Rasmus Hojlund | Napoli player

[foggybottom]

Maybe it's just me but I get Lingard vibes from Hojlund. He just doesn't come across as a serious professional. 22 years old, 23 in February but he feels a lot younger than that in the way he carries himself.

Scores a goal for the first time in months but makes sure to get in his silly little "trademark" celebration. Gives interviews about wanting to stay when the club clearly wants to move him on and he's shown nothing to justify another chance in 12 months...

He'd probably look pretty good in Serie A or La Liga but he's happy to continue stinking out the joint at United.

absolutely the opposite: he come across very professional. He may have faults but work ethic is not one of them

 

[Hip Hop]

He is not good enough, no sentiment here we need to be ruthless and sell him asap. Of course he will improve but he is so far away from the level that we need that it’s pointless. We shouldn’t keep under-performers players more than two seasons, a rule that we need badly if we want to be competitive long term.

The same for Onana.

 

[Lash]

I see him playing FAR better with Cunha and Mbuemo flanking him. Both him and Zirkzee will benefit greatly.

Especially if we bring in another midfielder too.

People writing him off too quickly. Last season was a disaster and the young players were always going to underperform.

I totally agree we can't go into the season with him being the main striker with no rotation option. I don't think that means we have to sell him. I think with the 10s improving our creativity, along with a midfielder, he will see more opportunities and hopefully will translate to touches in the box.

 

[bosnian_red]

Do we reckon there is a player in there, just his confidence and the lack of supply has just crushed his game, I mean first season he had a few purple patches and definitely showed his potential. I might just be coping but if we added Mbuemo and boosted the rest of the team do we think he might be able to get enough goals and grow in confidence as the season goes.

Nah, I think he's the #1 reason for the lack of goals in the team. It's not a lack of supply issue, it's a lack of movement, lack of ability. Everything breaks down at his feet, he is clueless in the box, he has no ability. If we don't sign a striker, Chido Obi will quickly work his way in front of Hojlund in the pecking order as he actually has a strikers instincts and knows how to move in the box to get chances.

 

[Idxomer]

If the hope is for Cunha and Mbeuno to create a high number of tap-ins to make him look good, United might as well play anybody there. It's much more likely he will continue to affect the attacking play negatively with his poor hold-up play and terrible movement.

Getting a new striker is necessary for Amorim to be successful. If that doesn't happen, it would be better to play without one than to start Hojlund.

 

[ron86]

Too many people just live in hope for players. At his best he's currently a Sunderland level striker and if he improves he could reach the level of an Everton level striker, just nowhere near good enough for a side with real ambitions.

 

[Tallis]

At this point I believe anyone suggesting Hojlund has any future at all here can't possibly be a United supporter.

LOL!

If Amorim decides to keep him, how will you regard him ?

 

[TempusFugit]

Clunkiest striker in the PL. Even when he takes a proper touch he takes at least a second to turn his body around and keep moving. Sometimes he gets the ball at his feet and instead of taking the initiative and moving it on he tries to back into the CB and fight him off rather than progress the ball. It's why he's so easily knocked off balance. Martial was a much smaller striker at 181cm but he was far more difficult to knock off the ball. I remember Martial being heavily criticized for not being "good enough" for Man Utd, he's a literal footballing god compared to this guy. You do have to wonder what some of our scouts watch. Years ago we used to sign genuine quality even if they didn't end up lighting it up here like Mata, Martial, Pogba. Players you could look at and see the undeniable talent, actual footballers. Nowadays we sign the likes Højlund, Onana and i don't even know what we're supposed to be looking at. It will be one of football's greatest miracles if Højlund makes it here. He's done imo.

 

[The Firestarter]

LOL!

If Amorim decides to keep him, how will you regard him ?

Its not Amorim's decion. Its obvious to him and anyone in the club that he's not suited for this level.

 

[Doracle]

Nah, I think he's the #1 reason for the lack of goals in the team. It's not a lack of supply issue, it's a lack of movement, lack of ability. Everything breaks down at his feet, he is clueless in the box, he has no ability. If we don't sign a striker, Chido Obi will quickly work his way in front of Hojlund in the pecking order as he actually has a strikers instincts and knows how to move in the box to get chances.

Agree with this. I think Mbeumo particularly will struggle with Hojlund in the team as he will get nothing from his CF. I would 100% prefer to still have Sancho in the squad than Hojlund this season, as he’s far less damaging as an option. It’s absolutely imperative to our prospects that Hojlund is away from the club this summer.

 

[ron86]

LOL!

If Amorim decides to keep him, how will you regard him ?

