Rasmus Højlund | Signed for United

[Redstain]

And when you look at the individual players in our team who underperformed in that regard it wasn't just the strikers, it was a collective issue:
As compared to Arsenal's more reasonable spread of under/over performers.
Collective improvement is needed. If Hojlund just returns at the rate he did in Serie A he'll have done his part as a new signing, but the rest of the team has to score more too.

I've been saying this all summer and I have no idea how more fans aren't clicking on and its a topic worthy of its own thread. United will not resolve the misfiring front-line with one striker even if it was Kane / Osimhen. Every single wide attacker underperformed all year round and lacked threat. The priority should be to bring a wide attacker (perhaps even two) and a striker. Antony / Sancho realistically shouldn't be first team players if the aspiration is for the club to challenge. In the case of Antony it's not that he's a bad player but he's not productive enough at this point in his development. His responsibility should be coming off the bench behind a more prolific individual in his position.

This is where the separation is from top six to top two. If United start next season with Sancho / Antony in and around the first team as regulars it's a guarantee that the team will not exceed 4th. The attacking players aren't at the level aside Rashford.

 

[Telsim]

Need this lad badly. Probably would have been up 2 after the first 20 minutes with him up top against Lyon today.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

If you read beetween the lines, this is basically done right? Also zero links to any other candidates.

Mount+Onana+Hojlund plus some offloads (Telles, Henderson, hopefully Maguire etc) would in this context of the ownership chaos actually be a decent window

Yeah, I agree.

The ownership chaos and the FFP issues have probably limited how much business we could do - and what market (i.e. non elite level for striker) we could shop in.

But 3 good additions and, hopefully, a decent number of offloads, would turn what could have been a damage limitation window into quite a decent one. Obviously an elite #9 would have been Ideal, but clearly not possible this window.

 

[Woziak]

This is unlikely imo. ETH and the senior players reportedly would welcome him back. So unless Greenwood thinks he must start there won't be any issue imo.

Solid point if the manager welcomes him back to the squad then we should really get all the facts and make a less prejudiced decision as fans, if it happens it will be really tough for Mason, a loan is surely the best course of action first?

 

[Woziak]

Need this lad badly. Probably would have been up 2 after the first 20 minutes with him up top against Lyon today.

Hugill is worth a shot on the bench in the US tour , impressed with Dan Gote whose another 18 year old coming through

 

[MDFC Manager]

Is Rasmus press resistant?

Haven’t seen it confirmed and anxious to know before I decide if we should buy him or not.

Sorry why is that important? He's not going to playing in midfield or defence.

 

[windycityfan]

I've been saying this all summer and I have no idea how more fans aren't clicking on and its a topic worthy of its own thread. United will not resolve the misfiring front-line with one striker even if it was Kane / Osimhen. Every single wide attacker underperformed all year round and lacked threat. The priority should be to bring a wide attacker (perhaps even two) and a striker. Antony / Sancho realistically shouldn't be first team players if the aspiration is for the club to challenge. In the case of Antony it's not that he's a bad player but he's not productive enough at this point in his development. His responsibility should be coming off the bench behind a more prolific individual in his position.

This is where the separation is from top six to top two. If United start next season with Sancho / Antony in and around the first team as regulars it's a guarantee that the team will not exceed 4th. The attacking players aren't at the level aside Rashford.

Because it’s crazy to consider this plausible- giving up on players after one year under Ten Hag, or the fact that there’s a finite amount of resources, combined with a glut of wide attackers to begin with.

The striker should open up opportunities for the wide attackers, and viceversa.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Not arsed about fee. Just buy him. We sooooo desperately need a striker

 

[tenpoless]

Is Rasmus press resistant?

He can just pretend he doesnt speak english. No press would bother him then.

 

[Strelok]

If you read beetween the lines, this is basically done right?

Basically yes unless there'd be a new competitor or something out of blue.

 

[peridigm]

Would be nice to get him on the tour so he can integrate with the rest of the squad. With Onana being wrapped up, maybe we can get this over the line by next week and he can join in later.

 

[johannes_fd]

Exciting if we sign him, though i do not expect him to light Premier League on fire consistantly. Hopefully he will have good periods of form, though there will no doubt be ups and downs.

Honestly i expect he will be rotated frequently and often aswell, especially if Martial is available and in good form. He's only 20 and he scored well in europe and for Denmark, but 9 goals in 32 games in Serie A isnt a sign of a finished product.

 

[Dempsey19]

Exciting if we sign him, though i do not expect him to light Premier League on fire consistantly. Hopefully he will have good periods of form, though there will no doubt be ups and downs.

Honestly i expect he will be rotated frequently and often aswell, especially if Martial is available and in good form. He's only 20 and he scored well in europe and for Denmark, but 9 goals in 32 games in Serie A isnt a sign of a finished product.

So he'll never be rotated.

