Lukaku has years to improve his game and i'm pretty sure he will. His off ball game is pretty decent but his first touch is awful and he definitely cannot dribble but he has abilities like bringing the ball down from any angle, he can pass and run away, he makes space knowing the opponent is tight, he can turn and run into the wings, he final pass is pretty decent and of course he can finish better with both feet and head. I definitely think we can win the league with him in our team but maybe not the CL this year.
We will never win the league with Lukaku up front
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
I have no idea what our attack is doing (full stop) a lot of the time.
This isn't a Lukaku problem at all.
The comparison is a player of that style would never be considered for those teams. A player with a heavy touch and not too talented on the ball wouldnt stand a chance, no matter if he scored goals or not.
True! We always think of these people and go, they were the best but that's only because they played with some of the best players in their respective positions.
Adebayor must be a genius on the ball.
All of whom (other than Zlatan who I would say was streets ahead of Lukaku in his performances last year) were then moved on. Notable also that we didn’t win the league with any of them as lead striker.
My point was not whether he is better than a faded Rooney or an injury damaged Falcao. It was whether, as our lead striker (to the extent he plays every game when fit), he holds a candle to the players who we had in our title winning teams. My view is that he doesn’t. He’s more on the level of an Hernandez and would provide a good option off the bench.
Lukaku is Mourinho’s new Drogba.
You said he is the worst CF you have seen play for United and i completely disagree with that. Ole, Teddy, Yorke, Cole, Falcao, Welbeck, Rooney(latter years), RVP(after his first year) are all in my opinion not better than Lukaku. They played in better teams, but you are letting highlights and hate for Lukaku cloud your judgement.
Winning the league is not complicated; league winning teams are often just good at one thing and they exploit it. Add in a bit of momentum and luck and there you have it.
In an alternate universe we could have gotten Perisic and he could have given Lukaku 10 assists from crosses that would bail us out from lots of games that would have us winning the league.
We are not far from winning the league; had Pogba not gotten injured for a long time our results and performances would have been much better as well. This is why we are in for midfielders in the summer; so one injury doesnt ruin our midfield.
In an alternate universe we could have gotten Perisic and he could have given Lukaku 10 assists from crosses that would bail us out from lots of games that would have us winning the league.
We are not far from winning the league; had Pogba not gotten injured for a long time our results and performances would have been much better as well. This is why we are in for midfielders in the summer; so one injury doesnt ruin our midfield.
The united stand summed it up
What we need is another world class all round CM, who can go there alongside pogba, and get martial, sanchez and lukaku into the game, because if pogba and a number 8 can get the ball to sanchez and martial, we will be deadly because sanchez can play right left and center swap positions with martial and they can feed lukaku. Like united stand have said, we keep playing it side to side instead of direct, and that's the problem with our team, more direct less side passing
matic
Pogba ??
sanchez lukaku martial
That is what is needed, we too sideways passing, and nothing is getting into our forwards
What we need is another world class all round CM, who can go there alongside pogba, and get martial, sanchez and lukaku into the game, because if pogba and a number 8 can get the ball to sanchez and martial, we will be deadly because sanchez can play right left and center swap positions with martial and they can feed lukaku. Like united stand have said, we keep playing it side to side instead of direct, and that's the problem with our team, more direct less side passing
matic
Pogba ??
sanchez lukaku martial
That is what is needed, we too sideways passing, and nothing is getting into our forwards
When we purchased Lukaku I was gutted.
I honestly think he found his level at Everton and in my view is not and will never be a Manchester United centre forward.He is far too one dimensional has a limited skill set and a diabolical first touch,is not clinical enough in front of goal and is poor at holding the ball up.
He had a good start with us but after the honeymoon period he has looked very average ( I do admit though that the service in to him has been poor as we don't seem to have anyone capable of putting crosses in ).
We settled for him as we were desperate and there were very few other options available but I honestly don't believe he will be a long term fixture ( I honestly hope I am wrong ).
I honestly think he found his level at Everton and in my view is not and will never be a Manchester United centre forward.He is far too one dimensional has a limited skill set and a diabolical first touch,is not clinical enough in front of goal and is poor at holding the ball up.
