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2025-26 Performances

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Stickz said:
A look at Sesko's pre-United highlight reel tells me that Sesko is certainly more talented at least. Look at some of this shooting....

Granted, he is off to an underwhelming start here.
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It would be nice if he could start even just getting shots away for us.
 
I like/d Hojlund and have been in the camp that there is a player in there.

The lack of chances he gets is starting to paint a picture though. I remember Feguson talking about players when they were getting criticism for missing chances and he always used to say "At least they were there to miss".

Give me a striker who gets 5 chances a game over a striker who gets 5 chances in 5 games every day of the week, regardless of their finishing ability.
 
Schmeichels pinky said:
Antonio Conte after the match:

“I didn't mind Hojlund's performance today, I thought he was perhaps our best player. He fought hard, attacked the space”.
But you do you.
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He's being asked that for a reason. I watched the game as I watch every Napoli game and he was shite and so was the rest of the team.

Bologna had a 17 year old in goal making his debut and he had to deal with one shot all game.
 
I liked Hojlund and wasn't a fan of the loan with obligation, but he is still a massively limited player. Very little holdup play, poor linkup, poor movement, decent but not incredible ballstriker. Makes good runs in behind but that's not all a striker can rely on at a top club where opponents will sit deep. There's a reason he's getting so few shots. If he had a great striker's instinct the story would be different even with his other weaknesses.

No doubt this thread will be bumped with assertions over what a massive mistake Sesko is the next time Hojlund blags a goal. Sesko was a risk and needs to be sharper, but I've seen so much more from him at this point than I did from Hojlund.
 
ValenciasDrilledCrosses said:
I liked Hojlund and wasn't a fan of the loan with obligation, but he is still a massively limited player. Very little holdup play, poor linkup, poor movement, decent but not incredible ballstriker. Makes good runs in behind but that's not all a striker can rely on at a top club where opponents will sit deep. There's a reason he's getting so few shots. If he had a great striker's instinct the story would be different even with his other weaknesses.

No doubt this thread will be bumped with assertions over what a massive mistake Sesko is the next time Hojlund blags a goal. Sesko was a risk and needs to be sharper, but I've seen so much more from him at this point than I did from Hojlund.
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I agree. There’s more obvious building blocks there with Sesko. He’s massive for a start and has much better technique than Hojlund.

If he progresses enough (and there’s a lot of work to do) he could be an Ibra style striker; a technical target man that others can play off. Needs to get stronger and more aggressive; can see he’s adjusting to the speed and physicality of the league at the moment.

The worry is that, just like Hojlund, we destroy his potential by thrusting him in as the main man. Both could’ve done with a senior striker, 29-34ish, that would shoulder the burden whilst they grew into the role. What I’d give for a Cavani now.
 
Lay said:
He's being asked that for a reason. I watched the game as I watch every Napoli game and he was shite and so was the rest of the team.

Bologna had a 17 year old in goal making his debut and he had to deal with one shot all game.
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Well, Conte has never been gracious with his players so when he says that I’ll take his word for it. If the whole team was crap it’s no wonder Hojlund didn’t shine either, though. But so many one liner critics in here who don’t care about context.
 
ValenciasDrilledCrosses said:
I liked Hojlund and wasn't a fan of the loan with obligation, but he is still a massively limited player. Very little holdup play, poor linkup, poor movement, decent but not incredible ballstriker. Makes good runs in behind but that's not all a striker can rely on at a top club where opponents will sit deep. There's a reason he's getting so few shots. If he had a great striker's instinct the story would be different even with his other weaknesses.

No doubt this thread will be bumped with assertions over what a massive mistake Sesko is the next time Hojlund blags a goal. Sesko was a risk and needs to be sharper, but I've seen so much more from him at this point than I did from Hojlund.
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Using this thread to tell people “I told you so” is ridiculous either way.
It’s really a rarity to see nuanced views here. I for one think that A) he did much better in his first season than most fans want to give him credit for, B) he’s not as good all round as Sesko, but was touted as one of the biggest striker talents because of his pace and finishing both of which are superior to Seskos, C) it was best for both parties he left, D) we should be patient with Sesko so we don’t make the same mistake as with Hojlund, E) we won’t find the answer to whether or not Hojlund will become good enough to play for us or other top clubs in his first ten games after his move to Napoli.
 
Schmeichels pinky said:
Well, Conte has never been gracious with his players so when he says that I’ll take his word for it. If the whole team was crap it’s no wonder Hojlund didn’t shine either, though. But so many one liner critics in here who don’t care about context.
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Napoli haven't been good this season for sure but Hojlund is having similar problems as he had here which is not getting involved enough or having enough shots.

Id say he's been okay at best so far. He's had some good games (Sporting, Fiorentina) and some down right atrocious games where even Lucca outshone him and Lucca is a donkey.

Personally I'd rather Conte tried Neres upfront again as he was impressive against Inter playing that role.
 
