[romufc]

Excactly. What I can’t understand is why it’s not glaringly obvious to people that he’s an extremely talented player with, maybe most importantly, a very strong and resilient mindset coupled with a positive and likable personality. Unless he gets injured a lot there’s every chance he’ll become elite with the right manager.

Agreed. I think people just like to hate on players they have whilst wax lyrical about ones we dont have. It happens all the time.

The reason I think is, most United fans will watch 90 mins of a United game where you dont see much happening, whilst only watching clips / highlights of players from other clubs, which shows the best bits.

You do a 10 min youtube of Rashford, show it to people who have never watched him play 90 mins, will tell you he is a 100m player.

Hojlund just needs a consistent run of games under a manager where chances are created for him.

 

[Doracle]

He can pass accurately and intelligently and his hold up play is promising if a bit inconsistent. The only thing he needs to improve “massively” is heading.

His passing is definitely one of his main weaknesses. The areas he needs to substantially improve are first touch, passing/vision, link up play, off the ball movement and heading. It’s the first two which are the main concern as those aren’t really things that can be coached at this stage. I’d expect the others to improve, which will make him a decent option, but I worry the first two issues will stop him being genuinely good enough to be the main man for a top team.

Just to balance that, as I don’t like to be overly negative, he is a very natural finisher, which is another area which doesn’t often improve with age and a key asset to have. There’s definitely a lot to work with but I do think saying heading is his only current significant area for improvement is a long way from accurate. He’s still very very raw.

 

[ROFLUTION]

His passing is definitely one of his main weaknesses. The areas he needs to substantially improve are first touch, passing/vision, link up play, off the ball movement and heading. It’s the first two which are the main concern as those aren’t really things that can be coached at this stage. I’d expect the others to improve, which will make him a decent option, but I worry the first two issues will stop him being genuinely good enough to be the main man for a top team.

Just to balance that, as I don’t like to be overly negative, he is a very natural finisher, which is another area which doesn’t often improve with age and a key asset to have. There’s definitely a lot to work with but I do think saying heading is his only current significant area for improvement is a long way from accurate. He’s still very very raw.

When he first came through with Denmark I thought vision and understanding/IQ was one of his stronger sides - also he dropped deep with more succes albeit against lesser opponents. Maybe it’s just a matter of just adjusting to the league and speed plus growing as a footballer. Still only 21 years old. Still a good way to go.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

His passing is definitely one of his main weaknesses. The areas he needs to substantially improve are first touch, passing/vision, link up play, off the ball movement and heading. It’s the first two which are the main concern as those aren’t really things that can be coached at this stage. I’d expect the others to improve, which will make him a decent option, but I worry the first two issues will stop him being genuinely good enough to be the main man for a top team.

Just to balance that, as I don’t like to be overly negative, he is a very natural finisher, which is another area which doesn’t often improve with age and a key asset to have. There’s definitely a lot to work with but I do think saying heading is his only current significant area for improvement is a long way from accurate. He’s still very very raw.

I think that's all fair. Although he he played some incisive passes at times. So I think you might be being a bit harsh about passing/vision.

The other, slightly less tangible, issue is how few shots he takes per game. I remember last season when there were stats knocking around about how Bruno was creating chances for everyone apart from Hojlund (prompting daft conspiracy theories about this being a deliberate strategy by Bruno because he doesn't rate him!) so there's definitely something going wrong in terms of getting himself into situations where he can get a shot off. That's basically the art of being a goalscorer. So something he really needs to start showing soon if he's ever going to be one of our more prolific attackers.

 

[bgoodall]

I like him but its funny how much scrutiny Garnacho receives in comparison despite producing far more.

 

[Doracle]

When he first came through with Denmark I thought vision and understanding/IQ was one of his stronger sides - also he dropped deep with more succes albeit against lesser opponents. Maybe it’s just a matter of just adjusting to the league and speed plus growing as a footballer. Still only 21 years old. Still a good way to go.