Let's not frame this as amorims decision. If we keep him its because we couldn't replace him

 

[bosnian_red]

Agree with this. I think Mbeumo particularly will struggle with Hojlund in the team as he will get nothing from his CF. I would 100% prefer to still have Sancho in the squad than Hojlund this season, as he’s far less damaging as an option. It’s absolutely imperative to our prospects that Hojlund is away from the club this summer.

I'd rather appease Rashford and shove him up top than use Hojlund next season. Never happening, but I do think that if we don't sign a striker then Amorim will get the sack before long. Nobody has a chance without one. Best we could do is Zirkzee is the main CF and hope we can find a source of goals.

 

[Tallis]

Let's not frame this as amorims decision. If we keep him its because we couldn't replace him

He is not on the list of the 5 players that we want to sell this summer, which includes Garna. If we are so desperate to sell him, he would be part of the shortlist,

 

[Lash]

Nah, I think he's the #1 reason for the lack of goals in the team. It's not a lack of supply issue, it's a lack of movement, lack of ability. Everything breaks down at his feet, he is clueless in the box, he has no ability. If we don't sign a striker, Chido Obi will quickly work his way in front of Hojlund in the pecking order as he actually has a strikers instincts and knows how to move in the box to get chances.

I don't know how you watched us and think this to be honest. None of our wingers can cross well, neither can our wing backs. Bruno is the only real creative passer from deep and maybe Casemiro (became much better on the ball later in the season). I don't think any one could tell you how we create chances last season, as far as I could see, it was mainly making overloads witht he wingbacks and big switches of play. That require proper 10s and wingbacks to find good passes, which they rarely did - that's why everyone is clamouring for Amad to play RWB.

I think Dorgu will be better this season, having bedded in. I think Cunha and potentially Mbuemo will give us way better creativity and a goal threat, which will make space for him. Him and Garnacho were not a good combo, because they essentially wanted to do the same thing. Obi is fecking miles off it physically to get past Hojlund. He may have instinct when it comes to movment, but his finishing is tame. He'll need to have come on a massive amount for what you say to happen.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

He is not on the list of the 5 players that we want to sell this summer, which includes Garna. If we are so desperate to sell him, he would be part of the shortlist,

Rashford, Sancho and Garna are all on that list due to attitude issues.

Malacia and Antony just aren’t anywhere near good enough and have barely played for the club.

Rasmus - we aren’t desperate to sell, but may well do if we got a decent offer for him, and able to replace him.

We can’t sell him at the moment as then we have no strikers.

 

[robinrooney]

Rashford, Sancho and Garna are all on that list due to attitude issues.

Malacia and Antony just aren’t anywhere near good enough and have barely played for the club.

Rasmus - we aren’t desperate to sell, but may well do if we got a decent offer for him, and able to replace him.

We can’t sell him at the moment as then we have no strikers.

We have no striker when he is on the pitch so what's the difference?

 

[bosnian_red]

I don't know how you watched us and think this to be honest. None of our wingers can cross well, neither can our wing backs. Bruno is the only real creative passer from deep and maybe Casemiro (became much better on the ball later in the season). I don't think any one could tell you how we create chances last season, as far as I could see, it was mainly making overloads witht he wingbacks and big switches of play. That require proper 10s and wingbacks to find good passes, which they rarely did - that's why everyone is clamouring for Amad to play RWB.

I think Dorgu will be better this season, having bedded in. I think Cunha and potentially Mbuemo will give us way better creativity and a goal threat, which will make space for him. Him and Garnacho were not a good combo, because they essentially wanted to do the same thing. Obi is fecking miles off it physically to get past Hojlund. He may have instinct when it comes to movment, but his finishing is tame. He'll need to have come on a massive amount for what you say to happen.

I think this because Hojlund is always among the bottom in the league for stats like shots and touches in the box and is entirely incapable of creating chances for himself. We literally create more with shoving Maguire up top, Chido Obi is a child has gets more shots per 90 off and has a higher xG/90, Zirkzee isn't a real striker and likewise, gets more shots off than Hojlund.

How can you have watched Hojlund these past 2 seasons and not seen that the ball bounces off him constantly and the absolute best we can hope from him in any game is that he angles his foot properly for the ball to bounce off him to our teammates as an adequate lay off? He provides no threat at all to opposition defences and gets bullied game after game.

