[Lyng]

Rashford is on 13 G&A - he also has a couple games to get that up to about 17-18 aswell.

As an inverted forward that has to focus on assisting the main central striker rather than the other way around that doesnt seem like such a bad season.

As someone in his supposed prime and coming of a season with twice that its pretty bad. Especially when what you claim he has to focus on, he has very much failed to do.

 

[Alemar]

Rashford is on 13 G&A - he also has a couple games to get that up to about 17-18 aswell.

Rashford had about 40 G/A last season - his fall is jaw-dropping in this regard.

 

[Shark]

Rashford had about 40 G/A last season - his fall is jaw-dropping in this regard.

Can you really call it a drop, unless he's been putting up these stats consistently like someone like Salah does. it's more the normality in Rashford's case if we're to look at this seasons since he broke through.

 

[afrocentricity]

I wonder if he believes in himself.... Maybe he's thinking (like some on the cafe) that last season was a one off and he won't hit those numbers again, or that he's not that good anymore. Mentality is very important...

Pretty hopeless if that's the case.... but I tend to hope/think it's a patch of bad form compounded by dealing with off field shit.

 

[MiceOnMeth]

Rashford has scored more beautiful goals in 9 seasons than Højlund has in a single season. Mindblowing.

Rashford being around for 9 seasons and still playing like a 18 year old rookie is truly mind-blowing

 

[roonster09]

Can you really call it a drop, unless he's been putting up these stats consistently like someone like Salah does. it's more the normality in Rashford's case if we're to look at this seasons since he broke through.

Before this season he has 35+ in 3 out of 4 seasons.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Rashford is on 13 G&A - he also has a couple games to get that up to about 17-18 aswell.

As an inverted forward that has to focus on assisting the main central striker rather than the other way around that doesnt seem like such a bad season.

Rashford has never focused on assisting anyone really, he's always been a shoot first type forward.

13 G-A from your star forward in 40 appearances is pretty terrible. We don't need to sugar coat it

 

[QuietOn Fortune]

Rashford had about 40 G/A last season - his fall is jaw-dropping in this regard.

As someone in his supposed prime and coming of a season with twice that its pretty bad. Especially when what you claim he has to focus on, he has very much failed to do.

Well to be honest - with a striker like Martial playing 21 games last season, the form of Rashford isnt that surprising really.

Martial has arguably played half that this season & is a striker that plays in through balls to inverted wingers or drops deep with his back to goal which he does so so much better than Hojlund. Again which allows spaces for the inverted winger.

Then theirs Weghorst, who again was not the central focus of the team. No one asked Rashford to play in Weghorst to score goals - everyone knew he was crap, so the focus turned in to playing in Rashford to get goals.

This season has been a completely different tactic of playing with a centralised poacher nearly every game and asking our inverted forwards to create chances for a striker who is fundamentally just a poacher.

Its like a lighter version of playing Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the same team. It just does not work. Ruud doesnt play in Ronaldo enough to get chances and Ronaldo doesn't play in Ruud enough to get chances.

Now we need a new Beckham, Giggs, Neville, Irwin, Quinton Fortune, Scholes, like players especially from out wide & possibly replacing Bruno to play in this 'new Ruud Van Nistelrooy' as our main way/tactic of scoring goals.

Is Hojlund going to be aa good as RVN?
I'm not sure.
Is Hojlund really worth that level of squad re-building for our whole attack to be built around getting the best out of this one single poacher?

Not for me.

What abilities Hojlund show that can get the best of Garnacho? What does Garnacho have to do to get the best out of Hojlund?

I personally choose Garnacho, Rashford, Amad, Antony, Greenwood, Sancho, Wheatley, Lacey, Ibragimov as out first team attackers + a new transfer striker that can play balls in to the inverted forward ideally replqcing Martial (ive heard that Toney & even Solanke may be good at this, or a forward like Zirkzee - definetely not Sesko type) alongside Hojlund used for a time or game we need a poacher in.

Kane was the perfect player but we couldn't get him and Hojlund plays nothing like Kane does.

