Love him or hate him, #Pards has not been as bad in the Sky Sports analyst's chair as many feared back when it became clear that he had been bumped up to Sky's regular rotation of pundits.
Another 4-0 win, and goals for new boy Lukaku along with Pogba and Martial had the travelling fans on cloud nine as Manchester United swept Swansea aside on Saturday afternoon, and after a week where English football media has been talking like Mourinho's side are nailed on to win the treble, it would have been easy for Pardew to continue to make United supporters purr. Instead he accurately pointed out the flaws in Lukaku's performance, and while it is far from a cause for concern, it's something for United fans to ponder.
While the big Belgian has had a dream start at his new club in front of goal, anyone who watched the Swansea game would have noticed that Lukaku struggled to get into the game and was well handled by Kyle Naughton and Alfie Mawson until the home side went behind. While Swansea maintained their shape and dug-in like roughly 75% of Premier League teams will do against United this season, Lukaku looked cumbersome in his build-up play and lost possession on a number of occasions.
In total, Lukaku touched the ball just 25 times in 90 minutes, and while that is absolutely no problem if he finds the back of the net, which he did, he can't always rely on assists making things that easy for him.
Speaking after full-time, Pardew pointed out that he has started really well, but he needs to improve his all-around game if he wants to become a truly dominant striker.
Lukaku needs to improve at Man Utd on when they regain possession.
His movement today was not good enough, to go short or long, to play quick. He needs more of that [movement] and he'll get more touches.
There were times when the ball changed hands to United and he was static. He needs to think a little bit quicker but when the chance comes, he doesn't miss. He's a great finisher.
We were talking earlier about [Ruud] van Nistelrooy, Teddy Sheringham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He needs to get some of that cleverness about where to be without the ball.
He's at the best place to learn that because he's going to be watching the videos with Jose Mourinho after the game.
Up until now, the intricate stuff has not been a quality often seen in Lukaku's game. Instead, his finishing is what sets him apart as he creates chances through his sheer strength and pace.
If he doesn't improve, he will still be a top quality striker, he's proven that much with his ridiculous goalscoring exploits in his career thus far, and many United fans would argue that they don't need another striker who drops deep, and that he's only in the team to put the ball in the back of the net.
But there will be games this season where Lukaku takes stick for his lack of influence, and if he can improve with his back to goal he could well prove to be an unstoppable force in the future.
