[Camilo]

Leading the line of the biggest club in England with billions of eyes on you is - and has always been - a poisoned chalice if you’re not making the grade.

Højlund has been thrust from relative anonymity to a spotlight arguably only Real and Barcelona share in terms of global attention. It’s a massive pressure on his shoulders, one many warned he shouldn’t have as the #1 before we even signed him. He should have been the backup to a veteran who could handle the pressure on him.

Højlund isn’t the only youngster we’ve done wrong by, but he’s comfortably got the worst, most mishandled case of the lot.

There's zero expectation though. Half this forum think we're exactly where we should be in the table. Big club sure, but it's a small team. Short on expectations, short on quality, and therefore short on pressure.

If he wasn't making the grade playing with a group of experienced winners then sure, anyone would feel the stress. But he's in a situation where the expectations are so low that I don't think anyone expects much. Zirkzee makes a nice touch and people are fawning over him - it's not like the standards are very high.

 

[Frank White]

There's zero expectation though. Half this forum think we're exactly where we should be in the table. Big club sure, but it's a small team. Short on expectations, short on quality, and therefore short on pressure.

If he wasn't making the grade playing with a group of experienced winners then sure, anyone would feel the stress. But he's in a situation where the expectations are so low that I don't think anyone expects much. Zirkzee makes a nice touch and people are fawning over him - it's not like the standards are very high.

Definitely not true. Every misplaced pass, touch, shot etc is scrutinised to death. For evidence look at the Yoro segment Sky ran this week. He's the No.9 for United regardless of the situation we're in he's going to be feeling immense pressure. Add to that the fee there's no way he feels very little pressure.

 

[Powderfinger]

For an insight, it’s worthwhile checking out footage of him for Atalanta. That’s who we signed, and that’s the platform to assess from. Who knows where that player would have been by now if brought through here in the correct manner and environment.

It’s all for naught now, however, as he’s a husk of that player.

IMO, he's exactly the same guy. He scored almost all his goals at Atalanta against lower table Serie A sides running behind much less athletic defenders or occasionally poking in balls inside the six yard box, same way he has scored for United, especially against poor competition in Europe. He has always been more of an athlete than a footballer and that kind of player tends to get found out against better competition. I don't think United ruined him, he just shouldn't have been bought in the first place.

 

[Kingslayer18]

But why is his confidence shot?

There are very low expectations on his shoulders, and the rest of the team is playing utter wank. If he's that mentally weak he shouldn't be a footballer full stop.

I think he might just be a bit crap, and whatever coaching he's getting isn't clicking.

I don't think there were very low expectations on him. He was brought in as a starting 9 for Manchester United, expected to get us the goals to compete against the best and be a 15-20 goal striker in the league.

Then add the team has been wank. Who has done well in the 2 years he has been in the team, probably just Bruno, Amad, Dalot at a stretch. That shows you how bad things have been. How many young strikers are able to do well in such a scenario?

 

[Redstain]

IMO, he's exactly the same guy. He scored almost all his goals at Atalanta against lower table Serie A sides running behind much less athletic defenders or occasionally poking in balls inside the six yard box, same way he has scored for United, especially against poor competition in Europe. He has always been more of an athlete than a footballer and that kind of player tends to get found out against better competition. I don't think United ruined him, he just shouldn't have been bought in the first place.

I agree, he was never a monumental talent as is being made out by implication of some views which is subjectively fair of others opinions.

But Rasmus Hojlund for me represents something like Nicklas Bendtner for Arsenal, playing many many games and fans are wondering why he's not putting out Thierry Henry like numbers / performances. It doesn't matter how much favourable scenarios Arsenal create for the player to flourish, it is Nicklas Bendtner.

That's how I view Hojlund a player with a low ceiling where the timing of Haaland's move created this idea that you can throw any young athletic striker into the mix and expect to mine gold.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

I don't even care how well he's playing now all I want is 2 or 3 tap ins in the Europa please. In the prem you can wrestle players all you like and miss sitters, just get some Europa goals please.

