[criticalanalysis]

Feels like Hojlund hasn't gelled well at all with Rashford or Bruno. With Bruno, it might be a case of them needing more time together since we saw a lot of nice layoffs from Hojlund the last month or so before he got hurt, though still not a ton of the reverse (Bruno to Hojlund), but with Rashford it's tough not to look at how he was better with more of a false 9 like Martial (as you alluded to) and struggled with an aging Cristiano or any other #9 really. I think he'll make the England squad despite his struggles this season for the 2 reasons being he's right-footed (and Foden will be strong cover on the right behind Saka even as he starts at LW) and that Kane does like to drop off. That would have been a rare #9 who can score goals and maybe not hurt Rashford's play, though as Kane ages he'll probably drop deep less for the simple reason that a #9 who doesn't create much but score goals is better than Kane struggling to get into the box to finish off moves like Martial has (wasn't pace, just didn't have that poacher/dog in him).

It's not a 'gelling' issue between Hojlund and Rashford. It's a Rashford issue and the same with Bruno. Yes, right now, Hojlund isn't a Kane but he's offering plenty of link up and unselfish layoffs relative to what he's been given with i.e receiving minimal service himself and the fact we give up possession like no one's business.

Rashford has shown he's very capable of playing on the left winger as a creator and goal scorer; his best years were under Ole with lots of stats in chance creation and final product. The problem today is that he's not really interested in doing these things anymore and he's become incredibly inefficient with his all around general play AND attacking contributions like take-ons, passing and goal scoring.

Look at this compilation posted below. Hojlund has been doing his part to be a false 9, dropping, linking and being a focal point to literally everyone in the attack line up. The bigger issue is that he probably receives a quarter of that back at best and the chances he creates are being wasted with selfish and dumb plays. Of course Hojlund is also part of the attack and prior to his recent form, he deserves individual criticism but again, relatively speaking, he's doing everything he can to help others, like Rashford.

A 20 minute compilation of his general play this season:



As a United fan, I can't recommend this channel enough. He was making some great videos on Diallo last season that helped keep up with his loan. A lot of those videos are gone now, but he does usually make United ones for both the first team and youth players.

As for the video, this is why I was hesitant to criticise him a while back like a lot of people. Sure, he wasn't scoring (outside of the CL), but his general play was impressive enough to see the potential with him. Not to forget the context in terms of how poor we've been at creating chances for him in general.

 

[Doracle]

It's not a 'gelling' issue between Hojlund and Rashford. It's a Rashford issue and the same with Bruno. Yes, right now, Hojlund isn't a Kane but he's offering plenty of link up and unselfish layoffs relative to what he's been given with i.e receiving minimal service himself and the fact we give up possession like no one's business.

Rashford has shown he's very capable of playing on the left winger as a creator and goal scorer; his best years were under Ole with lots of stats in chance creation and final product. The problem today is that he's not really interested in doing these things anymore and he's become incredibly inefficient with his all around general play AND attacking contributions like take-ons, passing and goal scoring.

Look at this compilation posted below. Hojlund has been doing his part to be a false 9, dropping, linking and being a focal point to literally everyone in the attack line up. The bigger issue is that he probably receives a quarter of that back at best and the chances he creates are being wasted with selfish and dumb plays. Of course Hojlund is also part of the attack and prior to his recent form, he deserves individual criticism but again, relatively speaking, he's doing everything he can to help others, like Rashford.

I’ve only had time to watch the first few minutes so far and, despite this being a compilation presumably showing him at his best, there’s a number of occasions where Hojlund could/should have played others in, mainly Rashford.

The problems our team have linking with Hojlund are primarily a Hojlund issue. That isn’t that surprising, as he’s new to this role and it’s not exactly like we are a functional team who are regularly putting our attackers in the best positions to succeed. However, it is an area which he will need to improve going forwards.