He had a good start with us but after the honeymoon period he has looked very average ( I do admit though that the service in to him has been poor as we don't seem to have anyone capable of putting crosses in ).
We settled for him as we were desperate and there were very few other options available but I honestly don't believe he will be a long term fixture ( I honestly hope I am wrong ).
Scotty Mac?
Yeah I hate those arguments too. Why would they have to displace a player in one of those teams anyway, surely they’d have to be even better in that case.
The way I look at it is if those teams didn’t have the player they currently do, would the other player get a game. In most cases they probably would and would do fine.
If not Lukaku, then who?
Which target man can score bags of goals and is in the prime of his career?
Kane wouldn’t be an improvement. He looks good cause he plays in a more free flowing attacking side. Lukaku would look better at Spurs aswell.
If we signed Kane, I’m almost certain he wouldn’t be doing any better than Lukaku is doing right now.
Lukaku can have a legacy similar to the one Drogba had at Chelsea. Mourinho knows what he’s doing. He didn’t “settle” for Lukaku. He was first choice.
Which target man can score bags of goals and is in the prime of his career?
Kane wouldn’t be an improvement. He looks good cause he plays in a more free flowing attacking side. Lukaku would look better at Spurs aswell.
If we signed Kane, I’m almost certain he wouldn’t be doing any better than Lukaku is doing right now.
Lukaku can have a legacy similar to the one Drogba had at Chelsea. Mourinho knows what he’s doing. He didn’t “settle” for Lukaku. He was first choice.
They are nothing alike
Really?
Hard working target men, good in the air.... how can you say they’re nothing alike?
Chelsea even bought Lukaku all those years ago as Drogba’s successor.
There is a huge difference though, you cannot be serious in comparing some of these players with Lukaku. Yorke and Cole were one of the most successful striking partners in the Premier League-era, so that's automatically void. Solskjær was always an impact player, everyone knew that and he cost peanuts, not even worth comparing. Welbeck was taken from the Academy and Rooney is a United-legend.
Of course Lukaku is not the worst striker we have ever had (nobody has said that being serious), but at 75M you have to be able to control a ball better than the average Division 2-player.
Lukaku isn't even a target man, for one.
if Lukaku is to make it he will need to work on his game a lot
at Everton he was afforded lots of space as they regularly played on the counter attack
he hasn't enough technical ability to create things for himself in tight spaces at the minute - 9/10 teams will defend deep in numbers against us and that's when movement and touch are needed
even with his physical ability I'm a little disappointed- kinda expected him to dominate defenders the way Drogba did- maybe he can develop that as he seems a bit 'nice' to defenders and seems happy to be on the periphery of games
at Everton he was afforded lots of space as they regularly played on the counter attack
he hasn't enough technical ability to create things for himself in tight spaces at the minute - 9/10 teams will defend deep in numbers against us and that's when movement and touch are needed
even with his physical ability I'm a little disappointed- kinda expected him to dominate defenders the way Drogba did- maybe he can develop that as he seems a bit 'nice' to defenders and seems happy to be on the periphery of games
This is a wind up surely? Fair enough Kane is maybe overhyped a bit, but he's got great link up ability, brings the team into play with his hold up play and he scores goals of almost every kind. He is miles and miles better. Lukaku isn't anywhere near Drogba. I remember hoping we'd sign Drogba before Chelsea signed him (same as with Essien). I'd say a peak Drogba would be better for us than Kane but I'm not sure we actually need a target man type of striker. It's of course what Jose has opted for in the past, but it has its limitations.
By that logic Grant Holt and Drogba were two sides of the same coin
What I cant stand about him and its the thing that somehow a lot of his “fans” dont see is his abysmal work rate. I would probably forgive his bad touches etc if I thought he was working really hard for the team.
Suarez might be a better player than him anyway but he also works 10 times harder off the ball.
Nothing worse than lazy looking, shit touch having striker. Does anyone actually believe that if Martial played upfront as many games as Lukaku has played, he wouldnt have matched and exceded Lukakus tally? Would Jose be willing to try out a Martial and Sanchez forward line?