 

[Fortitude]

There's zero expectation though. Half this forum think we're exactly where we should be in the table. Big club sure, but it's a small team. Short on expectations, short on quality, and therefore short on pressure.

If he wasn't making the grade playing with a group of experienced winners then sure, anyone would feel the stress. But he's in a situation where the expectations are so low that I don't think anyone expects much. Zirkzee makes a nice touch and people are fawning over him - it's not like the standards are very high.

C'mon, the pressure on him has been further ramped up with Zirkzee out for the season. The guy has our qualification to the semifinals in his hands, in a way, just as much as Onana on the other end, who could knock us out of European football for a second season running.

The pressure on both of them is immense and greater than anyone else in the team because they are massive underperformers in game-defining roles. The hammering either will get for poor performance tonight will be the worst of the season because our entire campaign has been reduced to this competition. There'll also be people who are still in the Rasmus camp who will invariably turn on him post-game tonight, in their thousands.

You don't think he feels and knows how his performances are being slaughtered across social media or that he's not abreast of his situation going into tonight's game? The kid has already had an outburst regarding social media, and things have gone from bad to worse for him since then.

I'd say the situation is the opposite of your first paragraph; in a team of winners and performers it becomes more of a personalised issue, but essentially the fans are more willing to forgive/support or dismiss to encourage. In a failing team, the worst performers are seen as the biggest contributing factors to the situation and are singled out for more criticism. Garnacho is having a terrible season and Zirkzee is hardly pulling up trees, but the difference between them and Højlund is they do certain things well enough for more goodwill to be extended to them. That's more pressure on the Dane, who has no redeeming aspects to his game this season.

 

[Shane88]

If he does that thing tonight where he bottles contesting a defender on a header and crumples to the ground pleading with the ref for a free kick he should be immediately replaced with Maguire.

 

[Oldyella]

I don't even care how well he's playing now all I want is 2 or 3 tap ins in the Europa please. In the prem you can wrestle players all you like and miss sitters, just get some Europa goals please.

Would take a couple of huge deflected goals. At least that would mean he was near vicinity of the goal for ball to bounce off him.

 

[Desert Eagle]

C'mon, the pressure on him has been further ramped up with Zirkzee out for the season. The guy has our qualification to the semifinals in his hands, in a way, just as much as Onana on the other end, who could knock us out of European football for a second season running.

The pressure on both of them is immense and greater than anyone else in the team because they are massive underperformers in game-defining roles. The hammering either will get for poor performance tonight will be the worst of the season because our entire campaign has been reduced to this competition. There'll also be people who are still in the Rasmus camp who will invariably turn on him post-game tonight, in their thousands.

You don't think he feels and knows how his performances are being slaughtered across social media or that he's not abreast of his situation going into tonight's game? The kid has already had an outburst regarding social media, and things have gone from bad to worse for him since then.

I'd say the situation is the opposite of your first paragraph; in a team of winners and performers it becomes more of a personalised issue, but essentially the fans are more willing to forgive/support or dismiss to encourage. In a failing team, the worst performers are seen as the biggest contributing factors to the situation and are singled out for more criticism. Garnacho is having a terrible season and Zirkzee is hardly pulling up trees, but the difference between them and Højlund is they do certain things well enough for more goodwill to be extended to them. That's more pressure on the Dane, who has no redeeming aspects to his game this season.

Agreed. Our season is in the hands of Dumb and Dumber. If they have good/great games they can go some way to reclaiming a bit of goodwill from fans. If they fail as is most likely they should delete their social media accounts for a while.