Hopefully. To be fair, I seem to have a habit of missing the matches where people say he’s played really well. The issue I have with his passing is he seems to often take ages to decide what to play and then most times seems to underhit or play passes slightly behind runners, even if he spots them in time. Like most of our players, I’m hoping a better structure and confidence will give him the basis to demonstrate his skills more.

 

[Grand Vizier]

His passing is definitely one of his main weaknesses. The areas he needs to substantially improve are first touch, passing/vision, link up play, off the ball movement and heading. It’s the first two which are the main concern as those aren’t really things that can be coached at this stage. I’d expect the others to improve, which will make him a decent option, but I worry the first two issues will stop him being genuinely good enough to be the main man for a top team.

Just to balance that, as I don’t like to be overly negative, he is a very natural finisher, which is another area which doesn’t often improve with age and a key asset to have. There’s definitely a lot to work with but I do think saying heading is his only current significant area for improvement is a long way from accurate. He’s still very very raw.

I'm not seeing that at all. His passing and vision are very, very good. It actually surprised me last season how good he was at it, and he made several passes that led Rashford and Garnacho one-on-one with the keeper and inevitably they missed the chances.

Regarding his heading ability and off-the-ball movement, I completely agree. I think the movement part will come naturally with Amorim and with wingers that look to supply. Right now, it is impossible for him to predict as both Garnacho and Rashford don't really know what they are doing, and mostly look to cut in and shoot. Improving his heading is a must and will give us another dimension in attack.

 

[Doracle]

I'm not seeing that at all. His passing and vision are very, very good. It actually surprised me last season how good he was at it, and he made several passes that led Rashford and Garnacho one-on-one with the keeper and inevitably they missed the chances.

Regarding his heading ability and off-the-ball movement, I completely agree. I think the movement part will come naturally with Amorim and with wingers that look to supply. Right now, it is impossible for him to predict as both Garnacho and Rashford don't really know what they are doing, and mostly look to cut in and shoot. Improving his heading is a must and will give us another dimension in attack.

I’d love to see some clips of him feeding Garnacho and Rashford through one on one as I don’t recall that occurring at all, let alone on multiple occasions. The main issue I had with him last season was that the 9 in the formation we were employing should be feeding the wingers and it just wasn’t happening.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I’d love to see some clips of him feeding Garnacho and Rashford through one on one as I don’t recall that occurring at all, let alone on multiple occasions. The main issue I had with him last season was that the 9 in the formation we were employing should be feeding the wingers and it just wasn’t happening.

Obviously these are highlights so it's not like he was doing these things every game. He definitely deserves a lot of criticism for his own troubles but he absolutely did provide many good through balls or passes to his wide men. One of the big issues is that whilst he was happy to be the focal point (at times too much and naively for his own sake i.e spending time fighting with the CBs) and provide for others, he rarely got back the same service.

His passing much like most of his game is more about inconsistency rather than lack of ability or technique. It's a worry but considering the team structure and absolutely shite coaching, I would say he's a very promising talent and project.

 

[Grand Vizier]

I’d love to see some clips of him feeding Garnacho and Rashford through one on one as I don’t recall that occurring at all, let alone on multiple occasions. The main issue I had with him last season was that the 9 in the formation we were employing should be feeding the wingers and it just wasn’t happening.

I saw you've already been given a highlight video that I was going to post. A couple one-on-one and some other nice passes wide where Garnacho and Rashford are in good positions. Sure, it's not every game, but I just don't see the weakness part of it you're claiming. If he was mispassing a lot or had the wrong weight of pass then sure, but they're usually very solid and with the right weight.

Him feeding the wingers would be a weird way to set up the team when we have Bruno behind who is doing that already.

 

[Doracle]

Obviously these are highlights so it's not like he was doing these things every game. He definitely deserves a lot of criticism for his own troubles but he absolutely did provide many good through balls or passes to his wide men. One of the big issues is that whilst he was happy to be the focal point (at times too much and naively for his own sake i.e spending time fighting with the CBs) and provide for others, he rarely got back the same service.

