger out) and keep Lukaku right there. Put Martial alongside him if you want.

 

[J_Red 11]

Not in my opinion. Lukaku is our CF for the next few years. You don't drop him, you find a system that works for him. Also not every game will be away against Spurs in which our new star player is still finding his feet.

70% or 80% of his goals this season have came from crossings. We can't find a system that works for him because we don't have Baines, Coleman, Giggs, Beckham in the team. Our attacking midfield behind him aren't the type of players who plays crossings. Martial likes to cut inside from left to score goals, Sanchez's style is more on through ball than crossings (he had the most through ball attempts last season in PL), Lingard likes to make a run and do link up plays, Pogba is a midfielder who prefer to make through ball than crossings.

If there is a player who need to change style it has to be Lukaku, he needs to improve his movement in order to allow Sanchez & Pogba to make their through ball & allow Lingard to find more space to make a run. He needs to improve his overall play especially against tight defense so he doesn't kill our build up play.

 

[Greck]

Martial has played so many games on lefts side on 4-2-3-1 , so if he is still confused what to do , then i doubt he is a top player. He should have clear idea what to do!!
He stand still so often that its ridiculous. Also, he hardly takes full backs on the outside. he should try to do that more often to make his game more unpredictable. He is talented and has good dribbling but in terms of movement, he is far behind mata, lingard and rashford.

Martial's movement as a left winger is bad but his movement when he plays centrally is very good owing to his goalscoring instincts. Eg his movement to setup Lingard's goal in the Arsenal game and his movement to score the winner against Spurs at OT. These weren't exceptional scenarios either. They are the norm when he finds himself central

 

[noodlehair]

Is Lukaku the designated target on here this season then?

His poor performances have been outwieghed quite easily by the games in which he's been the only reason we've even looked like scoring.

 

[Greck]

70% or 80% of his goals this season have came from crossings. We can't find a system that works for him because we don't have Baines, Coleman, Giggs, Beckham in the team. Our attacking midfield behind him aren't the type of players who plays crossings. Martial likes to cut inside from left to score goals, Sanchez's style is more on through ball than crossings (he had the most through ball attempts last season in PL), Lingard likes to make a run and do link up plays, Pogba is a midfielder who prefer to make through ball than crossings.

If there is a player who need to change style it has to be Lukaku, he needs to improve his movement in order to allow Sanchez & Pogba to make their through ball & allow Lingard to find more space to make a run. He needs to improve his overall play especially against tight defense so he doesn't kill our build up play.

I'm at a loss for words when people say a team featuring Sanchez, Martial, Lingard and Pogba should resort to predominantly spamming crosses for 90mins. Ignoring how awful a suggestion it is, it wouldn't even work without mixing up the play by going central

 

[breakout67]

3 different managers have evaluated him as an inside forward and not a striker. Martial as a lone striker is like Blind as a defensive midfielder, it's football manager stuff rooted in ignorance.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Might sound stupid but I'd like to see Lukaku as a RF more, think he's been fantastic in the moments he's been playing there. The front 3 would be quite interchangeable.

Lukaku Martial Sanchez​

 

[Hoof the ball]

Better is determined by the approach.

Mourinho favours a target-man, therefore, Lukaku is a better striker than Rashford or Martial as it relates to that role.
Another manager might favour a high-movement forward, therefore, Rashford or Martial are better striker's as it relates to that role.

Fundamentally, the approach will be pre-eminent to Mourinho than the individual qualities of certain individuals, therefore, Lukaku will find that his poor string of performances aren't met with exclusion to the bench, whereas, Rashford and Martial will due to the variety of options available in that position (LF/RF).

We need to come to terms with this absolute truth. Unless Mourinho decides to approach the game in a more attacking, progressive, retentive sense, such as Spurs, City, etc, then the more technical forwards like Martial and Rashford will not be playing in a role designed to play to their strengths, and therefore, employing them as target man, instead of Lukaku, will prove fruitless and I fear, frustrating.

 

[MAME DIOUF 32]

Lukaku is an awful target man. He looks like one but he can't keep the ball

 

[Marcky411]

It’s unfortunate that his price tag means we will persist. Useless.

Fully agree, I wouldn't go as far as calling him useless but personally I never rated him as a top striker, just doesn't have the composure of a top striker and never will. Would anyone consider him in the same class as a younger Rooney, Tevez, RvP etc. Even now when I watch Chicharito at Westham, his hold up play and movement in box is way better than that of Lukaku and that for a player half his size. It surprises me every game how a player of his size and bulk gets bullied by defenders half his size.
I would really like to see him dropped to the bench give someone else a chance to play up front. See what kind of character he has when he has to fight for his position instead of knowing you always going to play. It does him and the team no favours him being untouchable.

 

[Yagami]

Might sound stupid but I'd like to see Lukaku as a RF more, think he's been fantastic in the moments he's been playing there. The front 3 would be quite interchangeable.

Lukaku Martial Sanchez​

I've been saying this for ages! Whenever he drifts out to the right he can beat his man, whips in some of the best crosses at the club, and remains a goal threat. His link-up play is alright, too. Martial's better than him at holding the ball up as well so I think everyone would benefit from this.

I agree with the 3 you posted but, alternatively, I think Alexis would be fine in a midfield 3 (especially against the lesser teams) alongside Pogba and Matic, and we could have Lukaku on the right and then two of Martial/Rashford/Lingard/Mata.

 

[Escobar]

We need to play better, that is the issue. No movement, poor passing, no quick play, no attacking plan....

 

[Adisa]

Not going to happen so there's no point discussing it.