Both are shite.
/thread.
/thread.
Would you swap Lukaku for Morata now?
- Thread starter simplyared
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In hindsight we didn't need Lukaku and would've been better off developing Martial and Rashford and spending the money elsewhere but I'm not going to act like I wasn't happy when we hijacked Chelsea's move. I was very excited and thought we got a very good young striker with room to improve. Obviously he was one of the highest goalscorers in the league with Everton so logically with a better team and surrounded with better players I thought he would be even better but it hasn't turned out that way and his poor technical level has been exposed here.
I think they're both far from being the complete striker, both have some skills (Lukaku - good running with the ball, decent shot; Morata - good heading, decent linkup play) but both have weaknesses that stop them from being a top striker (Lukaku - heading, hold up play, making room in the box; Morata - inconsistent with finishing with his feet, not a great dribbler). I don't think either will either reach the heights of players like RVP, Aguero or Diego Costa.
Us and Chelsea pretty much had to go for what was available that summer, and I don't think either of us particularly spent our money well.
Us and Chelsea pretty much had to go for what was available that summer, and I don't think either of us particularly spent our money well.
This is the main point. Better past strikers would struggle to score with the lack of service he's been receiving.
In my opinion, Lukaku is modern day Emile Heskey. No matter what we say or want to believe otherwise, in our hearts we know, we can't rely on him to win anything substantial.
And neither is Morata, which is what this thread is about.
Neither of them will be at Chelsea and Utd respectively in a few seasons. It’s why Chelsea won’t win the league and it’s why we have been struggling for goals, neither are good enough for either club.
I don't think Diego Costa would struggle in this team. Many strikers would struggle here but that's the point, we bought the wrong striker. That doesn't take away from the fact that Lukaku is exactly what everyone said he was when we bought him. A good goal scorer against lesser teams if you provide him with the right delivery.
How about we as a club get behind our current striker and assess how we can get him back into good goal scoring form. This includes giving him some rest and then looking at how we can get the best of him by playing to his strengths like his previous clubs and Belgium have done.
He showed towards the end of last season a big improvement in his overall play including his touch and control to show there is plenty more to come from him.
He showed towards the end of last season a big improvement in his overall play including his touch and control to show there is plenty more to come from him.
It doesn't matter who we buy, their career dies when they put on our shirt.
Neither are good enough to be first choice at United or Chelsea.
Neither player is good enough. We knew that at the time.
People say that we needed to sign a striker that summer. Did we really? We could have continued with Martial/Rashford until a elite striker is available. In hindsight I think the best option would have been to not sign a striker at all that summer.
We did get the wrong striker, but that doesn’t make Moratathe right one.
Signing don’t always work out, or some take a while.
Look at the world’s top ‘strikers’ - proper focal points to the attack:
Lewandowski, Cavani, Suarez, Aguero, Kane, Ronaldo, Benzema (?), Icardi. Only 2 of them are under 30. It takes time to develop your game.
Lukaku is 25, he can improve, although at the moment it doesn’t look great.
Look at the world’s top ‘strikers’ - proper focal points to the attack:
Lewandowski, Cavani, Suarez, Aguero, Kane, Ronaldo, Benzema (?), Icardi. Only 2 of them are under 30. It takes time to develop your game.
Lukaku is 25, he can improve, although at the moment it doesn’t look great.
From all strikers(no9 players) in the world i see only Icardi and Kane as players who are available and who would be instant hit. It is hard to buy top striker in these days
This.
lazy comparision borderline racist.
Different type of strikers
Lukaku is a prolific goalscoring centre-forward
Heskey was a forward who worked the channels
They are both shite and both would have been the wrong choice to make. Saying that Lukaku is a far superior goalscorer than Morata not just last season but his whole career
I wanted Morata over Lukaku back then but I don't think there's too much between them although I appreciate Moratas all round play more. Lukaku was in similar form to now a year or so ago but managed to get out of it eventually, Morata wasn't given that chance by Conte. I don't think any of it matters though as Real were probably not the slightest interested in doing business with us after the De Gea debacle and were probably happy to let Chelsea trump us.
Oh my god that’s lame, welcome to 2018
Comparing Lukaku to Heskey isn’t racist, you automatically bringing race into the question is. If he said Grant Holt you wouldn’t say a thing, which is kind of my point.Ex
Excuse me but Morata isn't shite!