His passing much like most of his game is more about inconsistency rather than lack of ability or technique. It's a worry but considering the team structure and absolutely shite coaching, I would say he's a very promising talent and project.

Thanks. There’s a couple of good passes in there and obviously some nice play generally. As you say though, it’s highlights and there aren’t many for a full season. There’s probably more examples of our wingers playing balls into him to create good chances, and we know that wasn’t happening much either!

Anyway, I’m really hoping lots of our players can kick on and my belief that ETH’s tactics were the real problem is correct. I don’t want us to have to start again and Rasmus improving in these areas, with proper tactics and coaching would be fantastic.

 

[spiriticon]

I don't think Hojlund has enough fox in him to be a quality No.9, but let's see what Amorim can do.

Maybe a re-invention.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Thanks. There’s a couple of good passes in there and obviously some nice play generally. As you say though, it’s highlights and there aren’t many for a full season. There’s probably more examples of our wingers playing balls into him to create good chances, and we know that wasn’t happening much either!

Anyway, I’m really hoping lots of our players can kick on and my belief that ETH’s tactics were the real problem is correct. I don’t want us to have to start again and Rasmus improving in these areas, with proper tactics and coaching would be fantastic.

There may be but you're looking at it wrong.

It's not 'oh Garnacho, Rashford and Bruno have provided 30 chances, whilst Hojlund has only provided 10 to them', it's 'oh they have taken about 70 shots collectively (from a lot of wide, narrow and low chance areas) when they could have potentially provided more than 30 to Hojlund', the centre forward of the team usually trying to get in the box. Anyone who has seen our games last season could see the high ball usage rate of our wide players; ETH gave players like Garnacho free reign to run 20 times at the full back, forgetting any semblance of trying to create down the middle.

 

[chay chay okocha]

Obviously these are highlights so it's not like he was doing these things every game. He definitely deserves a lot of criticism for his own troubles but he absolutely did provide many good through balls or passes to his wide men. One of the big issues is that whilst he was happy to be the focal point (at times too much and naively for his own sake i.e spending time fighting with the CBs) and provide for others, he rarely got back the same service.

His passing much like most of his game is more about inconsistency rather than lack of ability or technique. It's a worry but considering the team structure and absolutely shite coaching, I would say he's a very promising talent and project.

Agreed. I think he has demonstrated, inconsistently, that he has the 'tools' - the touch, passing, power, running, finishing. They seem to come and go, and are particularly dependent on how well he is doing when he is engaging a CB in a duel, which is a big part of his game. As a young player in a new league, I am happy to expect inconsistency to be a part of this. I think the area he has not demonstrated a sufficiently high-level of is actually something that was much talked about before we signed him - his intelligence in attacking spaces off the ball. I recall some of the early Denmark / Atalanta games highlighted this as a key strength of his - but I've honestly yet to see much of that at United. It's an area that is highly coachable - so hopefully we see this improve with the right coaching set up.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

So as I said, the only area where he should improve “massively” is heading. Glad we sorted that out.

 

[ROFLUTION]

Obviously these are highlights so it's not like he was doing these things every game. He definitely deserves a lot of criticism for his own troubles but he absolutely did provide many good through balls or passes to his wide men. One of the big issues is that whilst he was happy to be the focal point (at times too much and naively for his own sake i.e spending time fighting with the CBs) and provide for others, he rarely got back the same service.

His passing much like most of his game is more about inconsistency rather than lack of ability or technique. It's a worry but considering the team structure and absolutely shite coaching, I would say he's a very promising talent and project.

