9
-
The World Cup 2026 Forum is now open.
Good lad, a bit of fighting spirit never hurt anyone.
A good chunk of how tragic he was last season was likely down to factors beyond his control as well. His very untimely injury, the managerial and subsequently system change, no real reliable source of supply apart from Bruno. Basically whatever could go wrong, did go wrong for him.
I'm eager to see how it goes for him this season but really can't see the attributes which would suggest that he can lead the line for us long term. That has to be someone else. He's a perfectly good second choice striker.
I'm eager to see how it goes for him this season but really can't see the attributes which would suggest that he can lead the line for us long term. That has to be someone else. He's a perfectly good second choice striker.
Go on then, son. I’m rooting for you.
He can fight as much as he likes, it'll not change the fact he's rubbish and will be replaced within the next month
Must be an ITK, who are we getting in that is guaranteed to replace him and be better?
Agree. Clearly we need an additional striker, but happy he’s got this attitude.
The entire squad, probably bar Bruno was well under par. He’s not as bad as many make out, and if we go back a year, we would say he had a promising first season.
Fair play to him. But if the club flat out tells him they want him gone then he would have to reconsider. For what it's worth Ornstein and Whitwell have been saying for a while Hojlund could end up leaving, but it's not something we've flatly told him yet.
If we were in Europe, I wouldn't be against having both him and Sesko (or a new CF) as our 2 options up front. Zirkzee, Mount, Mbeumo, Cunha could be the #10s, with Amad and Bruno as further options.
But with no Europe if both Hojlund and a new CF are there, that essentially means zero opportunities for Chido, and also extremely limited minutes for Zirkzee, be it at #9 or 10.
I do think that another striker to take some of the goalscoring weight away from Hojlund might benefit him. I still think there's a player in there somewhere.
Its not that when players we dont like want to stay. Everyone's saying they need to get out
Championship players have great attitude too.
Who?
Gernacho walking around in a Villa strip with Rashford on the back?
Rashford doing interviews saying he wants to play with Yamal?
Anthony saying his time at Utd was/is the worst period of his life?
Sancho with his freedom dig?
The only one who I feel for is Malacia who just isn’t good enough.
When have any of these guys come out and said they still want Utd and want to fight for their place?
Onana? Got pelters on here for wanting to stay when we say isn't good enough. Likes of lindelof, shaw all players we wanted to move on as fans but got grief on here for not leaving
Good! He should stay especially when we get in a striker. Takes the limelight away from him. Give him one season under Amorim.
Hojlund has great attitude and he has an acceleration that can outrun many players!
He’ll ask to leave if national call-ups drying up,
He had a good game and it was another step in the right direction after a decent outing against West Ham, the goal was a collectors item as I don't think he has scored with his head before but he did a good job of moving in the box to lose his defender and then get a deft touch to the cross, he also pressed well in coordination with Mount and Amad and linked up play including some nice one touch stuff with Amad in particular. It is baby steps and one swallow doesn't make a spring but it is at least encouraging that we saw a version of Hojlund last night that would be a decent rotation option for us in the PL, the million dollar question is can he string together a run of performances at this level. I did find it interesting that during half time the panel were discussing him and they mentioned that they had been at United training the day before the game and he looked really good but then in games it seemed as though he tightened up which would suggest that the issue is more of a mental one, the weight of the shirt and being the only out and out striker putting him under pressure to succeed.
If we do indeed sign a striker we may well decide to tell Rasmus his time is up but equally we might opt to move Zirkzee instead, nobody knows for sure what Amorim truly thinks of either of his current striker options as like most managers he has backed them both quite strongly in public. I do also think there is a decent chance he decides to keep both this season unless a sale is critical to balance the books. I can see Zirkzee being used as more of a utility option covering the number 10 positions and also being a backup to the strikers in the event Sesko and or Hojlund are unavailable as he is a fairly unique player. It may be that we defer any long term decision on the future of Rasmus and Zirkzee until they have a season or at least half a season playing in a functional version of Amorim's system so that he can properly assess if they can contribute.
If we do indeed sign a striker we may well decide to tell Rasmus his time is up but equally we might opt to move Zirkzee instead, nobody knows for sure what Amorim truly thinks of either of his current striker options as like most managers he has backed them both quite strongly in public. I do also think there is a decent chance he decides to keep both this season unless a sale is critical to balance the books. I can see Zirkzee being used as more of a utility option covering the number 10 positions and also being a backup to the strikers in the event Sesko and or Hojlund are unavailable as he is a fairly unique player. It may be that we defer any long term decision on the future of Rasmus and Zirkzee until they have a season or at least half a season playing in a functional version of Amorim's system so that he can properly assess if they can contribute.
Don't mind if he's still here next season, just as long as he's not first choice.
You’re seriously twisting what Antony said there about an extremely difficult time in his personal life.
Much, much better in this game. Still not great or anything, but it was probably the best he's played in over 12 months.
