[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Did we buy the wrong type of striker to fit the team? Seems like Højlund is mostly a finisher, but we create no chances. Maybe it would have been better to get someone with more skill on the ball to drop deep and link midfield to attack.

In any case, we are in trouble if we enter next season with him as our only real striker. Need to get someone in, but of course that’s the case for almost all positions. Sigh.

I mean this is why I always rolled my eyes when everyone wanted a "proper 9 that lived in the box". When you employ players around said striker who don't look to feed him (Rashford) or aren't very good passers themselves (Garnacho) it just creates a clusterfeck of an environment for that type of striker to succeed. He's been poor since returning from injury but anyone with eyes could see even during his big scoring streak that it wasn't sustainable. He was essentially scoring every half chance he got for a run of matches, it wasn't like he was finally getting on the scoresheet after constantly missing sitters all year. Now that he's not converting at that same absurd level, it's back to him offering nothing.

It also doesn't suit him how direct we play, because he's mostly going to be a hold up man or decoy for the wingers to just get shots off on the break. I don't know, I'd like to see us make a run at Toney or Zirkzee this summer because as much as I like Rasmus we need more competition at that spot.

 

[Andycoleno9]

I am surprised that Erik decided to buy him.
He is not type of striker like Isak, Watkins or Toney. Strikers who offer goals but also literally lead the line with contribution to general play. It is obvious that Hojlund is just a poacher (with dodgy positioning). He is missing too many traits to be all round striker.

When you go and buy classic poacher your general play must be top notch to get the best of that type of striker. You must dominate is possession where he just waits in oenalty area to convert chances.

 

[Lyng]

I am surprised that Erik decided to buy him.
He is not type of striker like Isak, Watkins or Toney. Strikers who offer goals but also literally lead the line with contribution to general play. It is obvious that Hojlund is just a poacher (with dodgy positioning). He is missing too many traits to be all round striker.

Isak wasn't available. Tony was banned. Watkins has flourished under a great manager. Rasmus has the worst working conditions of any striker in the top 10.
In Atalanta he actually did alot of what you ask, but there was also a clear style and tactic there.
Our players are made to look even worse by a completely chaotic system.

 

[afrocentricity]

He isn't a poacher that hangs around the penalty spot. He wasn't at his last club anyway...

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

Now that he's not converting at that same absurd level, it's back to him offering nothing.

Uhm, he did offer a lot before his scoring spree, people just forget quickly or only judge him by goals and not general contribution. He held the ball well, more often than not laid it off, had some brilliant passes for his teammates, was a constant threat with his pace vs a high line etc.
The chaos and bad mood in the team might have finally got to him, but as others point out he has a great deal to offer us. Too many fans are just not able to see nuances - very binary and simple.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Uhm, he did offer a lot before his scoring spree, people just forget quickly or only judge him by goals and not general contribution. He held the ball well, more often than not laid it off, had some brilliant passes for his teammates, was a constant threat with his pace vs a high line etc.
The chaos and bad mood in the team might have finally got to him, but as others point out he has a great deal to offer us. Too many fans are just not able to see nuances - very binary and simple.

I'm saying that's what the discourse is around him, that wasn't my own personal opinion. Should have put in quotes I guess to make that clear, but yeah in general I think for the type of striker he is he's been fine even when not scoring. But it's just the nature of a box striker, if you aren't getting him the ball in those dangerous areas then they aren't going to have the opportunity to impact the game much.

 

[Piskin]

His overall technique is poor and that's down to the player himself not the team or the bad tactics.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

I'm saying that's what the discourse is around him, that wasn't my own personal opinion. Should have put in quotes I guess to make that clear, but yeah in general I think for the type of striker he is he's been fine even when not scoring. But it's just the nature of a box striker, if you aren't getting him the ball in those dangerous areas then they aren't going to have the opportunity to impact the game much.

Ah, sry. Agree.

His overall technique is poor and that's down to the player himself not the team or the bad tactics.

It’s not poor, and it will improve quite a lot in a good team with a system. Yes, he has lost the ball too often in the last games, but he has shown great technique before at Atalanta and here. I think you and others are suffering from a bad case of recency-, confirmation- and availability bias.

 

[RuudTom83]

In the league his xG is 6.70 and he has scored 7 times.

The more chances United create, the more goals he will get, it's not difficult to understand, he is a CF playing the no.9 role.

 

[Zed is not dead]

Oh so we’re back to trashing him?

 

[erikcred]

Oh so we’re back to trashing him?

