[thegregster]

Just wastes so much time wrestling the opposition and rarely seems to find himself in any sort of space.

Yep.
He always seems to be closely marked by a CB. You never see him float around the pitch like Nunez or Isak.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Yep.
He always seems to be closely marked by a CB. You never see him float around the pitch like Nunez or Isak.

Exactly. When he does get the ball he immediately gets pressured, so unless they are looking to play it off him for a one two, he is not really an outlet for our system. Our players aren't doing to just give him the ball because they know he isn't going to turn the defender.

 

[Red00012]

Yep.
He always seems to be closely marked by a CB. You never see him float around the pitch like Nunez or Isak.

Nobody likes to see a floater

 

[Herschel Krustofsky]

He's a very good young player with a lot of potential, and the only attacker we have who should be an automatic selection next season.

Agree, we invested a lot of money and should be working hard to cash in on that investment. Also known as helping him to achieve his potential.

So what’s Benni McCarthy up to?

 

[Flying_Heckfish]

It's crazy we've ended up without a proper senior striker given all the money we've spent in wages and transfer fees over the past few years.

We were all saying before the seasons started we really needed to buy two strikers - one more experienced one as well as Hojlund. If we could consider him second choice, working and learning from a senior striker, then this output would be ok, and we'd all probably agreee his trajectory looks good.

But that's not the reality - when available he's been first choice, so naturally the expectation is huge. He isn't ready for that yet. His numbers are about what I would've expected, honestly.

Unfortunately his overall game doesn't excite me much, it's a work in progress, and the fee we had to pay (in a bad market tbf) makes the decision to put such a huge chunk of our budget into this signing look quite poor.

 

[El Zoido]

Correct, it isn’t Hojlund’s fault, ‘partly Hojlund’s fault’.

I have no idea why so many seem determined to excuse Hojlund completely for the faults in our team, the faults in our attack etc when he’s the darn centre forward in said team. We’re not failing independently of him, he’s very much a part of our attacking failure due to how he as the centre forward isn’t doing enough.

I think it’s fair to say that we’d probably look better in the final third if our striker held the ball up better, linked up better and had better movement. He’s not some complete victim as is being portrayed.

I’m not trying to excuse him as such, but he’s a young lad who’s been dropped in it, this is an extremely challenging side to be a part of right now. Van Nistelrooy would struggle for goals in this team. They are absolutely dysfunctional. Need to look at the bigger picture. He’s not a target man and his hold up play isn’t great, for me it just seems clear our attacking play isn’t designed to take advantage of his skillset so he might as well not even play.

 

[L1nk]

Not great again, but its not like he does nothing with his attributes, this should have been a goal and he an assist.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Bondi77]

Not great again, but its not like he does nothing with his attributes, this should have been a goal and he an assist.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

And that is all he did all game!

 

[Bondi77]

I’m not trying to excuse him as such, but he’s a young lad who’s been dropped in it, this is an extremely challenging side to be a part of right now. Van Nistelrooy would struggle for goals in this team. They are absolutely dysfunctional. Need to look at the bigger picture. He’s not a target man and his hold up play isn’t great, for me it just seems clear our attacking play isn’t designed to take advantage of his skillset so he might as well not even play.

Like any good striker he has to make runs and find space to receive the ball, he is quick so he should be able to do that.
He is young but he will have to learn quickly as the price we paid for him was not to be a bench warmer but as a starter.

 

[EI Beatle]

He's a very good young player with a lot of potential, and the only attacker we have who should be an automatic selection next season.

based on what, potential ?

 

[Malone_Post]

I’m officially entering the ‘worried about this one camp’. His lack of technical ability is just so painfully obvious. And I don’t see him ever being a natural enough goalscorer to make up for it. He’s so clumsy and heavy footed. He’s also constantly falling over.

If a player like Lukaku who is technically flawed, but has scored goals for fun throughout his career, can’t succeed at the highest level, then I don’t see how a player like Hojlund will fare any better. He’s currently everything Lukaku was bad at minus the goals. I think we’ve been absolutely had once again.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

If Palmer cost £40 then Rasmus shouldn't have cost £72 million, that's for sure.

 

[tentan]

Awful yet again. We need Toney.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

Not great again, but its not like he does nothing with his attributes, this should have been a goal and he an assist.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Højlund hasn’t been great since his return from injury but I’m not sure what this clip is trying to prove here, it was a perfectly good pass and it if it wasn’t AWB on the end of it and instead a more attacking player it may have resulted in a goal.

 

[DownRiver]

He is young and needs to learn how to be a lone striker, and doing so at the biggest club in the world is not fair on him. At Atlanta he would play as a left forward on the channels. He needs Van Persie to maybe come in and coach him.

Currently he is just having wresting matches and hides when he should make runs.