 

[Lyng]

Well to be honest - with a striker like Martial playing 21 games last season, the form of Rashford isnt that surprising really.

Martial has arguably played half that this season & is a striker that plays in through balls to inverted wingers or drops deep with his back to goal which he does so so much better than Hojlund. Again which allows spaces for the inverted winger.

Then theirs Weghorst, who again was not the central focus of the team. No one asked Rashford to play in Weghorst to score goals - everyone knew he was crap, so the focus turned in to playing in Rashford to get goals.

This season has been a completely different tactic of playing with a centralised poacher nearly every game and asking our inverted forwards to create chances for a striker who is fundamentally just a poacher.

Its like a lighter version of playing Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the same team. It just does not work. Ruud doesnt play in Ronaldo enough to get chances and Ronaldo doesn't play in Ruud enough to get chances.

Now we need a new Beckham, Giggs, Neville, Irwin, Quinton Fortune, Scholes, like players especially from out wide & possibly replacing Bruno to play in this 'new Ruud Van Nistelrooy' as our main way/tactic of scoring goals.

Is Hojlund going to be aa good as RVN?
I'm not sure.
Is Hojlund really worth that level of squad re-building for our whole attack to be built around getting the best out of this one single poacher?

Not for me.

What abilities Hojlund show that can get the best of Garnacho? What does Garnacho have to do to get the best out of Hojlund?

I personally choose Garnacho, Rashford, Amad, Antony, Greenwood, Sancho, Wheatley, Lacey, Ibragimov as out first team attackers + a new transfer striker that can play balls in to the inverted forward ideally replqcing Martial (ive heard that Toney & even Solanke may be good at this, or a forward like Zirkzee - definetely not Sesko type) alongside Hojlund used for a time or game we need a poacher in.

Kane was the perfect player but we couldn't get him and Hojlund plays nothing like Kane does.

Amads style in a more possession based system is perfect for Højlund.
And so is Sancho. Both are wingers that look to create. They are the opposite type of Rashford.
I don't want Greenwood anywhere near the club and Antony is not good enough for the Premier League.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

Well to be honest - with a striker like Martial playing 21 games last season, the form of Rashford isnt that surprising really.

Martial has arguably played half that this season & is a striker that plays in through balls to inverted wingers or drops deep with his back to goal which he does so so much better than Hojlund. Again which allows spaces for the inverted winger.

Then theirs Weghorst, who again was not the central focus of the team. No one asked Rashford to play in Weghorst to score goals - everyone knew he was crap, so the focus turned in to playing in Rashford to get goals.

This season has been a completely different tactic of playing with a centralised poacher nearly every game and asking our inverted forwards to create chances for a striker who is fundamentally just a poacher.

Its like a lighter version of playing Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the same team. It just does not work. Ruud doesnt play in Ronaldo enough to get chances and Ronaldo doesn't play in Ruud enough to get chances.

Now we need a new Beckham, Giggs, Neville, Irwin, Quinton Fortune, Scholes, like players especially from out wide & possibly replacing Bruno to play in this 'new Ruud Van Nistelrooy' as our main way/tactic of scoring goals.

Is Hojlund going to be aa good as RVN?
I'm not sure.
Is Hojlund really worth that level of squad re-building for our whole attack to be built around getting the best out of this one single poacher?

Not for me.

What abilities Hojlund show that can get the best of Garnacho? What does Garnacho have to do to get the best out of Hojlund?

I personally choose Garnacho, Rashford, Amad, Antony, Greenwood, Sancho, Wheatley, Lacey, Ibragimov as out first team attackers + a new transfer striker that can play balls in to the inverted forward ideally replqcing Martial (ive heard that Toney & even Solanke may be good at this, or a forward like Zirkzee - definetely not Sesko type) alongside Hojlund used for a time or game we need a poacher in.

Kane was the perfect player but we couldn't get him and Hojlund plays nothing like Kane does.

Hojlund is not just a poacher. Why do you say that?

