Who is to blame for Romelu Lukaku’s Manchester United goal drought?

Seven matches, no goals. When Manchester United spent £75 million (and the rest) on Romelu Lukaku this summer, they never would have anticipated he’d endure such a barren run of form. His last goal for the club came on the final day of September in a four-goal thumping against the worst team in the league, failing to score in the 567 minutes of pitch time that have followed.

There have been faint groans from the Old Trafford faithful – though just loud enough for Jose Mourinho to hear and comment upon them. Suddenly, after starting the season in such fine form, Lukaku has looked altogether less menacing. However, the Belgian’s struggles are not entirely of his own making, and his goal drought has coincided with a number of wider issues…

MKHITARYAN’S WORRYING FORM

After starting the season on fire, Mkhitaryan has lost his creative spark more recently (Picture: Getty)

The start of the latest Premier League season felt like the true beginning of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s United career. As is often his want, Mourinho decided to gently ease the cerebral Armenian into action during their first campaign together, much to the playmaker’s frustration. But a year later that decision appeared to have paid off as he recorded five assists in his first three league matches.

But that quality and creativity has stalled more recently. Mkhitaryan has not created a goal for his teammates since August, while his chance creation has dropped from 4.3 per game to just 1.25 in the subsequent eight games.

Lukaku's explanation for his goal drought

‘Lately we haven’t performed like we did at the start of the season, we started by blowing teams away, being dominant and creating chances. But in the last few weeks we didn’t play at the same level and that made it more difficult for me. That’s the sort of thing you have to go through in the season, but now there are players coming back from injury and hopefully we can deliver performances even better than at the start of the season. We can create more chances and more goals.’ (Speaking to Sky Sports)

His passing has been less penetrative, he has taken fewer risks and he has struggled to get on the ball and affect matches – even dropped from the starting line-up against Huddersfield until Mourinho needed to try and rescue the game. With their chief architect so low on confidence, is it any wonder that Lukaku & Co. have struggled? Marcus Rashford, similarly, has only averaged a shot on target every 151 minutes in his last seven outings. The supply line has disappeared.

POGBA’S INJURY

United initially hoped Pogba would only be out for a month after pulling his hamstring (Picture: Getty)

There is not a team in the Premier League that would not struggle without a player of Paul Pogba’s calibre. The Frenchman was so effective at the start of the season, not just in his decisiveness in front of goal but, more importantly, in the way he controlled tempo, set the pace of matches and manoeuvred the midfield and attack. Almost every move had his fingerprints all over it.

When he got injured, United lost their heartbeat. Until that point he had completed the most passes, dribbled past the most players and set up the most chances of any player in his side. His absence chipped away at the balance of the team, and with no like-for-like replacement United’s play stagnated, losing fluidity and cohesion in the way they attempted to build attacks.

His return to action cannot come soon enough for both Mourinho and Lukaku. Rumours suggest Pogba could make the bench against Newcastle on Saturday, though a run out against either Basel or Brighton in the week that follows is more realistic. Either way, Pogba elevates United’s play, and Lukaku needs the creative anchor he provides desperately.

JOSE MOURINHO’S TACTICS

Mourinho is notoriously pragmatic and unadventurous in big games, especially away (Picture: Getty)

While Lukaku may be struggling to score for United, he has had no such problems for Belgium, netting three times in two matches against Mexico and Japan and becoming the outright most prolific Belgian of all time along the way. Often the international break is seen as a burden by managers, but it can, occasionally, boost the morale of a player in need of confidence.

Lukaku was helped by Belgium’s abundance of creative talent and their control over those games; against Japan they had 12 shots and 63% possession. But both Lukaku and United’s recent bluntness has coincided with two things: first, they have faced better quality opposition, and second, Mourinho has reacted to that by playing more defensive football.

Man Utd's shots on target in last four games

VS Liverpool (away): 1
VS Huddersfield (away): 3
VS Tottenham (home): 3
VS Chelsea (away): 2

The Portuguese coach has for some time taken a must-not-lose approach to away games against the rest of the top six, but that has produced zero wins in 11 visits to rivals. Against Liverpool they were negative to the absolute extreme, surrendering possession and seemingly giving up any pretence of trying to attack. They had just one shot on target.

That did not change much in the matches that followed against Huddersfield, Tottenham and Chelsea. They had as many shots on target in those three games (8) as they managed in single matches against Swansea and Stoke. In curtailing his side’s attacking instincts, Mourinho has left Lukaku increasingly isolated and severely reduced his goal scoring potential.

NO ZLATAN TO SHARE GOAL BURDEN

Long-term absentee Ibrahimovic is expected to make his first-team return soon (Picture: Getty)

Despite the decent scoring form of Rashford and Anthony Martial, both are seen as left wingers by Mourinho, and Lukaku has been forced to singlehandedly lead the line by himself. That creates a dual problem, both requiring him to play more selflessly – often cutting a lone furrow up top – and putting all the responsibility of scoring on his shoulders.

But if anyone can share the load, it’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede has been out of action since April but is at last nearing a return, and that will take a lot of pressure off Lukaku. Additionally, Ibrahimovic’s natural tendency to drop deep and link play will allow Lukaku to focus on just one thing: scoring goals.

Next up for United they face two teams who won promotion from the Championship, and with Pogba set to return and Mourinho likely to dispense of his negative tactics, that should produce plenty of opportunities for Lukaku. If he still fires blanks, then that might suggest a larger problem not restricted to the form of the team as a whole. With games against Watford, Arsenal and Manchester City to come – matches United lost last season – Lukaku will need to find his scoring boots fast.