[Rozay]

Anyway, I’ve said my piece on this. I don’t care about winning an argument, ultimately - we have to live with the striker that we have. My concern is about United winning enough football matches to achieve our goals. If people apply a narrative that sees them content with the striker they have, perhaps due to an endless list of what they consider to be valid mitigations - then fine. You live with the striker you have, and be satisfied. I personally am not, but maybe I’m just a big fat meanie and I am looking at football matches all wrong and not making enough considerations.

If he’s good enough for you, then each to their own. No point going around in endless circles. Perhaps there’s nothing to discuss and this is as much as we should realistically expect from anyone who isn’t Ronaldo.

 

[tomaldinho1]

He wasn’t a 1 in 3 striker last season. He scored in about 7 league games, and posed no goal threat in the vast majority of games he’s played for us.

And aside from that, I’ve said on here many times that I don’t use a calculator to assess footballers. He scored 10 league goals last season. Another player could have scored 10 league goals and impressed me a lot more. Hojlund is not a particularly impressive striker, and has never looked to be a player who belongs at United. Whether he bundles 1 or 3 goals over the line at Molineux is not what determines my assessment. I’ve said before - Hojlund scored 16/17 goals in his first season, and Martial scored 17 goals in his first season. One season was FAR more impressive than the other. And that was supposedly Hojlund playing well. This season he’s been a complete disaster. Instead of just watching him and calling his performances, people have decided to make a plethora of excuses instead. Fine, let’s keep the excuses. It serves nobody except perhaps Hojlund’s feelings. It certainly doesn’t serve Manchester United.

Ah Rozay, now just lying to serve your own agenda...did he score in 7 league games? Then he posed 'no threat', classic. Maybe go check before making statements that make you look biased. He scored 10 goals in 9 separate games. That is extremely good, as you alluded (without checking ironically) it's highly preferable to score across multiple games than only score loads in a few. 10 in 9 is about as elite as you can get.

Martial was far more talented (also he played off the left) but what was his issue? Could it have been attitude, work rate, could this not be what we see time and time again, that the naturally gifted young players who look great but don't push themselves end up failing and the average guys who work like dogs go on to be great? It's actually quite sad how entrenched you are in being right that a young player we want to devleop is useless. I would somewhat understand if this was his first season, but we have last season to draw upon.

 

[Olecurls99]

Ah Rozay, now just lying to serve your own agenda...did he score in 7 league games? Then he posed 'no threat', classic. Maybe go check before making statements that make you look biased. He scored 10 goals in 9 separate games. That is extremely good, as you alluded (without checking ironically) it's highly preferable to score across multiple games than only score loads in a few. 10 in 9 is about as elite as you can get.

Martial was far more talented (also he played off the left) but what was his issue? Could it have been attitude, work rate, could this not be what we see time and time again, that the naturally gifted young players who look great but don't push themselves end up failing and the average guys who work like dogs go on to be great? It's actually quite sad how entrenched you are in being right that a young player we want to devleop is useless. I would somewhat understand if this was his first season, but we have last season to draw upon.

You're right.

Between CL and PL he scored 15 goals in 2600 minutes, which is a goal every 170 minutes. It was a very impressive season and people slating the poor youngfella should have a little think for themselves. He's obviously been poor the last few months but there is a very talented player in there with huge potential.

 

[Olecurls99]

He wasn’t a 1 in 3 striker last season. He scored in about 7 league games, and posed no goal threat in the vast majority of games he’s played for us.

And aside from that, I’ve said on here many times that I don’t use a calculator to assess footballers. He scored 10 league goals last season. Another player could have scored 10 league goals and impressed me a lot more. Hojlund is not a particularly impressive striker, and has never looked to be a player who belongs at United. Whether he bundles 1 or 3 goals over the line at Molineux is not what determines my assessment. I’ve said before - Hojlund scored 16/17 goals in his first season, and Martial scored 17 goals in his first season. One season was FAR more impressive than the other. And that was supposedly Hojlund playing well. This season he’s been a complete disaster. Instead of just watching him and calling his performances, people have decided to make a plethora of excuses instead. Fine, let’s keep the excuses. It serves nobody except perhaps Hojlund’s feelings. It certainly doesn’t serve Manchester United.