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

That's the part where you lose me to be honest. Don't go along with this whole 'one side would never lie, one side must be completely guilty' attitude to all cases. I prefer to leave it to the criminal system to weigh up all the evidence on an individual basis and make a judgement based on that. Rather than adopt a sweeping, biased view one way or the other based on very little evidence and mostly pre-conceived judgements.

I'm not talking about all cases. I am talking about these specific cases. I didn't for example include the allegation against Jonny Evans because it seemed at the time there was talk about the complainant's boyfriend having reported it as an act of revenge. Although its worth noting that at the party where it happened the 100 handpicked female invitees (models and workers at manchester boutiques) were being treated like "cattle at a meat market" and that "female guests were reduced to tears by the lascivious behaviour of some and the "out-of-control" atmosphere which culminated in the rape accusation". Not a great look at all.

Not addressed at you but it is interesting to see who gets defensive on here when you criticise wifebeaters and rapists.

 

[top1whoisman]

Must say I'm slowly falling in love with this player. He has no fear. I'm confident he will justify whatever fee we willl pay for him. It's time to burn some cash. Hope we don't waste it on someone else.

Although I'm as guilty as anyone else when it comes to hyping new players who come to the club. Anyway I believe he will be at his best between October & April. After that he could be shot but likewise he could be still standing.

Rasmus - you've been in the shadows in Austria prior to your move to Atalanta, it feels like I've been living' in a world without you prior to this. It's like this is the first day of my life. This is my paradise. Never been happier in my life.

To be honest I'm a mess. Hope this opportunity doesn't sail away from us.

Let's see how many you get.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

I'm not talking about all cases. I am talking about these specific cases. I didn't for example include the allegation against Jonny Evans because it seemed at the time there was talk about the complainant's boyfriend having reported it as an act of revenge. Although its worth noting that at the party where it happened the 100 handpicked female invitees (models and workers at manchester boutiques) were being treated like "cattle at a meat market" and that "female guests were reduced to tears by the lascivious behaviour of some and the "out-of-control" atmosphere which culminated in the rape accusation". Not a great look at all.

Not addressed at you but it is interesting to see who gets defensive on here when you criticise wifebeaters and rapists.

I think you missed out the word 'alleged', if you're still referring to the cases you said you were - that were all dropped or found not guilty.

Not sure how many 'get defensive' about the criticism of ones found guilty of it - and if you're only talking about those cases then I agree, that's telling. But as you said you were specifically talking about the three cases that were all dropped / found not guilty, then I'd say it's also interesting and telling that you used the phrase 'wifebeaters and rapists' about those accused but not found guilty of it.

I'd guess that's what some 'get defensive' about - feeling it's unfair, and libellous / slanderous, to deliberately describe them as that when they haven't been found guilty of it.

 

[EisernSchild]

Erling Haaland 19yo 2019 RB Salzburg

• scoring 20 goals in 11 out of 22 games (Austria national games) - RB Salzburg 2019/2020 total 110 goals in Bundesliga
• scoring 8 goals in 5 out of 6 games (CL Group stage)
• 1444min - 53 min/goal - 4 penalties

Rasmus Højlund 19yo 2022 Sturm Graz

• scoring 11 goals in 8 out of 19 games (Austria national games) - Sturm Graz 2021/22 total 62 goals in Bundesliga
• scoring 1 goal in 1 out of 2 games (CL Qualifikation)
• 1811min - 150 min/goal - 1 penalty

That's a much better stat for 19yo Haaland, but you have to see that RB Salzburg scored 110 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga in the season in question, while Sturm Graz managed just 62 goals. So Haaland played in the much better team at that age. Højlund scored twice in a game against RB Salzburg, while Haaland failed to score against Sturm Graz.

 

[skc_18]

Basically yes unless there'd be a new competitor or something out of blue.

We did not have competition for both Mount, Onana and seems to be the case with Hojlund too .. Last season too , we did not have much competition for the players we bought except may be Eriksen. Depending on how you look, either players we signed only wanted to play for us or we are buying players other clubs are not interested ( due to price or already loaded up in those positions etc) .

 

[Cantonalegod]

Exciting if we sign him, though i do not expect him to light Premier League on fire consistantly. Hopefully he will have good periods of form, though there will no doubt be ups and downs.

Honestly i expect he will be rotated frequently and often aswell, especially if Martial is available and in good form. He's only 20 and he scored well in europe and for Denmark, but 9 goals in 32 games in Serie A isnt a sign of a finished product.

But it was actually 9 goals in the equivalent minutes of 20 and a half games, not 32

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

If you read beetween the lines, this is basically done right? Also zero links to any other candidates.

Mount+Onana+Hojlund plus some offloads (Telles, Henderson, hopefully Maguire etc) would in this context of the ownership chaos actually be a decent window

I wonder whether we need to sell someone for decent money before we can complete it though?

