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Rasmus Hojlund Denmark flag

2023-24 Performances


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5.5 Season Average Rating
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El Jefe

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What does this even mean? It's not like he knocks himself down mentally for not scoring. Do you mean he's not offering himself enough or getting involved enough?

We'll keep on hearing "score more goals" in each game he's not had any great opportunities too.
He plays a huge part in the lack of service he receives. He gets too tight to defenders and never actually spins them to gain a yard.

All the best strikers take the ball into feet pass out wide and use the advantage gained to find space to finish inside the box. Not only is Hojlund’s touch poor but his link up passes are usually under hit or passed in a way where the team loses the advantage. Add in his poor runs when apart from when he’s in the channel and it’s no surprise he never gets chances.


This is an example of the type of move Hojlund would have fecked up on the first and second touch that Martial took. Strikers are directly responsible for their ability to receive service. Saha and Ruud were also fantastic and receiving the ball and moving it out wide to get in goal scoring positions.

Hojlund is honestly awful at it.
 

Rockets Redglare

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Unfortunately i think his stat about having the best shot conversion rate is purely because he hardly takes more than 2 shots per game at max. Sometimes I'd argue he only takes one shot per game.

Haaland for example takes 5 shots for example per game so his shot conversion is lower.
I’m not sure you know how percentages work.
 

ROFLUTION

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He plays a huge part in the lack of service he receives. He gets too tight to defenders and never actually spins them to gain a yard.

All the best strikers take the ball into feet pass out wide and use the advantage gained to find space to finish inside the box. Not only is Hojlund’s touch poor but his link up passes are usually under hit or passed in a way where the team loses the advantage. Add in his poor runs when apart from when he’s in the channel and it’s no surprise he never gets chances.


This is an example of the type of move Hojlund would have fecked up on the first and second touch that Martial took. Strikers are directly responsible for their ability to receive service. Saha and Ruud were also fantastic and receiving the ball and moving it out wide to get in goal scoring positions.

Hojlund is honestly awful at it.
It's hard to disagree that he's not good enough in moving down the pitch to receive the ball and is sometimes too tight to the defenders. Someone like Joao Pedro is great at it. But I wouldn't say that's the reason he's not scoring goals in the Euros so far. That's a mixture of many things. The conversation was about yesterday's game, and I just don't see how any movement like you mention would have changed either the game yesterday or his goal scoring opportunities immensely with an english wall sitting back - it's pretty difficult to not be close to the defender when England in large stints of the game played with 11 players behind the ball. Of course it's gonna be compact.
 

Blood Mage

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We've just got to hope that he's a late bloomer striker like Vardy/Toney because at this moment in time he's simply an average player.
 

Captain Dangernoodle

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We've just got to hope that he's a late bloomer striker like Vardy/Toney because at this moment in time he's simply an average player.
I dont get this argument at all. If he's not an elite striker at 21, then all we can hope for is him being a late bloomer? He is not even average, he is just very inconsistent. Alexander Isak, who is arguably PL's best striker, scored 6 goals in a season for Real Sociedad at Højlund's age, and two of them were penalties. Look at him now, just a few years later. Watkins played in the Championship at 21 scoring fewer goals than Højlund did in his first PL season with very limited supply.

Football players don't follow a linear progression, and the reason Højlund is highly rated and can suddenly explode is the combination of his traits and skill set. That's why people are willing to give him time and believe in him. He has pace, strength, good hold-up play, although it is inconsistent as well, and surprisingly a good passer. His technique isn't elite at all, but neither is Haaland's. He is also a very good finisher and can use both feet.

He needs time, because right now he is still adapting. We shouldn't be relying on him to be a consistent great striker at 21.
 

Amar__

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How many shots did he take in these 3 games? Surely it wasn't more than 3.
 

Captain Dangernoodle

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At least he hasn't been missing sitters over and over like Mbappé, but you won't hear about that here. @Andycoleno9 would be dancing around in his living room and clapping excitedly if Højlund missed chances like that. :lol:
 
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21 touches
7 possession losses
1/6 ground duels won
0/2 aerial duels won

That's a Hojlund statline alright.

He does have some very evident qualities, and hopefully they'll get more and more refined, but he's a duel-losing king right now. Plays like he's some 5'5 waif.
 
