And he found his level in the mid tier of the French league. Which is the sort of level I expect Hojlund and Zirkzee will end up.
We'll only keep them until someone offers us enough to make a profit on their book values. Which is fine provided they're understudies/super subs.
32:40 --> 36:28
Good convo about Hojlund on last week's Overlap. Basically Rooney likens Hojlund and Zirkzee to the level of David Bellion 20 years ago.
Rooney's analysis of current United is absolute rubbish and without any meaningful insight.
32:40 --> 36:28
Good convo about Hojlund on last week's Overlap. Basically Rooney likens Hojlund and Zirkzee to the level of David Bellion 20 years ago.
His claim that "10-15 players need to leave the club" because they don't have the attitude to take responsibility, and how the culture has become that is too easy to lose, and how they don't show character on the pitch is just absolute tripe.Is this because you simply disagree with what he's saying or for another reason ?
Caught that at the time. Thought it was a little extreme as Hojlund scored in 6 or 7 league games in a row last season for United who finished 8th. He must have something to him even if it’s got a bit lost.
Rooney's analysis of current United is absolute rubbish and without any meaningful insight.
Harsh I think but obviously this is a far cry from the days of world-class striker forces like Cole/Yorke/Sheringham/Ole, Ruud/Ole, Ruud/Rooney, Rooney/Tevez/Berbatov etc.
Free transfer, no problem.If Rasmus Hojlund couldn’t get a move next summer (a full international with 3 years playing for United) then 90% of the football leagues might as well forget moving and all become 1 club men.
The types of tools required at Charlton and those at United are not comparable. They are not all there for a United player, not by a long way.I still think he should be given a chance to develop - all the tools are there IMO, and they don't have much to gain from selling him now when his value's low and will be left short of options up top.
Sign a more experienced striker to be first choice and he should still get 15-20 games across all competitions, see if he can get back to the promise he showed in year one and kick on from there and be a long-term solution.
Whilst that is true, it is not the reason for Hojlund being not as good as we had hoped.Basically this whole old guard is constantly approaching the problem completely wrong.
They act as if it is these players dragging the club down. In reality, our club, how it's been run, the executives, the directors, their management and transfers decisions, have been dragging the squad and the players down, one by one, year after year.
32:40 --> 36:28
Good convo about Hojlund on last week's Overlap. Basically Rooney likens Hojlund and Zirkzee to the level of David Bellion 20 years ago.
See what I added to my post.Whilst that is true, it is not the reason for Hojlund being not as good as we had hoped.
I think it would be fairer to compare Hojlund to Diego Forlan's time at the club.
I didn't say they were clones but they both went though difficult periods during their time as United players. Unlike Bellion who never really had one.They're a bit of opposites. Forlan famously took forever to score his first goal whereas Hojlund scored regularly in his first year. Diego then scored regularly in season 2 and 3, whereas Hojlund just went 14 fixtures without a goal in season 2. Forlan was also a much better finisher as evidenced by his body of work in Spain over the ensuing decade.
I think the bolded will only be proven one way or another at the end of Hojlund's career. Right now his trajectory could go in any direction, I just hope that if he is going to end up top scorer in a league at some future point it is in the PL with us. Young players are just so hard to predict, we were all being told that Evan Ferguson was a 100M pound player 2 years ago and now he cannot get a kick on loan at West Ham.They're a bit of opposites. Forlan famously took forever to score his first goal whereas Hojlund scored regularly in his first year. Diego then scored regularly in seasons 2 and 3, whereas Hojlund just went 14 fixtures without a goal in season 2. Forlan was also a much better finisher as evidenced by his body of work in Spain over the ensuing decade during which he finished top scorer in La Liga during a period when Messi began to dominate.
Ho-oylund woah-oah. Ho-oylund woah-oah.I think it would be fairer to compare Hojlund to Diego Forlan's time at the club.
May seem knee jerk, but I agree. We need two strikers, plus Obi. A starter, Højlund and Obi sounds about right. If we wish to sell, then we need to be smart and insist on a buy-back option. I could see him scoring a lot of goals in a lesser league in Europe.We'd be stupid to sell. There is a striker there who can finish. Loan at most
We won’t be selling him because we wouldn’t get half of what we paid for him. I can see him been back up striker with Chido next seasonWe'd be stupid to sell. There is a striker there who can finish. Loan at most
I think everyone would agree that the ideal situation is signing a relative unknown for a small fee who then turns into a superstar in a few seasons, but we don't exactly seem to have that sort of luck.