 

[ROFLUTION]

Erling Haaland 19yo 2019 RB Salzburg

• scoring 20 goals in 11 out of 22 games (Austria national games) - RB Salzburg 2019/2020 total 110 goals in Bundesliga
• scoring 8 goals in 5 out of 6 games (CL Group stage)
• 1444min - 53 min/goal - 4 penalties

Rasmus Højlund 19yo 2022 Sturm Graz

• scoring 11 goals in 8 out of 19 games (Austria national games) - Sturm Graz 2021/22 total 62 goals in Bundesliga
• scoring 1 goal in 1 out of 2 games (CL Qualifikation)
• 1811min - 150 min/goal - 1 penalty

That's a much better stat for 19yo Haaland, but you have to see that RB Salzburg scored 110 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga in the season in question, while Sturm Graz managed just 62 goals. So Haaland played in the much better team at that age. Højlund scored twice in a game against RB Salzburg, while Haaland failed to score against Sturm Graz.

Haaland is the benchmark striker everyone would like to be, but I really doubt Højlund will ever reach that level.

stats are stats but on the eyetest he’s just not as clinical, but I do think he has more vision and his off the ball movement and workrate is really impressive too.

 

[TheNewEra]

Haaland is the benchmark striker everyone would like to be, but I really doubt Højlund will ever reach that level.

stats are stats but on the eyetest he’s just not as clinical, but I do think he has more vision and his off the ball movement and workrate is really impressive too.

Its useless to compare against Haaland though, he will go down as one of the best finishers of this generation.

United cant just go out and buy a Haaland we can talk about maybe Kane but hes obviously a lot older.

 

[Berbaclass]

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[Berbasbullet]

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What on earth does that mean?

 

[honirelandboy]

Its useless to compare against Haaland though, he will go down as one of the best finishers of this generation.

United cant just go out and buy a Haaland we can talk about maybe Kane but hes obviously a lot older.

Haaland isn’t that good of a good finisher, he just gets in the right positions, there’s a huge difference. He’s a freak of nature athletic wise.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Hot sun.

 

[Berbaclass]

What on earth does that mean?

I thought it was a Partridge reference but didn’t see the relevance

 

[Red in STL]

Haaland isn’t that good of a good finisher, he just gets in the right positions, there’s a huge difference. He’s a freak of nature athletic wise.

Fecks sake, you don't score 50 odd goals in a season without being a good finisher

 

[Berbaclass]

Fecks sake, you don't score 50 odd goals in a season without being a good finisher

He’s no better than most IMO.

 

[Berbaclass]

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[Widow]

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A face only a mother could love!

 

[sourdough satellite]

He’s no better than most IMO.

He outscored his xG by a significant amount the last 3 seasons, while the vast majority stay at or below their xG.

 

[Syphon Wallet]

He’s no better than most IMO.

He's a fantastic finisher, really manipulates his frame well to get the right connection and direction on his finishes

 

[HackeyC]

He outscored his xG by a significant amount the last 3 seasons, while the vast majority stay at or below their xG.

A bit like Kane. When a player outperforms their xg season after season then it means there is something about how they finish that just makes them better. XG is a stat, it can't ever capture every variable. Reading the subtle movements of a keeper, giving them the eyes so they misread your intent just two examples, clearly Kane and Haaland have that quality.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

It's pretty obvious that Haaland is a 'generational talent', and that the likes of him, Kane, Mbappe are the kinds of top tier strikers that are completely unobtainable / out of our price range this summer.

But as we're not able to go for anyone of that calibre, then the discussion is just really about which of the tiers below is affordable, attainable, and would best suit us as a #9 in ETH's opinion.

From reports, he seems to be set on that being Hojlund. And, given the other affordable / attainable options, that seems a perfectly valid choice to me.

I like the look of him as already a pretty good all round #9, and given his age and current ability, he's definitely got the potential to continue to further improve over the next few years.

Would I have preferred Haaland or Kane? Definitely. But perfectly happy to back ETH's call for Hojlund when the other mooted options are the likes of Ramos, Muani, Taremi - not Kane, Haaland, Mbappe...

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

A face only a mother could love!

Look, Goldbridge is a fecking spanner, but he can’t help his looks.

 

[giggs-beckham]

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Looks like Psycho

 

[Red in STL]

Looks like Psycho

Spoiler: He does a bit

 

[L1nk]

What on earth does that mean?

Goldbridge is a spanner but to be fair to him he’s been saying for a few months now (whilst nobody else was mentioning Hojlund) that actually we’re very into him, and he’s been repeating this on his shows for a while, calling the transfer “hotter than the sun”. Hojlund has been following him and Harry Pinero on Instagram for months now cause he’s a United fan and he’s basically dm’d them stuff about what’s going on, for Goldbridge it was his hotter than the sun reference, basically letting him know he’s acknowledging that something is happening now.

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[SalfordRed18]

Goldbridge and HP have stitched him right up