I can not for the life of me understand why a United fan would go out of his way to undermine what was a very good debut season from a United player. I fully accept he's been woeful in games this season but come on. Last season he scored 15 goals in 2600 top level minutes some of them completely off his own back. It was very impressive. Very few 21 year olds have done it.

 

[Rozay]

I can not for the life of me understand why a United fan would go out of his way to undermine what was a very good debut season from a United player. I fully accept he's been woeful in games this season but come on. Last season he scored 15 goals in 2600 top level minutes some of them completely off his own back. It was very impressive. Very few 21 year olds have done it.

See my post above. I said what I said. This is a player who scored his first league goal of the season on Boxing Day, yet had a ‘very good season’. He was a Player of The Month at best, it wasn’t a great season at all.

As I said, I’m not going back and forth with any of you on this anymore. None of what we are saying changes anything that has happened or will happen on the football pitch. All we are doing is interpreting it. I don’t interpret it as good enough, and some of you seem to see Hojlund’s performances as an acceptable standard. Good for you, hopefully you get more of whatever it is you are seeing, or have seen, and I can only imagine you will be nothing but satisfied if you do.

 

[Olecurls99]

See my post above. I said what I said. This is a player who scored his first league goal of the season on Boxing Day, yet had a ‘very good season’.

As I said, I’m not going back and forth with any of you on this anymore. None of what we are saying changes anything that has happened or will happen on the football pitch. All we are doing is interpreting it. I don’t interpret it as good enough, and some of you seem to see Hojlund’s performances as an acceptable standard. Good for you, hopefully you get more of whatever it is you are seeing, or have seen, and I can only imagine you will be nothing but satisfied if you do.

That debut season doesn't require much mental gymnastics to be considered impressive though. Maybe a tumble.

Like I said we've seen really good and really bad from him but there is a very small minority of players of any age in world football who can score 7 goals in 6 consecutive PL games. I'd like to work on that then bin him off.

 

[Rozay]

That debut season doesn't require much mental gymnastics to be considered impressive though. Maybe a tumble.

Like I said we've seen really good and really bad from him but there is a very small minority of players of any age in world football who can score 7 goals in 6 consecutive PL games. I'd like to work on that then bin him off.

Like I said, that makes a good month, not a good season. Conversely, not many strikers score their first league goal on December 26th either. But we will of course discard that first half of the season when summarising a whole season.

Bin him off if you choose, do whatever you think is the right thing, noble thing or whatever - let’s just hope your faith is rewarded. Perhaps you are very pleased either way with your #9. Heaven forbid I try and take that away, more power to you.

 

[Powderfinger]

That debut season doesn't require much mental gymnastics to be considered impressive though. Maybe a tumble.

Like I said we've seen really good and really bad from him but there is a very small minority of players of any age in world football who can score 7 goals in 6 consecutive PL games. I'd like to work on that then bin him off.

Both Mateta and Chris Wood have 7 goals in their last 6 PL games. Just saying.

 

[Rozay]

Both Mateta and Chris Wood have 7 goals in their last 6 PL games. Just saying.

Which is of course impressive. But it’s impressive in analysing their last 6 games. It’s not why they have had ‘very good seasons’. They didn’t only decide to punch in 6 games ago.

A 7 game scoring run gets you a Player of the Month award, not POTS.

 

[Exiled_Red]

Do not take it as a pun man, yet I've said it before, the constant lists/or mentions of former great players plays against defending him, because it puts him on a direct comparison with players we already know how great they ended and also creates a direct comparison with other type of goalscorers that had also more in their bag than Rasmus as an overall player. And yes young 22 years old Harry more than probably would do more (it's not just about goals the critics he is having) than current Rasmus. The lad ain't the first CF, ST, merely forward, goalscorer that would need to drop deep in order to grab the ball in a disfunctional team and mentioning that ONLY R9 would do better under current state of the team, it's a way over the top hyperbole that just adds fuel to the fire

Its hyperbole to make a point. This team is beyond dysfunctional. There's a reason why players are leaving here and looking 10x better immediately. Sure, some of that is the pressure of playing at United, but were scoring at a relegation rate. That doesnt just come down to a single player. People are being hard on Zirkzee as well, but put him in Pools squad with goalscoring wingers and he would be very good.