He's a CF, a CF is supposed to be a threat to defenders, someone who can look like scoring goals and make something out of nothing on occasion and be a handful. I honestly couldn't be critical enough about him. He's a dog shit football player and nowhere near being good enough for this league. Maybe it's because he's somewhat young and lost confidence, but that doesn't matter. What matters is the level he's playing at. And the level he's playing at wouldn't be acceptable in the championship, let alone the prem or Manchester United. If he starts for us next season still, then we are fully fecked.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

He is not good enough, no sentiment here we need to be ruthless and sell him asap. Of course he will improve but he is so far away from the level that we need that it’s pointless. We shouldn’t keep under-performers players more than two seasons, a rule that we need badly if we want to be competitive long term.

The same for Onana.

Agreed but his price will be very low after the shocking season he had, that we might just send him on loan to raise his value before selling.

He might as well just do Anthony and play blinders and attract zero clubs anyway.

 

[Lash]

I think this because Hojlund is always among the bottom in the league for stats like shots and touches in the box and is entirely incapable of creating chances for himself. We literally create more with shoving Maguire up top, Chido Obi is a child has gets more shots per 90 off and has a higher xG/90, Zirkzee isn't a real striker and likewise, gets more shots off than Hojlund.

How can you have watched Hojlund these past 2 seasons and not seen that the ball bounces off him constantly and the absolute best we can hope from him in any game is that he angles his foot properly for the ball to bounce off him to our teammates as an adequate lay off? He provides no threat at all to opposition defences and gets bullied game after game.

He's a CF, a CF is supposed to be a threat to defenders, someone who can look like scoring goals and make something out of nothing on occasion and be a handful. I honestly couldn't be critical enough about him. He's a dog shit football player and nowhere near being good enough for this league. Maybe it's because he's somewhat young and lost confidence, but that doesn't matter. What matters is the level he's playing at. And the level he's playing at wouldn't be acceptable in the championship, let alone the prem or Manchester United. If he starts for us next season still, then we are fully fecked.

Yeah, because it's not a hard skill to lob it up to a 6ft 4 CB and cause chaos. Obi has 160 odd minutes of prem football, you can't bring his stats up in a serious conversation. I'm not denying he's been bad, but you've also got to have a team that actually creates chances, we don't do that with or without him on the pitch.

I have been critical of him, he does need to improve massively and he shouldn't be our number 1 striker next season, but we can't just pretend the season before he showed obvious qualities. Even the last game against Villa, his anticipation and speed was the reason Martinez got sent off. This season was a disaster for everyone involved and I expect everyone to show a different level next season.

I mean Mainoo was genuinely dreadful last season, should we sell him? I think you've obviously got to look at their qualities and how to get the best out of them. I don't think Hojlunds qualities are conducive to him being our starting striker right now, but he's been put in a position where he hasn't dealt with the pressure and he's suffered for it. I think you could say the same with Mainoo, Erik's system suited them both better, but that's not to say they can't be effective within the team.

 

[Andycoleno9]

First season you can give a player pass. Second season you can blame him for being poor. Third season; it is on manager.
I don't know why Amorim is not ruthless towards him like he was with other players.

When Hojlund says that he "wants to stay and fight" it means that Amorim said to him that he is in his plans. If Amorim said to him that he is 3rd or 4th option, Hojlund would push for move.

 

[golden_blunder]

I’ll be honest, he’s a player I never wanted and generally just can’t stand; huge amounts of bias against him on my part. I just think he’s dreadful, despite his flat-track-bully number padding.

He was good in a counter attacking team (Everton) and he did well in Italy because they couldn’t handle his physical attributes (see McTominay, Scott), but he was middling to poor for us and reeked the whole place out at Chelsea. Plus he’s a whiny c**t.

Hey that’s Mourinho’s Sargent you’re talking about

 

[Big Ben Foster]

First season you can give a player pass. Second season you can blame him for being poor. Third season; it is on manager.
I don't know why Amorim is not ruthless towards him like he was with other players.

When Hojlund says that he "wants to stay and fight" it means that Amorim said to him that he is in his plans. If Amorim said to him that he is 3rd or 4th option, Hojlund would push for move.

One of the problems with giving managers wide latitude over squad building is that they tend to be hoarders. We've seen this time and time again over the years, where we'd be better off selling a player while he still has some value, but the manager inexplicably decides he's happy for the player to stay and fight for his place.

 

[romufc]

First season you can give a player pass. Second season you can blame him for being poor. Third season; it is on manager.
I don't know why Amorim is not ruthless towards him like he was with other players.

When Hojlund says that he "wants to stay and fight" it means that Amorim said to him that he is in his plans. If Amorim said to him that he is 3rd or 4th option, Hojlund would push for move.

You cant just banish most of the squad to the reserves... there has to be reasonings too. The players banished deserve it based on their out of football attitude.

