Lukaku ban could be a blessing in disguise for him, Manchester United and Mourinho

Romelu Lukaku is facing a three-match ban after kicking out against Brighton’s Gaetan Bong. It was a foolish move, but given football is 50% being pushed and shoved, it is no great failing to react to that. Nevertheless, a ban is a reasonable and fair outcome.

Before Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to fitness, that would have been a serious problem for Manchester United. Now he is back, there may be some advantage for Jose Mourinho and the side. Lukaku may benefit from a rest, and it may help Mourinho take a difficult decision.

Mourinho defended Lukaku after his performance against Brighton, making it 10 games with just one goal. He said he did not care about the statistics. There is good reason to believe him. If the team is functioning properly for Mourinho, then his striker will be doing more than just scoring. He will harass defenders and allow his team to stretch play. As Daley Blind has shown in his performances ahead of Luke Shaw, if you do what Mourinho asks of you to the best of your ability, you will keep out players with more inherent talent.

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Lukaku, then, had not been dropped in the same way Henrikh Mkhitaryan had been after a poor run. Mkhitaryan was publicly criticised for failing to meet the expected standards, particularly damaging in Paul Pogba’s absence with injury. United have struggled with goals, and the majority of that has not been Lukaku’s fault. It would be daft to expect him to turn into Harry Kane, a player who can score from nothing. Lukaku needs service and for much of the last two months he has been denied it. He is struggling on someone else’s terms, not his own.

Nevertheless, no striker is immune to the vagaries of statistics and fortune, and it had become a talking point that Lukaku was failing to match the scoring rate of the early part of this season.

At some point, a lack of goals would stop being a quirk and start to be self-reinforcing. Mourinho had his full complement of players back for the third game in a row against Brighton and still they were a blunt tool. Mourinho, as he does with players who play to his instructions, was forceful in his defence of Lukaku. He did not care that Lukaku had not scored. He wanted him to play for the team, and just as he did not care when Lukaku was scoring, he praised his striker.

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Mourinho will take pressure off his players whenever he thinks it is the right choice. But while he goes out of his way to bring the attention to him, at times, he can’t make the media stop talking about Lukaku completely, nor will he have the ability to stop Lukaku doubting himself. He can merely do his best. The ban is obviously not his preference, with games against Arsenal and Manchester City to come, but there is nonetheless an opportunity to take.

Blame

The ban for Lukaku gives Mourinho not just the chance to take Lukaku out of the line-up without apportioning blame, and it gives him the chance to try something new. Ish.

Ibrahimovic had impressed in his first season at United, scoring 28 goals, though he was not without his flaws. His lack of pace meant that United still had an obvious Louis van Gaal hangover to truly recover from. Now they have managed that with Lukaku, and as Mourinho is happy to deploy Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford in the same team, they may find a new, more successful approach.

Ibrahimovic remains capable of the unexpected, as a recent overhead showed, so if the two young wingers are the ones to stretch play down the sidelines, then Ibrahimovic can focus on scoring regularly with the chances given to him. In turn, United can be less predictable.

Now Pogba is back, too, he can link up with Ibrahimovic through the middle, with the quick passing against Brighton hinting at the connection the two share, and had already shared last season. Juan Mata failed to shine in the number 10 position, yet again, but with room to operate – Mourinho might hope – then there is the chance of more creativity through the middle.

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Perhaps an admonished Mkhitaryan will be able to come back into the team and show an improvement, as he did after an extended spell on the naughty step last year.

The practical chances of improvements are useful, but the focus should be on the chance to give Lukaku a rest. Lukaku is a confident and intelligent player, ready to learn, but it should not be missed that this is the biggest club he has played for.

Mentally

A season as the focal point for the side will put a new kind of pressure on him that is mentally exacting. A chance to have a rest and refocus, to watch Ibrahimovic play, should not be discounted.

Nor should the physical side of things. Lukaku is only 24, yet he has played 402 professional games. Even if he is professional off the pitch, and takes care of himself, he is in danger of burnout and fatigue. He has not had the chance to rest since the 2011/12 season, and will feature for the Belgian national team at the World Cup in Russia.

It may only be three games rest, but he has already played for United 20 times this season, and nine times for Belgium this year. This would tire any athlete. Mourinho clearly trusts him and will not want to be without him, but the impending ban could prove to be an advantage.