My point was simply that Rasmus hasnt been good, but the situation and environment is so bad, very few players would have the quality to overcome it and look decent. That's all.

Serious question...how many PL goals do you think Harry Kane, Mbappe, Haaland, etc would score in this team? I wouldnt back any of them to score 20 goals in this team.

 

[Olecurls99]

Conversely, not many strikers score their first league goal on December 26th either.

No, most strikers in world football would struggle to score in the PL. The 7 in 6 is the rare bit that shouldn't be discounted or waffled away.

 

[Olecurls99]

Both Mateta and Chris Wood have 7 goals in their last 6 PL games. Just saying.

They're doing great. Wouldn't it be great to have a young forward who showed similar ability.........

 

[Rozay]

No, most strikers in world football would struggle to score in the PL. The 7 in 6 is the rare bit that shouldn't be discounted or waffled away.

This is what I mean. Like what the hell are you even talking about? Who gives a feck about ‘most strikers in world football’. So congratulations, Hojlund is better than those who play Power League with me. Most regular strikers in the PL would expect to score their first goal of the season before Christmas. Are you going to just continue to ignore the point that I have made 3 times now that Hojlund took until December 26th to score a league goal? You have responded to it on every occasion by solely mentioning ‘6 goals in 7 games’. Fair play. I have given him Player of the Month for that. However, do you think the first half of the season has no relevance in the evaluation of a player’s season?

 

[Rozay]

They're doing great. Wouldn't it be great to have a young forward who showed similar ability.........

Stop embarrassing yourself. Neither of those strikers only decided to join in 6 games ago. Rodrigo Muniz went on a similar run at a point last season, but has done feck all before or after. His 6 game goal spree is just that. A 6 game spree.

Maybe we should refer to the ‘similar ability’ shown by Antony, who scored in 3 in a row once. He was rightly given POTM for that. But oddly, he didn’t win our POTS. I wonder why.

 

[Olecurls99]

This is what I mean. Like what the hell are you even talking about? Who gives a feck about ‘most strikers in world football’. So congratulations, Hojlund is better than those who play Power League with me. Most regular strikers in the PL would expect to score their first goal of the season before Christmas. Are you going to just continue to ignore the point that I have made 3 times now that Hojlund took until December 26th to score a league goal? You have responded to it on every occasion by solely mentioning ‘6 goals in 7 games’. Fair play. I have given him Player of the Month for that. However, do you think the first half of the season has no relevance in the evaluation of a player’s season?

Ok then. Here goes.

Young player comes to new league and new country and takes a few months to find his feet. Par for the course.

He then scores 10 goals in his next 16 league games. Outstanding

 

[Rozay]

Its hyperbole to make a point. This team is beyond dysfunctional. There's a reason why players are leaving here and looking 10x better immediately. Sure, some of that is the pressure of playing at United, but were scoring at a relegation rate. That doesnt just come down to a single player. People are being hard on Zirkzee as well, but put him in Pools squad with goalscoring wingers and he would be very good.

My point was simply that Rasmus hasnt been good, but the situation and environment is so bad, very few players would have the quality to overcome it and look decent. That's all.

Serious question...how many PL goals do you think Harry Kane, Mbappe, Haaland, etc would score in this team? I wouldnt back any of them to score 20 goals in this team.

Needs to be said for all those saying how poor the team is, the sole centre forward in that team is a huge part of it. We are a poor team for sure, but the fact that we do not have a good centre forward is not an insignificant contributor to why we are a poor football team. We have found ourselves in situations where Kobbie fecking Mainoo has been played at centre forward ahead of our strikers, and the same thing happened in the ‘very good/impressive’ season often mentioned, where we ended the season with Bruno Fernandes at centre forward and Rasmus Hojlund on the bench.

 

[C'Thun]

He wasn’t a 1 in 3 striker last season. He scored in about 7 league games, and posed no goal threat in the vast majority of games he’s played for us.