What does it help Amorim, to banish him having no one to play?

 

[Andycoleno9]

You cant just banish most of the squad to the reserves... there has to be reasonings too. The players banished deserve it based on their out of football attitude.

What does it help Amorim, to banish him having no one to play?

Who said anything about reserves? I said tell him that he is last option (whicch means 4th option if we buy new striker). It is not the same saying to player that he will get his chance or saying to him that he is last in packing order.

 

[romufc]

Who said anything about reserves? I said tell him that he is last option (whicch means 4th option if we buy new striker). It is not the same saying to player that he will get his chance or saying to him that he is last in packing order.

Well, you mentioned other players... Rashford, Anthony, Sancho, Malacia, Garnacho have been told not to report to pre season duties when everyone else is...

Also, the manager cant just get rid of players he doesn't think are good because we will have no one left in the squad for the season.

 

[worldinmotion66]

I really don’t understand the amount of hate Hojlund is getting, it’s like everyone’s ignoring the performances of the rest of the squad and forgetting about his decent first season. Hes a young kid leading the line for one of the biggest and most scrutinised clubs in the world. Hes shown glimpses of his quality, and of the attributes required to be a top player. Yes last season was bad and his confidence is low, but there’s a player in there and I think it’s unfair to write him off. Zirkzee is young too and adapting to the pace of the league, both have been unfairly relied upon because the club has been run poorly and our transfer strategy has been shambolic. There’s no way two young strikers should’ve been thrown in at the deep end without at least an older head to mentor them and take some of that burden. There’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water, let’s just run a new bath with a clean slate and give the guy a bit of help along the way.

 

[IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos]

I really don’t understand the amount of hate Hojlund is getting, it’s like everyone’s ignoring the performances of the rest of the squad and forgetting about his decent first season. Hes a young kid leading the line for one of the biggest and most scrutinised clubs in the world. Hes shown glimpses of his quality, and of the attributes required to be a top player. Yes last season was bad and his confidence is low, but there’s a player in there and I think it’s unfair to write him off. Zirkzee is young too and adapting to the pace of the league, both have been unfairly relied upon because the club has been run poorly and our transfer strategy has been shambolic. There’s no way two young strikers should’ve been thrown in at the deep end without at least an older head to mentor them and take some of that burden. There’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water, let’s just run a new bath with a clean slate and give the guy a bit of help along the way.

I’ve got a soft spot for Hojlund, ‘cause god bless him, he’s a trier. He’s not sh*t for lack of effort.

I still think, given his age, there’s a player in there and that player hasn’t been allowed to flourish because we’ve badly mismanaged him and thrown him to the wolves. The ideal scenario would’ve been for him to understudy a Van Persie, a Rooney, a Cavani, an Ibra. We threw him in at the deep end and he drowned.

However, he was so spectacularly awful last season, I don’t think there’s any chance it happens at United. He might go and do well elsewhere, but I think the ship has sailed at Old Trafford. It’s not all on him, the club is massively culpable, but last season was unforgivably bad.

He’s got into a physical duel with a defender…

He’s lost and fallen over…

He’s appealing for a free kick…

Play on says the ref…

Correctly so…

Again.

 

[aeh1991]

Now that Atalanta is selling Retegui to a Saudi club, we could hope they would go for their former player.

 

[RDCR07]

Now that Atalanta is selling Retegui to a Saudi club, we could hope they would go for their former player.

His former manager is at Roma. They need a striker too.

 

[golden_blunder]

absolutely the opposite: he come across very professional. He may have faults but work ethic is not one of them

And work ethic (despite people continuing this narrative) was not lingards problem either.

 

[Nebel]

I still like him...his work rate is something I really appreciate, but it seems like his confidence (like many others here) is shot to shit. I had hoped that he'd go out on loan. The pressure to be brought in, as the top striker was too much, we should've had an experienced striker that he could learn from, then developed him. This was a catastrophe from the beginning, but I cannot solely blame the lad.

 

[Wand of a right foot]

Candidate for the worst striker we've had since the inception of the PL.

 

[GreatDane]

Candidate for the worst striker we've had since the inception of the PL.

Disagree. Last season was shit, from him but also from everyone else.

His confidence was shot at the end but if our selfish wingers had passed more (looking at you Garnacho) then it could have been an entirely different outcome.

I would definitely like an established upgrade but there's a player in hlm.