We all know the fallacies of watching a youtube-compilation, but I was actually quite surprised to actually see how much in built up he has been involved in from watching that video. Hopefully Amorim can coach him like Gyokeres.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Agreed. I think he has demonstrated, inconsistently, that he has the 'tools' - the touch, passing, power, running, finishing. They seem to come and go, and are particularly dependent on how well he is doing when he is engaging a CB in a duel, which is a big part of his game. As a young player in a new league, I am happy to expect inconsistency to be a part of this. I think the area he has not demonstrated a sufficiently high-level of is actually something that was much talked about before we signed him - his intelligence in attacking spaces off the ball. I recall some of the early Denmark / Atalanta games highlighted this as a key strength of his - but I've honestly yet to see much of that at United. It's an area that is highly coachable - so hopefully we see this improve with the right coaching set up.

I can agree with that. His near and far post runs are quite poor. I would have expected a bit more movement in these 'obvious' areas let alone the half spaces. I'm not excusing him but the lack of consistent service is definitely not helping. Just when you thought Hojlund could get some decent playing time with Amad at the start of the season, he got that injury in the friendlies, what bad timing.

Hopefully we'll see more of them two together because I think they would gel.

 

[Lyng]

I think that's all fair. Although he he played some incisive passes at times. So I think you might be being a bit harsh about passing/vision.

The other, slightly less tangible, issue is how few shots he takes per game. I remember last season when there were stats knocking around about how Bruno was creating chances for everyone apart from Hojlund (prompting daft conspiracy theories about this being a deliberate strategy by Bruno because he doesn't rate him!) so there's definitely something going wrong in terms of getting himself into situations where he can get a shot off. That's basically the art of being a goalscorer. So something he really needs to start showing soon if he's ever going to be one of our more prolific attackers.

Bruno passes a ton more to Garnacho, but that makes sense with how Ten Hag set us up. I am quite certain that will change under Amorim. Rasmus at Atalanta was exactly the type of striker Amorim uses and Bruno giving him balls to run with will lead to a ton more assists for him. Rasmus is far more clinical than Alejandro.

 

[Woziak]

Rasmus Position in Amorim’s system is absolutely key, instead of building his team/Squad from the back, Ruben is a complete opposite.

He builds his teams from the front to backwards, His sporting team came 1st, 2nd, 4th, 1st but it’s important to note that they were not prolific scorers until he bought Victor Gyokeres, the team scored 65 goal in the title wining season of 20/21, 73 Goals in 21/22 season when they came second, 71 goals in 22/23 season when they came 4th, then in 23/24 season when he signed Gyokeres and they scored 94 Goals and won his second league.

This season they have scored 27 League Goals from 9 games or 3 goals per game.

Previous to Gyokeres, the goals were shared round the team with Paulinho, Marcus Edwards, Pedro Goncalves, Nuno Santos and Francisco Tincaio being the main contributors, Gyokeres was a transformative signing that took a team that averaged just over 2.09 league goals per game to 2.81 goals per game.

They went from a 74% league win rate to an 88% win rate when Gyokeres signed and Amorim perfected his system. They went from conceding 0.73 goals per game to 0.72 goals, so hardly any change.

United right now can’t even score 1 goal per game and average 1.38 goal conceeded, he has his work cut out indulging Rasmus and Zirkzee when they hugely unreliable in front of goal. His first target is to get his team
Averaging 2 goals scored per game and conceding less than 1.

I genuinely think Part of his agreement would be he can go get at least 1 or 2 players he knows to go with Ugarte. He’ll know Bruno and Dalot as well, I’m sure and Bruno will be playing as one of the inside 10’s and playing the Pedro Goncalves role, I’m guessing he wants Victor Gyokeres from January the 1st and United may have to offset that sale with a player like Marcus Rashford, Antony, Joshua Zirkzee, Mason Mount?

I can see any 2 of those 4 going to get him the player that he thinks his key to his system and Rasmus will be the understudy where he will have to bide his time as a young 21/22 year old striker. Amorim will want a sure thing, not a maybe number 9?