And aside from that, I’ve said on here many times that I don’t use a calculator to assess footballers. He scored 10 league goals last season. Another player could have scored 10 league goals and impressed me a lot more. Hojlund is not a particularly impressive striker, and has never looked to be a player who belongs at United. Whether he bundles 1 or 3 goals over the line at Molineux is not what determines my assessment. I’ve said before - Hojlund scored 16/17 goals in his first season, and Martial scored 17 goals in his first season. One season was FAR more impressive than the other. And that was supposedly Hojlund playing well. This season he’s been a complete disaster. Instead of just watching him and calling his performances, people have decided to make a plethora of excuses instead. Fine, let’s keep the excuses. It serves nobody except perhaps Hojlund’s feelings. It certainly doesn’t serve Manchester United.

He scored 10 goals, none of which were penalties, missed 13 big chances and had a conversion rate of 26.3%. I'd say that is a decent goal threat whichever way you look at it, particularly for a 20 year old inexperienced striker having his debut season in the Premier League playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world against some of the best defenders in the world. Even what we consider mediocre defenders in the league are extremely challenging to face for a striker of his age, because it is a tremendously physical and fast-paced league where you simply don't have the time to react as one would in leagues like Serie A or Bundesliga. He also scored 5 goals in his debut Champions League, which is also fairly decent.

Anyway, we like the players we like, and it comes down to preference. It is clear you prefer a striker with a more refined first touch and a classy one, rather than the physical, heavy brute-looking clumsy kind that is more fitting for someone like Højlund, and that is fine, but to suggest it is not impressive to do what he did is a bit strange, in my opinion.
Martial was more impressive because he was extremely exciting to watch, and the fact that he did this from the left at the age of 19, and combined with the fact that he had absolutely elite talent. With a great mentality and attitude, and luck when it comes to injuries, he could have been one of the best players in the world.

In general, I don't really think anyone disagrees with your point. Højlund isn't good enough, and he has been awful this season. That doesn't mean people have to insult him or suggest that he is the worst striker we have ever had, or that he is a League 2 striker. He clearly has talent, and some of the most recognised scouts in the world acknowledge that, whether we like that or not. He was doing well for Atalanta and was in the top-end percentiles for goals and expected goals per 90 at the time. I think he made a mistake coming to us, and he would have done far better staying at Atalanta to continue his development in a weaker league without the colossal pressure on his shoulders, but can we blame him for joining his favourite club growing up when the opportunity presented itself? Young players are inconsistent, and there will be ups and downs with him, as there will be with most young players. Isak scored 17 goals for Sociedad one season, and then 4 open play goals the following season. That does not mean he was shit or that he would never be a good striker, as we can see now.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Would you say he’s the biggest reason for our failure this season.

If he maintained his form from when he scored in 10(?) successive games then I think we’d be significantly higher. Maybe 5-6th

 

[bosnian_red]

Would you say he’s the biggest reason for our failure this season.

If he maintained his form from when he scored in 10(?) successive games then I think we’d be significantly higher. Maybe 5-6th

It's the front 3 as a whole. He's the worst player in our team IMO, but the general issue is just having nobody who can score goals. If we had an in form and confident Rashford for example, then it'd be more feasible to play Zirkzee from the start more who is a better player than Hojlund but offers pretty much 0 threat in behind and isn't able to stretch the defence. So because nobody else can stretch the defence, then Hojlund plays most games. Basically just nothing about our attack works on paper.

 

[Fobal]

Its hyperbole to make a point. This team is beyond dysfunctional. There's a reason why players are leaving here and looking 10x better immediately. Sure, some of that is the pressure of playing at United, but were scoring at a relegation rate. That doesnt just come down to a single player. People are being hard on Zirkzee as well, but put him in Pools squad with goalscoring wingers and he would be very good.

My point was simply that Rasmus hasnt been good, but the situation and environment is so bad, very few players would have the quality to overcome it and look decent. That's all.

Serious question...how many PL goals do you think Harry Kane, Mbappe, Haaland, etc would score in this team? I wouldnt back any of them to score 20 goals in this team.

I get that it was an hyperbole, yet the constant mention of his age as if it is the main (or worse: only) issue here does not help the lad, like I've posted before, there were quite a number of names in the history of the game that did numbers at a very young age and not few even adding other atributes in their play. Constantly calling these type of names alongside Rasmus at this stage and worse MOMENT of his carreer, hyperbole or not, will cringe, no matter what.