I think he he is not making runs and is hiding because he had made those runs over and over again in the season, so he is not confident on anything coming to him.

 

[Rozay]

Not great again, but its not like he does nothing with his attributes, this should have been a goal and he an assist.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

It should have been a goal indeed. For Hojlund! The still thumbnail shows his position, ahead of one defender and two yards to the side of the other. The ball is on his strong foot. Realistically one clean stride away from a shooting position, but he didn’t gather the ball cleanly. I suspect the clip has been engineered to embarrass Wan Bissaka, which makes sense, as fans typically get on to Wan Bissaka and are very fond of Hojlund. If the clip started a second or two earlier, and show his own position when the pass was released to him, the picture would look different.

 

[Rozay]

I’m not trying to excuse him as such, but he’s a young lad who’s been dropped in it, this is an extremely challenging side to be a part of right now. Van Nistelrooy would struggle for goals in this team. They are absolutely dysfunctional. Need to look at the bigger picture. He’s not a target man and his hold up play isn’t great, for me it just seems clear our attacking play isn’t designed to take advantage of his skillset so he might as well not even play.

He’s not the only young lad. There’s an even younger lad in the same front 3 as him for a start. I don’t disagree that there is obvious mitigation for his performances, mainly due to his age and the fact that he still has a long way to go. I do look at the bigger picture, and that picture to me is we have a young and developing side who are not able to consistently perform to the required standards, but we hope they will with time. And Hojlund is a part of that, not a victim of it. I’ve just heard the whole ‘dysfunctional side, no service’ thing too much and it’s starting to grate a little because like, maybe our side would also be a bit more functional if we had Harry Kane or Ivan Toney instead of Hojlund too. His own deficiencies are playing a part in our dysfunction, as are those of others of course. Maybe Garnacho would do better with a better striker. Maybe Rashford would play better if he had a striker he could link better with, as he did with Martial in the past. He’s 21 and of course, his deficiencies are things we hope won’t be there at 24, but the fact is, they are there now, and he’s bringing them on the pitch every game for us. Nobody is considering how that impacts others, only how Hojlund doesn’t get a series of tap-ins presented to him weekly.

If he’s not a target man and his hold up play isn’t great, what is he then? Because he’s not Jamie Vardy either who makes dangerous runs in behind all game either. All I’m saying is that Hojlund is a part of our issues at the moment, the CF role is a very important role and ours goes through several games without offering much more than running after defenders (without really winning the ball from them at that).

If his name wasn’t Rasmus Hojlund and was not under the protection of ‘how can you criticise a young player n his first year?’, anyone would look at our team and include centre forward amongst the positions that are holding us back this season. It is only with context that Hojlund’s performances are mitigated, but they objectively haven’t been good enough, I would say.

And Van Nistelrooy would get far more goals than Hojlund here. He’d be consistently finding space in dangerous areas instead of avoiding it for a start.

 

[Martial]

He is so far below the level required as a starting striker, that it is just sad to see him play at this point.

He has the worst positioning of a striker that I can remember in a long long time, certainly one who starts at a big club.

 

[Sky1981]

He's not worth 70m. Might or might not worth that much in 3 years time.

If he doesnt get flying fast under next manager his career could dwindle fast and soon he'll be the next Martial.

I really see nothing special other than good attitude and 100% effort

 

[FootballAI]

All we heard about Martial was he has potential! he has potential! Same as Rashford. How long had that been going on?

Club's standard has been dropped so low. The striker is the key position to help us winning again, no more potential. You can have a "potential" here and there, maybe a full back or a winger but not the striker that lead the front attack. If we can not sell Hojlund then fine, but he should not be first team player, we need someone else until his potential become more visible.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

We badly need another striker. Hojlund might have potential but also has a long way to go to being a proper United number 9. As I said in the match day thread he / the manager needs to realise that this isn’t Burnley where the striker spending the entire match wresting with CBs is enough. We need quality - where’s the dribbling, the burst of pace, the viscous shot, the taking of responsibility, the eye for a pass etc

To be honest, Isak from Newcastle is currently miles ahead as would a fit Martial. I like Hojlund’s attitude and there have been sparks from him this season but he needs A) time and patience and B) a centre forward to take starts and responsibility off him.

 

[Woziak]

Awful yet again. We need Toney.

Or Osimhen or I’d even take Solanke?

 

[FootballAI]

He's not worth 70m. Might or might not worth that much in 3 years time.

If he doesnt get flying fast under next manager his career could dwindle fast and soon he'll be the next Martial.

I really see nothing special other than good attitude and 100% effort

Another case of money well-spent by Zero Hag. Imagine how our side would've looked this season and where our standing would've been had that 70m been spent on a proper striker instead.

