I don't understand the relevance of the question. "Top European club"? What does that have to do with Rasmus?
*Runs away*
*Runs away*
He's already 21 though, so it's not like he's a teenager and has THAT much on his side.i’d personally wait and see if hojlund spends the next 7 years mincing around like he doesn’t give a shit, before tarring him with the same brush.
This pretty much sums it up for me. I'm sure he'd score a few more goals if United could pass/cross the ball, but his hold-up and link-up play, along with his positioning, looks average.That ain't gonna change the fact that he struggles to keep the ball under pressure and do basic linking up. I don't expect much more than that
I'm with you on this. He hasn't let his head drop during a very difficult time and has struggled to get decent supply.I am defending him, I'm saying the expectations are way too high. He's had a decent first season in very difficult circumstances, people need to be more patient with him rather than expecting him to rock up at United and score 20 odd goals straight off the cuff.
Neville said this in commentary and he was 100% correct.The club need an accomplished, experienced front man to take some of the weight off this kid's shoulders. Doesn't have to be a superstar. Someone like Toney or Solanke.
He also needs a coach who can get the best out of him because I don't think ten Hag knows how.
His hold up play is atrocious. I don't know if that's something he can improve on. His biggest strength seems when he can use his pace to take on defenders, going towards the opposition goal, not with his back to it.
I think he'd do well at a team that were more direct, where the job of the wide forwards/wingers (whatever you want to call them!) is to feed the front man often and early at every opportunity. That's clearly not the case at United as all the wide players seem to have carte blanche to blindly run the ball into dead ends before invariably losing possession. Feeding Hojlund seems an afterthought. That's on ten Hag that this issue has not been addressed, and it won't be addressed if ten Hag is the manager next season.
Our lack of goals isn't all his fault. He is after all a young, first year player who arrived in United during a season where the club has been stuck in reverse. That said, he hasn't really demonstrated anything that leads me to believe he's a player United can build around. He strikes me as more of a West Ham calibre player who somehow wound up at United because our manager flopped on all his other striker options.I've been calling him Hojland all this time and it's Hojlund
The reason I started this thread is because he was getting dogs abuse in the Matchday thread.
Never mind the matchday thread, in the performance one he's been called our worst signingI've been calling him Hojland all this time and it's Hojlund
The reason I started this thread is because he was getting dogs abuse in the Matchday thread.
I think we have a list of around a dozen or so strikers who have held the line for a top European club at 21 over the past 30 odd years. It's not that many really, is it?
Also, some of those had strike partners/ traditional No. 10s, which makes scoring goals so much easier, that's not the modern game though.
Unless you’re talking about R9, the bolded are wingers, not strikers.Ronaldo, Haaland, Martial, Owen, Rooney, Isak, Mbappe, Osimhen, Leao, Lukaku, Benzema, Henry, Neymar....
I can't see that any of your numerous warnings were for making homophobic comments. You did get one for making a domestic violence joke though. And a 5 pt QC warning for one posts combined with your general poor standard of posting. You just seem incapable of not picking fights about stupid things and then escalating them.Yeah, funny how I was banned for homophobic comments and now being insulted along the same lines .
We are more and more stretching excuses for him. Age, service, position, style how team play, size of the club...Unless you’re talking about R9, the bolded are wingers, not strikers.
We're not a top European side, we're a tumescent mid table side.I think while the kid has potential and we should be looking to develop him, he's not remotely ready to do what we're asking of him.I think we have a list of around a dozen or so strikers who have held the line for a top European club at 21 over the past 30 odd years. It's not that many really, is it?
Also, some of those had strike partners/ traditional No. 10s, which makes scoring goals so much easier, that's not the modern game though.
Mateta is a great point. Look at him before they got the new manager.That Crystal's striker (Mateta) was really good, bringing others into play. Olise and Eze wouldn't be that effective if Hojlund was the striker instead of him.
That is the thing. I keep reading that he is starved for service but the system we play the striker needs to be able to bring others in to play with his hold-up & link-up play. Hojlund lacks in those areas. It's not his fault that this job is thrust upon his young shoulders. However, it is also true that he doesn't look like someone who has those skills in his repertoire.That Crystal's striker (Mateta) was really good, bringing others into play. Olise and Eze wouldn't be that effective if Hojlund was the striker instead of him.
He did and he was asked to run channels, always receiving the ball in a position where he could run at players.He's already 21 though, so it's not like he's a teenager and has THAT much on his side.
This is also why I want Tuchel because I believe he can reinvent some of our current lot of players in ways people won't necessarily expect. I'd personally do the Darwin and play him RW depending on the game or bring him in on as a sub for penalty box chaos at the end.
He also played second striker for Atalanta, I believe.
This whole post doesn’t add up to reality in anyway.Our fans are shit. I've said it before but managerial bias leads to people having terrible opinions on anything related to the manager. Most people dislike ETH so will also dislike his signings, irrational or not. Martial, whilst a little younger, scored 17 in his first season yet we lauded him as unreal talent who completely failed here as a player. Hojlund has 13 and most have already written him off.
But what do you reckon a genuinely good no. 9 would get? Think 21 year old Fowler or Owen. They’d surely get themselves in a ton more scoring positions.Any number 9 would struggle with no service which is what you get at United.
