Romelu Lukaku | Match Discussion thread 2018/19

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I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember Costa being criticised for his lack of movement under Mourinho? If I remember correctly Mourinho wanted Costa to stay in the width of the penalty area.
 
I think there is some truth to that he does like he striker to be central and be a target but he also wants his wide players to be able to come inside and interact with the striker play one twos etc that just isn't happening right now and Lukaku is even struggling to physically dominate the centre backs.

One of the pundits made a good point that the only real chance he had last night in open play was where Pogba basically forced him to chase a ball he put him in the channel and gave him no choice but to run after it if he was just a bit more alive to going in behind early there was space to exploit and Pogba can find that pass.

It's always hard to tell what the movement is like watching on TV as normally you can't really see the strikers as play is developing from deep as they're out of screen shot.

Lukaku is a very good striker but he's not a world class one it's a sad reality the world class ones don't have these slumps and they still effect games when not scoring so far this season he's been more of a hinderence than a help in a lot of games an he needs dropped not permanently but someone else needs to be given opportunity in that role.
 
sad isn't it, all these years after Fergie left, all that money and if I were in charge there are not many I would hang on to.
 
He looks so overweight right now. He needs to be pulled from the team and focus on conditioning for a few weeks. He's hurting this team with his lack of movement.
 
Mr C said:
sad isn't it, all these years after Fergie left, all that money and if I were in charge there are not many I would hang on to.
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I think the thing that sums it up is the defence of some fairly average players just because they try hard. Valencia, Young, Lingard, Fellaini etc all honest as the day is long they'll always give you 100% but really are they good enough to play for this team? They aren't getting anywhere near other top european sides squads let alone starting XI.

Hard work beats talent if talent won't work is a mantra that was drilled into players under Ferguson never let your opponent win because he's worked harder than you.
 
To be honest I'd keep Young Lingard and Fellaini, their attitude is right and good squad players. Herrera should be getting minutes, that guy busts a gut.

Lukaku, Pogba,Bailly,Valencia,Matic,most of the CB's Sanchez, all sold for me.

I'd keep Martial, I do think under the right manager he'd be ok.
 
IDFD said:
Someone said before it’s like playing with 10 when Sanchez is on the pitch. At the moment Lukaku seems like the only unstoppable player and he’s quite clearly not capable of performing. It’s like he’s playing with a broken leg. I’d rather have a 52 year old Cantona upfront at this moment in time.
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It's like we are playing with 6 men at the minute, so many going missing every game.
 
I can't believe how poor he is at the minute, he HAS to be dropped at the weekend.
 
Mr C said:
To be honest I'd keep Young Lingard and Fellaini, their attitude is right and good squad players. Herrera should be getting minutes, that guy busts a gut.

Lukaku, Pogba,Bailly,Valencia,Matic,most of the CB's Sanchez, all sold for me.

I'd keep Martial, I do think under the right manager he'd be ok.
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Not being funny but screw attitude you need the quality first that's being quite harsh you maybe do need a few bodies in there who are the pros to set the example but they also need to be good enough to be on the team on merit of their talent not just the fact they try.

I don't think Lukaku needs to be sold but I don't think we'll ever get to the very top with him as the first choice number 9 the minimum he needs is competition and that's why I think Jose had a second striker on his list he wants an alternative to Lukaku he can trust that is a similar style player hence the links to Mandzukic and Arnautovic in the summer.
 
Screw attitude? who do you think at the moment in the first team selections deserves a place above Herrera.

He might not be as good as Pogba at his best, but he's not at his best, I'd rather see Herrera who would give his all.
 
Red Warrior said:
I can't believe how poor he is at the minute, he HAS to be dropped at the weekend.
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Does anyone believe he will be though? I think Jose will dig his heels in on this one and think that Lukaku just needs to come out of his little rut. Plus the replacement options haven’t exactly been up too much, sure they haven’t been played as the main men upfront. It’s the old adage of you are always better when you’re not playing. I think Rashford likes to come deep looking for the ball, we have very very rarely played Martial up top and Sanchez can do it but I wouldn’t trust him to lead a line right now. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we majorly dropped the ball by not bringing in a back up striker this summer.
 