The word "potential" has been thrown around so cheaply these days to make excuse for the total disaster happening with our player transfer. If people still remember first season of 18 years old Ronaldo, he had wank performance mixed in with absolute brilliant worldbeater performance. That was real potential, inconsistency during teen year but the upside of the performance is massive. At 21, Ronaldo was incredible and his worse performance is equivalent to the best days of most other players. Hojlund did score some goals this season but his better game was only at the level regular EPL-quality striker should be, but on his worse day he completely disappear. All Burnley did yesterday to make him disappear was a dedicated CB to mark him (O'Shea I think), typical manmarking of the lone striker in a football match. This is not Paolo Maldini's level of marking, this is a CB in a soon to be relegated team.

We should make a top priority to bring a top-notch striker to lead our attack, not a rotating squad striker or an old-timer Cavani type with imagination and hope that one day Hojlund suddenly became a world beater. Hope is not a good strategy. This is clearly not United-quality, I am sorry for Hojlund's defenders but it is what it is.

 

[NoPace]

He's had a decent first season and a good goal return, all things considered. My concern with him is that technique is not something that really improves with age and experience, and in that regard he appears a bit limited.

Yeah, I thought he had actually some decent moments today, because he's unselfish, but you don't fancy him to beat a man 1 on 1 or come up with something clever to make space for a shot.

The real test for him might not be until we see how he looks when a new manager comes in and maybe more Amad, less Antony and less Bruno more Mount and Mainoo kicking on and we see how he looks in a team playing less on the counter and with players who are not worldbeaters but do have a bit of patience and are comfortable playing in tight spaces.

 

[Freak]

There is only so much we can blame a lack of service on (which is fair). But when service does come, he's nowhere near being at the right areas.

 

[Lyng]

There are two Danish players I believe are good enough for United. One is Hermansen the keeper and the is, or was, Rasmus.
But it's not working. He is not clicking with our wingers apart from Amad. What needs to happen is we need to decide what system we want to play. The current one simply does not suit him. If we are to keep playing this horrid basketball shite then we need a very different striker.
If we want to play a possession based system then Rasmus can become very good for us, but that also means we need to change our wingers. Garnacho is young and can be coached and Amad suits a more possession based system perfectly. Antony and Rashford probably don't work in that kind of system though.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Just seen a stat that he received more passes off Onana than another other player vs Burnley. Pretty more really.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

He's a promising young player, who may or may not make it at this level, still learning his trade and honing his skills, despite the ridiculous fee United paid for him. He's also on route to match the first season output of another promising young player who played in a similarly dysfunctional United side and whose services also cost United a king's ransom. But, i guess, back in 2015/15, United fans were still hopeful about the future. We went on to splurge 70 odd million for Atalanta's back-up striker. Let that sink in for a minute before you cast judgement.

 

[Leftback99]

He's a promising young player, who may or may not make it at this level, still learning his trade and honing his skills, despite the ridiculous fee United paid for him. He's also on route to match the first season output of another promising young player who played in a similarly dysfunctional United side and whose services also cost United a king's ransom. But, i guess, back in 2015/15, United fans were still hopeful about the future. We went on to splurge 70 odd million for Atalanta's back-up striker. Let that sink in for a minute before you cast judgement.

Not sure what you mean by that? We have to judge him by the fee paid because he's been bought as the main striker at that price.

If we'd have only paid say £30m for him, I'd bet a lot more would be saying we need a new first choice striker next season based on what we've seen.

 

[izec]

We need a new manager. He showed previously that he has potential, but currently, it is not working. He is much better than showing currently

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Not sure what you mean by that? We have to judge him by the fee paid because he's been bought as the main striker at that price.

If we'd have only paid say £30m for him, I'd bet a lot more would be saying we need a new first choice striker next season based on what we've seen.

It's a criticism of the people who run the club. He shouldn't have been signed to lead the line, especially at this money. They did it with Martial (highest fee for a teenager in 2015), it backfired on them, so what have they learnt? Nothing, they go and do it all over again. At least, with INEOS, we can hope that he won't be on 300 grand p/w in a couple of years. The part about the fans was that their reactions toward newcomers (especially youngsters) were far more lenient in the first years of the post-SAF era. Plus, some like to boost their favourites while being harsh on everybody else. After all, he's got more goals and about the same xG as a young Latin American winger who has the ball at his feet much more than him.

 

[fps]

based on what, potential ?

Performances. He's scored goals in a bad team, he's mobile, physical, a good first season given the chaos and lack of talent (Garnacho aside) around him.

 

[Leftback99]

Performances. He's scored goals in a bad team, he's mobile, physical, a good first season given the chaos and lack of talent (Garnacho aside) around him.

Wood, Mateta Jackson, Adebayo, Morris, Muniz have all outscored him. Would they be 'automatic selections' here too?