Last season I was blaming the lack of service too but I've never seen a striker have so few chances, and it's basically 2 full seasons now it's been like this where he doesn't get a sniff of goal. At some point you have to conclude he doesn't take up the right positions and doesn't make the right runs often enough, even if the service itself isn't great.Until we're a better team creating more chances for him, I think it's extremely silly to write him him off. We seem to be heading in that direction though, so we should have an idea by the end of the season if he's up to it or not.
Zirkzee made the Serie A team of the season and was the Serie A young player of the season less than 12 months ago. He's clearly going to be at a higher level than mid tier of the French league, even if there are some fairly serious doubts over whether he's suited to the PL (and even more doubts over whether he's suited to Amorim's system). At worst I'd expect him to be around the Europa level of the Serie A, and more likely the CL teams.And he found his level in the mid tier of the French league. Which is the sort of level I expect Hojlund and Zirkzee will end up.
We'll only keep them until someone offers us enough to make a profit on their book values. Which is fine provided they're understudies/super subs.
Problem is, even when he does take up a good position and run it takes just a liitle nudge from a defender to put Hojlund completely off balance. There have been number of great crosses towards him this season you would think he surely connects with but for a liitle barge he completely misses the flight of the ball, or "head" it with a shoulder or elbow. Its strange ´cause with his strong frame, you would expect its him bullying defenders, not the other way round.Last season I was blaming the lack of service too but I've never seen a striker have so few chances, and it's basically 2 full seasons now it's been like this where he doesn't get a sniff of goal. At some point you have to conclude he doesn't take up the right positions and doesn't make the right runs often enough, even if the service itself isn't great.
There's also no signs he's got the technical ability to hold the ball up and be a good link up player.
There's also the issue that talented players will sometimes make something out of nothing. Pick the ball up a tight area, buy half a yard and get a shot away. You just don't see any of it from Hojlund.
I'm sure he'll improve on his current level but he's not getting to the level we need.
Is this because you simply disagree with what he's saying or for another reason ?
That's exactly what I've been saying. He's very similar to lukaku, both like running in behind and working the channels however with technical limitations. United fans widely agreed that Lukaku was a flat track bully and not at the required standard even though he scored goals. Now we have a player who is a worse version of him and at his best would be lucky to reach his level but fans saying that's good enough. Too many fans are blinded as they like certain players so just live in hope.He'll always be a problem because his technical ability is below par and doesn't have great instincts in the penalty area. The best we could hope for is a lesser version of Lukaku with a better work rate. Is that what United fans want?
Rooney's analysis of current United is absolute rubbish and without any meaningful insight.
I actually don't think it's as bad as people make out, he certainly has had games where he couldn't trap a bag of cement, but he can also dribble well and take the ball in well - he's just inconsistent.He'll always be a problem because his technical ability is below par and doesn't have great instincts in the penalty area. The best we could hope for is a lesser version of Lukaku with a better work rate. Is that what United fans want?
But for two full seasons we've also created feck all apart from on the counter. I think as I said above, with proper attacking WBs and 10s that can create more, we should have a better sense if he's up to it or not by the end of the season.Last season I was blaming the lack of service too but I've never seen a striker have so few chances, and it's basically 2 full seasons now it's been like this where he doesn't get a sniff of goal. At some point you have to conclude he doesn't take up the right positions and doesn't make the right runs often enough, even if the service itself isn't great.
There's also no signs he's got the technical ability to hold the ball up and be a good link up player.
There's also the issue that talented players will sometimes make something out of nothing. Pick the ball up a tight area, buy half a yard and get a shot away. You just don't see any of it from Hojlund.
I'm sure he'll improve on his current level but he's not getting to the level we need.
Exactly. Spending the budget for a top striker on Hojlund meant he was expected to be banging in those goals - so it's been either a horrible mistake of the scouting department (judging he could be that player ASAP), or of squad planning strategy (thinking that we could do without a settled player and wait for Hojlund to come good without having any stablished striker in the squad). It might be connected with erroneous predictions or expectations about Rashfords contribution, maybe, but still, disastrous squad building from the management side.Agreed. At a minimum, a young player like Hojlund would've been an apporpriate buy at a cheaper price if we already had an established striker banging in goals. Even having older version of Zlatan or Cavani would've helped Hojlund immensely by reducing the pressure for him contribute most of the goals from #9.
That's exactly what I've been saying. He's very similar to lukaku, both like running in behind and working the channels however with technical limitations. United fans widely agreed that Lukaku was a flat track bully and not at the required standard even though he scored goals. Now we have a player who is a worse version of him and at his best would be lucky to reach his level but fans saying that's good enough. Too many fans are blinded as they like certain players so just live in hope.
Guess he'll be sticking around then