Mr C said:
Screw attitude? who do you think at the moment in the first team selections deserves a place above Herrera.

He might not be as good as Pogba at his best, but he's not at his best, I'd rather see Herrera who would give his all.
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My point is attitude is not a quality it's a minimum requirement you don't have the right attitude you don't even get through the door into that first team dressing room. That was what really let Pogba down first team around he felt he was to good for the reserves (and he was by the way) but rather than just get on with it and show it he sulked a bit didn't take the games seriously and as a result Fergie held him back as you can't reward that behaviour. The agent then got involved and we lost the player because Utd would not agree to that sell on arrangement he got with Juventus.

You have to be judged overall by your ability in terms of attitude you can reward good attitude and punish bad attitude in small doses to send a message to other people but you can't just say he deserves to play because he tries hard because no matter how hard he tries he's just not good enough.

You can't knock some players attitudes Lingard, Young, Valencia & Fellaini for example they give it everything in every game and I like that about them but reality is ability wise they don't belong at a club that has the ambitions Utd claim to have. The top players have both quality and right attitude currently Utd have players who seem to have one or the other very few seem to have both.
 
Herrera's level and his attitude, for me, is currently above the level of Pogba because his poor attitude brings his level right down, and he should play when fit again.

Of course level should get you in over attitude, but for some one is reliant on the other.
 
Mr C said:
Herrera's level and his attitude, for me, is currently above the level of Pogba because his poor attitude brings his level right down, and he should play when fit again.

Of course level should get you in over attitude, but for some one is reliant on the other.
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I think Pogba is a player who even playing half arsed still contributes quite a lot because of his quality level when he's bad it's not because he's not working it's because what he's trying just isn't coming off. I think he's suffering at times because no one ahead of him is moving he gets the ball looks up has nothing on so is trying to hold the ball I've said this before spotting your mate in trouble and sprinting to help him is not something this team does well. Herrera is a guy who does that and I think Fred has that in him to he is quick around the pitch and can help plus they back themselves with the ball to take it. The Matic/Fellaini partnership for me needs to be put on the shelf we need more legs in midfield but if feels bit like LVG that Mourinho wants two defensive midfield players to protect his centre backs as he doesn't trust them.

On to Lukaku though as it's his thread, right now the quality isn't there. In terms of effort he seems happy to drop deep or run wide but he's just isn't asking the questions of the opposition in behind like he does at his best he's still working hard to win his headers and physical battle but the runs in behind aren't there. I wonder if those missed one vs ones vs Spurs/Burnley have damaged his confidence to the point where he's afraid of going one vs one with the keeper it's vital the next time he gets one he buries it.

I think he's hiding a bit as he's afraid of missing which is not a good place for a striker to be the top strikers forget a miss in a few seconds and don't let it bother them they know the next one will be along soon but it seems like a bad miss can play on Lukaku for a while.
 
Premier League: Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle United - 6th October 2018

He didn’t get a goal today but a much better all round performance. He needs to get in the box more though he’s hanging back and not behaving like a centre forward
 
Thought he was poor again felt like he got in the way and didn’t really look alive.

I think he should be dropped but 2 weeks away with Belgium might get his confidence back.
 
Nations League: Belgium 2-1 Switzerland - 12th October 2018

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Classic Rom goals wish we had some of the movement around him that he has with Belgium.

Hopefully that kicks him out of his recent funk we need big angry Rom for the next month not big sulky Rom
 
Forget his 8 game goalless run. The fact he hasn’t scored at Old Trafford in 7 months. Ignore his first touch for a moment. Pretend his lack of movement isn’t happening. I want point out his passing. Last night he tried one cross field ball. He missed the target by further than a double decker bus. After that I don’t believe he attempted a pass further than 6 yards and always backwards. Everything was safety first option. Looked for Martial who was behind him and hoped Martial would find someone else. The guy is hiding in games at the moment he really cannot be considered an option for the next few games. Get him out of the spotlight and bring him on as a sub try and get him a goal and work his confidence back slowly because this can only be further draining for him.
 