 

[Rasmus_9]

The guy is so shot of confidence at the minute he barely looks like a league 2 striker. I’d put Garnacho up top with Mount and Bruno behind him

 

[Wrecking ralf]

Genuinely, I think a loan to the championship would do wonders for him. Worked with Amad at Sunderland. If we did a deal for a Southampton player (Fernandes, Dibling), send them Hojlund as part of the deal and give him a season away from the spotlight to build his confidence back up. I'd rather an option like that than just selling him outright.

 

[Doracle]

Genuinely, I think a loan to the championship would do wonders for him. Worked with Amad at Sunderland. If we did a deal for a Southampton player (Fernandes, Dibling), send them Hojlund as part of the deal and give him a season away from the spotlight to build his confidence back up. I'd rather an option like that than just selling him outright.

Yes, I don’t get why so many people just want him immediately sold. A loan to the championship or Bundesliga/Ligue 1 seem like really good options to me - allow him a season to develop away from United. I think he will score some goals and we can then either look to sell when his stock is higher or reintegrate him if he makes huge strides.

 

[Andycoleno9]

For an insight, it’s worthwhile checking out footage of him for Atalanta. That’s who we signed, and that’s the platform to assess from. Who knows where that player would have been by now if brought through here in the correct manner and environment.

It’s all for naught now, however, as he’s a husk of that player.

Tbh, it is more or less same player from Atalanta. Even in his Atalanta highlights you can see dodgy technique and that he is non - existent in air.
Reminds me on that meme; but it is the same picture.

 

[Olecurls99]

Genuinely, I think a loan to the championship would do wonders for him. Worked with Amad at Sunderland. If we did a deal for a Southampton player (Fernandes, Dibling), send them Hojlund as part of the deal and give him a season away from the spotlight to build his confidence back up. I'd rather an option like that than just selling him outright.

I think the scars at United might be too deep for Rasmus. I think he needs to be rebuilt back in Italy and sold eventually for 40m. I'd love to see him knock in a brace tonight and go on from there though.

 

[Superunknown]

He needs a big performance tonight. If anything, I want to see him putting himself out there and making a nuisance of himself to their defence. He's too shy and we need him to come out of his shell tonight.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Come on lad. We need you tonight. Big performance and get a bit of swagger about you.

 

[foolsgold]

He needs a big performance tonight. If anything, I want to see him putting himself out there and making a nuisance of himself to their defence. He's too shy and we need him to come out of his shell tonight.

Strangely confident that he's going to have a big one tonight, sometimes it just takes one to turn it around

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Genuinely, I think a loan to the championship would do wonders for him. Worked with Amad at Sunderland. If we did a deal for a Southampton player (Fernandes, Dibling), send them Hojlund as part of the deal and give him a season away from the spotlight to build his confidence back up. I'd rather an option like that than just selling him outright.

His agent would probably advise against going down a division.

 

[criticalanalysis]

He's been absolute shite and I don't mean to excuse him with this next comment but I fecking wish Garnacho will actually try to pass or create something for him more than the token 1 effort a game.

 

[Frank White]

He's been absolute shite and I don't mean to excuse him with this next comment but I fecking wish Garnacho will actually try to pass or create something for him more than the token 1 effort a game.

It is crazy when you look at the picture of them two and Mainoo on the billboard celebrating I was thinking it could be the start of a decent trio/duo link up but in reality on the pitch them two specifically play like they hate each other. Would be interesting to see that stats of how many times them two have even passed to each other never mind an assist.

Genuinely feels like these last few games could be make or break for his United career which is sad but he's got to start performing.

 

[criticalanalysis]

It is crazy when you look at the picture of them two and Mainoo on the billboard celebrating I was thinking it could be the start of a decent trio/duo link up but in reality on the pitch them two specifically play like they hate each other. Would be interesting to see that stats of how many times them two have even passed to each other never mind an assist.

Genuinely feels like these last few games could be make or break for his United career which is sad but he's got to start performing.