Frustratingly, I thought the Luton second half was the best we’ve yet seen from him in this aspect, so it’s a real shame injury hit when it did. As he improves and our team also gets more used to playing with him, the link up will get better.

 

[Teja]

Rashford has shown he's very capable of playing on the left winger as a creator and goal scorer; his best years were under Ole with lots of stats in chance creation and final product. The problem today is that he's not really interested in doing these things anymore and he's become incredibly inefficient with his all around general play AND attacking contributions like take-ons, passing and goal scoring.

I don't think he's ever been good at the creative bits even through the Ole days. Both him and Greenwood were cut-in and shoot merchants. The only pass I've seem him consistently execute is the one to an underlapping Shaw.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I’ve only had time to watch the first few minutes so far and, despite this being a compilation presumably showing him at his best, there’s a number of occasions where Hojlund could/should have played others in, mainly Rashford.

The problems our team have linking with Hojlund are primarily a Hojlund issue. That isn’t that surprising, as he’s new to this role and it’s not exactly like we are a functional team who are regularly putting our attackers in the best positions to succeed. However, it is an area which he will need to improve going forwards.

Frustratingly, I thought the Luton second half was the best we’ve yet seen from him in this aspect, so it’s a real shame injury hit when it did. As he improves and our team also gets more used to playing with him, the link up will get better.

I'll be honest, I've not actually watched the entire video myself but I've seen and even posted enough other videos where I thought they did a well enough job to show Hojlund doing his part in terms of general all round play.

As for the bolded bit, I'd have to hard disagree on that. Is Hojlund responsible himself? Of course and yes he deserves individual criticism. Has he put himself in the best positions to receive passes and runs? Inconsistent with his runs but in general, he provides others a fairly accessible target. The fact the majority of his goals come from deflections/breaks in play and not direct assists is fairly representative of his entire time here; all of our attackers look mainly for themselves, which is fine if they were finishing chances at a high rate or were picking the best option but it's very often not the case.

If Hojlund was getting a high rate of chances and not finishing then fair enough but the issue is that he doesn't get the ball back; there's literal stats showing how little he receives in the whole league. The problems with the team linking with Hojlund is definitely not through a lack of effort or even quality from his side, it's the other players' game intelligence and lack of quality on their side. Again I'm not absolving Hojlund of his own performance, I'm just saying his teammates have more to answer for i.e the primary reason. Above all of that though, the blame is certainly on ETH but for the context of my original point on players gelling, it's definitely not mostly on Hojlund.

I don't think he's ever been good at the creative bits even through the Ole days. Both him and Greenwood were cut-in and shoot merchants. The only pass I've seem him consistently execute is the one to an underlapping Shaw.

He's not necessarily 'creative' with his passing apart from some cute passes here and there but he's was a real penetrative threat with his dribbling, crossing and shooting. It's reduced massively the last 2-3 years though.

 

[Teja]

He's not necessarily 'creative' with his passing apart from some cute passes here and there but he's was a real penetrative threat with his dribbling, crossing and shooting. It's reduced massively the last 2-3 years though.

Yup agree with that.

 

[Doracle]

I'll be honest, I've not actually watched the entire video myself but I've seen and even posted enough other videos where I thought they did a well enough job to show Hojlund doing his part in terms of general all round play.

As for the bolded bit, I'd have to hard disagree on that. Is Hojlund responsible himself? Of course and yes he deserves individual criticism. Has he put himself in the best positions to receive passes and runs? Inconsistent with his runs but in general, he provides others a fairly accessible target. The fact the majority of his goals come from deflections/breaks in play and not direct assists is fairly representative of his entire time here; all of our attackers look mainly for themself, which is fine if they were finishing chances at a high rate or were picking the best option but it's very often not the case.

If Hojlund was getting a high rate of chances and not finishing then fair enough but the issue is that he doesn't get the ball back; there's literal stats showing how little he receives in the whole league. Any with a pair of eyes can see this the whole season. So the problems with the team linking with Hojlund is definitely not through a lack of effort or even quality from his side, it's the players' game intelligence and lack of quality on their side. It's way more lopsided on the later imo.