Lukaku has been quality for us most of the time.
Amazing what a bad patch can do to some people’s minds...
Amazing what a bad patch can do to some people’s minds...
I beg to dissagree. Morata can get a goal without it being put on a plate. Lukaku even when it's put on a plate doesn't always score. Morata has already overtaken Lukaku re goals this season on far fewer apps.
So one season a few months into it as well. Lets ignore all of the previous seasons in their careers. Lukaku has also scored goals that were not put on a plate. Like I said though both not good enough, but if you are trying to argue that Lukaku isn't a better goalscorer when all the evidence from their careers points to it then fair enough
Ones in form, one isnt.
He really, really hasn’t. In terms of goals he has been ok, in terms of overall play he has been woeful. A Man United-striker will always score goals, he will always have chances to put in the back of the net. A United-striker must always make the team better if he isn’t scoring insane amounts of goals, Lukaku makes it worse. Look at Drogba, Firmino, Bergkamp... striker or not, none of these score(d) tons of goals, but they made the team so much better. I don’t care about his latest of many bad patches, nothing new to see. He’ll come in and score 2 in 3 against Palace, Soton and Fulham - but he sure as shit won’t score against Juventus, City or Arsenal. Just like he would score goals against Armenia and Iceland, he won’t score against France and Italy.
We should have gone for Aubameyang that summer.
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The only players available were Lukaku, Morata & Lacazette. I think Lukaku is the most technically lacking out of the 3, but he clearly had the best season out of them last year. Weather the other 2 having to adapt to the Premier League for a season played a part, perhaps. None of them are elite.
Overall I'd rather have Lacazette though.
Overall I'd rather have Lacazette though.
They've been the top strikers for years, not late bloomers.
While true, my point is that we wouldn’t be able to sign any of them because of cost, obviously, but also age. How many proper strikers are there out there who are better than Lukaku at 25?
Simply put, this is a pointless thread like so many on this forum.
It's like saying did we buy the wrong player when we bought xyz in the past. Who the feck cares. No one has a time machine so what's the point in debating that.
It's more constructive talking about how to get the best out of the players we have and who to get next.
And for the record, Morata is not better than Lukaku, a brace at the weekend does not make him world class. Stop these reactionary nonsense threads every bloody week!
Fixed. But this
In hindsight Lukaku had the wrong personal trainer and diet regimen.
So we only sign young strikers or something? Anyway Icardi is a much better striker than him btw
Simple answer -- No.
An EPL proven 20+ goals/season flat track bully or a mobile technical inconsistent striker. All around play, Morata better yet both can be so inconsistent at that. Still Rom all day long -- his scoring form is usually more consistent and more stable.
Realistically available that summer, the other options are Lacazette and Belotti. Don't care if Lacazette's scoring runs now fool people, he's still not a top elite striker. Aubameyang prob available too or not, but then I don't think he fits Mou's system, older and is he good at small spaces? Long term, how long can we get him to perform well before getting worse? Anyway, Rom is the best gamble and choice at that time, good age that can last longer, long term.
Remember our big problem the season before that?
= Goal scoring especially against the many smaller teams. Lost too many pts, too many draws. Luk is the solution for last season and it's the right choice and we finished the season fine, nothing to be proud of though not winning.
He still have the potential to develop his game and even if not -- still a rare 20+ g/season goal getter, a useful player to have as option of at least a squad player. Just that.. he's still too off form this season -- his scoring form, not his overall all-around play form.
We sort of did also signed another older option -- an Epl proven elite level striker (that can play other positions) who are still in inconsistent unstable form.
Alexisssss...Sanchezzzz!
The real qs is as other posters have posted -- How to get the best out of our two strikers?
Realistically available that summer, the other options are Lacazette and Belotti. Don't care if Lacazette's scoring runs now fool people, he's still not a top elite striker. Aubameyang prob available too or not, but then I don't think he fits Mou's system, older and is he good at small spaces? Long term, how long can we get him to perform well before getting worse? Anyway, Rom is the best gamble and choice at that time, good age that can last longer, long term.
Remember our big problem the season before that?
= Goal scoring especially against the many smaller teams. Lost too many pts, too many draws. Luk is the solution for last season and it's the right choice and we finished the season fine, nothing to be proud of though not winning.