It's like some people's memory of a player resets every time they get injured.

 

[troylocker]

Looked like a boy playing with men this weekend. Got bullied off the ball far too easily. Needs to toughen up and move better off the ball.

 

[soapythecat]

I’d love to see the scouting reports on this lad. On what metric did the club feel the need to invest so heavily and blow a huge chunk of our budget on him.
He’s so poor it hurts to watch him struggle - should have settled into life better than this. I get the playing team are a mess at the moment and we need a new manager, but this lad can’t even do the basics. A big lad who is allergic to a football. Baffling decision to buy him. If he’d come through the academy we all would be saying the step up is too big and he needs a loan.

 

[troylocker]

In the league his xG is 6.70 and he has scored 7 times.

The more chances United create, the more goals he will get, it's not difficult to understand, he is a CF playing the no.9 role.

He needs to work on his movement and positioning though. He's not getting on the end of enough chances, and that's been going on the entire season. An xG of 0,40/90 (shared 29th in the league this season) is not good enough for a starting #9 in any top half team, especially when he's not setting up his teammates either (0,08xA/90 - shared 163rd in the league)

He has potential and works hard, but needs to improve a lot in many areas of his game to become good enough to be a starter for a club with ambitions.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Serious question, how many goals in the premier league an average league 2 striker would score in our team?

In our team? feck me, 1 or 2?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

In the league his xG is 6.70 and he has scored 7 times.

.

Doesn’t surprise me at all, we’re horrendous in attack no matter who plays up top. Awful place to be a striker.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Did we pay 72m for a player who could only score tap ins? Serious question, how many goals in the premier league an average league 2 striker would score in our team?

Genuinely not sure a league 2 striker would score any. Think of Wout, he’s better than any league 2 striker and I don’t think he scored a single PL goal. The setup is all wrong, it has been for a long time but we paper over cracks by signing stupidly expensive, usually old, goal scorers like Ibra, Lukaku, Cavani, Ronaldo etc.

 

[Dan_F]

He’s raw. That’s what happens when you buy 20 year old players. You can get away with it playing as an attacking midfielder or winger; if Garnacho was putting in this level of consistency as a striker, everyone would be moaning too - but that’s what young players do.

As a comparison, Ruud scored 13 league goals for Heerenveen at 20 years old. Hojlund will improve, it’s really not his fault we paid so much and made him our first team striker.

 

[yamo123x]

I get he is young, inexperienced and has lots to learn but he is currently our main striker, our only striker too cos Martial is just laughing at us.

Based on his performances this season he isnt ready to be the main man and he needs to be nurtured and not thrown to the lions, he has been particularly weak the last few games...

We need another forward to ease the load... Olly watkins for me. Wont be cheap but proven track record.

 

[Vidyoyo]

It'll be interesting to see if he fits into our style of play when we decide on one

 

[Leethal]

He’d be doing fine if not for us possessing the greediest wide players I’ve ever seen.

 

[Hughes35]

I still really like him. I actually think his hold up has a lot of potential. His touch isn't the best but he uses his body well. (He was poor at the weekend though).

Going in to the season with just him was madness though and pretty much sums up our squad management / recruitment.

 

[Isotope]

His injuries are a big concern. Rushing young player through injury may ruin his career. And we still gamble our future seasons that he'll turn out fit and become good player.

I think we need to get a ready made center forward (starting XI material), if we want to do better for the next 2-3 years. Buying a "stop gap" isn't usually useful in a long season, or more than likely they turn useless/unmotivated (and hard to sell) after one or two season.

 

[Cassidy]

Decent first season for a young striker in an underperforming team. Needs to improve but all round not bad, only issue really is when you consider the fee

 

[Brophs]

He’s done well at times this season, but also been pretty meh quite a lot and utterly crap on more than a few occasions. As you'd expect from a young kid with very little first team football, much less at this level, under his belt. But not what you’d want from United’s first choice number 9, though that’s another story.

He’ll get better. But he needs help.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

I’d love to see the scouting reports on this lad. On what metric did the club feel the need to invest so heavily and blow a huge chunk of our budget on him.
He’s so poor it hurts to watch him struggle - should have settled into life better than this. I get the playing team are a mess at the moment and we need a new manager, but this lad can’t even do the basics. A big lad who is allergic to a football. Baffling decision to buy him. If he’d come through the academy we all would be saying the step up is too big and he needs a loan.

This analysis from last spring sums him up quite accurately:

https://breakingthelines.com/player...arisons-to-erling-haaland-and-dusan-vlahovic/

Are you sure you’ve been watching our games?