He's been improving each game this preseason. First game was no better than how he played last season. Second game was a small improvement. And now a fairly significant improvement in the third. Is it possible that he'll improve again in the fourth?
I've been a very vocal critic of his performances over the last six months or so, but if (and it is a very big 'if') he can maintain these kinds of performances I'm happy for him to stay as a squad player. Unfortunately I don't think he will maintain that level.
He's been improving each game this preseason. First game was no better than how he played last season. Second game was a small improvement. And now a fairly significant improvement in the third. Is it possible that he'll improve again in the fourth?
I've been a very vocal critic of his performances over the last six months or so, but if (and it is a very big 'if') he can maintain these kinds of performances I'm happy for him to stay as a squad player. Unfortunately I don't think he will maintain that level.
Comfortable in terms of not playing to his best as he’s no competitionHe definitely didn't look comfortable last season
He will be better as a backup though, he clearly doesn't have the mentality to be relied upon. The hope is he'll have less pressure as a sub. I'd still send him out on loan though.
Agree. He should never have been first choice. We have had him for two seasons now and he is just 22 years old. We bought him at the wrong time.
I think we should keep him and let him earn his time on the pitch.
I always thought it would be fine to keep him around even if we sign a striker. If we buy someone and sell/loan out Højlund, then we're back to only having one recognised out and out striker plus a youth player.
Apperently he went begging for someone to ask him questions after the game after no one requested him for an interview.
After just one solitary goal in pre-season.
Almost like he's thinking he won't get the chance to get interviewed again anytime soon cos he won't score for another two months.
After just one solitary goal in pre-season.
Almost like he's thinking he won't get the chance to get interviewed again anytime soon cos he won't score for another two months.
Nice to see him score a header and had some decent touches from the highlights.
It's time to let it go mate.
Apparently according to who?
I'm not a Hojlund fan. I don't think he's anywhere near good enough and should be sold, but this just sounds like needless hate if someone genuinely said that.
Showed a lot of fight last evening and was rewarded with a goal too. His passing is shocking though. He messes up simple passes a few yards away. He did a lot of good work by holding the ball at times to lose it 5 seconds later.
He was OK against Bournemouth. Did well for his goal, but so many attacks broke down when they came to him, his touch and control need some serious improvement, his passing was poor as well.
Kid is well on the way to developing a fine Mancunian accent.
Does he have this great acceleration that people have gone on about? I’ve barely seen anything like it on the pitch because his movement and positioning is so poor that he’s always starting on the back foot and easily outdone by defenders
It doesn’t translate to any ball carrying ability either.
Nice lad, good attitude but he’s had two years here now and he’s not up to being a top level striker for this club
Good lad!
Amorim is the only person at the club who can tell him that, and he'd have done so already were it the case. Not like the bloke's been shy about telling the players he doesn't want to find a new club. If he'd given up on Hojlund, he'd be training with Garnacho and company rather than on tour starting games.
Umm that's not how it works. He wanted the likes of Garnacho etc out for attitude and disciplinary reasons. Hojlund has no such issues.
His issue is we may be able to get a player of higher quality who plays in his position. Until we have that player there is no reason for Amorim or anyone to ask Hojlund to leave. Once we get that player, then you have that conversation with Hojlund.
There's an article about him on the BBC football page at the moment in which the author states
"The numbers are not terrible. But they include a run of five goals in four games last season and eight in eight the campaign before - two sequences which, if they are removed, leave just 13 goals in 83 appearances."
So... if you take away half of his goals for absolutely no good reason, then he has only scored half as many goals as he has actually scored...... what a great bit of writing that is
"The numbers are not terrible. But they include a run of five goals in four games last season and eight in eight the campaign before - two sequences which, if they are removed, leave just 13 goals in 83 appearances."
So... if you take away half of his goals for absolutely no good reason, then he has only scored half as many goals as he has actually scored...... what a great bit of writing that is
Well I imagine what they are insinuating is that he can find random purple patches for a handful of games which would make him look like a slightly more consistent scorer than he actually is.
I get what they are insinuating, I just think it's a false argument. You can say 26 goals in 95 games isn't a great return, but for me it's a cnut's trick to then say "and if you take away half of them he looks even worse. Hey, if we take away half Liverpool's points from last season, did you know they would finish mid-table?
I get what you're saying, 26 goals is 26 goals. But I do think there is an added concern when they are incredibly patchy and he can go weeks or months without scoring.
Think this was one of his better games for a long time. Some good runs and interplay compared to last season. Looks more like a football player!
Didn't feel like he didn't belong, for me Casemiro and Dalot stood out in a negative sense in what was a very good game.
Didn't feel like he didn't belong, for me Casemiro and Dalot stood out in a negative sense in what was a very good game.
Great interview that. Love his positivity.
He’s not a priority to sell, the priority is to find a new starting CF. His salary isn’t outrageous and he can stay and fight for his place, perhaps the competition will help him find another level. If he doesn’t develop then he can be moved on next summer.