Romelu Lukaku isn't the only one to blame for his Manchester United failures
- By Kaustubh Pandey (@Kaus_Pandey17)
One question that always seems to pop up in the minds of many Old Trafford faithfuls is as to where exactly did it go wrong for the Belgian. The answer though lies in the situation that the club is stuck in.
There is little doubt that Lukaku has his own weaknesses- his own flaws that have been magnified and used as a beating stick against him many times. His lack of first touch and a sometimes overly bulky frame doesn't help him at all.
But one thing is very certain- every single time United have had a good spell in front of goal, Lukaku has done very well.
When he first joined United from Everton in the summer of 2017, Lukaku thrived under Jose Mourinho early in the season. He scored on his debut against West Ham and helped United pick up multiple 4-0 wins. One of which was against Everton.
The 2017-18 campaign was a good one in the league for United. Mourinho's system was close to perfection. There was an identity that worked to the striker's strength. It focused on him scoring goals. The players around him were working well since Mourinho had been successful in somehow coming close to finding the system for side. There were some pegs that needed to be shored.
Lukaku was one of the best players for the club last season, scoring 27 times in all competitions. Many fans even wanted him to be United's Player of the Season.
This season, there was never a single time under Mourinho when United seemed fine. The defensive aspect of the style had hit rock bottom. The players had lost confidence because of how they had been consistently criticised by Mourinho, who wasn't allowed to make his own signings to peg the holes that had existed last season.
The very foundation of a Mourinho side is formed by the defense and the defensive midfield player. When those players lost confidence and lost the motivation to play for the manager, their performances dropped. The forward players' efforts were undermined and none of Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial seemed like themselves at that point.
Lukaku looked poor too. And he suffered. He was criticised. But he can't do much when he is asked to play with his back to goal rather than with his face and chest towards it. The players around him could never serve up enough to help him out and Lukaku fell out of service playing in a side that hardly played according to how he would have benefitted from.
But the change in manager brought about a change in fortunes for Lukaku and for United. The players around him started playing at their best for a while. The likes of Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were playing with freedom and were handed the creative passport to help Lukaku score.
The Belgian didn't have the burden of playing with his back to goal as the players around him could carry it towards the advanced positions he took on the pitch. While his first touch still wasn't upto the mark but it was often negated by the quality of the players around him. Very much like how it is for the Belgian national team.
As soon as he had the ball, he had to run forward with it. That was very much like how he plays around the likes of Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens.
But the dip in form for United say the players in the side show little desire or hunger to succeed. There seemed to be little effort to take the ball forward with as much venom as they used to in the first few weeks under Ole Solskjaer.
Lukaku took criticism, like always. And he deserved some of it. But not as much of it as he got. When the attacking players near him looked out of his depth, Lukaku had to play with his back to goal and bring others into play. That exposed his weaknesses, like always.
This lack of stability at United has easily exposed Lukaku's weaknesses and flaws. But many players in the world have flaws. But the way a specific system negates his flaws is what suits him. Cristiano Ronaldo can't dribble as much as he used to about ten years ago. But the pragmatic approach that his managers take ensures that he doesn't have to dribble as much. Because they know he will fail at it. Jose's system did that job for Lukaku for a season. So did Ronald Koeman's system at Everton.
If United had a system that suited Lukaku like Mourinho's did or Koeman's did, he would have loved to stay. The abuse he would have got would have been very less because an average football fan may not have seen the flaws of his game.
That is what Antonio Conte's system will do. Inter will have a system that has always favored strikers like Alvaro Morata, Sebastian Giovinco, Mirko Vucinic and even Diego Costa. Lukaku will be another success story.