There are weird things going on here with regard to Rashford and Højlund. We're all desperate to see Højlund succeed, and many, I would argue, is getting more than a little carried away by having a fast, strong, hard-working striker working to get into good scoring positions, which is something we've not seen since, well, Cavani. Rashford on the other hand is getting stick for, essentially, not burying his chances (no one would have complained he's being selfish if he had). And for not suddenly being something he's never been - a playmaking forward.
Understandable up to a point, but it's gotten rather unhinged, to the point pf absurdity. Just look at the ratings from the Brighton game - Hojlund second best among the starters with a 5.6, Rashford among the poorest with 4.0. Which is nuts. On the eye test alone, if you're watching that game and fail to notice that very nearly everything we created attacking-wise involved Rashford and that Højlund was not really much involved, what fecking glasses are you wearing? Stats say the same, and very, very clearly too:
| Højlund | Rashford |
npxG | 0,03 | 0,7 |
xA | 0 | 0 |
Shots | 1 | 9 |
Passes completed | 8 | 21 |
Key passes | 2 | 0 |
Tackles+intercept | 1 | 0 |
Touches | 13 | 44 |
Touches att 1/3 | 7 | 34 |
Shot-creating actions | 2 | 3 |
Progressive carries | 0 | 8 |
Attempted take-ons | 0 | 8 |
Progr passes received | 4 | 11 |
Passes received | 9 | 38 |
And remember, they were both playing striker in this game. My point here is not to criticise Højlund, who's showing a lot of good things. But let's stay grounded - as long as he's not scoring goals, he is not
so far having a big impact on the game. Rashford does. By any reasonable definition, he delivered a much bigger contribution in this game than Højlund did. But too many people see what they're hoping for with Højlund rather than what's already there, and their own hangups when it comes to Rashford. Seething about him shooting instead of passing on that break, despite the lack of any clear passing lane and forgetting or not noticing a lot of other things.