criticalanalysis
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- Apr 12, 2015
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Feels like Hojlund hasn't gelled well at all with Rashford or Bruno. With Bruno, it might be a case of them needing more time together since we saw a lot of nice layoffs from Hojlund the last month or so before he got hurt, though still not a ton of the reverse (Bruno to Hojlund), but with Rashford it's tough not to look at how he was better with more of a false 9 like Martial (as you alluded to) and struggled with an aging Cristiano or any other #9 really. I think he'll make the England squad despite his struggles this season for the 2 reasons being he's right-footed (and Foden will be strong cover on the right behind Saka even as he starts at LW) and that Kane does like to drop off. That would have been a rare #9 who can score goals and maybe not hurt Rashford's play, though as Kane ages he'll probably drop deep less for the simple reason that a #9 who doesn't create much but score goals is better than Kane struggling to get into the box to finish off moves like Martial has (wasn't pace, just didn't have that poacher/dog in him).
It's not a 'gelling' issue between Hojlund and Rashford. It's a Rashford issue and the same with Bruno. Yes, right now, Hojlund isn't a Kane but he's offering plenty of link up and unselfish layoffs relative to what he's been given with i.e receiving minimal service himself and the fact we give up possession like no one's business.
Rashford has shown he's very capable of playing on the left winger as a creator and goal scorer; his best years were under Ole with lots of stats in chance creation and final product. The problem today is that he's not really interested in doing these things anymore and he's become incredibly inefficient with his all around general play AND attacking contributions like take-ons, passing and goal scoring.
Look at this compilation posted below. Hojlund has been doing his part to be a false 9, dropping, linking and being a focal point to literally everyone in the attack line up. The bigger issue is that he probably receives a quarter of that back at best and the chances he creates are being wasted with selfish and dumb plays. Of course Hojlund is also part of the attack and prior to his recent form, he deserves individual criticism but again, relatively speaking, he's doing everything he can to help others, like Rashford.
A 20 minute compilation of his general play this season:
As a United fan, I can't recommend this channel enough. He was making some great videos on Diallo last season that helped keep up with his loan. A lot of those videos are gone now, but he does usually make United ones for both the first team and youth players.
As for the video, this is why I was hesitant to criticise him a while back like a lot of people. Sure, he wasn't scoring (outside of the CL), but his general play was impressive enough to see the potential with him. Not to forget the context in terms of how poor we've been at creating chances for him in general.