I've seen enough from him to see that he will be great. He's fast, powerful and pretty skillful to boot.I think you’d be crazy to give up on him though, all this season has illustrated is that he’s not ready to lead the line yet, not that he’ll never be ready.
That would be my guess too. Mentally this must have been an exceptionally difficult first season for him, and he seems completely determined, not cowed by the experience.I've seen enough from him to see that he will be great. He's fast, powerful and pretty skillful to boot.
First of all, we're not a "top" european club. We are a team that in the next year will be aspiring to get back to Champions League. Long way to go if we stay with this manager.Name the strikers, in the history of football, who have successfully led the line at a 'top' European club at the age of 21.
Haaland springs to mind as an obvious one.
I was surprised that RvN was already 25 when he came to United, because I thought we wanted to buy him when he was 19, until he had that serious injury.
Obviously, there are going to be several, of course there is, but it's a big ask of any player, considering he's had no strike partner nor anyone to rotate with him to give him a rest.
btw, the answer to this question isn't "but he cost £70M".
Name names.
Exactly.It’s the Sancho & Antony threads all over again.
So many on here seem to think that every young player just needs time, rather than ability.
He gets service but he either lets it role straight past him, takes a horrible first touch that takes it away from him, falls over, or just gives it away easilly.Any number 9 would struggle with no service which is what you get at United.
Is that enough?He never gets a cross to tap in or a through ball to run on to which is basically his game.
What about Isak, Solanke, Watkins, Mateta?Name who we could have bought instead of better caliber is a more interesting and relevant discussion imo.
I struggle to really see who that’d be. (Of realistic ones where the club wanted to sell for same price we had to buy Højlund. Clearly that was the funds we had left after spunking on Mount first).
He still has scored 15 goals in a dysfunctional team with no service. It’s too easy to blame it all on him and find examples like Ronaldo, Anelka, Benzema, etc who all had fantastic service and a much better team next to them.
I doubt we have paid 80m eur on Højlund yet, that's only if certain conditions are met. It was 64m gbp + 8m in addons, but I could be wrong.What about Isak, Solanke, Watkins, Mateta?
Hojlund wasn't a cheap, low risk option. We paid 80m eur for him.
Again similar to Antony last year, people make it sound like there were no options out there. It might be that there aren't many strikers/ right wingers in the market. But you could possibly get Olise for the money we spent on Antony. We could have paid double money for Jackson. It's a weak excuse for me.
I’d disagree with this, believe he was bought for his potential, and to share minutes with Martial, as there were no ready-made options knocking about.But that is the problem. He was bought as a starting striker for the premium price of one, and he’s not close to that level, which is a pretty big problem for our squad.
You could argue we don't have any traditional wingers at all given they tend to be inverted now. What we need is the overlapping full backs, there was a brief but of hope when Reguillon played and was zinging them in for him and it was an issue of Hojlund going near post but Reguillon going far post (and then the opposite) so clearly just not being used to playing with each other. Dalot can definitely do this as can Shaw.There is little cohesion in the attacking unit.
I don’t buy the ‘not being in the right place’ thing. Ruud van Nistelrooy could be anywhere in that box and the likes of Beckham, Giggs and even Ronaldo would find him, because good wingers can lift their head and still do something. We have raw wingers or bad wingers. None of them are closer to double figures in assists, and that’s not even because they’ve created tons of openings and been unlucky, they are just also genuine cut in and shoot merchants.
On Hojlund, clearly, he is disillusioned. That’s no excuse for poor performances because since the injury he’s been pretty bad, but when you know that no matter what you do, the ball is coming nowhere near you, you probably do start limiting busting your gut and just hope the ball will land or ricochet.
I think the reasons behind his performances are vast. But the last thing for me is his positioning. I don’t think any striker in the world could score more than 20 goals down the middle with the way we play. Imagine trying to time your runs playing with Antony
What a total cop out, and frankly, nonsense. We’ve literally got two others in the team right now who get FAR less stick than Rasmus. We’ve always been a fanbase that gives time, and frankly, excuses to talented young players. The key is the talent part. Being young isn’t a talent. It is possible for Hojlund to show more, without looking as good as Harry Kane. There’s a LOT in between. He’s been poor in the vast majority of his games for us.
Well but it seems there were other options. So we should stop making it sound like we had options of Kane for 150m, Hojlund for 80 or Weghorts for 0.I doubt we have paid 80m eur on Højlund yet, that's only if certain conditions are met.
Isak already was at Newcastle last summer, so not an option.
Solanke had an xGi of 11 goals and scored 6 goals+assisted 10. He's a decent shout now, but I doubt anyone really considered him in the summer, because of his not so high output.
Mateta seems obvious in hindsight, and might be a good shout. He'd required both some good scouting + a lot of balls to go with for a club desperate to please the fans.
Watkins was an option I'd say. Came off a pretty good season and got better this one. Watkins might have been the most mature decision, but I'm a bit unsure whether we could have gotten him for the amount we spend on Højlund. (That was our max price for a striker). Keep in mind, Aston Villa did everything they could to not sell Grealish, and only sold him for a huge amount.
I still can understand why we signed Højlund with the options available. I probably would have Mateta instead too in hindsight, but I'm just not sure he was on our scouts radar.