Again I'm not defending Hojlund but even though he has been a bit more selfish this past year, based on the eye test, it's definitely way more one sided. Hojlund will more times or not play the pass to Garnacho or anyone else for that matter if he can. It doesn't work the other way round with Garnacho, where passes and chances to others (particularly to Hojlund) are more incidental than with actual thought or purpose, although that could explain his whole game overall, let alone his blatant selfishness in the final third.

 

[RedRocket9908]

Genuinely, I think a loan to the championship would do wonders for him. Worked with Amad at Sunderland. If we did a deal for a Southampton player (Fernandes, Dibling), send them Hojlund as part of the deal and give him a season away from the spotlight to build his confidence back up. I'd rather an option like that than just selling him outright.

We should offer him to Ipswich if we want Liam Delap

 

[Frank White]

Again I'm not defending Hojlund but even though he has been a bit more selfish this past year, based on the eye test, it's definitely way more one sided. Hojlund will more times or not play the pass to Garnacho or anyone else for that matter if he can. It doesn't work the other way round with Garnacho, where passes and chances to others (particularly to Hojlund) are more incidental than with actual thought or purpose, although that could explain his whole game overall, let alone his blatant selfishness in the final third.

I don't doubt it. And I'm not even saying ones as bad as the other would just be in general interesting to see the passing stats between the two. Surely they've played 50+ with each other? Wouldn't be surprised if they made as many passes.

 

[Gaidal]

It still isn't clicking when it comes to the runs and his play inside the box, but I thought he was decent at hold up and passing today.

It was pretty noticeable how we couldn't really attack as much after he went off until the last 10 mins of ET when we just threw everything forward.

 

[Fortitude]

Played well for a half, then fell off a cliff.

 

[100]

He played well but his energy levels are shocking. He can barely move after about 60 minutes. One of the reasons Lyon came into the game was his drop off in intensity.

 

[Godfather]

Played well for a half, then fell off a cliff.

Agreed. Needs to work on his fitness badly

 

[Ace of Spades]

He played well but his energy levels are shocking. He can barely move after about 60 minutes. One of the reasons Lyon came into the game was his drop off in intensity.

This. He was okay but then was useless in pressing them. Also, what does it say that mfs and defenders are more goal threat than him.

 

[the hea]

He was good when dropping deep but he is just awful at timing his runs in the box. Good strikers have the ability to be in the right place at the right time. Höjlund always seems to be in the wrong place.

 

[RORY65]

For a lot of the game his general play was better than usual but it's continually disappointing how he's not sharper in getting into good positions given that was supposed to be a strength when he was signed.

 

[Bobski]

His general play was some of the best he has shown, was consistently making positive contributions to attacks.

Could have been sharper in some of his movement but much better from him.

He and Garnacho need to either have some counseling or admit their desperate attraction and get it on.

 

[Grylte]

 

[Irwin99]

Much better in his overall game tonight.

 

[Rozay]

Got a bit more involved tonight with link play but looks like he won’t score a goal in a month of Sundays. He’s a player that we REALLY need to find something over the last month of the season, especially in the EL. Him being able to score a goal would make a huge difference to our prospects.

 

[Rossa]

He played well but his energy levels are shocking. He can barely move after about 60 minutes. One of the reasons Lyon came into the game was his drop off in intensity.

This. Sadly, our other striker, though now injured, also shares this attribute. How the hell is this possible? We have easily five players of this ilk in the first team squad - unfit players

 

[McFred]

Much better in his overall game tonight.

I must have been watching a different game, I thought he was absolutely anonymous in the first half and marginally better in the second. His attacking game is incredibly limited, but also he has absolutely no idea how to press - it’s like defending with 10 men

 

[SirScholes]

Much better in linking up, but ultimately if he’d stayed on we wouldn’t of won

 

[Red Royal]

Much better in linking up, but ultimately if he’d stayed on we wouldn’t of won

Yes exactly

 

[Devil81]

He's basically never an option in the box and when he is it always seems to be when a player has barely other option to shoot.