Still gonna wait until i get to see him play a few games without Rashford and Garnacho, must be impossible to play with those two. If he has Mount/Bruno/Eriksen/Amad behind him and he still can't get into any scoring chances then I might give up.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 14
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 0
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) review both the Everton and Bodø/Glimt victories at Old Trafford. Listen to the guys discuss 2 wins and 7 goals in the last week, analyse of the Amorim formation, focus on Amad and how he is playing, and also take a look at Hojlund, Rashford & Zirkzee – who starts v Arsenal?
Or maybe they are just giving opinions. This is a forum for opinions after all
exactly. Rashford although he scored, actually had a very poor game imo, he did not help the team at all, on or off the ball.
Hojlund came on and made 2/3 runs in the channels and was found.
Its frustrating because running the channels is Rashfords thing as well but it seems he can only do it running out to in rather than in to out.
Also... it seems like Hojlund now may be quicker than Rashford too.
He can finish using his left foot, but he rarely gets into positions where he can finish and that is not only his own fault. His overall play is poor, not United standard.
Too big an investment to just give up on him, I hope Amorim can make him work. He is not an elite talent but he can becoming a decent player with the right coaching I think.
We’ve had a lot of quality strikers in my time watching United but I have to say I just don’t see it with Rasmus. Really hope I’m wrong as we’ve spent a lot of money and he seems very likeable. Sadly that’s not enough. His positioning, instincts and overall play aren’t up to scratch.
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Yes we are, aren’t we?We are getting there now.
I judge him by performances here, not Atalanta because i didn't watch him in Atalanta. And Seria A is different league than PL. Many players failed here and kicked ass in Italy.
Also, i do think that he lacks football (striker) IQ to be top class player.
Look; i think that team which want to win major trophies need to have one world class forward. In this system, where striker is basically only classic forward player and is focal point of all attacks, that striker must be top, top class.
I just don't see it in Hojlund. And, from personal side, i never was a fan of players with dodgy technique and opposite. I have soft spot for players who have good technique (Eriksen, Shaw, Martial........Zirkzee).
It’s fair, but like you have a thing with dodgy technique, I always get triggered by obvious falsehoods. So while I’ll concede that it’s not at all guaranteed Hojlund has what it takes to become world class I still don’t think he lacks football intelligence. I agree of course there’s a big difference between the leagues, but not so much in terms of how much football iq means. And I did follow him at Atalanta and can tell you - like his former managers among others - that he was very good at reading the game and making the right runs. Especially for his age. He did the same here in the beginning, but gradually began to question himself as he saw again and again how he didn’t get the ball - that’s my best guess at least.
No he doesn’t work in an office.
But seriously, work rate, hold up play, finishing and strength to hold off defenders. He isn’t currently the complete article or ready to be our starting no.9 but that’s on Murtough and the club, not the player.
He has the building blocks to become a very good striker, and a similar style to Gyokeres so it’s hopeful that Amo can mould him into a goal machine.
His hold up play, strength and positioning are among his biggest shortcomings
His strength is his biggest shortcomings? What?
He is playing badly enough already, there is really no need to make up something as silly as that.
Yes, it's among his biggest drawbacks. He's hit the deck countless times from the slightest of contact, hoping to draw fouls. He seldom if ever dominates his markers, often struggles to control the ball effectively and is unable to create space for himself effectively consistently.
Hojlund has the physique but he's only deceptively strong. The aforementioned issues and his lack of aerial prowess tell a different story. Most PL center backs have had his number. There's so much he needs to work on at this juncture before he should be allowed to be a regular starter in my opinion
It's not silly though, is it? Looking at it objectively, he is constantly preoccupied with wrestling and physical tussles with CB's, and unlike a Drogba, Duncan Ferguson, Ibrahimovic etc. whose size and mass parlayed with their strength to the point where it was CB's losing out to them or bouncing off them like u-18's vs an adult, we constantly see Hojlund losing out on these contests and either unable to break away from the wrestling with sheer strength, or losing outright and being stopped in his tracks, or even worse laid out.
His strength may have been something elsewhere, but in the PL, he's definitely not strong, and for the game he's elected to play, his own strength is detrimental because it's a hiding to nothing (as above). I've said in a previous post that it's bizarre to me that he opts to play in this way as he's terrible at it and it exhausts him prematurely because he doesn't have the strength or power for that kind of game; he should be trying his best to play open and clean and off his CB's, keeping physical contact to a minimum. That'd be much more beneficial to his own level of strength - leave the tank, armour class stuff to the forwards who are actually tank, armour class - it's not his in-game classification. At all.