Suarez might be a better player than him anyway but he also works 10 times harder off the ball.
Nothing worse than lazy looking, shit touch having striker. Does anyone actually believe that if Martial played upfront as many games as Lukaku has played, he wouldnt have matched and exceded Lukakus tally? Would Jose be willing to try out a Martial and Sanchez forward line?
A lot of the disappointed reaction to Lukaku so far isn't unfair. He has been quite good at times but his weaknesses are apparent. But the caveat is that he is still quite young and has shown tremendous improvement even at Everton in the last couple seasons. He has a lot of drive and being at Manchester United is only going to spur him on to heights that none have us have seen. The potential is there. His weaknesseses can and will be improved.
Some of us actually watch how the team plays
I wish.
I think some either forget how good Drogba was or are just lying to themselves. It would be one of the biggest improvements I've ever seen in a player at Lukakus age if he were to become as good a player as Drogba.
I'm not even sure if it's possible.
I'm not even sure if it's possible.
To compare Lukaku to Drogba is lazy beyond belief but unfortunately I feel becoming symptomatic of Mourinho's coaching. My experience of Lukaku was that he played on the break, on the shoulder of the last defender using his strength and speed to score whereas now he is expected to fill an unnatural Drogba like role of holding and laying the ball off. We have the players to play counter attacking football but rely on percentage play.
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Form is temporary. Class is permanent. Who in their right mind compares Benzema to Lukaku??
Never been a fan of stats but Cole averaged .5 goal a game at United something Lukaku will better at United and Cole played in a better league and Yorke had two good seasons at United before he was shipped off. Ole and Teddy were great but never really started a bunch of games together and had similar averages. Now you can argue however you want but Lukaku is 24 and playing in a worse team yet matching/bettering all their numbers.
And who in the right mind would say Lukaku wouldn't walk into the Madrid line up right now? You can't have it both ways man.Form is temporary. Class is permanent. Who in their right mind compares Benzema to Lukaku??
What are Lukaku’s strengths?
What is he actually good at other than his physical attributes. Like 75 mill good.
What is he actually good at other than his physical attributes. Like 75 mill good.
Do you even understand football?
Lukaku is crap in the air, can't hold up play, and definitely not a target man.
Cole, Yorke, Ole & Sheringham are better forwards than Lukaku by a country mile.
Try watching football instead of reeling of statistics.
I love the argument that Lukaku isn't good enough for us because you wouldn't see him playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona. As if the rest of our team would all slot seamlessly into Real or Barcelona's starting line up.
I wouldn't say any of those are a class above Lukaku.
Cole was an infuriating player to watch. Could be unplayable and yet he'd also have games where you could give him 10 open goals and he'd find a different and uniquely inept way to miss each one. The caf would have hated him.
Yorke wasn't better than Lukaku. Sheringham and Ole couldn't even get regular starts for us for more than the odd season (Sheringham in a year where we could have had Dong Fanzhuo up front and still won the league).
Yorke was better than Lukaku at a number of aspects of the game, and at smiling, but overall, they are all in about the same class.
We will not win the league until we learn to beat our rivals home and away.
Lukaku is not the reason why that has not happened.
Stoke and City are the only games I can remember Lukaku missing big chances when we dropped points.
Lukaku is not the reason why that has not happened.
Stoke and City are the only games I can remember Lukaku missing big chances when we dropped points.
Yeah, Yorke when he was actually good for us, which wasn't actually for very long. Even that season he got the hat trick against Arsenal he was shite for most of it.
Players like Ruud, Shearer, Drogba at his best etc. are a class above Lukaku. It's a bit hard to sign a striker on that level though when outside of arguably Harry Kane, they don't exist.
The biggest issue I have with Lukaku is that he scores too many boring looking goals. He should cartwheel the ball in from time to time when he scores one of his tap ins, or something. That and he has no finesse. He just boots the ball towards the goal and hopes it goes in. Although, I still prefer this to Rooney delicately chipping it into the vicinity of the goalkeeper's face.