Lay said:
Napoli haven't been good this season for sure but Hojlund is having similar problems as he had here which is not getting involved enough or having enough shots.

Id say he's been okay at best so far. He's had some good games (Sporting, Fiorentina) and some down right atrocious games where even Lucca outshone him and Lucca is a donkey.

Personally I'd rather Conte tried Neres upfront again as he was impressive against Inter playing that role.
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I reacted to the ott comments only. I think it’s obvious that he’s the type of player who needs to be set up. When he has KdB he thrives, otherwise he struggles. In the last game - which people who probably didn’t even see it use to slack him off - he made loads of good runs, but didn’t get the ball.
 
ValenciasDrilledCrosses said:
No doubt this thread will be bumped with assertions over what a massive mistake Sesko is the next time Hojlund blags a goal. Sesko was a risk and needs to be sharper, but I've seen so much more from him at this point than I did from Hojlund.
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That will definitely happen, so it's also worth balancing it a bit, when it seemingly is not going well.

Napoli have scored one goal in their last four games, and Højlund has been on the field approx. 300 minutes in those. It sounds familiar. Of course it's a team game, they are missing KDB, etc., etc., but surely part of the blame goes to the forwards as well.
 
Mike Smalling said:
That will definitely happen, so it's also worth balancing it a bit, when it seemingly is not going well.

Napoli have scored one goal in their last four games, and Højlund has been on the field approx. 300 minutes in those. It sounds familiar. Of course it's a team game, they are missing KDB, etc., etc., but surely part of the blame goes to the forwards as well.
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Anyone who watches Serie A this season knows almost all the teams don’t score a lot. There has been two consecutive weekends where only 9 and 10 goals were scored across all games.

Either all Serie A strikers are shite, or you know that Italy is culturally much more defensive and compact than other leagues and a 0-0 is considered a very good result
 
Zed is not dead said:
Anyone who watches Serie A this season knows almost all the teams don’t score a lot. There has been two consecutive weekends where only 9 and 10 goals were scored across all games.

Either all Serie A strikers are shite, or you know that Italy is culturally much more defensive and compact than other leagues and a 0-0 is considered a very good result
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Yes, half a goal fewer is scored in the Serie A vs. Premier League per game this season (2.2 vs. 2.7), so it is more defensive. That doesn't mean a top team like Napoli shouldn't be scoring more than one goal across four games (including one CL game, by the way). They are defending champions and their inability to score in recent weeks have seen them drop down the table. I doubt they think 0-0 at home vs. Como is a very good result.
 
If Conte is sacked, this brother is coming back. I doubt Napoli gets top 4 without Conte. Their main players are dropping like flies, Lukaku, De Bruyne, Anguissa now.

Few defeats in a row now, PSV putting 6 past them. Not looking good, bruv.
 
Mike Smalling said:
That will definitely happen, so it's also worth balancing it a bit, when it seemingly is not going well.

Napoli have scored one goal in their last four games, and Højlund has been on the field approx. 300 minutes in those. It sounds familiar. Of course it's a team game, they are missing KDB, etc., etc., but surely part of the blame goes to the forwards as well.
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Not necessarily. Unless, of course, you want to blame them. But it’s possible that a team doesn’t create chances due to no fault of their striker.

Anyway, would be nice if this thread wasn’t used as an “I told you so”-outlet. The confirmation bias is strong in here with people praising him after a single goal and others criticizing him after a game without a goal. Most of them probably without seeing one minute of Napoli’s games.
 
Watched him 3 games in Italy so far, from the little I have seen Serie A fits him much better.
 
Denis79 said:
Watched him 3 games in Italy so far, from the little I have seen Serie A fits him much better.
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Not exactly lighting it up there either, 2 goals in 7 games and like when he was here, struggling to get shots off. Still a much easier league for him though, the thought of bringing such a limited player back is madness
 
Schmeichels pinky said:
Not necessarily. Unless, of course, you want to blame them. But it’s possible that a team doesn’t create chances due to no fault of their striker.

Anyway, would be nice if this thread wasn’t used as an “I told you so”-outlet. The confirmation bias is strong in here with people praising him after a single goal and others criticizing him after a game without a goal. Most of them probably without seeing one minute of Napoli’s games.
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The striker has to take some of the blame, almost by definition. We also saw it with Højlund during his time here. If you don't have someone that can do simple stuff like holding up the ball, laying it off, or making the right runs, it becomes much more difficult for the team to create chances.

All of our former player threads are reactionary and lacking in nuance. Højlund, Garnacho, McTominay, Rashford. It's basically all the same.
 
Mike Smalling said:
The striker has to take some of the blame, almost by definition. We also saw it with Højlund during his time here. If you don't have someone that can do simple stuff like holding up the ball, laying it off, or making the right runs, it becomes much more difficult for the team to create chances.