He may not be as strong as Drogba, Ibrahimovic or Haaland, but I don't think it is a shortcoming of his. At least not in isolation, but I could see why some see it that way if used in conjunction with his hold-up play, as it sometimes makes him look weaker if he receives the ball with a poor touch with a defender on his back.
What I have noticed with him is that he kind of backs into the defender with his ass and both of his arms to the sides, making it relatively easy for the defender to prevent Højlund from actually getting anywhere assuming he did have a good first touch without fouling him. Quite frequently, though, they have no other options than to bring him to ground, so he actually wins a fair bit of fouls. To me, how he is playing now is a bit reminiscent of how Pogba used to protect the ball. It seems he is more focused on showing his strength by denying the defender to outmuscle him, rather than actually protecting the ball which should be the main objective for Rasmus in these cases.
There aren't many strikers that can physically level with or outmuscle William Saliba or van de Ven, so I don't think it is fair to say it is a shortcoming at all. I think he is just quite inconsistent using his body to protect it, and focusing on the wrong thing at the wrong time. So I think you're right when you say it is bizarre to play like that. Only reason he does that I can think of is that it is the only aspect in the game right now where he can actually compete with the opponents in some sort of attempt to build confidence.
The bottom line is ETH shouldn't have spunked 70m on this kid, he's simply not ready to lead the line for a top club.
Now we're stuck with a dilemma of do we get this apprentice on the job work experience in the hope he comes good, whilst sacrifising our capability to score goals, or do we cut our losses. I doubt the latter will happen considering how little money we'd get from his sale.
Now we're stuck with a dilemma of do we get this apprentice on the job work experience in the hope he comes good, whilst sacrifising our capability to score goals, or do we cut our losses. I doubt the latter will happen considering how little money we'd get from his sale.
To be fair, I very much doubt this one was ETH’s call. Someone else will have scouted him and made the decision that he was worth £70m. Given we are under different management generally now, there’s no point dwelling on what a bad decision that was.
I think he gets the rest of this season and (assuming he doesn’t improve much) I’d then send him out on loan, ideally to a lower half premier league team in 25/26. By summer 26, he will be 23 and that’s then the time to decide what to do with him. It’s premature currently to consider cutting our losses.
Surely you see the point that he shouldn’t be trying to that at all unless unavoidable, and that if he insists on doing it, it will be judged by the metric that it is by players active or past who were exceptional at it? He’s not strong enough to do what he is attempting, which makes him look weak, perhaps weaker than he is - if you’re going to lock horns with CB’s, there has to be merit in the action. He isn’t being asked to do that and it’s not conducive to hold up play either because he doesn’t shape adequately to protect the ball, which players like Mark Hughes were 10/10 at.
Thing is, we know the archetypes for each style and what kind of lane is best suited to players and their attributes, and we know from watching experts in the tussle what it does or does not look like - if Højlund would look to break away from CB’s, his strength would never be called into question because his open running is strong and effective; he works against his best interests with how he elects to play and is thusly scrutinised for it - no excessive wrestling and pointless tussles and this wouldn’t really be a talking point. What he’s currently doing would be as daft as someone like Ibrahimovic in his 30’s trying to run the line attempting to outpace clearly faster CB’s. It’s simply not his lane.
How is strength and hold up play his strength when he is losing nearly every single duel when he tries to shield the ball? Same as height. He is 191 cm tall and i can't remember when he won a header.
I do agree that in those things he has good starting position to improve.
That’s just not true, though. He has managed to shield and to progress the ball quite a lot, despite being in a 1 vs 2 situation much of the time.
The heading bit is fair though.
Do you even watch him
Absolutely. He is currently too obsessed fighting with the defenders and focusing on them rather than on the ball.
What I do think is that it is significantly easier for defenders to defend against Højlund than many other strikers in PL, not because these strikers are necessarily stronger, but because they are quicker or make better decisions when they have the ball. Højlund keeps the ball for way too long, until it reaches a point where he inevitably will lose the ball. Fans would not have a problem with his strength if he received the ball, held it up for a second or two before making a pass out wide. I think it becomes a problem when he waits for the defender to foul him, so he "loses" the duel and the potential attack is gone. Even Harry Kane would struggle to keep the ball if he held it for 10 seconds and never made a decision. So I don't agree that Højlund's strength in itself is his weakness, but rather the lack of decision making that leads him to lose the ball.
