[Tosicsleftpeg]

First half he was ok and did some decent bits of play. The tube when Dalot didn't cross it to him was absolutely shocking, I was in an absolute rage about it for the rest of the game. He tired in the second half too.

One thing I must say though is lots of the balls up to him later on were poor and he would have had to perform miracles to get in behind. Look at the young Icelandic lad for them, had some lovely little balls into him from crosses and thru balls and looked really dangerous.

He's not doing himself any favours but in the same vein the teams not helping him either.

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

He's on an awful run and it doesn't look like he's up to it. Now I've only watched the highlights but he made some good runs and he was constantly ignored, it must be so frustrating for him. I do still think there's a player in Hojlund but it would be nice if our players picked him out more. Dalot and Garnacho are shocking for ignoring him.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

God he uses up so much energy for so little result. One good lay-off and then being fouled is all I can really remember. The amount of times the ball is played into him and he just kind of lets it hit him and it just trickles to an opposition player.

Needs a break or a loan but unfortunately will get neither atm.

Seems like an autopilot post. Was better than most of the season, but didn’t get any favours from his teammates. Hopefully he’s on an upward trajectory like the team. Hopefully.

 

[klayton88]

"Needs to bulk down"

Same with Mainoo. Either filled our naturally or been put on a gain diet/programme and lost all agility and whatever pace they had to begin with. Our team consists of slow puddings or fast but lightweight players who have no physical presence.

 

[Redstain]

Was anonymous as usual, needs a lengthy period out of the team and preferably sold or loaned in the summer. Give Obi a run if games irrespective of him being ready he'll offer something.

 

[Solius]

Seems like an autopilot post. Was better than most of the season, but didn’t get any favours from his teammates. Hopefully he’s on an upward trajectory like the team. Hopefully.

Not autopilot at all. I often defend him and feel he’s isolated but he doesn’t help himself at times.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

Not autopilot at all. I often defend him and feel he’s isolated but he doesn’t help himself at times.

I agree with you, just thought that he actually did better than most games this season. Yes, he threw the ball away once or twice, but he took good positions, made good runs and passed well. Tbf he probably should have had an assist and a goal, but Garnacho can’t finish and Dalot, well… the less said the better

 

[TheGame]

I agree with you, just thought that he actually did better than most games this season. Yes, he threw the ball away once or twice, but he took good positions, made good runs and passed well. Tbf he probably should have had an assist and a goal, but Garnacho can’t finish and Dalot, well… the less said the better

Yep agree with this. Thought he did well and worked hard, better than previous games but his confidence is clearly shot.

 

[Marwood]

Definitely noticed a positive change in how we're using him over the last few games. Less of him being central with back to goal, more of him running the channels. That's playing more to hos strengths.

Whatever about his form or quality he can be a handful for defenders when he's in wider positions.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I thought he was unlucky last night. Dalot not passing was unbelievable. Also think Garnacho was too greedy at times last night, could have squared a couple of times instead, including the one he blasted into the side netting where Rasmus was standing looking in a better position.

 

[Zoid]

Does anyone else find it annoying that he never goes into the press until the end? He always just stops two metres away from the opponent.

 

[Vidooq]

Does anyone else find it annoying that he never goes into the press until the end? He always just stops two metres away from the opponent.

I don't want to say it, but he is a press pretender. He has no faith in his ability to nick the ball from the defender. Amad, who is twice as small, is way better at that. There was a game where he literally stopped running right in front of our bench, and Amorim replaced him in the next 20 seconds. Believe it was the game v Fulham.

 

[Utterly De Ligt'd]

A couple of goals and I think the whole narrative in here would change. He is obviously completely shot of confidence, and the rest of the team doesn't have any confidence in him either. It's ridiculous that Dalot didn't pass it to him on that break yesterday, that could have been it. But at the same time, you can see a bit of justification on Dalot's side.

 

[Theo88]

A couple of goals and I think the whole narrative in here would change. He is obviously completely shot of confidence, and the rest of the team doesn't have any confidence in him either. It's ridiculous that Dalot didn't pass it to him on that break yesterday, that could have been it. But at the same time, you can see a bit of justification on Dalot's side.

There’s no justification on Dalot’s side.
That was just stupid.

Dalot managed to miss the goal with West Ham in an instance he was facing no opposing GK.

Cross / square the ball to your CF. that’s his job.

Garna has been taking the piss for 2-3 months now. Yes he is always up for it, but 95% he puts his head down and ignores everyone. (Still thinking about Obi’s run last week).

Our wingers are really bad.

 

[Irwin99]

I didn't think he was as bad as usual yesterday. I still have serious questions about his stamina though. By the 60th minute in most games he looks completely out of energy.