 

[CannibalSpectre]

Rasmus Position in Amorim’s system is absolutely key, instead of building his team/Squad from the back, Ruben is a complete opposite.

He builds his teams from the front to backwards, His sporting team came 1st, 2nd, 4th, 1st but it’s important to note that they were not prolific scorers until he bought Victor Gyokeres, the team scored 65 goal in the title wining season of 20/21, 73 Goals in 21/22 season when they came second, 71 goals in 22/23 season when they came 4th, then in 23/24 season when he signed Gyokeres and they scored 94 Goals and won his second league.

This season they have scored 27 League Goals from 9 games or 3 goals per game.

Previous to Gyokeres, the goals were shared round the team with Paulinho, Marcus Edwards, Pedro Goncalves, Nuno Santos and Francisco Tincaio being the main contributors, Gyokeres was a transformative signing that took a team that averaged just over 2.09 league goals per game to 2.81 goals per game.

They went from a 74% league win rate to an 88% win rate when Gyokeres signed and Amorim perfected his system. They went from conceding 0.73 goals per game to 0.72 goals, so hardly any change.

United right now can’t even score 1 goal per game and average 1.38 goal conceeded, he has his work cut out indulging Rasmus and Zirkzee when they hugely unreliable in front of goal. His first target is to get his team
Averaging 2 goals scored per game and conceding less than 1.

I genuinely think Part of his agreement would be he can go get at least 1 or 2 players he knows to go with Ugarte. He’ll know Bruno and Dalot as well, I’m sure and Bruno will be playing as one of the inside 10’s and playing the Pedro Goncalves role, I’m guessing he wants Victor Gyokeres from January the 1st and United may have to offset that sale with a player like Marcus Rashford, Antony, Joshua Zirkzee, Mason Mount?

I can see any 2 of those 4 going to get him the player that he thinks his key to his system and Rasmus will be the understudy where he will have to bide his time as a young 21/22 year old striker. Amorim will want a sure thing, not a maybe number 9?

I can only see Antony realistically leaving this winter from that list

 

[Woziak]

I can only see Antony realistically leaving this winter from that list

He might want Gyokeres and the obvious sacrifice is Rashford, let’s see how he gets on with him and things die down to the summer.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

Rasmus and Zirkzee when they hugely unreliable in front of goal

Hojlund has missed one really big chance (a header) since he came here as far as I remember. That’s hardly unreliable?

Rasmus will be the understudy where he will have to bide his time as a young 21/22 year old striker. Amorim will want a sure thing, not a maybe number 9?

I hear this wish a lot, but I’ve seen enough to believe that he is too good to be an understudy unless we bring in Kane, Lewa or someone in that ilk.

 

[Crimson King]

Rasmus Position in Amorim’s system is absolutely key, instead of building his team/Squad from the back, Ruben is a complete opposite.

He builds his teams from the front to backwards, His sporting team came 1st, 2nd, 4th, 1st but it’s important to note that they were not prolific scorers until he bought Victor Gyokeres, the team scored 65 goal in the title wining season of 20/21, 73 Goals in 21/22 season when they came second, 71 goals in 22/23 season when they came 4th, then in 23/24 season when he signed Gyokeres and they scored 94 Goals and won his second league.

This season they have scored 27 League Goals from 9 games or 3 goals per game.

Previous to Gyokeres, the goals were shared round the team with Paulinho, Marcus Edwards, Pedro Goncalves, Nuno Santos and Francisco Tincaio being the main contributors, Gyokeres was a transformative signing that took a team that averaged just over 2.09 league goals per game to 2.81 goals per game.

They went from a 74% league win rate to an 88% win rate when Gyokeres signed and Amorim perfected his system. They went from conceding 0.73 goals per game to 0.72 goals, so hardly any change.

United right now can’t even score 1 goal per game and average 1.38 goal conceeded, he has his work cut out indulging Rasmus and Zirkzee when they hugely unreliable in front of goal. His first target is to get his team
Averaging 2 goals scored per game and conceding less than 1.