If Amorim teaches him to play to his strengths, I don't believe anyone would complain about his strength or physicality.
What a strange question.
As I said, at the top of totem are players like Duncan Ferguson, Drogba, Ibrahimovic, Hughes, who, for me are all 10/10 in strength and could hold on to the ball for as long as was required, be that 1 second or 10, and have players orbit them and overlap, whilst riding or bearing the weight of a CB and continue to play uninhibited because they were that strong. That is the top of the pile, not someone like Kane, who whilst strongish, is nowhere next to such players in terms of outright strength. You can add decision making to the mix, but it is not the decisive factor in determining strength or outright winning tussles with CB's. Drogba was so strong, he was famed for being able to manhandle the vast majority of the league's CB's and have legendary tussles with those considered the strongest/toughest <inset adjective>. CB's actively avoided getting into physical tussles with him because it was a waste of their energy, instead trying to swarm and nip the ball away with guile not brawn. That's considered action and assessing the odds, determining whether they are or aren't in your favour, so am I being very specific in what I say and not needing to factor anything else into the equation, especially so because specialists in that field know exactly how to use their strength and when to release the ball to benefit others - Lampard made a career out of being the bird cleaning the crocodiles mouth in the Drogba - Lampard "partnership" and Ferguson was renowned for enabling his strike partners to do their thing because of how he preoccupied CB's with his immense strength. Ferguson is probably #1 in the entirety of the PL's history for strength at CF, which is why he is the bar and others are gauged on a sliding scale from it.
In relative terms on such a scale, Hojlund is no more than a 4 or 5 out of 10, so I am being very specific in saying he isn't very strong in PL terms so shouldn't be entertaining the kind of game he is playing which is a waste of his energy and a hiding to nothing, before decision making is added to the mix.
If Amorim has him play to his strengths, we'll see the silly tussles become an entire thing of the past. Thankfully. That would be better for everyone.
Hopefully he gets the nod to start today. Should be a good be a good opportunity to get him used to the system.
Yeah. Hopefully we see some early signs also of him being utilized differently.
The fact that Im actually considering that Rashford might be our best 9 option is worrying. I definitely give the edge to Hojlund but thats more on effort than talent.
Don’t worry about @AarhusUnited, @Grande. He’s been on his back since day 1. Clearly has an agenda against him, don’t know why.
Let's see if Hojlund gets the same scrutiny, if he doesn't track back and score or we going to hear the usual excuses that he didn't get any service and needs more time with Amorim to transform him into a world beater, after most fans in the summer said RVN was going to transform him
Man Utd 3:2 FK Bodo/Glimt
New
Excellent goals. Showed some decent hold-up play today, but still moments where he spends too long making a decision. Understandable close to the end of the game, though.
Credit where due, two good goals plus involved in the first.
3 chances 2 goals
Gyökeres come outside!
Gyökeres come outside!
2 goals and an assist where he made the entire goal.
Won us this game
Won us this game
He can finish. He’s raw as feck but he can fecking finish chances
Excellent today
Nice.
2 goals and an assist considering he touched the ball last and grafted to even make it a chance in the first place. Battled and was one of the best players on the pitch. If you can't see it then as i've said before, I don't know what to tell you. Get the kid this ball and he can score you goals, it's as simple as that.
No Hojlund and we lose that game cause nobody else can finish it seems.
No Hojlund and we lose that game cause nobody else can finish it seems.
This style suits him so much better. There is hope
He showed he has the striker's instincts. Just needs to keep on getting himself in those positions and the goals will come. Some good hold up play tonight as well.
Don't think we need Gyokeres if this is a sign of things to come from him, top game all around.
One of the few players in the squad who looks tailor made for the manager's system
That finish was sensational
When we create chances for Hojlund he scores. Yet we create so few for him. Even tonight only three chances, from which he scored two goals.
The amount of times the other forwards ran through in the second half and didn't just tee him up for his hat-trick. Really feel for the kid. Playing as #9 in this team is a punishment.
The amount of times the other forwards ran through in the second half and didn't just tee him up for his hat-trick. Really feel for the kid. Playing as #9 in this team is a punishment.
Finally got two crosses that was to him and he scores both, also pressed us another goal. Easily our starting striker, anyone saying anything different is crazy.