He's not necessarily 'creative' with his passing apart from some cute passes here and there but he's was a real penetrative threat with his dribbling, crossing and shooting. It's reduced massively the last 2-3 years though.

But this lack of link up is with every attacking player, not just Rashford. It includes Bruno, who is known for his ability to create for forwards and the last stat I saw showed that Antony, who is arguably the least selfish of our forwards, hadn’t managed to pass to Hojlund once. I don’t think it’s sustainable to say that it’s mainly the entire rest of the team who are to blame and, frankly, that hasn’t been my view from watching the performances.

That said, I actually thought the front 3 was starting to link up much better before his injury and I even recall some nice play between Bruno/Højlund in the Luton match. If we can get Højlund fit again, and can somehow put out a midfield who at least gives us some semblance of control, I’m really keen to see what they can do for the rest of the season.

 

[criticalanalysis]

But this lack of link up is with every attacking player, not just Rashford. It includes Bruno, who is known for his ability to create for forwards and the last stat I saw showed that Antony, who is arguably the least selfish of our forwards, hadn’t managed to pass to Hojlund once. I don’t think it’s sustainable to say that it’s mainly the entire rest of the team who are to blame and, frankly, that hasn’t been my view from watching the performances.

That said, I actually thought the front 3 was starting to link up much better before his injury and I even recall some nice play between Bruno/Højlund in the Luton match. If we can get Højlund fit again, and can somehow put out a midfield who at least gives us some semblance of control, I’m really keen to see what they can do for the rest of the season.

I don't think it's a concrete conclusion as the season is still going and as you've said it's certainly improved the last few games before his injury but overall I would say it's definitely more on others. Garnacho, Bruno and Rashford being selfish/immature isn't a new thing and it's systematic of the way we play football because ETH allows this. It's not even a 'highly debatable' pov. You only need to look in the Hojlund thread since the beginning of the season. I've edited my post with some more comments before you've quoted to add some context that it's still on ETH overall but the individual players have a lot to answer for too. I'm sure you could probably pull up the number of shots they have taken compared to Hojlund, which without looking I'm sure would greatly outnumber his; that's definitely not sustainable.

Again, it's lots of nuanced reasons but the 'primary' reason is definitely not Hojlund imo.

 

[devilish]

If PSG can raise the bid to 90m then we should drive him straight to Paris

 

[Robbie Boy]

Do it PSG!

 

[ash_86]

He needs a fresh start, we need a fresh start. Right time is this Summer. 75m is good money for Rashford

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Shake his hand and send him on his way if PSG are willing to do 70-80m. Can easily replace what he ultimately brings to the squad for that fee (Basically need a LW that can contribute around .5 G/A per game but is far better out of possession)

 

[Garethw]

Going nowhere according to ETH.

 

[Swiss_Red89]

Going nowhere according to ETH.

Happy with that. I think I'm the only one here who want him to stay and would be sad to see him leave.

 

[King7Eric]

Going nowhere according to ETH.

ETH may not be in the position to have any input on this come the end of the season.

Also, even if we are open to selling Rashford the manager isn't going to go out and say it in March, with the transfer window 3 months away.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Going nowhere according to ETH.

Neither are we

 

[Red Rash]

Wasn't good but scored when it mattered

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Big Game Marcus.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Could've scored 3. Played his heart out today. Ran Liverpool ragged

 

[slored1]

Thought he was good even with all the misses included. Deserved the goal.

 

[Superunknown]

Thought it would be one of those days for him when the chances went wide, but so happy for him when we got that goal in extra time. Fecking amazing. Good for him!

 

[Swiss_Red89]

His miss in stoppage time would have been offside anyway.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

He is a good player and works hard, not clinical but yeah, did alright I suppose.

