He needs a reliable first touch, you can't complain about your teammates not passing to you if the ball is constantly bouncing yards away when they do.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 52
- Goals
- 10
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He needs a reliable first touch, you can't complain about your teammates not passing to you if the ball is constantly bouncing yards away when they do.
Opta data
https://theanalyst.com/articles/rasmus-hojlund-man-utd-struggles
Originally I asked chatgpt weeks ago and it said Hojlund had the most, and I posted it in this thread. Now it says 2nd most. Either way 36.8 per 90 mins in the number
I wouldn't be surprised if that number just accounts for that thing he does of sprinting at the keeper and stopping before he gets there. He does that more than he makes runs I to the box.
Whilst I’m heavily critical of his own technical ability, I do wonder what the coaches are doing with him.
For example, his heading is a complete disaster area. The guy is 6”4 and seems to have a decent spring - heading is surely an area where it’s easy to improve with practice.
Somehow, he doesn’t seem to have improved a single aspect of his game over the past 2 seasons.
For example, his heading is a complete disaster area. The guy is 6”4 and seems to have a decent spring - heading is surely an area where it’s easy to improve with practice.
Somehow, he doesn’t seem to have improved a single aspect of his game over the past 2 seasons.
You could say that about most of our players to be fair. I struggle to recall any of them clearly gaining technical skills or abilities that they didn't previously have, and that's been the case for years. We seem to uniquely defy the logic that says that footballers typically improve throughout their 20s with experience.
He had a hamstring injury just after he scored a goal against Arsenal. Hopefully an injury free season this season if he is staying
As the saying goes, last season was one to forget. So in that spirit I just watched highlights of Hoijlund's first with us and boy am I optimistic for him this year with Cunha and Mbuemo alongside. We seem highly unlikely to bring in an established senior alternative so time to get behind the pox marked Dane
Physically shuddered at the thought of this. If we go into another season with him leading the line we might as well write the season off now. Can't do another season of him not contesting aerial duels, not controlling easy balls played into him, not being in the right positions just all around not being a decent level footballer. Actually mental how much we paid for him.
Guess we’re stuck with him then.
Hojlund is our Nunez and I'm stuck off people saying he's going to be different this season as that's just utter nonsense.
What he is weak in you cannot fix at this level no matter how long you give him or who you surround him with.
He does not have the footballing brain required to be successful here. He has no first touch does not know how to make the right runs and that's not going to magically improve.
He isn't able to make the ball stick and bring others into the game.
Again he has nearly one hundred games now for us and been garbage in three quarters of those. It's time to move on and improve the position
What he is weak in you cannot fix at this level no matter how long you give him or who you surround him with.
He does not have the footballing brain required to be successful here. He has no first touch does not know how to make the right runs and that's not going to magically improve.
He isn't able to make the ball stick and bring others into the game.
Again he has nearly one hundred games now for us and been garbage in three quarters of those. It's time to move on and improve the position
If Hojlund can’t make a connection with Cunha or Mbeumo (quickly) then he should be loaned out before the season starts…even if it leaves the team short.
I’m sick of seeing him complain the ball wasn’t delivered correctly. If it’s in the air, he complains. If it’s along the ground he complains, if it’s near post he wanted it far post and vice versa.
The guy is an anti-magnet when it comes to him and the ball.
I’m sick of seeing him complain the ball wasn’t delivered correctly. If it’s in the air, he complains. If it’s along the ground he complains, if it’s near post he wanted it far post and vice versa.
The guy is an anti-magnet when it comes to him and the ball.
I guess we are fecked then.
I mean he's obviously going to say that.
But Rasmus isn't going anywhere if no one wants him. Best we can hope for is that we get a new striker and loan him out at he can find his form before a move next summer, like Antony
I’m sure some Italian club would want him, but the problem is he doesn’t want to leave. On top of that, Amorim hasn’t told him to go and find a new club, which is what he should have done.
I don't think he's going to do that until we have a definite replacement lined up. I'm sure Højlund is aware the club is happy for him to move on though. He can't be oblivious to the stories in the media, and the early links back to Italy were coming from his agent marketing him over there.
In terms of what Amorim should say to him, why would he treat him like that? He's not good enough, but there's nothing to suggest he doesn't work hard in training or act professionally. He'd risk alienating other players if he treated a member of the squad like that unnecessarily.
@UnofficialDevil the timing of the post right after this reply, it's comic genius...or masterful horror, your pickIn one single post you managed to put every single BS excuse for him. Nice work.
I pray that's been said because we've learned from the Garnacho situation. We can't publicly come out and say he's not part of plans and expect to get a good fee for him. This could just be pressure on a club who are interested to make a move.
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Yeah, we are fecked then. You can buy Ronaldinho, Zidane and Modric to create chances but with Hojlund up front it is all waste of talent.
Get a grip, Andy. The grudge you carry against Højlund is simply over the top.
I cant understand this myth that he was so good in his 1st year. He couldn't score in the league for ages, had a 6 game purple patch then was awful again. Even when he scored his all round game was really poor.
People are just living in hope
He's our nunez but fans here would have you believe nunez and Jackson are awful but rasmus is a diamond in the rough. The mental gymnastics is amazing
Love to see him come good but from what I've seen we need to sign someone as 1st choice and develop him.
