To be fair to him some of the moments today could have easily gone a different way. There were a few flicks and passes that were inches from being right, it's not as if he was putting them all out of play, sometimes there are small margins that make the difference and on a different day I think we'll see something else. I know that's kind of an obvious statement but I think it's true, some of it wasn't miles off.
Technically he's not a maestro but he was never really built up to be, he's a young striker with very good physical capabilities and we've seen that. He is pretty strong and he's very quick which we've not fully worked out how to use yet, we only seem to use Rashford on the break - that's the default playbook because it has been there for years. It will take a bit of time to figure out how to use a traditional style striker and play to his strengths, because obviously on the ball he's not totally ready in all the link up stuff. That cross from Dalot was the type of thing we've never had as a weapon in the past because of ancient strikers or strikers like Martial that don't really want to be attacking the ball. So it'll take a bit of time to get more frequency into the box (not necessarily in the air, but early balls).
His touch is kind of bad, he'll have to work on it a lot if he wants to make it in the PL.
feck me this place is unbearableCan he become a real gem? Early days, doesn’t seem so.
Can he become a real gem? Early days, doesn’t seem so.
Seems to me that Hojlund needs two threads. Future Hojlund and current Hojlund performances.
Future Hojlund looks very promising. Current Hojlund is not good enough to be a starter for a team which is fighting for trophies (and top 4 in PL).
Agree. Weird. Gakpo was fit, and in form, yet took few games to get his first goal when moved to Liverpool. This season he has same amount of goal for his club as Hojlund. Gakpo still got used in different positions beside CF for both club and country. You don't continue our issue with building the team around flawed, unnatural CF. We got burned with "Rashford needs to play CF" (during Mourinho time), and Martial, didn't we?What a strange thing to say
We got top 4, got into 2 domestic finals and won 1 last season with a finished Ronaldo for half a season, and barely fir Martial, zero PL goal Weghorst.Seems to me that Hojlund needs two threads. Future Hojlund and current Hojlund performances.
Future Hojlund looks very promising. Current Hojlund is not good enough to be a starter for a team which is fighting for trophies (and top 4 in PL).
Stronger, wiser, and purple hairSeems to me that Hojlund needs two threads. Future Hojlund and current Hojlund performances.
Future Hojlund looks very promising. Current Hojlund is not good enough to be a starter for a team which is fighting for trophies (and top 4 in PL).
feck me this place is unbearable
I thought he played well but seeing the reaction in here I’m clearly second guessing it.
Moments FCHad his moments tonight.
Great to see him get the full 90 minutes as well.
I feel like strikers above any other position are judged by unrealistic expectations. I get that their primary job to to score goals but is there no appreciation for the other things they do? He’s clearly made a difference to our build up play. He presses aggressively, he’s extremely fast and physical and I feel he’s been slightly unlucky not to grab some goals. I’m confident that If he keeps this up he will score goals for fun. Just seems harsh to me that just because he missed that Dalot cross by an inch he gets called crap, when if he taps that in this thread would be full of praise. Surely that’s slightly harsh and over the top criticism?!I dunno why people feel that way tbh. He was fine. He got himself into good positions, pressed better than most and was available for the ball. I dunno what more you could reasonably expect from him.
To be honest I don’t think they would. Likely these are the same people who camped Greenwood’s thread saying he wasn’t all that and Garnacho after him. I think some people just have ridiculous expectations and when the team doesn’t play well, it’s the individuals who pay the price. The truth is and always has been that the individuals are only as good as the sum of the parts.It's weird to see people write off a twenty year old who has already scored and looked exciting on the pitch for us in less than a handful of games played. Those same people would be singing his praises if he was a kid from the academy at the same age coming through.