 

[Alemar]

Good performance from Marcus today. Deserved a goal, could have got an assist as well

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Absolutely outrageous record against big teams.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Yes, he missed a few, but there was nothing wrong with his general play today. Could have easily had 2 or 3 assists, and made the joint highest key passes (5) in the game. Didn't hide and was a constant threat throughout. Thankfully, got his goal, which was very well taken.

 

[Irwin99]

Both his missed chances were offside anyway but scored when it mattered.

I've criticized him a lot this season and i thought he could have done better with the first Liverpool goal in terms of his pressing but his big game goals record is pretty ridiculous at this point (Arsenal, Liverpool, City from this season alone).

 

[bosnian_red]

Excellent performance, mostly. Showed his problems of course with the slack covering for their 1st goal, missed some chances, but came up big in the end and had a very good game throughout I thought. Some will always hate him, meanwhile he keeps going up our all time scorer rankings...

 

[Desert Eagle]

He clearly tried today. Hope it's not too much to ask that he does that every game. Even challenged for a header.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Excellent performance, mostly. Showed his problems of course with the slack covering for their 1st goal, missed some chances, but came up big in the end and had a very good game throughout I thought. Some will always hate him, meanwhile he keeps going up our all time scorer rankings...

And he continues to score in big games, has done it since his debut. Have we ever had a player with a record that good in big games? It’s absolutely fecking incredible.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Was cursing him in the ground after that missed one one in normal time, but apparently it was offside anyway? Fair play to him for keeping going and getting his goal.

 

[MrBest]

Was good for first 20 mins, disappeared forbthe rest of the game, missed a sitter but scored a crucial goal. Mixed emotions because he is lazy, but that goal had me jumping out of my seat.

 

[WouterWeghorst]

Was good for first 20 mins, disappeared forbthe rest of the game, missed a sitter but scored a crucial goal. Mixed emotions because he is lazy, but that goal had me jumping out of my seat.

I think he's not been as casual/lazy as he was previous this season. Last few games he seems to work a bit harder again.

Still misses a lot and scores important goals. Very unpredictable which Rashford turns up.

 

[Dec9003]

He’s simply a much better player than most posters would have you believe.

 

[Mike Smalling]

I thought he was pretty good today. Besides his goal, he was also involved in the opener, he put it on a plate for McTominay twice, had a dangerous shot early on, etc. Plenty to like about that performance. People who slag him off after a game like this had made their minds up before a ball was kicked.

I still haven't seen an angle of that late miss, where you can tell if he was onside or off. Quite strange it wasn't shown live.

 

[Strats]

He’s simply a much better player than most posters would have you believe.

Problem is that we only see that player once every 15- 20 games or so nowadays.

He was mostly good today. Just hope he kicks on a bit now.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

Normally very clinical against Liverpool, so the two offside chances were a surprise. Came up clutch with a lovely finish in Extra Time.

Lovely pre assist for McTs opener.

Great pass for McTs chance in ET.

Our big game player.

 

[Sir Marcus]

Big game player

 

[OldSchoolManc]

PSG! Your new boy was great like in every game! He’s only gonna cost you 60 mill now! Last chance! He does this every game but usually puts those missed chances inside the post! Honestly!

 

[Swiss_Red89]

He definitely has increased his form in 2024. It's still inconsistent but at least he has started scoring regularly in recent 2 1/2 months.
Also body language a lot better than in november/december. Is he back with his fiance maybe?

Today he was very good apart from the misses. But he didn't let his head drop and continued working hard and believing. Well done Marcus.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

PSG! Your new boy was great like in every game! He’s only gonna cost you 60 mill now! Last chance! He does this every game but usually puts those missed chances inside the post! Honestly!

If we sold him for as little as 60mil we’d be mugs of the highest order.
30+ goals against top 6 now*, plus massive goals vs. the likes of PSG also, on multiple occasions.
Big big game player.


* 7 v Liverpool
* 6 v Arsenal
* 6 v Spurs
* 6 v Chelsea
* 6 v City