 

[TMDaines]

Just seen a stat that he received more passes off Onana than another other player vs Burnley. Pretty more really.

The figures are nuts vs Burnley, where United had 27 shots. Rasmus had zero of these, whilst Antony had eight and Garnacho had six. He just does not have the knack of finding space in the final third right now, and actually kept getting in the way of others yesterday second half, when they were in dangerous positions.

It would be one thing if he was performing a support role, and either being the creator or was responsible for progressing the ball, but he only created a single chance too, making a further five passes all day! Weghorst at least made the team a bit more cohesive, but Rasmus is pretty dependent on others, rather than serving them.

It feels absurd when I see scorched earth posts suggesting “Build around Rasmus, Martinez, Kobbie and Garnacho, and sell the rest.” I would not at all be surprised to see the new setup and future manager significantly reduce his role next season. The fact we paid a silly fee for him and have only reduced his value means it makes little business sense to move him on at this stage. But I can’t see any successful season, where we decide to overhaul the team to get the most out of Rasmus, as he’s done nothing to suggest that would be anything other than a reckless gamble.

You just get sad thinking about how well Kane would have dovetailed with Rashford and Garnacho either side of him. An elite goalscorer who is also happy to drop deep, link play, with a superb eye for creating chances for others in recent seasons. I hope he comes good, but we need two more forwards in the next transfer window, one of whom should be starting most weeks.

 

[SER19]

Some serious flip flopping in this thread from game to game. Hojlunds biggest problem is being a young striker tasked with leading the line all season, worsened by leading the line of a very poor team.

At his age around 15+ goals is a good return for his first season, but more importantly, you simply cannot watch his goals versus galatasaray and west ham and doubt the talent. His performance away at Luton was genuinely one of the best classic striker performances weve had at the club in years- he was battered all game without getting a free from the ref, and held the ball up and brought in teammates brilliantly. I really dislike how random myths start to gain traction here. Hojlunds positioning is the latest. Earlier in the season we were discussing how poor the service was and the countless examples of where hes just waiting for a tap in but the pass doesnt come. Its all so reactive.

He's physically excellent, hes very fast, he works hard, he scores all sorts of goals and hes technically good, and only 21. Hojlund has no problems that arent normal, the problem is that we should have another striker, and more than 1 useful winger at a time. A striker relies heavily on the wide players and fulls backs- playing alongside AWB and Rashford occupying 2 of those 4 positions for much of the season is like a strikers worst nightmare.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

Correct, it isn’t Hojlund’s fault, ‘partly Hojlund’s fault’.

I have no idea why so many seem determined to excuse Hojlund completely for the faults in our team, the faults in our attack etc when he’s the darn centre forward in said team. We’re not failing independently of him, he’s very much a part of our attacking failure due to how he as the centre forward isn’t doing enough.

I think it’s fair to say that we’d probably look better in the final third if our striker held the ball up better, linked up better and had better movement. He’s not some complete victim as is being portrayed.

I don’t think you can judge him properly until the foundations in the team are properly in place. When he’s performed well this season (and I know you disagree, but I think he’s done ok or more in most games) it’s been in spite of, not because of, the team, largely.

I dare all those who think he doesn’t have anything to contribute with to watch him in every game up until his injury. It was mostly very promising, but I guess memory is short among fans. Also, do have a look at his stats, for example at fbref, cause they don’t back your eye tests up.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

objectively haven’t been good enough, I would say.

So, in your subjective opinion he’s not been good enough, objectively. I love that.

 

[Suv666]

I know some consider it sacrilege to bad mouth any young player of ours but he’s not good enough nor do I see the potential to be.
Mainoo, Garnacho you see the potential there even if they are not posting insane numbers in terms of goal and assists you see the talent there in their general play.

Realising your potential might be the hardest problem in football, I’ve seen players who showed a billion times more potential than Hojlund fall off into oblivion.
Maybe a couple of years more he can be an above average striker, but someone you can consistently rely on? Naa can’t see it happening I’m afraid.

 

[Suv666]

Same old story. Always late on the ball and late to do correct run. It is strange to see striker on this level (no matter how old he is) with this bad positioning and game reading.
But at least that is something which you can learn.

yea the killer instinct just isn’t there, disagree on the second bit, that seems to be the sort of thing you can’t train into a striker.
With world class strikers you can see that instinct on display at a very young age.

He definitely needs another season though, the tactics have been weird and lopsided maybe that’s the reason.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Hypothetically if we build a team capable of winning the league in a few years, does anyone honestly see Hojlund being the #9 in that team? Not based on blind faith, but based on what he's shown this season. When I think of all the title winning teams over the years I'm struggling to think of any that contained a forward as limited as him. If he were playing at any of our rivals would anyone be worried? Would anyone be envious? Doubt it. There would probably be a lot of laughing and piss taking