Also it's not an issue of just goals, the lad is playing bad full stop, he needs to first of all recover his confidence to at least gain more presence (in whatever form or way).
Many players whose main task is scoring goals, when going throught a bad patch regarding finishing or even having chances, contribute by: pressing, assisting, keeping the ball, giving air to their mates to reorganize and a large etc...this is the biggest issue right now with him in pure footballing terms.

PD: Mbappe, Erling, Harry, in their current form would more than probably score, even if not 20, they will score at some point and specially Harry and Kiki will contribute in one way or another.
Yet in any case like I've said above, will cringe that to in some way defend Rasmus we should go to the extreme of implying that these big names won't do fvck either.
I'll tell you two things thougth: in the same and current Rasmus confidence state? any player (no matter name) would have his game affected and in this current Man Utd? no player at any role would play to his full potential or even doing so (or close to it), he'll end involve in some sort of mistake at some point during a match due to the overal bad moment of the team.

 

[G97]

Would you say he’s the biggest reason for our failure this season.

If he maintained his form from when he scored in 10(?) successive games then I think we’d be significantly higher. Maybe 5-6th

There’s many factors in our failings. But having the worst striker in the league is certainly a major one in it.
Granted he gets no supply but his movement and first touch are dire and Don’t get me started on how crap he is in the air. He’s out of his depth and at this point I feel for him a bit.

To add: He’s 22 now. The constant mentioning of his age needs to stop. He’s young(ish) but he’s not a kid now.

 

[caid]

Would you say he’s the biggest reason for our failure this season.

If he maintained his form from when he scored in 10(?) successive games then I think we’d be significantly higher. Maybe 5-6th

I dont think any of our forwards are having good seasons, even by their own limited standards. Amad excluded but not at a level where he can carry others, he was pitching in and earning his place more than anything.
Its probably not that surprising, they were all gambles to some extent. Its not strange for young players to struggle in their second or third season. Getting anything out of Rashford was always a fools hope. Zirkzee was never going to slot straight in imo and looks ill equipped for the new formation.

 

[Rozay]

He scored 10 goals, none of which were penalties, missed 13 big chances and had a conversion rate of 26.3%. I'd say that is a decent goal threat whichever way you look at it, particularly for a 20 year old inexperienced striker having his debut season in the Premier League playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world against some of the best defenders in the world. Even what we consider mediocre defenders in the league are extremely challenging to face for a striker of his age, because it is a tremendously physical and fast-paced league where you simply don't have the time to react as one would in leagues like Serie A or Bundesliga. He also scored 5 goals in his debut Champions League, which is also fairly decent.

Anyway, we like the players we like, and it comes down to preference. It is clear you prefer a striker with a more refined first touch and a classy one, rather than the physical, heavy brute-looking clumsy kind that is more fitting for someone like Højlund, and that is fine, but to suggest it is not impressive to do what he did is a bit strange, in my opinion.
Martial was more impressive because he was extremely exciting to watch, and the fact that he did this from the left at the age of 19, and combined with the fact that he had absolutely elite talent. With a great mentality and attitude, and luck when it comes to injuries, he could have been one of the best players in the world.

In general, I don't really think anyone disagrees with your point. Højlund isn't good enough, and he has been awful this season. That doesn't mean people have to insult him or suggest that he is the worst striker we have ever had, or that he is a League 2 striker. He clearly has talent, and some of the most recognised scouts in the world acknowledge that, whether we like that or not. He was doing well for Atalanta and was in the top-end percentiles for goals and expected goals per 90 at the time. I think he made a mistake coming to us, and he would have done far better staying at Atalanta to continue his development in a weaker league without the colossal pressure on his shoulders, but can we blame him for joining his favourite club growing up when the opportunity presented itself? Young players are inconsistent, and there will be ups and downs with him, as there will be with most young players. Isak scored 17 goals for Sociedad one season, and then 4 open play goals the following season. That does not mean he was shit or that he would never be a good striker, as we can see now.

The figures for his great spell are no doubt fantastic. Clearly so fantastic that the significant portion of the season that did not include that spell is being forgotten. I have not questioned that spell at all, and taken nothing away from it. The only thing I have done is not ignore the fact that it didn’t constitute his whole season, and see no reason why an evaluation of his season should be distilled into a one month spell. I haven’t said his one month spell wasn’t impressive. I said his season wasn’t impressive. Just like Antony’s wasn’t, despite his impressive spell at the start. It was what it was, an impressive spell. Not an impressive season. Although perhaps it was, as he was of course:

- young lad
- new country
- new team
- and the following season, we can also add personal problems.