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El Jefe

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His lack of involvement in the game is scary. I seriously worry for us if he’s a guaranteed starter next season.
 

Doracle

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21 touches
7 possession losses
1/6 ground duels won
0/2 aerial duels won

That's a Hojlund statline alright.

He does have some very evident qualities, and hopefully they'll get more and more refined, but he's a duel losing king right now - plays like he's some 5'5 waif.
Is that all three matches combined?
 

Vidooq

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He had 2 very nice flicks, one of which should've been a goal, if the Denmark player did not slip right before taking the shot. He had another flick where not a single person followed up on the second post. I'd say, quite unlucky not to get an assist. With the rest, I believe he can do better.
 

Hester_manc

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He has been poor so far in the euros. But Denmark is having problems creating chances and he is a part of that
 

Bertie Wooster

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I'm a fan of Hojlund and desperate to see him succeed here. And I think he had a pretty decent first season overall, given his injuries hampered his momentum and we as a team struggled to get the best out of most of our players. He showed enough that when he's in rhythm there's good potential there.

However the one worry is how much he seems to struggle to get into some games when he's not at his best. And how poor his touch / link up play can be at times (while at other times fairly decent). But that kind of inconsistency is acceptable considering his age and he was new to the club / league.

However he's not new to the Denmark set up, and I've been surprised and disappointed with his three performances so far. He's linked up OK at times but never looked like scoring. That said, there's only been 7 goals in all six group matches, so they've been tight games and it's not as if many of the attacking players of any of the four teams have really stood out. So it's probably just been one of those groups, rather than a poor reflection of most of those attacking players abilities.
 

Ali Dia

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His lack of involvement in the game is scary. I seriously worry for us if he’s a guaranteed starter next season.
Look at Kane tonight. Cost double. Wages x 3 and he’s on the home stretch age wise. He didn’t get a kick tonight from what I saw and he’s not having a good tournament. Neither is Sesko who is supposedly a far better player. Which feted striker is? Teams are defending well in numbers and limiting the bigger teams to half chances and shots outside the box
 
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Pronewbie

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Has he? Couple of long shots and not much else, subbed against England tonight after doing nothing.
He was non-existent today. He did well in his 1st 2 games. Dynamic and willing to take the game by the scruff. The kind of thing Rasmus only showed in his cameo performances for us at the end of the season, but seems to have forgotten how to for his country this tournament.

Honestly think we should try and get a potential starting CF and let them duke it out. Rasmus for now seems better off the bench...
 

Gandalf

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So does United, I start wonder why..
To be fair we have been struggling to create chances for a couple of seasons now so Hojlund is not the problem but also fair to say he has not really been the solution either. It is why I am hopeful about the RVN links with a coaching role here as there is plenty to work with in the player but safe to say he needs some serious coaching up.
 

Pronewbie

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He had 2 good long shots but was quiet other than that. Completely invisible against England.

Very young obviously but overall hes not been impressive either
I've watched all of Slovenia'a matches so far. He was pretty good at driving forward with the ball and bringing his teammates into the game. Certainly caught my eye as I didn't even know he played for them. Non-existent in this one as mentioned.
 

Rozay

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Has he? Couple of long shots and not much else, subbed against England tonight after doing nothing.
He registered a shot on target against England with scraps, so already more than your typical Hojlund performance.

My biggest problem with Hojlund is he is simply non-threatening too often. He’s a striker who can have 3 or 4 shots on target, or even on goal at all, in a month of football. Forget the shots he scores, he’s not even missing enough of them. I didn’t watch the game tonight, but my guess would be that he had no shot on goal. In these games where a lot is at stake and your team are pushing and attacking, you want your striker to at least threaten. I want him to just ‘nearly score’ more often. I can wait for an i creased goal return if he was just wasteful.

Sesko is a clearly bigger talent in my eyes.
 

Bastian

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He had 2 good long shots but was quiet other than that. Completely invisible against England.

Very young obviously but overall hes not been impressive either
Not completely invisible. I think the whole team performed well in the first half and they dropped deep and defended for the whole second half. Sesko had some lovely lay-off touches in the first half and he clearly looks comfortable with his back to goal, laying it off for a runner. And his technique is good for a player his size. Looked quite decent to me. Of course, he's looked better at club level where he plays in a better team.