 

[Ayoba]

Good interview just now on Football Focus. One interesting thing he mentioned was around being surprised by the amount of game time he had this season (along with Mainoo and Garnacho).

 

[AneRu]

Well to be honest - with a striker like Martial playing 21 games last season, the form of Rashford isnt that surprising really.

Martial has arguably played half that this season & is a striker that plays in through balls to inverted wingers or drops deep with his back to goal which he does so so much better than Hojlund. Again which allows spaces for the inverted winger.

Then theirs Weghorst, who again was not the central focus of the team. No one asked Rashford to play in Weghorst to score goals - everyone knew he was crap, so the focus turned in to playing in Rashford to get goals.

This season has been a completely different tactic of playing with a centralised poacher nearly every game and asking our inverted forwards to create chances for a striker who is fundamentally just a poacher.

Its like a lighter version of playing Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the same team. It just does not work. Ruud doesnt play in Ronaldo enough to get chances and Ronaldo doesn't play in Ruud enough to get chances.

Now we need a new Beckham, Giggs, Neville, Irwin, Quinton Fortune, Scholes, like players especially from out wide & possibly replacing Bruno to play in this 'new Ruud Van Nistelrooy' as our main way/tactic of scoring goals.

Is Hojlund going to be aa good as RVN?
I'm not sure.
Is Hojlund really worth that level of squad re-building for our whole attack to be built around getting the best out of this one single poacher?

Not for me.

What abilities Hojlund show that can get the best of Garnacho? What does Garnacho have to do to get the best out of Hojlund?

I personally choose Garnacho, Rashford, Amad, Antony, Greenwood, Sancho, Wheatley, Lacey, Ibragimov as out first team attackers + a new transfer striker that can play balls in to the inverted forward ideally replqcing Martial (ive heard that Toney & even Solanke may be good at this, or a forward like Zirkzee - definetely not Sesko type) alongside Hojlund used for a time or game we need a poacher in.

Kane was the perfect player but we couldn't get him and Hojlund plays nothing like Kane does.

Basically we need another striker to come in and ensure that we don't compromise the team's competitiveness whilst Hoijlund gets it together. We have enough games for him to play whilst he develops but we need a total package striker that can score and create for others, given the players we have around the striker I think this is important.

 

[QuietOn Fortune]

Hopefully he can get 5 in 5 games now to prove me wrong.

Nothing jaw dropping about the kid.

 

[Idxomer]

Trying to control Bruno through ball with his knee was pure Lukaku.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Andy Carroll today.

 

[Oranges038]

He was bad, Utd players must take it in turns to see who can turn in the worst performance.

 

[Rozay]

If I speak I am in big trouble. And I don’t want to be in big trouble.

 

[Manny]

Poor game and terrible hold up play.

I dont remember him doing anything good.

 

[Red Royal]

I'd consider resting him for next game; he needs a physical and mental break.

 

[Snow]

Andy Carroll today.

I wish. Maybe some of those Onana long balls would have done something.

 

[PSV]

I'd consider resting him for next game; he needs a physical and mental break.

Next game is 9 days away. If he isn't well rested both physically and mentally by then we should bin him first opportunity.

 

[Alan Pardew]

Turkish League or similar for this lad in a few years.

 

[Martial'sEmergingSmile]

Comes with all the downsides of a big lumpy number 9 (awkward footwork, poor touch, unable to create his own chances, uninvolved etc) but unfortunately has none of the usual upsides (physically dominant, aerial threat).

0/3 on aerial duels today again.

 

[limerickcitykid]

His positioning and reading of the game are very poor. You can blame the service all you want but he is consistently 3 yards away from where he is meant to be and spends the majority of his time chasing the play instead of foreseeing the space.

There was one last game where he tried to spin and run onto a ball over the top completely oblivious to the fact that the CB was already 5 yards deeper than him. He expectedly got nowhere near the ball. His reactive movements simply aren’t going to cut it in the PL and he doesn’t show much of a proactive mind.

He was abysmal today and a waste of space.