I genuinely think Part of his agreement would be he can go get at least 1 or 2 players he knows to go with Ugarte. He’ll know Bruno and Dalot as well, I’m sure and Bruno will be playing as one of the inside 10’s and playing the Pedro Goncalves role, I’m guessing he wants Victor Gyokeres from January the 1st and United may have to offset that sale with a player like Marcus Rashford, Antony, Joshua Zirkzee, Mason Mount?

I can see any 2 of those 4 going to get him the player that he thinks his key to his system and Rasmus will be the understudy where he will have to bide his time as a young 21/22 year old striker. Amorim will want a sure thing, not a maybe number 9?

I'm pretty sure Gyokeres will cost €100m in January. He supposedly has a release clause, but it doesn't decrease until the summer.

We shouldn't be spending that kind of money on another attacker who's never played in the top leagues. Not unless it's another top tier youngster, like they seem to think Yoro is.

 

[NoPace]

Atalanta play 3 at the back and he seemed to do well running the channels there. Maybe this manager's system will suit him?

 

[Marwood]

Atalanta play 3 at the back and he seemed to do well running the channels there. Maybe this manager's system will suit him?

I think it will.

Any change from relying on wingers who have little interest in supplying a striker will help.

 

[Shaw's Shank Redemption]

Whilst I hope Amorim gets the best of Hojlund; the main thing I'm scared of is how many fans talk about his data of "goals per shot".

For me, this is not because he takes alot of shots & scoring goals by getting himself in to the game.

Instead, Hojlund has only has taken 2 shots in a whole of 90 mins and has then scored a goal.

At worst, he hasn't taken a shot through the whole 90 mins & his "goals per shot" remains very high because he has taken such few shots.

I hope Amorim changes this and makes him take more shots in a game but this can lead to him showing weaknesses in his positioning if the chances do come in.

Did Osihmen ask for high wages? Why is a ex 100mil player who is still only 25 now playing in the Turkish league? I'd wonder if we snatch him up, Sesko or Gyokeres if Hojlund doesn't stamp his foot as our starting striker throughout the rest of the season.

We can't rely on data anymore with expected goals and goals per shot. We actually need goals.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Obviously looking at Gyokeres, he has attributes that Hojlund seemingly lacks. But, take Gyokeres’s goals last night as examples, I can see Hojlund making those sort of runs.

Im optimistic that Amorim can get Hojlund ticking the way he’s done with Gyokeres. Give him the season under him, and if he doesn’t improve then maybe look at getting a more established striker next season. We need a ticking #9, and I’m still very hopeful of Hojlund - as long as he stays fit.

I think his numbers would look better if our players backed his pace a little and played him through more. Equally, he frustrates me sometimes by not making any runs at all.
Would have hoped Ruud would have/will have some opportunity to drop some advice for him during this transition period now.

 

[Red_toad]

I'm pretty sure Gyokeres will cost €100m in January. He supposedly has a release clause, but it doesn't decrease until the summer.

We shouldn't be spending that kind of money on another attacker who's never played in the top leagues. Not unless it's another top tier youngster, like they seem to think Yoro is.

Rasmus would thrive in Portugal, why would the club need to splash out a fortune on a striker from there to replace him? State of the defending on Gyokeres goals the other night, he took his chances, but very unlikely to have gotten them in the EPL.

 

[dinostar77]

I don't think Hojlund has enough fox in him to be a quality No.9, but let's see what Amorim can do.

Maybe a re-invention.

Amorin system is all about creating chances for the no9, unlike the mess that ETH came up with where he was starved of any service. So id expect hojlund to be scoring more often under amorin.

 

[Zed is not dead]

Obviously looking at Gyokeres, he has attributes that Hojlund seemingly lacks. But, take Gyokeres’s goals last night as examples, I can see Hojlund making those sort of runs.