Martial over Hojlund isn’t just ‘preference’, come on. Martial was just better. Having a better touch, close control, link play etc are exactly what makes a player good. It isn’t preference, they are useful skills, and I’d say Martial was also a better finisher than Hojlund.

As for him being a L2 striker, that has never been my argument. Mine has been a quite simple one. I don’t think he’s good enough for Manchester United. I don’t care that arbitrary player x somewhere is also not good enough for United or anything, if all agree with me that he isn’t good enough then we are arguing for the sake of it.

As for Isak, I’ve said a number of times, I don’t think Hojlund is below standard because he has only scored 10 goals last season. Or because of whatever the number is this season. There is a lot of nuance to evaluating young players. Hojlund barely has any action or involvement in almost every game he plays. Beyond the basics, he has shown little to no quality to me that suggests he is in a small group of players that you think should play for one of the better teams in football. I barely see him do anything that I see is rare. So he’s just a striker. Play enough games, he’ll score a goal. If a chance is presentable enough, he’ll probably take it. But beyond that, I’ve seen nothing. There’s nothing in his game that suggests that he should be at Manchester United and not, say Everton or wherever. The same cannot be said if Isak. He doesn’t ‘just score 20 goals’. He’s just a footballer that has rare quality. The goals is the last bit that brought his game together, but first of all - he’s a talent that belonged at a top club.

Anyway, good luck to the lad. We’ll see what he’ll become, but I see no elite quality. He’s a young lad with a good physique and speed but as for footballing quality, it doesn’t look above average.

 

[stefan92]

The figures for his great spell are no doubt fantastic. Clearly so fantastic that the significant portion of the season that did not include that spell is being forgotten. I have not questioned that spell at all, and taken nothing away from it. The only thing I have done is not ignore the fact that it didn’t constitute his whole season, and see no reason why an evaluation of his season should be distilled into a one month spell. I haven’t said his one month spell wasn’t impressive. I said his season wasn’t impressive. Just like Antony’s wasn’t, despite his impressive spell at the start. It was what it was, an impressive spell. Not an impressive season. Although perhaps it was, as he was of course:

- young lad
- new country
- new team
- and the following season, we can also add personal problems.

Martial over Hojlund isn’t just ‘preference’, come on. Martial was just better. Having a better touch, close control, link play etc are exactly what makes a player good. It isn’t preference, they are useful skills, and I’d say Martial was also a better finisher than Hojlund.

As for him being a L2 striker, that has never been my argument. Mine has been a quite simple one. I don’t think he’s good enough for Manchester United. I don’t care that arbitrary player x somewhere is also not good enough for United or anything, if all agree with me that he isn’t good enough then we are arguing for the sake of it.

As for Isak, I’ve said a number of times, I don’t think Hojlund is below standard because he has only scored 10 goals last season. Or because of whatever the number is this season. There is a lot of nuance to evaluating young players. Hojlund barely has any action or involvement in almost every game he plays. Beyond the basics, he has shown little to no quality to me that suggests he is in a small group of players that you think should play for one of the better teams in football. I barely see him do anything that I see is rare. So he’s just a striker. Play enough games, he’ll score a goal. If a chance is presentable enough, he’ll probably take it. But beyond that, I’ve seen nothing. There’s nothing in his game that suggests that he should be at Manchester United and not, say Everton or wherever. The same cannot be said if Isak. He doesn’t ‘just score 20 goals’. He’s just a footballer that has rare quality. The goals is the last bit that brought his game together, but first of all - he’s a talent that belonged at a top club.

Anyway, good luck to the lad. We’ll see what he’ll become, but I see no elite quality. He’s a young lad with a good physique and speed but as for footballing quality, it doesn’t look above average.

I honestly think in five years people will see his younger brother Oscar as the better player.