Problem is currently who else do we turn to? This is why we needed a backup striker in the summer.

Sanchez & Lingard are injured unless he's going to give Chong a chance in the front 3 which I doubt we don't really have much choice as the backup strikers are currently on the wings.

Personally I'd change it and go for Sanchez through the middle for a few games if he's back as it's not working this way.

I don't think it's all Big Rom's fault his game requires people to supply him bullets currently he doesn't get that from our wide players and the full backs crossing is questionable and first half in the last 2 games he's had a massive gap between him and the rest of the team so he's facing 2 quality CB's on his own with a long ball hit at his head and no one anywhere near him. That is an impossible job when the team comes closer to him he always improves and I think Mata has helped as he's providing that link between midfield and attack.

When Lukaku isn't scoring the questions about his all round game will always come back around and the doubts about him being a top level striker will resurface. Scholes kind of sums it up when he's talked about him he's a good goal scorer you can't argue with that but the rest of his game isn't really up to scratch. Puts in a wicked cross when he drifts wide but his close control and short passing game is weak really he kind of reminds me of Hernandez in you don't want him involved in build up you want him taking the last shot but obviously his movement is nothing like Hernandez when Lukaku is out of form he's basically a statue.
 
I would try Rashford through the middle. Give the boy some games there and finally see what he's got.
 
Who do we turn to? The answer with Mourinho as manager is that we don't have anyone to fill his role. I think any of Martial, Sanchez or Rashford could play there, and for me, all 3 are centre forwards rather than wingers.
 
I think we just need to take away that long ball as an option force the team to play football without a target man or an easy out. Mourinho traditionally hasn't done this but this way just isn't working right now from attacking or defensive point of view we concede loads and don't score enough. Mourinho has always had this type of striker but I don't think he's had one as limited as Lukaku technically if anything he's had strikers with great link up game who don't really score a lot of goals but serve the other players. McCarthy, Drogba, Costa, Benzema, Millito & Zlatan all players who score goals but are great at linking with others Lukaku just doesn't have that element in his game and I think because he's so big our players sometimes hit him with lazy hopeful long balls that he really doesn't start a chance with.

Until Sanchez is fit we are kind of stuck with this plan though if we move Rashford/Martial central we then don't have a winger on one side you'd be sticking Periera or Mata out there and that won't work either.

For me if you're suggesting anyone is dropped from the last 3 games because of form it's Rashford not Lukaku he's really not producing anything right now.
 
Looks overweight to me not sure if it's been a decision made to bulk him up for some reason but he looks heavy if anything he needs to be trimming down to make himself lean as right now he looks like he's struggling to get around the pitch.

To me he needs a rest he barely had a break last season, played the full world cup and has been chucked straight back in the team I'd try and give him a few weeks out of the first team put him on an intense training plan to get him properly conditioned then bring him back.

Problem is with us playing catch up in league and CL that's a huge gamble to take not playing your £75m centre forward.
 
I think we looked much more dynamic with Rashford, I would keep him out and let Marcus have a run to fid his feet/net.
 
Not sure how he gets back in this side
 
Premier League: Southampton 2-2 Manchester United - 1st December 2018

His touch was comical at times.
 
We just can't have a clown who regularly falls over the ball as our no. 9
 
I’m honestly done with him. That touch where he fell over the ball.
 
The really summed up his season not sure what happened to him post WC but he’s a shadow of the player he was in the second half of last season looks like a broken man.
 
Wishful thinking was that with his first goal in a while he would look better and more of a threat, wasn't I wrong.
 
His first touch has always been bad, should never have paid 90m
 
Mr C said:
His first touch has always been bad, should never have paid 90m
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Small details but we didn't pay 90m it was 75m rising to 90m if all the bonuses are met.

Given Chelsea paid 70m for Moratta and Arsenal 55m for Lacazette it's fair to say it was not a good summer for buying strikers.
 
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