Im optimistic that Amorim can get Hojlund ticking the way he’s done with Gyokeres. Give him the season under him, and if he doesn’t improve then maybe look at getting a more established striker next season. We need a ticking #9, and I’m still very hopeful of Hojlund - as long as he stays fit.

I think his numbers would look better if our players backed his pace a little and played him through more. Equally, he frustrates me sometimes by not making any runs at all.
Would have hoped Ruud would have/will have some opportunity to drop some advice for him during this transition period now.

And Gyokeres has 6 more years than Hojlund.
These comparisons need to stop are they are pointless.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

Im optimistic that Amorim can get Hojlund ticking the way he’s done with Gyokeres. Give him the season under him, and if he doesn’t improve then maybe look at getting a more established striker next season. We need a ticking #9, and I’m still very hopeful of Hojlund - as long as he stays fit.

Agree with this, I am very hopeful with Hojlund, and I hope working in Amorims system helps him.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

Whilst I hope Amorim gets the best of Hojlund; the main thing I'm scared of is how many fans talk about his data of "goals per shot".

For me, this is not because he takes alot of shots & scoring goals by getting himself in to the game.

Instead, Hojlund has only has taken 2 shots in a whole of 90 mins and has then scored a goal.

At worst, he hasn't taken a shot through the whole 90 mins & his "goals per shot" remains very high because he has taken such few shots.

I hope Amorim changes this and makes him take more shots in a game but this can lead to him showing weaknesses in his positioning if the chances do come in.

Did Osihmen ask for high wages? Why is a ex 100mil player who is still only 25 now playing in the Turkish league? I'd wonder if we snatch him up, Sesko or Gyokeres if Hojlund doesn't stamp his foot as our starting striker throughout the rest of the season.

We can't rely on data anymore with expected goals and goals per shot. We actually need goals.

The reason we underline his conversion rate is that he has been criticized a lot for not being clinical enough. You’re right that we need more shots from him, but from what he’s shown so far he is very clinical. Also, his goals have mostly been his own making and very few tap ins or easy shots.

So from what we can see he is a very clinical striker who doesn’t take enough shots. The latter is IMO mostly due to two things:
1. How ETH wanted him to play - to draw the cb’s away from goal, get the ball and play it on to our wingers. While he’s done that reasonably well, albeit inconsistently, it has hampered him in using one of his main strengths - carrying the ball at pace. He has rarely had the opportunity to run in the channels and turn on players to create chances for himself.
2. That our wingers rarely play him when they have the chance. He has been in scoring positions so many times without getting the ball. That’s gonna change now I’m sure.

So, we’re not just looking at data without context. You have to take our style of play and how the team works into account. And if you’ve watched him closely (like I have) since Atalanta it’s obvious that he has no real weakness besides heading - he has shown that he is proficient in all the required skills for a top striker. That doesn’t mean he masters them all, but it does mean he will become better and better, ie. he doesn’t need to be taught how to do things well but just to train and play matches to improve. That’s quite rare for a forward his age.
With that in mind there’s no indication that either Osimen or Gyokeres would outperform Hojlund here.

 

[Shaw's Shank Redemption]

The reason we underline his conversion rate is that he has been criticized a lot for not being clinical enough. You’re right that we need more shots from him, but from what he’s shown so far he is very clinical. Also, his goals have mostly been his own making and very few tap ins or easy shots.

So from what we can see he is a very clinical striker who doesn’t take enough shots. The latter is IMO mostly due to two things:
1. How ETH wanted him to play - to draw the cb’s away from goal, get the ball and play it on to our wingers. While he’s done that reasonably well, albeit inconsistently, it has hampered him in using one of his main strengths - carrying the ball at pace. He has rarely had the opportunity to run in the channels and turn on players to create chances for himself.
2. That our wingers rarely play him when they have the chance. He has been in scoring positions so many times without getting the ball. That’s gonna change now I’m sure.