 

[Escobar]

He showed a lot of promise during that time he scored in like 6 games or so. But since his injury, it seems like also his team mates forgot that he exists on the pitch

 

[soapythecat]

This analysis from last spring sums him up quite accurately:

https://breakingthelines.com/player...arisons-to-erling-haaland-and-dusan-vlahovic/

Are you sure you’ve been watching our games?

Without blinkers on, yes.

 

[Lee565]

Really do have to question eth in thr transfer market, he has brought a striker who's all round game play is non existent and solely relies on service to him in the box along the ground to be of any use during a game when our wingers are not creative players, Antony can barely scrape 4 assists a seasons in all comps and comes inside to make it easier for opposition defence, rashford is an inside forward, garnacho who is still very raw and ironically the only player that has some type of proven background in being a creative winger is sancho albeit not whilst at united.

It's like throwing muck up against the wall and seeing what sticks with ten hag transfer policy

 

[Catron]

Cole Palmer has equal goals to Haaland playing for a worser than us so there should be no excuses.

 

[Solius]

Cole Palmer has equal goals to Haaland playing for a worser than us so there should be no excuses.

Palmer has been better and obviously scoring from midfield instead of striker but take away his 9 pens and he’s on 11. Only 4 ahead of Hojlund who doesn’t take pens.

 

[Cassidy]

Palmer has been better and obviously scoring from midfield instead of striker but take away his 9 pens and he’s on 11. Only 4 ahead of Hojlund who doesn’t take pens.

So you are saying he outscored our striker playing midfield without pens?

Chelsea actually create more chances than United and play well going forward, they have done all season. That was the better response

 

[Cassidy]

Cole Palmer has equal goals to Haaland playing for a worser than us so there should be no excuses.

Chelsea are not worse than United at creating chances. They are poor defensively

 

[Mike Smalling]

If Højlund ends up with a 1:3 goals to games ratio playing for an incredibly dysfunctional side and without taking penalties, it won’t even be that bad for a young striker who is settling in.

I’m more concerned about his holdup play and his injuries than his ability to score his chances.

 

[Solius]

So you are saying he outscored our striker playing midfield without pens?

Chelsea actually create more chances than United and play well going forward, they have done all season. That was the better response

Yes I said he’s been better but the disparity wasn’t as big as suggested.

 

[Captmfla]

Hojlund is simply amazing. Given the lack of services, he still manage to score so many goals in consecutive matches and still keep united in the fa cup.

 

[SomeRandomPerson]

In today's edition of player signs for United and is not being used to his strengths, we simply do not supply him with enough passes in advanced areas. I think his hold up play is a bit meh but his main strengths are his movement off the ball and his ability to use his pace to run at teams/run in behind teams/run the channels. As a comparison of him receiving progressive passes at United vs Atalanta -

He leaves Atalanta, a team trying to challenge for the European positions/qualify for the Champions League in Serie A, who under Gasperini have a very organized attacking playing style and comes to United, a team trying to challenge for European positions/qualify for the Champions League in the Premier League, whose attack relies severely on transitions and his service has dried up completely. We mainly use him as a sort of target man who mostly gets the ball with his back to goal and he's struggled to adapt to it. Reflects quite poorly on our recruitment team that we've signed a player with quite a high potential (in my opinion, of course) but seem to have completely mis-profiled him in terms of what he is good at vs what we want from our striker in this system.

To put the lack of service vis-a-vis City into context -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1779173964805448190

On the plus side, he's come to United and seems to still be quite good at finishing -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1780305133319987561

For the argument of "he's not doing enough to get himself involved in games", consider that, adjusted for team possession, his stats in terms of touches in the opposition box per 90 as well as progressive passes received per 90 were really good at Atalanta -

Further comparison to Atalanta as of February 1st 2024 i.e. when he had played roughly the same amount of minutes -
(Atalanta on the left, United on the right)
90s: 21.1 - 20.3
Goals: 10 - 8
NPxG: 9.5 - 6.7
Shots: 58 - 36
NPxG/shot: 0.18 - 0.22
Shot on target %: 50% - 47%
Passes p90: 21 - 14
Assists: 2 - 1
xA: 1.8 - 0.9
Key passes: 24 - 16
Shot-creating actions: 56 - 38
Touches: 700 - 396
Pen box touches: 133 - 69
Take-ons: 75 - 31
Progressive carries: 40 - 19
Carries into penalty area: 31 - 9
Progressive passes received: 224 - 82

Source for the stats -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1753063050754847185

Clearly shows he's scored roughly the same amount of goals but with far fewer shots, has actually improved his shooting somewhat, but just isn't getting on the ball anywhere near as often - getting only 1/3rd of the progressive passes as before, only around 1/2 the number of touches and only a bit more than 1/2 the penalty box touches - and is not getting the chance to show his best quality - carrying the ball/running at teams - almost at all.