You can swap things over and say, how impressive were the England superstars in that match? Bellingham looked ropey in that first half at least, his passing was way off. All the team looked completely pedestrian until Gordon came on late on, with some inspiration from Palmer and Mainoo.

Sesko will be a top player.
 

Mike Smalling

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I get the sense he needs to be a lot smarter with how he plays. He's just constantly fighting the centrebacks, which tires him out and breaks up the play. If he gets to a point where he can be less predictable in his movement and better at quick interplay with the midfielders and wingers, he would improve a lot. Sometimes it's his technique that lets him down, but other times he simply needs to release the ball faster.

It also comes down to the kind of passes he receives. Denmark used a lot of long balls to him yesterday, which is just difficult for him to do anything with. I could understand why he was taken off, but it was also immediately evident that the replacement wouldn't do any better.
 

Captain Dangernoodle

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He registered a shot on target against England with scraps, so already more than your typical Hojlund performance.

My biggest problem with Hojlund is he is simply non-threatening too often. He’s a striker who can have 3 or 4 shots on target, or even on goal at all, in a month of football. Forget the shots he scores, he’s not even missing enough of them. I didn’t watch the game tonight, but my guess would be that he had no shot on goal. In these games where a lot is at stake and your team are pushing and attacking, you want your striker to at least threaten. I want him to just ‘nearly score’ more often. I can wait for an i creased goal return if he was just wasteful.

Sesko is a clearly bigger talent in my eyes.
This is just a classic example of "He doesn't play for United, so he is the better talent". Sesko has better technique and is better aerially, and that is it. I'd say their finishing is equally strong, but Højlund has the advantage of being relatively two footed and is a decent finisher with his weak foot.

Based on these 3 games, Højlund has created more chances (4) for his team mates than Sesko (1). He has also been more involved in general play, won more aerial duels and ground duels while also having better defensive stats. They have both missed one big chance each, but Højlund has a better xG output in 2 out of the 3 games. So yeah, I wouldn't say he has had a great cup at all, but neither has Sesko. Other than a shot in the woodwork, he has been incredibly invisible.

Sesko also benefits greatly from playing in a two striker system in Leipzig with excellent movement from Openda and it opens up so much space for Sesko.
He isn't even a starter for Leipzig as he shares his striker position with Poulsen.

No one can convince me Sesko would have done better or scored more goals than Højlund as the lone striker for us and with the limited supply he would be getting. Again, he has better technique which makes him easier on the eye, but he isn't "clearly the better talent" at all. They share similar weaknesses but each have some strengths that are better than the other. Put Sesko in our team last season instead of Højlund, and you would probably say the same about Sesko that you're doing with Højlund now.
 

Red the Bear

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This is just a classic example of "He doesn't play for United, so he is the better talent". Sesko has better technique and is better aerially, and that is it. I'd say their finishing is equally strong, but Højlund has the advantage of being relatively two footed and is a decent finisher with his weak foot.

Based on these 3 games, Højlund has created more chances (4) for his team mates than Sesko (1). He has also been more involved in general play, won more aerial duels and ground duels while also having better defensive stats. They have both missed one big chance each, but Højlund has a better xG output in 2 out of the 3 games. So yeah, I wouldn't say he has had a great cup at all, but neither has Sesko. Other than a shot in the woodwork, he has been incredibly invisible.

Sesko also benefits greatly from playing in a two striker system in Leipzig with excellent movement from Openda and it opens up so much space for Sesko.
He isn't even a starter for Leipzig as he shares his striker position with Poulsen.

No one can convince me Sesko would have done better or scored more goals than Højlund as the lone striker for us and with the limited supply he would be getting. Again, he has better technique which makes him easier on the eye, but he isn't "clearly the better talent" at all. They share similar weaknesses but each have some strengths that are better than the other. Put Sesko in our team last season instead of Højlund, and you would probably say the same about Sesko that you're doing with Højlund now.
I liks hojlund but sesko is more talented in my eyes, better technique and a much better dribbler with a better first touch and those alone put his ceiling higher than rasmus.

Rasmus has him beat on work rate however which is useful for any high pressing side.