It's really not - My guy has been subjected to 2 seasons of suffering watching that lad stagger hopelessly up front for us. We can't go into the season depending on him.
To be honest, even if we don't sign anyone I suspect Zirkzee or Mbeumo will end up as the main CF unless Højlund somehow gets his act together fast
What happened to his pace last season? In the first sesson you could easily see whs the fuss was sbout. He was quoted as sub 11 second 100m runner, and he was runoured to be faster than both Rashford and Dalot. Last season he looked slow and honestly quite weak as well as struggling with stamina.
Any injuries or form just went bust?
Any injuries or form just went bust?
Zirkzee has been absolutely woeful though. Terrible as a 9 and not good enough as a 10. much better first touch than Højlund, but far too slow, erratic passing and either is perpetually half a second behind the ball or can’t finish.
That stood out to me as well, his physicality dropped off massively. I remember in his first season, his goal against Galatasaray - he left the defender for dead on the half way line. Maybe he just didn't have the confidence to run in behind, but he looked a shell of that player last season.
Hamstring injury in the opening game of the pre season tour and he did not get back until the 3rd of 4th game of the regular season so clearly missed out on the conditioning and other work done in pre season. Seemed to bulk up a lot too, carrying a lot of muscle but looked unbalanced with it which is a common problem for young athletes filling out and not getting the balance right in gym work. He does seem to be more trim in the few pre season shots I have seen so hopefully the coaching staff got his conditioning regime right for the summer and he will look more explosive in games if we are going to be using him this year.
I've truly lost hope in humanity
He had a terrible first season if you exclude those 6 games. Purple patches should never be used to judge a player yet it's something our fanbase seems to do far too often. Rashford lived off purple patches for 7 or 8 seasons, having 2 good seasons in all that time, where even inside those seasons, his form was patchy. Bruno, as good as he can be is terribly inconsistent. He finished the season very strong and I agree he's our best player on his day, but his level of inconsistency doesn't warrant not taking 100M for him either imo. He was abysmal for 2/3 of the season and it was the same exact thing over the last 2 seasons before too.
Dear God in heaven...
You can't show your pace if you are constantly tussling with oposition CB's. It became so easy to play against him. Get tight to him, as his first touch is horrendous, and he can't hold a defender off.
The runs behind he was making the first season gave me so much hope, but him realising that the is playing with that ostrich Garnacho, made him totally stop those runs. Instead, he tried to play like a proper number 9 that can hold off a player, which is not his forte at all. Add that to his shattered confidence, and he looks like a League 2 player.
That's where I am. I really like his personality and badly want him to succeed. This season is a total fresh start if he stays. I understand everyone's concerns but I think what we were watching last season was a perfect storm of shitness. He obviously has qualities in front of goal running onto stuff, he's pretty awful with his back to goal. If we can get the ball into the box a bit more, faster and with more variation and we press hard behind him I think he'll do a lot better. I agree we should also have an older striker to help carry the burden and let him develop. There's isn't another 22 year old striker in the world pulling up any trees right now. Rasmus is on a list with Sesko, Endrick, Tel, Ferguson and those types. None have come good yet in any way beyond glimpses and hype. Rasmus currently belongs in that bracket no matter what anyone on here says due to the promise he showed in his first season. Currently he's only good enough to be the apprentice but I can see him eventually getting really good with experience and a bit less pressure
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Absolute nonsense.
All depends what he means by immediate.
They are all in the same awful bracket.
Didn't he go on a good goal scoring run at some point and there was even talk of him possibly breaking some kind of goal scoring record? Maybe I dreamt that.... actually, I must have been dreaming, right?
In all seriousness, he needs to find his confidence again, and while hes in the mood for finding things, try and find his first touch too. It wouldn't be the end of the world to have him starting next season. Not ideal, but not the end of the world.
In all seriousness, he needs to find his confidence again, and while hes in the mood for finding things, try and find his first touch too. It wouldn't be the end of the world to have him starting next season. Not ideal, but not the end of the world.
I think we are holding off on a couple of signings until a little further into the tour specifically to give a few players a chance to show a reset. Rasmus is definately one of them.
Come back fizzing. Play to your strengths with players around you who will trust and pass to you. Build your confidence and play without fear. Then who knows.
Come back fizzing. Play to your strengths with players around you who will trust and pass to you. Build your confidence and play without fear. Then who knows.
Most consecutive games without scoring a goal?
And with all Højlund's speed, he's always a second behind the ball because his actual football anticipation is slow. How many times was a ball hit across the face of goal and he was stretching after the ball had passed? With Zirkzee he'd either not make the run or make it.
Zirkzee at least added a lot in hold up and the build-up, particularly leading up to the point he got injured, and if I remember rightly, Højlund was beginning to sit on the bench.
Zirkzee hasn't shown a huge lot himself, he just doesn't come across as someone who's interested in football, but he's shown a lot more than Højlund who just seems like he offers nothing at all (perhaps his illogical runs might somehow start to confuse opposition defenders more than they confuse his teammates).
We 100% need a new senior striker
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