 

[G97]

Its hyperbole to make a point. This team is beyond dysfunctional. There's a reason why players are leaving here and looking 10x better immediately. Sure, some of that is the pressure of playing at United, but were scoring at a relegation rate. That doesnt just come down to a single player. People are being hard on Zirkzee as well, but put him in Pools squad with goalscoring wingers and he would be very good.

My point was simply that Rasmus hasnt been good, but the situation and environment is so bad, very few players would have the quality to overcome it and look decent. That's all.

Serious question...how many PL goals do you think Harry Kane, Mbappe, Haaland, etc would score in this team? I wouldnt back any of them to score 20 goals in this team.

You’ve been listening to wannabe United fans spokesman Gary Neville and his foolish opinions too much. You heard him say that and are just copying what he said after the Spurs game.
Who are these supposed players who have done so well anyway?…
Di Maria? French league…
Fred? Turkish league…
McTominay? Serie A (people don’t realise how poor this league is).
Sancho? His true colours are now showing.
We could continue this… Depay, Blind, Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Pogba, Lukaku, Victor Valdes, Schweinsteiger, Mkhitaryan, Herrera, Sabitzer, Dan James, Telles, Bailly etc etc etc!
how many of these do you regret selling?? How many went on to have a career where they looked “10x” the player than they did here??? Maybe you mean the amazing Rojo? At Boca Juniors?
You have jumped on the bandwagon because loudmouth Neville said it.

This is a horrible read all round and your Hojlund take is a shocker too and part of the reason this club has become the way it has in the past 12 years. Too many people accepting mediocrity. Let’s call a spade a spade and just all agree Hojlund is crap.

For the record I like Neville. But his views on United are embarrassing and it’s worse when casual people just agree with him because it’s Gary Neville and he’s loud.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Would you say he’s the biggest reason for our failure this season.

If he maintained his form from when he scored in 10(?) successive games then I think we’d be significantly higher. Maybe 5-6th

No, he's not the focal point in our attack. Rashford going AWOL or Garnacho not really stepping up come before him. Note that, no matter how disjointed or one-dimensional our attack was, we always had someone chipping in goals seemingly out of nowhere. That was our saving grace. Last season, it was McT (alongside Hojlund and Garnacho). Now, with Amad out for the rest of the season, we seem to have run out of miracles.

The problem with him, from a tactical point of view, is that he's an island on the pitch. If you have a look at our pass maps, there are zero (or occasionally very few and limited) passing lanes between him and his teammates. He's basically a Haaland without the goals on the pitch and, as another poster would probably put it, Haaland without his goals wouldn't even register as a footballer. So, the pertinent question is this: If he doesn't have the knack for getting into pockets of space where he can generate a finish, what is he good at exactly?

He must develop an understanding with those around him. If he wants to work the channels and look for runs in-behind, he should help himself. Martial could do one freaking thing well, drift from the central forward position into the left half-space. It wasn't much but, along with Rashford's tendency to do the opposite (start wide left and look to cut inside) and Bruno's ability to play runners in-behind, it kept Solskjaer in the job for two seasons.

 

[soapythecat]

We cannot persist with this lad starting any more league games. It’s literally like playing with 10 men. Woefully awful in every aspect of being a footballer, let alone a decent forward. Zirkzee or young Obi need to play up front - I doubt either could offer less.
This lad needs to sold in the summer as he will never be good enough here - we expect a lot from forwards and he can’t cut it.

 

[Exiled_Red]

You’ve been listening to wannabe United fans spokesman Gary Neville and his foolish opinions too much. You heard him say that and are just copying what he said after the Spurs game.
Who are these supposed players who have done so well anyway?…
Di Maria? French league…
Fred? Turkish league…
McTominay? Serie A (people don’t realise how poor this league is).
Sancho? His true colours are now showing.
We could continue this… Depay, Blind, Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Pogba, Lukaku, Victor Valdes, Schweinsteiger, Mkhitaryan, Herrera, Sabitzer, Dan James, Telles, Bailly etc etc etc!
how many of these do you regret selling?? How many went on to have a career where they looked “10x” the player than they did here??? Maybe you mean the amazing Rojo? At Boca Juniors?
You have jumped on the bandwagon because loudmouth Neville said it.

This is a horrible read all round and your Hojlund take is a shocker too and part of the reason this club has become the way it has in the past 12 years. Too many people accepting mediocrity. Let’s call a spade a spade and just all agree Hojlund is crap.