Given that his shooting/scoring numbers are staying consistent relative to involvement, it seems like in a more organized attacking set up, we can reasonably expect good numbers from him.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

In today's edition of player signs for United and is not being used to his strengths, we simply do not supply him with enough passes in advanced areas. I think his hold up play is a bit meh but his main strengths are his movement off the ball and his ability to use his pace to run at teams/run in behind teams/run the channels. As a comparison of him receiving progressive passes at United vs Atalanta -

He leaves Atalanta, a team trying to challenge for the European positions/qualify for the Champions League in Serie A, who under Gasperini have a very organized attacking playing style and comes to United, a team trying to challenge for European positions/qualify for the Champions League in the Premier League, whose attack relies severely on transitions and his service has dried up completely. We mainly use him as a sort of target man who mostly gets the ball with his back to goal and he's struggled to adapt to it. Reflects quite poorly on our recruitment team that we've signed a player with quite a high potential (in my opinion, of course) but seem to have completely mis-profiled him in terms of what he is good at vs what we want from our striker in this system.

To put the lack of service vis-a-vis City into context -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1779173964805448190

On the plus side, he's come to United and seems to still be quite good at finishing -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1780305133319987561

For the argument of "he's not doing enough to get himself involved in games", consider that, adjusted for team possession, his stats in terms of touches in the opposition box per 90 as well as progressive passes received per 90 were really good at Atalanta -

Further comparison to Atalanta as of February 1st 2024 i.e. when he had played roughly the same amount of minutes -
(Atalanta on the left, United on the right)
90s: 21.1 - 20.3
Goals: 10 - 8
NPxG: 9.5 - 6.7
Shots: 58 - 36
NPxG/shot: 0.18 - 0.22
Shot on target %: 50% - 47%
Passes p90: 21 - 14
Assists: 2 - 1
xA: 1.8 - 0.9
Key passes: 24 - 16
Shot-creating actions: 56 - 38
Touches: 700 - 396
Pen box touches: 133 - 69
Take-ons: 75 - 31
Progressive carries: 40 - 19
Carries into penalty area: 31 - 9
Progressive passes received: 224 - 82

Source for the stats -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1753063050754847185

Clearly shows he's scored roughly the same amount of goals but with far fewer shots, has actually improved his shooting somewhat, but just isn't getting on the ball anywhere near as often - getting only 1/3rd of the progressive passes as before, only around 1/2 the number of touches and only a bit more than 1/2 the penalty box touches - and is not getting the chance to show his best quality - carrying the ball/running at teams - almost at all.

Given that his shooting/scoring numbers are staying consistent relative to involvement, it seems like in a more organized attacking set up, we can reasonably expect good numbers from him.

Best post in the thread. Thank you.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

In today's edition of player signs for United and is not being used to his strengths, we simply do not supply him with enough passes in advanced areas. I think his hold up play is a bit meh but his main strengths are his movement off the ball and his ability to use his pace to run at teams/run in behind teams/run the channels. As a comparison of him receiving progressive passes at United vs Atalanta -

He leaves Atalanta, a team trying to challenge for the European positions/qualify for the Champions League in Serie A, who under Gasperini have a very organized attacking playing style and comes to United, a team trying to challenge for European positions/qualify for the Champions League in the Premier League, whose attack relies severely on transitions and his service has dried up completely. We mainly use him as a sort of target man who mostly gets the ball with his back to goal and he's struggled to adapt to it. Reflects quite poorly on our recruitment team that we've signed a player with quite a high potential (in my opinion, of course) but seem to have completely mis-profiled him in terms of what he is good at vs what we want from our striker in this system.