All of our former player threads are reactionary and lacking in nuance. Højlund, Garnacho, McTominay, Rashford. It's basically all the same.
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Agree with the last part. Not sure the first applies to Hojlund this season. His hold up play is much improved which isn’t that surprising in a less physical league, and he makes good runs. KdB found him often enough.
 
Schmeichels pinky said:
Not necessarily. Unless, of course, you want to blame them. But it’s possible that a team doesn’t create chances due to no fault of their striker.

Anyway, would be nice if this thread wasn’t used as an “I told you so”-outlet. The confirmation bias is strong in here with people praising him after a single goal and others criticizing him after a game without a goal. Most of them probably without seeing one minute of Napoli’s games.
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Common theme with him though, first we weren't creating for him, Denmark weren't creating for him, now napoli aren't. At what point is it him?
 
Schmeichels pinky said:
Agree with the last part. Not sure the first applies to Hojlund this season. His hold up play is much improved which isn’t that surprising in a less physical league, and he makes good runs. KdB found him often enough.
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So he can only score when he plays with one of the best creative players of the last decade? If he has to play with players who aren't brilliant he cant be expected to get chances and score goals?
 
De Bruyne's absence is being grossly overrated. He didn't really find a lot of form at Napoli. That Sporting game is holding a lot weight here.
 
Lay said:
De Bruyne's absence is being grossly overrated. He didn't really find a lot of form at Napoli. That Sporting game is holding a lot weight here.
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They havent managed to find a good balance deploying both De Bruyne and McTominay on the left side but he does have 4 goals in 7 starts and 1 sub and clearly we know he has a lot of quality so chances are he will show it going forward. So yes still a big miss for Napoli but you're right that other than Sporting he wasnt finding Hojlund with regularity
 
Premier League is the best league on the planet with no easy games.
Serie A is not what it used to be. That’s the only difference. Of course Højlund will play better against weaker opponents, like every other player in the world.

There are big exceptions when United splash big money on a player. He just wasn’t good enough to fulfill them.
The problem was that he should have been brought in as a second striker for a lot less money and then give him 3-4 years with more and more games, and he might have been a success at United.
The mistake lies at the recruitment apartment for bringing him in as our number nine instead of a backup for a PL proven striker.

I’m from Danmark and everyone around here knew that Højlund was far from good enough to start for Manchester United.
How anyone can splash 70 million £ on young guy from Atalantas bench absolutely ridiculous.
 
Ekeke said:
They havent managed to find a good balance deploying both De Bruyne and McTominay on the left side but he does have 4 goals in 7 starts and 1 sub and clearly we know he has a lot of quality so chances are he will show it going forward. So yes still a big miss for Napoli but you're right that other than Sporting he wasnt finding Hojlund with regularity
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Those 4 goals consist for 3 penalties and a free kick that was meant to be a cross.

But yes you're right that they haven't found the balance which is why I'm not overly concerned with his injury because I feel Conte will eventually revert back to last seasons tactics so McTominay can have less of the ball but score more.
 
IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos said:
Watching him against Scotland and I can’t say I’m missing him.
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Better in the second half, but still not good enough overall. And with all due respect to the Scots, it’s not exactly PL level quality he was up against in central defense. He doesn’t get that time normally.
 
Kept wanting to post that he being Denmark's main threat gave me some hope, but didn't want to jinx it. Boy did good (not for Denmark though).
 
He’s miles off it. A better striker than him gets 2 or 3 tonight.
 
I mean, he was up against Grant Hanley, an almost 34yo Championship-at-best centre half. Fairly damning.

But did take his pen well, tbf.
 
Yeah. Rasmus is so bad it hurts. The guy has 5 goals and an assist in 5 games in the WC-qualifications. Abysmal to say the least. Sesko has how many? And how did our forwards do against Grimsbys world class CBs? We should fire all of them....or not.
 
Zico1982 said:
Yeah. Rasmus is so bad it hurts. The guy has 5 goals and an assist in 5 games in the WC-qualifications. Abysmal to say the least. Sesko has how many? And how did our forwards do against Grimsbys world class CBs? We should fire all of them....or not.
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Denmark are a bit better than Slovenia
 
Zico1982 said:
Yeah. Rasmus is so bad it hurts. The guy has 5 goals and an assist in 5 games in the WC-qualifications. Abysmal to say the least. Sesko has how many? And how did our forwards do against Grimsbys world class CBs? We should fire all of them....or not.
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You are to posting what Hojlund is to striking.
 
One thing I will actually commend him for, is how confidently he stepped up and executed the penalty. Showed a strong mentality, because he doesn't usually take them for club or country, and when it was awarded I had no clue who was going to do it - usually it's Eriksen, but he wasn't on.
 
ron86 said:
2 goals in 7 serie A games....
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Yes, if you choose to just look at the Serie A. If you look at the Serie A, the Champions League and the World Cup Quaififiers this season instead for the full picture, he is at 9 goals and an assist instead in 1039 minutes of play. That is a scorer every 103 minutes. That qualifies as pretty good in my book.
 
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