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20th December 2017
03:48pm GMT

The reason for Lukaku's disconsolate disposition may be a direct result of his disastrous display against Manchester City. When United spent €90million on him, the club expected him to be a major factor in the biggest games. However, Lukaku's displays against the other members of the big six have drawn widespread criticism, even from some sections of his own fanbase.
In his four years at Everton, Lukaku's record against the big six was 13 goals in 49 matches. Nothing spectacular, but the Toffees were often on the back-foot in clashes with United, City and Chelsea. At United, Lukaku was expected to blossom into one of Europe's most devastating finishers by spearheading the Red Devils' attack in 'big games.'
It was the perfect opportunity for him to shatter the public perception of him as a 'flat-track bully.' Or so it seemed.
Now that we're basically at the halfway mark in the Premier League season, it's an appropriate time to reflect on Lukaku's first few months in red. United have played all five of the other big six members. It hasn't been pretty for Lukaku, who has failed to score in those five games.
But is he entirely to blame? Or is he being starved of quality service, the kind of service so readily available to former United frontmen like Andy Cole and Ruud van Nistelrooy when they were getting on the end of crosses from David Beckham or Ryan Giggs. Beyond that, has Lukaku's progress been curtailed by Mourinho's tactics in matches against the top six?
The reality is that Lukaku was isolated by Mourinho's cautious tactics. In the games against the other top six sides, United have averaged just 37.8% possession. It's been frustrating for fans, especially considering the overwhelming evidence of what they can do to teams when they attack (they've scored four goals in a match eight times already this season).
Therefore, Lukaku's influence in big games has been minimalised due to the type of football United have been playing under Mourinho.
For instance, against Liverpool, Mignolet had 28 touches in the game to Lukaku's 22. Anthony Martial,
“Sometimes it is difficult as well when you play against the top teams and you play not to win and don’t really create chances. It is really difficult. Now I am in a team where we want to win against the big teams and we want to win every game, so I think the situation will change."The way the games have panned out since then must have been a shock to his system. The flip side to that is that Lukaku was wasteful or ineffective with the little possession he did have, completing just 63% of his passes against Liverpool. But his impact was negligible because United sat deep and failed to consistently trouble Liverpool in the final third. Within such a tactical framework, it's difficult for Lukaku to shine. The defeat to Chelsea was worse. The most startling statistic from the game was that Lukaku failed to record a single touch inside Chelsea's penalty area. https://twitter.com/DavidBurton1971/status/927418645441077248 The dominant subplot ahead of the game was that both Lukaku and Alvaro Morata had gone six games without a goal. The Spaniard, who had been linked with United in the summer before Lukaku joined (while Lukaku had been linked with Chelsea before choosing United), flourished thanks to Chelsea's attacking football - and scored the winning goal. Yet, while Morata enjoyed excellent service from Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Cesar Azpilicueta, who set up the Spaniard's goal, Lukaku was utterly anonymous. The look of frustration etched on Lukaku's face for much of the 90 minutes said it all. While Morata combined menacingly with Fabregas and Hazard, Mkhitaryan failed to produce. The Armenian, bought for his creativity, failed to create a single chance for Lukaku at Stamford Bridge. He was subbed after 62 minutes and has played just 19 minutes in the nine games since, his spectacularly sudden fall from grace leading many to believe that his days at United are numbered. Because United's build-up play was so poor, Lukaku dropped deep looking for the ball. He ran into corners, he chased shadows. Alas, a chance never came his way inside the box. Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer, who knows a little something about effective forward play, was spot on in his assessment of the former Chelsea striker's performance.
"Let the people create the chances for you. He's a goalscorer, and he's getting judged on scoring goals."Unfortunately, Lukaku has missed United's finest creator - Paul Pogba - in four out of the five 'big six' games this season. The Frenchman was injured for the Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea games and, while he played against Arsenal, he was suspended for the Manchester derby. In the win over Arsenal, Pogba notched two assists before being sent off. Neither of them were for Lukaku - who didn't score - but it was an illustration of the impact he makes when he plays. Pogba has five assists this season but only one of them have been for Lukaku, in the Champions League win over CSKA Moscow. However, that can be misleading. Pogba averages more passes and touches than any other United player. With him in midfield, United are a more potent, imaginative attacking force. When he has been absent, Lukaku has suffered.
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