 

[Bobski]

3 completed passes in 65 mins, no shots, no aerials won, no dribbles, no tackles, and you had people complaining he was subbed.

 

[Leftback99]

We didn't realise how good we had it with a 'lazy' Martial up front.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

Did well enough the first half hour, then fell with the team.
How pathetic to just come here to bash him after a bad performance, though. Don’t get it.

 

[Berbasbullet]

We didn't realise how good we had it with a 'lazy' Martial up front.

It wasn’t good with him either!

 

[The Mitcher]

Did well enough the first half hour, then fell with the team.
How pathetic to just come here to bash him after a bad performance, though. Don’t get it.

He did nothing all game, he deserves criticism.

 

[Redstain]

I think context is needed due to the limited service in the final third but it goes without saying his positioning is really really poor. Lacks awareness when playing with his back to goal, can't spin off the half turn and use his athleticism because he's mostly wrestling with the center half for occupation of the space as opposed to dropping off slightly and spinning in behind so needs game intelligence but will likely come when he matures.

Either way Erik has thrown him under the bus tactically, Bruno often drifts into a very central position and Eriksen was there too at times today (not a coincidence), it's a nightmare for a center forward who can't play off the attack but needs to be played into a scoring position.

It makes you question why he was purchased as a priority if the manager always intended to play with two 8's in the advanced midfield this season. I think if he played in the team last year with the double pivot he would have had more success, especially as Eriksen could pick up his movement and Bruno / Martinez always capable of playing the ball in-between the lines. All of that went in the garbage with 'best transition team' however.

 

[PSV]

Did well enough the first half hour, then fell with the team.
How pathetic to just come here to bash him after a bad performance, though. Don’t get it.

He made his first pass in the 35th minute or so, so what's "well enough". Existing?

 

[Lyng]

We didn't realise how good we had it with a 'lazy' Martial up front.

Feck off

 

[Borys]

Comes with all the downsides of a big lumpy number 9 (awkward footwork, poor touch, unable to create his own chances, uninvolved etc) but unfortunately has none of the usual upsides (physically dominant, aerial threat).

0/3 on aerial duels today again.

Sadly that is very accurate description of Hojlund. I do worry about his ceiling, we have very little evidence how he might grow. He's a good finisher, but he doesn't seem to end up in many goalscoring situations what is a worry even if we are nowhere near creative enough.

All things considered, no team play with out and out finisher these days.

 

[sebsheep]

Trying to control Bruno through ball with his knee was pure Lukaku.

Said in the game thread, that on the replay you can see the bounce does him there. Ball almost bounces straight up.

 

[Rozay]

Did well enough the first half hour, then fell with the team.
How pathetic to just come here to bash him after a bad performance, though. Don’t get it.

We should come here to praise his performance instead. Or better still, don’t come here at all, unless he plays great.

 

[Borys]

Did well enough the first half hour, then fell with the team.
How pathetic to just come here to bash him after a bad performance, though. Don’t get it.

He made his first pass in the 35th minute or so, so what's "well enough". Existing?

Have to say this made me laugh a bit, not sure if this was an intended joke by @Schmeichels pinky but certainly spinned off like one.

 

[FootballAI]

I think we've seen enough of Hojlund and need a better striker to lead the line. Ivan Toney would be a massive upgrade. I am afraid Hojlund is simply a less technical version of Martial, and we can see how it will end.

 

[Ali Dia]

Really poor today. Everyone was really apart from Antony and Maguire.

 

[3KDré]

Doesn't really help when he's been played deeper than our midfielders.

Ten Hag's tactics are nonsensical. Hojlund's biggest strength is running in behind so he has him playing as a target man. He has Eriksen as our deepest in possession. Wan Bissaka pushes up into the half spaces where he gets the least space. He says our stratgy is to get the ball to the wingers in dangerous positions as quickly as possible but then has them track two players in the press. Each decision is against each player's biggest strength.

 

[Piskin]

We have a dud on our hands, needs to be sold on with numerous players in the squad end of the season.