To put the lack of service vis-a-vis City into context -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1779173964805448190

On the plus side, he's come to United and seems to still be quite good at finishing -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1780305133319987561

For the argument of "he's not doing enough to get himself involved in games", consider that, adjusted for team possession, his stats in terms of touches in the opposition box per 90 as well as progressive passes received per 90 were really good at Atalanta -

Further comparison to Atalanta as of February 1st 2024 i.e. when he had played roughly the same amount of minutes -
(Atalanta on the left, United on the right)
90s: 21.1 - 20.3
Goals: 10 - 8
NPxG: 9.5 - 6.7
Shots: 58 - 36
NPxG/shot: 0.18 - 0.22
Shot on target %: 50% - 47%
Passes p90: 21 - 14
Assists: 2 - 1
xA: 1.8 - 0.9
Key passes: 24 - 16
Shot-creating actions: 56 - 38
Touches: 700 - 396
Pen box touches: 133 - 69
Take-ons: 75 - 31
Progressive carries: 40 - 19
Carries into penalty area: 31 - 9
Progressive passes received: 224 - 82

Source for the stats -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1753063050754847185

Clearly shows he's scored roughly the same amount of goals but with far fewer shots, has actually improved his shooting somewhat, but just isn't getting on the ball anywhere near as often - getting only 1/3rd of the progressive passes as before, only around 1/2 the number of touches and only a bit more than 1/2 the penalty box touches - and is not getting the chance to show his best quality - carrying the ball/running at teams - almost at all.

Given that his shooting/scoring numbers are staying consistent relative to involvement, it seems like in a more organized attacking set up, we can reasonably expect good numbers from him.

Great post, backs up pretty much everything the eye test says for me but most never bother to actually look into stuff like this and just whine about how he "goes missing" or isn't scoring enough goals which is "why we need an experienced striker" when the truth is we don't fecking pass him the ball. I can hardly think of a single decent pass Bruno has played him, and our wingers are almost always shoot first minded. Considering much of our game is built around transitions and finding our wingers on the counter it's just never going to be possible for any striker we have to really impact the game with how we currently play unless it's a Martial type that drops off the CB's (which everyone at the time complained about and wanted a box striker in the first place)

 

[Rojofiam]

In today's edition of player signs for United and is not being used to his strengths, we simply do not supply him with enough passes in advanced areas. I think his hold up play is a bit meh but his main strengths are his movement off the ball and his ability to use his pace to run at teams/run in behind teams/run the channels. As a comparison of him receiving progressive passes at United vs Atalanta -

He leaves Atalanta, a team trying to challenge for the European positions/qualify for the Champions League in Serie A, who under Gasperini have a very organized attacking playing style and comes to United, a team trying to challenge for European positions/qualify for the Champions League in the Premier League, whose attack relies severely on transitions and his service has dried up completely. We mainly use him as a sort of target man who mostly gets the ball with his back to goal and he's struggled to adapt to it. Reflects quite poorly on our recruitment team that we've signed a player with quite a high potential (in my opinion, of course) but seem to have completely mis-profiled him in terms of what he is good at vs what we want from our striker in this system.

To put the lack of service vis-a-vis City into context -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1779173964805448190

On the plus side, he's come to United and seems to still be quite good at finishing -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1780305133319987561

For the argument of "he's not doing enough to get himself involved in games", consider that, adjusted for team possession, his stats in terms of touches in the opposition box per 90 as well as progressive passes received per 90 were really good at Atalanta -

Further comparison to Atalanta as of February 1st 2024 i.e. when he had played roughly the same amount of minutes -
(Atalanta on the left, United on the right)
90s: 21.1 - 20.3
Goals: 10 - 8
NPxG: 9.5 - 6.7
Shots: 58 - 36
NPxG/shot: 0.18 - 0.22
Shot on target %: 50% - 47%
Passes p90: 21 - 14
Assists: 2 - 1
xA: 1.8 - 0.9
Key passes: 24 - 16
Shot-creating actions: 56 - 38
Touches: 700 - 396
Pen box touches: 133 - 69
Take-ons: 75 - 31
Progressive carries: 40 - 19
Carries into penalty area: 31 - 9
Progressive passes received: 224 - 82

Source for the stats -

https://x.com/TheDevilsDNA/status/1753063050754847185

Clearly shows he's scored roughly the same amount of goals but with far fewer shots, has actually improved his shooting somewhat, but just isn't getting on the ball anywhere near as often - getting only 1/3rd of the progressive passes as before, only around 1/2 the number of touches and only a bit more than 1/2 the penalty box touches - and is not getting the chance to show his best quality - carrying the ball/running at teams - almost at all.

Given that his shooting/scoring numbers are staying consistent relative to involvement, it seems like in a more organized attacking set up, we can reasonably expect good numbers from him.

Good post, but it probably won't change the mind of those posters who had made up their mind on him in the first 2 or 3 months of the season, and now want their incorrect take to be proven right more than Hojlund actually scoring 30 goals a season in a better functioning United team.