What really irritated me yesterday was the Dalot situation though. You've got a young striker who's in terrible form, confidence is rock bottom, absolutely needs a goal and Dalot doesn't cross to him for an easy tap in. Yes Hojlund might not be very good, he might not have a future here and all that but last season he went on a goal scoring run when he got his first goal in the league. You would think that a teammate would be aware of that and really want him to get that goal but no, Dalot chose not to cross it to him.

 

[Doracle]

A couple of goals and I think the whole narrative in here would change. He is obviously completely shot of confidence, and the rest of the team doesn't have any confidence in him either. It's ridiculous that Dalot didn't pass it to him on that break yesterday, that could have been it. But at the same time, you can see a bit of justification on Dalot's side.

I’ve no doubt that the narrative on here will change if he scores a couple of goals. He’s a young player and people want him to do well. However, it should only really change if he starts showing substantial improvements to his all-around game. That’s the critical point of concern, not his lack of goals.

 

[Squeaky_Bum_Time]

He passes to Garnacho often, even though the other way around barely ever happens. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken it personally and stopped passing to Garnacho.

 

[Utterly De Ligt'd]

I’ve no doubt that the narrative on here will change if he scores a couple of goals. He’s a young player and people want him to do well. However, it should only really change if he starts showing substantial improvements to his all-around game. That’s the critical point of concern, not his lack of goals.

At the end of the day it's all down to a lack of confidence on his part and an over reliance on a player his age by the club and fans. If his scoring is affected it's because his whole game is affected, they are one in of the same.

 

[lsd]

A couple of goals and I think the whole narrative in here would change. He is obviously completely shot of confidence, and the rest of the team doesn't have any confidence in him either. It's ridiculous that Dalot didn't pass it to him on that break yesterday, that could have been it. But at the same time, you can see a bit of justification on Dalot's side.

The only thing I can think of of is the players in that position are told to pass the ball back onto the player running into the penalty box like in Zirkzee's goal where Garnacho had a similar situation.

Instead of looking at Hojlund he played it back to Zirkzee

 

[Adz_99]

He passes to Garnacho often, even though the other way around barely ever happens. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken it personally and stopped passing to Garnacho.

He strikes me as a player who doesn't really want the ball. Low confidence.

 

[CasaStreets]

I know it's been said but the time required for him to accelerate to his max speed is so long that his max speed is practically irrelevant.

For any distance under 10-15 yards he loses on pace to almost every defender we play against. Yesterday there was an instance where he was actually offside, goal-side of the defender, body momentum headed toward the goal-line, and STILL got beat to the through-ball by the defender before the assistant lifted his flag.

I would go so far as to say he is actually slow unless he has >10 yards to accelerate. This is not a question of just bad agility over 1 or 2 yards, he is slow over short-to-mid range distances as well. If he can develop his ball control at pace then maybe he'll be of value to a counter-attacking team, but he just has too many deficits across key attributes for me to believe that he will make it here or in any possession-oriented system.

 

[Vidooq]

I know it's been said but the time required for him to accelerate to his max speed is so long that his max speed is practically irrelevant.

For any distance under 10-15 yards he loses on pace to almost every defender we play against. Yesterday there was an instance where he was actually offside, goal-side of the defender, body momentum headed toward the goal-line, and STILL got beat to the through-ball by the defender before the assistant lifted his flag.

I would go so far as to say he is actually slow unless he has >10 yards to accelerate. This is not a question of just bad agility over 1 or 2 yards, he is slow over short-to-mid range distances as well. If he can develop his ball control at pace then maybe he'll be of value to a counter-attacking team, but he just has too many deficits across key attributes for me to believe that he will make it here or in any possession-oriented system.

I don't think this is a good example. The momentum of the move was taking him backward as he was trying to go back in order to get onside, which then gives advantage to the defender who is continuing his natural movement. Maybe he is slow, but he does not seem like it. The bigger problem with him is that he is losing every duel, no matter the opponent. If you cant keep the ball, it's a huge problem.

 

[Aleryan]

People forgot how Hojlund destroyed Pizen with two goals.

 

[lsd]

People forgot how Hojlund destroyed Pizen with two goals.

Saying Pizen like it's supposed to mean something.

 

[Bobski]

I don't think he has anywhere near the requisite quality to be a starter for a major club long term, just too many holes in his game, but what do I know.

Would probably be better off if he stopped focusing so obviously on his lack of goals and embraced the need for some small wins in his game, win a few headers, press effectively, make a tackle, barely made one all season. He had 2 or 3 decent bits of hold up play that let to shooting chances the other night for others, there was nothing difficult about those moments of play but they are all building blocks to confidence. Not just for him but for his teammates in him, he has given so little to the team this season that is should be little surprise if they don't instinctively look for him. He can't have any more games where he is having single digit touches of the ball.

Zirkzee has a different role but there are moments of quality that he shows that have clearly given him a bit of confidence boost lately.