 

[MadDogg]

I don't know how you watched us and think this to be honest. None of our wingers can cross well, neither can our wing backs. Bruno is the only real creative passer from deep and maybe Casemiro (became much better on the ball later in the season). I don't think any one could tell you how we create chances last season, as far as I could see, it was mainly making overloads witht he wingbacks and big switches of play. That require proper 10s and wingbacks to find good passes, which they rarely did - that's why everyone is clamouring for Amad to play RWB.

I think Dorgu will be better this season, having bedded in. I think Cunha and potentially Mbuemo will give us way better creativity and a goal threat, which will make space for him. Him and Garnacho were not a good combo, because they essentially wanted to do the same thing. Obi is fecking miles off it physically to get past Hojlund. He may have instinct when it comes to movment, but his finishing is tame. He'll need to have come on a massive amount for what you say to happen.

We didn't create as many chances as we should, but we did create more than you would think based on Hojlund. We all bemoan that Zirkzee isn't a real striker and has terrible movement in the box, but while he was playing at striker even he was making double the amount of shots (and from closer range) than Hojlund was. So if even a player that we feel has terrible movement is somehow showing and getting in positions for double the amount of chances, how many more would you expect someone with actually good movement to get? And what does that say about Hojlund?

That's not to mention that even when we threw Maguire or Obi up front they would somehow manage to get on the end of more chances.

Basically if we were giving them a rating in terms of our team creating chances we were a 4 or 5 out of 10, while Hojlund's movement and ability to get into positions to be on the end of those chances was a 1/10. Neither were good enough but one was a bigger problem than the other.

 

[Tallis]

Confidence plus service can make a big difference to a player. Plus our attack was broken last season. No-one making runs into the box except Hojlund - that makes him easy to mark.

I am not saying he is without fault but I don't buy the narrative that he is crap and not good enough for the league.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

I’ve got a soft spot for Hojlund, ‘cause god bless him, he’s a trier. He’s not sh*t for lack of effort.

I still think, given his age, there’s a player in there and that player hasn’t been allowed to flourish because we’ve badly mismanaged him and thrown him to the wolves. The ideal scenario would’ve been for him to understudy a Van Persie, a Rooney, a Cavani, an Ibra. We threw him in at the deep end and he drowned.

However, he was so spectacularly awful last season, I don’t think there’s any chance it happens at United. He might go and do well elsewhere, but I think the ship has sailed at Old Trafford. It’s not all on him, the club is massively culpable, but last season was unforgivably bad.

He’s got into a physical duel with a defender…

He’s lost and fallen over…

He’s appealing for a free kick…

Play on says the ref…

Correctly so…

Again.

I’ve never bought into the idea of strikers needing a veteran striker to ‘learn off of’ but Rasmus was the only striker at the club last season - do we even have a specialist striking coach at the club? We had Benni McCarthy, who left and the Ruud was assistant.

But you really have to question whether we are giving him any sort of chance with the environment we have in place.

 

[MadDogg]

Do we reckon there is a player in there, just his confidence and the lack of supply has just crushed his game, I mean first season he had a few purple patches and definitely showed his potential. I might just be coping but if we added Mbuemo and boosted the rest of the team do we think he might be able to get enough goals and grow in confidence as the season goes.

I do think he's better than he showed last season and I would hope that we will see some improvement. However even with that improvement I don't think he'll be anywhere near good enough, and that there's a strong chance that his improvement from having Cunha and Mbeumo behind him will be more than offset by the negative impact having such a limited striker ahead of them will have on Cunha and Mbeumo. The attack has to function as a unit and the striker has to help his #10's as much as they help him.

He might be able to improve enough to be a backup striker. But we'd be relying on Zirkzee also improving enough (which I do think there's more chance of) to be a decent option as the starter. Alternatively we manage to sign some other striker once we make a few sales, but even then I'd rather Zirzkee be the backup rather than Hojlund.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

Too early to tell. Suddenly, Hojlund, Mainoo and Garnacho are shit. Only Amad survive Amorim's style of play.

Hopefully, Amorim is right though otherwise we are truly fecked.

 

[Giggsyking]

Keeping him as a striker not only not good for the club and him, but also not good for our new signings Cunha and hopefully Mbeumo, he would kill every ounce of enthusiasm in them starting the season and they will regress in form.

 

[Idxomer]

Too early to tell. Suddenly, Hojlund, Mainoo and Garnacho are shit. Only Amad survive Amorim's style of play.

Hopefully, Amorim is right though otherwise we are truly fecked.

It definitely wasn't sudden with Hojlund. The guy's first touch and technical ability were always subpar. Even in his supposed good season, he lost his place in favour of playing without a striker. He has been rubbish for Denmark, 2 goals in his last 20 appearances over the last two years.