So, we’re not just looking at data without context. You have to take our style of play and how the team works into account. And if you’ve watched him closely (like I have) since Atalanta it’s obvious that he has no real weakness besides heading - he has shown that he is proficient in all the required skills for a top striker. That doesn’t mean he masters them all, but it does mean he will become better and better, ie. he doesn’t need to be taught how to do things well but just to train and play matches to improve. That’s quite rare for a forward his age.
With that in mind there’s no indication that either Osimen or Gyokeres would outperform Hojlund here.

I'm not sure about this - 10/11 of his 17 goals have been assisted by someone else and is in the box.

That's not a bad thing and may show a predatory aspect of him that we can utilise under Amorim.

Hojlund is very young at 21 but As stupid as it sounds Hopefully he can be predatory even to quarter of Haaland's ability per season and become a 20 a PL season striker in the next 3 years (2028 PL target) because otherwise building the whole team around him is a bit of a gamble.

I've heard that the central striker is very important for Amorim so let's see but I've always been scared that the hype around Hojlund came from his hattrick vs Finland because just as his stats can be used positively for him - it can also be used against him where his stats for Copenhagen, Atalanta, Denmark & United haven't exactly been jaw dropping except maybe only at Sturm Graz in the austrian league.

However he is still only 21 turning 22 in the next 4 months.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

And Gyokeres has 6 more years than Hojlund.
These comparisons need to stop are they are pointless.

I don’t think I was comparing, so not sure if it’s aimed at others.

Most comments using Gyokeres to reference Hojlund I feel is more in the sense that they hope Amorim can improve Hojlund the way Gyokeres has improved under Amorim.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I'm not sure about this - 10/11 of his 17 goals have been assisted by someone else and is in the box.

That's not a bad thing and may show a predatory aspect of him that we can utilise under Amorim.

Hojlund is very young at 21 but As stupid as it sounds Hopefully he can be predatory even to quarter of Haaland's ability per season and become a 20 a PL season striker in the next 3 years (2028 PL target) because otherwise building the whole team around him is a bit of a gamble.

I've heard that the central striker is very important for Amorim so let's see but I've always been scared that the hype around Hojlund came from his hattrick vs Finland because just as his stats can be used positively for him - it can also be used against him where his stats for Copenhagen, Atalanta, Denmark & United haven't exactly been jaw dropping except maybe only at Sturm Graz in the austrian league.

However he is still only 21 turning 22 in the next 4 months.

Count it yourself. I had about 9 which were more 'self created' than 'assisted' e.g loose balls/shots, him carrying the ball from distance/outside the box etc.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

Don't understand the hate on this guy. He had a solid first season for us and bagged a few great goals even though we were utterly dreadful.

This season he had an injury keeping him out of the start of the it and he's still scored a couple of goals despite barely featuring. When he gets the ball in dangerous areas he really looks like he can do damage. He's 21 years old and has so much to learn, definitely has the potential to be a great focal point for us.

 

[thisisnottaken1]

Don't understand the hate on this guy. He had a solid first season for us and bagged a few great goals even though we were utterly dreadful.

This season he had an injury keeping him out of the start of the it and he's still scored a couple of goals despite barely featuring. When he gets the ball in dangerous areas he really looks like he can do damage. He's 21 years old and has so much to learn, definitely has the potential to be a great focal point for us.

Exactly this. He actually did well for us last season despite playing for a completely dysfunctional club.

 

[Schmeichels pinky]

I've always been scared that the hype around Hojlund came from his hattrick vs Finland

I don’t think he’s been that hyped compared to other more flamboyant types. I don’t care much about stats unless they tell a deeper story than number of goals, but his goal tally was quite impressive last season given his injuries and how the team played. It would’ve been good for a young forward in his first season under normal circumstances, so for him to reach the number he did in a dysfunctional team was very good, imo.

 

[The Mitcher]

Too weak and I can't even remember an attempt on goal?

 

[RedRocket9908]

Absolutely awful today