For the record I like Neville. But his views on United are embarrassing and it’s worse when casual people just agree with him because it’s Gary Neville and he’s loud.

You’re projecting here mate. I haven’t listened to a damn thing Neville has said and frankly I think a majority of his takes that I have heard on United are terrible. In general, almost all of the former United players turned pundits have horrible takes on the club. But that’s another discussion.

You and several others keep acting like I’m defending Rasmus. He’s been shit, I’m not saying otherwise. For some reason, whether it’s coaching or lack there of, he’s got this idea that he needs to be a physical hold up forward and that’s not his game. The point I’m making, and will continue to make, is that most 9s rely on service to be successful. Rasmus conversion rate is actually really good, but he isn’t given enough. Now does that mean none of it is his fault? Of course not. He has to do more to create chances for himself and others.

It’s crazy to me in a team with so many glaring issues, some are acting like if we bought a different 9 we’d be fixed.

 

[Dr Foo]

I suspect he’s another one who will ‘shine’ at another lower level or more settled club. He’s been poor but it’s criminal not bringing in another experienced forward to shoulder the burden and pressure (zirkzee doesn’t count), let alone in a highly dysfunctional team

 

[VP89]

I suspect he’s another one who will ‘shine’ at another lower level or more settled club. He’s been poor but it’s criminal not bringing in another experienced forward to shoulder the burden and pressure (zirkzee doesn’t count), let alone in a highly dysfunctional team

Serious question, would he shine in the Championship?

 

[G97]

You’re projecting here mate. I haven’t listened to a damn thing Neville has said and frankly I think a majority of his takes that I have heard on United are terrible. In general, almost all of the former United players turned pundits have horrible takes on the club. But that’s another discussion.

You and several others keep acting like I’m defending Rasmus. He’s been shit, I’m not saying otherwise. For some reason, whether it’s coaching or lack there of, he’s got this idea that he needs to be a physical hold up forward and that’s not his game. The point I’m making, and will continue to make, is that most 9s rely on service to be successful. Rasmus conversion rate is actually really good, but he isn’t given enough. Now does that mean none of it is his fault? Of course not. He has to do more to create chances for himself and others.

It’s crazy to me in a team with so many glaring issues, some are acting like if we bought a different 9 we’d be fixed.

Fair response mate.
I’d argue that any fans who think replacing Hojlund with a new 9 will fix us completely are not worth even having a discussion with.
But having him on the pitch is quite literally playing with 10 men. He’s about as bad as it can get as far as strikers go.

I go backwards and forwards in my mind about the position that is most important to improve on this summer, goalkeeper and striker are the ones that appear at the top of the list the most. It’s a team where our worst players is the one furthest forward and furthest back with a crop of crap in between. Replacing Hojlund won’t fix us. Just like a change in ownership wouldn’t. There’s too many factors.

 

[Exiled_Red]

Fair response mate.
I’d argue that any fans who think replacing Hojlund with a new 9 will fix us completely are not worth even having a discussion with.
But having him on the pitch is quite literally playing with 10 men. He’s about as bad as it can get as far as strikers go.

I go backwards and forwards in my mind about the position that is most important to improve on this summer, goalkeeper and striker are the ones that appear at the top of the list the most. It’s a team where our worst players is the one furthest forward and furthest back with a crop of crap in between. Replacing Hojlund won’t fix us. Just like a change in ownership wouldn’t. There’s too many factors.

It’s hard to rank positions of need in this squad because there are so many. I still put wing back top of the list because this formation is so reliant on that position and Dalot is such a bad player. Wing backs in the system need to be ultra athletic and capable of creating width in the attack and Dalot can’t do either of those things.

After that, I would say a proper 9 is next on the list. I wouldn’t sell Rasmus, but I think he needs less pressure and some time to develop behind a more established striker.

And then after that, the focus would be on getting a dynamic center mid. I might be wrong, but I don’t think Mainoo is going to work as a center mid in this formation. He doesn’t have the legs and the speed to get around the field and he doesn’t have the passing range to act as a DLP.

If we could fill those needs this summer while selling Rashford, Casemiro, and Garnacho it would go a long way in improving the squad and our FFP situation.