Why do the excuses have to stop? If they are genuine excuses then they don’t need to stop do they?
Would be nice if he’d score a few but he’s not missing loads of chances. He gets in the box, he puts himself about, he stretches the opposition defence. He’s a good player. He’ll get plenty of goals but it might not be a huge glut anytime soon because the whole team needs to buck up.
I get it, I just don’t buy the narrative that due to Utd not absolutely flying Hojlund is somehow expected to produce literally nothing.
Let me explain why.
When you compare Hojlund’s PL output with other strikers who play for teams
below Utd in the PL, in some cases for literal relegation fodder, and who have played similar minutes to Hojlund, in many cases LESS MINUTES than him, this is what you get…
Hojlund - Man Utd (
7th in PL) 675 minutes -
0 goals - 0 assists
Foster - Burnley (
19th in PL) - 609 minutes (
less than Hojlund) -
3 goals - 2 assists
Amdouni Burnley - 888 minutes -
2 goals - 1 assist
Archer - Sheffield Utd (
20th in PL) - 851 minutes
- 2 goals - 1 assist
Jackson - Chelsea (
10th in PL) - 987 minutes -
6 goals - 1 assist
Ferguson - Brighton - (
8th in PL) - 743 minutes -
6 goals - 0 assists
Semenyo - Bournemouth (
16th in PL) - 556 minutes (
less than Hojlund) - 3 goals - 2 assists
DCL - Everton - (
18th in PL) 654 minutes (
less than Hojlund) - 3 goals - 0 assists
Awoniyi - Nottingham Forest (
15th in PL) - 654 minutes (
less than Hojlund) - 4 goals - 2 assists
Chris Wood - Nott Forest - 398 minutes (
less than Hojlund) - 3 goals - 0 assists
Antonio - West Ham (
9th in PL) - 812 minutes -
2 goals - 2 assists
Neil fecking Maupay - Brentford (
11th in PL) - 480 minutes (
less than Hojlund) - 2 goals - 2 assists
Again, this list is comprised only of strikers in teams BELOW Utd, and who have played similar minutes to Hojlund, in many cases less minutes.
If it’s acceptable for Hojlund to produce nothing because Utd aren’t absolutely flying, then NONE of these guys should have anything. Instead, they’re all producing. It’s a weak minded, excuse-culture narrative that needs to stop.
Does this mean Hojlund is useless? No, of course not - look at his output in the CL.
But it means he needs to do
a lot better - even when only being compared to a very low standard level.