He still have the potential to develop his game and even if not -- still a rare 20+ g/season goal getter, a useful player to have as option of at least a squad player. Just that.. he's still too off form this season -- his scoring form, not his overall all-around play form.
We sort of did also signed another older option -- an Epl proven elite level striker (that can play other positions) who are still in inconsistent unstable form.
Alexisssss...Sanchezzzz!
The real qs is as other posters have posted -- How to get the best out of our two strikers?
Indeed. Yet he still did pretty well for us last season, and the general consensus on here was that he’d be better this time round. There have always been concerns about his ball control, but nobody was expecting him to get this bad.
I think they are both a bit rubbish. The thing is, It’s clear that Morata has things in his game (stoke goal last season for example) that, if he finds any form of consistency, would elevate him to an elite forward status. Lukaku on the other hand has his first touch.
I was desperate for Lukaku to succeed at Chelsea due to the attachment he had as a kid to us and the tear inducing video of him visiting the ground with his school. He’s a very good player and obviously a massive student of the game and you want him to do well because of this but he will NEVER improve his touch. It’s not from a lack of trying or coaching as I’m sure given the personality he has and how he comes across in interviews that he probably spends hours a week on his touch alone.
It’s pretty criminal how you’ve not tried Sanchez up front being flanked by Martial(lw) and a RW. Sanchez played his best football in this country for Arsenal as a central forward, so why not give him 6 games to see if he can do it for your lot? I know he’s been pretty terrible in general for you but it’s worth a shout, surely?
I was desperate for Lukaku to succeed at Chelsea due to the attachment he had as a kid to us and the tear inducing video of him visiting the ground with his school. He’s a very good player and obviously a massive student of the game and you want him to do well because of this but he will NEVER improve his touch. It’s not from a lack of trying or coaching as I’m sure given the personality he has and how he comes across in interviews that he probably spends hours a week on his touch alone.
It’s pretty criminal how you’ve not tried Sanchez up front being flanked by Martial(lw) and a RW. Sanchez played his best football in this country for Arsenal as a central forward, so why not give him 6 games to see if he can do it for your lot? I know he’s been pretty terrible in general for you but it’s worth a shout, surely?
Lukaku has zero problems with Belgium. Zero. He scores by the bucket.
Lukaku was always gonna have to adapt his game here as Jose uses his 9 as a target man and teams are more inclined to sit back forcing him to play in small pockets of space. Unfortunately he sorely lacks the fundamental basics like having a decent first touch or being able to hold the ball up
(also rendering him useless for counters) let alone the finesse for cute interplay. He doesn't even compensate for any of this by dragging defenders via making runs to create space for others. There's times he's literally standing in a crowd pointing to his feet
Genuinely question how he's made it as a footballer at this level at times, so much for "student of the game".
Going forward we're in a bit of a pickle due to Lukaku's price tag. A fluid front 3 of Martial-Rashford-Alexis with Pogba behind has the potential to be one of the best boner-inducing attacks in world football. Always have the option to go with Mata as a false winger if we need better control of possession or Lingard to buzz around against a low block.
We've looked much better with Lukaku out of the side but sadly Mourinho will likely (and probably can't wait to..) slot him straight back in the moment Martial fails to score in a game. A squad role is about his ceiling for a top side with top ambitions, a bit on the expensive side but so fecking what (other than Mourinho getting egg on his face obvs), if he were to move it would be downwards and we'd be jackpot-lucky to get 50mill back for him which pretty much answers the thread.
(also rendering him useless for counters) let alone the finesse for cute interplay. He doesn't even compensate for any of this by dragging defenders via making runs to create space for others. There's times he's literally standing in a crowd pointing to his feet
Genuinely question how he's made it as a footballer at this level at times, so much for "student of the game".Going forward we're in a bit of a pickle due to Lukaku's price tag. A fluid front 3 of Martial-Rashford-Alexis with Pogba behind has the potential to be one of the best boner-inducing attacks in world football. Always have the option to go with Mata as a false winger if we need better control of possession or Lingard to buzz around against a low block.
We've looked much better with Lukaku out of the side but sadly Mourinho will likely (and probably can't wait to..) slot him straight back in the moment Martial fails to score in a game. A squad role is about his ceiling for a top side with top ambitions, a bit on the expensive side but so fecking what (other than Mourinho getting egg on his face obvs), if he were to move it would be downwards and we'd be jackpot-lucky to get 50mill back for him which pretty much answers the thread.