Rasmus Højlund | Manchester United Player | Shirt Nr 11

ALTHOUGH he was only 18 and had made less than 20 appearances for FC Copenhagen, Rasmus Højlund was already carefully plotting the course of his career.

The striker had decided to leave his hometown club because of a lack of playing opportunities and his next choice of destination was key. Reading manager Ruben Selles was assistant at FC Copenhagen throughout Højlund’s time with their first team - from his debut at the age of 17 in October 2020 through to his departure in January 2022.

“Rasmus Højlund is a learner,” Selles told the TGG Podcast. “He learns a lot from the environment. From the time when he stepped into the first team in FC Copenhagen, he didn't have enough playing time and found a league like the Austrian league.”

The reason why he chose Austria is interesting.

“Austria is the league with the lowest average of PPDA, so that means it's a league of high pressure and high transition moments,” Selles explained. “That was his game in that time.”

PPDA means Passes Per Defensive Action. This is an advanced metric that was introduced by Colin Trainor in 2014 and is used to quantify high pressing. It is calculated by dividing the number of passes by the in-possession team in the final 60% of the pitch by the number of defensive actions (fouls, interceptions, won defensive duels, sliding tackles) in that area by the out-of possession team.

Low PPDA generally signifies strong pressing, while high PPDA tends to show the opposite. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as some teams have a game model where they retreat quickly into their defensive shape when they lose possession, like David Moyes' West Ham (more on that later).

As Selles said, Austria was the league with the lowest average PPDA in Europe (in fact it still is, as you can see in the table below), which Hojlund felt would best showcase his skillset.

When Sturm Graz expressed an interest in the striker, they had to present about their game model to Højlund and his agent.

“We convinced him and his agent about our playing style, coaching approach, and the opportunities we could offer,” manager Christian Ilzer later remembered.

The move worked extremely well for both player and club. Hojlund was with Sturm Graz for only half a season, but scored 12 goals in 21 games, catapulting his reputation.

“Immediately when he went there he became a key player for his team - score goals, win balls really high, intense and that gave him the confidence to go into the next level,” Selles said.

The player's next move was to Serie A with Atalanta - another team that remain known for a high-intensity, high-pressing style. This season the club are third in Serie A, behind only Fiorentina and Napoli, for PPDA.

“In six months he makes his move to Atalanta, with Premier League clubs having him in the in their agenda,” Selles said. “He went there, another team that likes to play that kind of high-pressure football, playing forward quick, and now in Manchester United he's also getting in that level.”

As Selles said, United stepped in to sign the player for an initial £64m last summer, continuing his meteoric ascent. United's recruitment has been described as haphazard in recent seasons, but you can see why they went for Hojlund.

Manager Erik Ten Hag was ridiculed in October when he insisted his team were improving, despite pundits like Jamie Carragher suggesting otherwise. "In high ball regains, we are a top of the Premier League," he said. "In the middle [of the pitch] ball regains, we are top. The pressing is very good."

This is the out-of-possession style he demands, with PPDA a key metric. Throughout his burgeoning career, Højlund has proved he fits the bill for that.

Selles is sure that Højlund will become one of the world’s best strikers when he and United find their feet.

“I think with Rasmus you can expect him to be rated as one of the best strikers in the world,” Selles said. “I think he will become that when also the United team will become more established.

“Every young player has moments where they have this set-back and then come back again. I think he's in a really good moment. I think he already scored that goal that was just breaking that barrier for him in the Premier League (against Aston Villa) and I think you can only expect better things from him at Manchester United.

“He’s a mentality monster. He has a good family that take care of him. His two brothers are playing for FC Copenhagen actually for the first team right now. One of them was even in the squad when they played (United in the Champions League) and his environment is really strong and he's a really strong character.

“You don't have that often, that young talented player with that kind of mentality. It’s Premier League, the exposure is the biggest in the world, and when he has missed, everybody is talking about it, but it's just part of the process and he will he will become a better player and he will become stronger in his mind through this process.

“He has been brilliant in all the other competitions. I think it's a matter of time that he's going to connect that with the fans and once he will make this break he's going to be unbelievable brilliant.”
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One player who has been sadly set up to fail by this shambles of a club. A player that should never be leading the line at this stage of his career and with the level of past EPL experience he has had as a lone forward (none).
 
DRJosh said:
One player who has been sadly set up to fail by this shambles of a club. A player that should never be leading the line at this stage of his career and with the level of past EPL experience he has had as a lone forward (none).
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I seen a stat the other week showing that Hojlund was 19th in passes received to the striker, in the league. What kind of service is that?!

How can a 20 year old lad that is only in his first season in the PL and having to settle to a new country, while playing in such a disjointed team, be expected to be scoring goals left and right.

The problem is the price tag and being brought in as the main striker, there is so much expectancy and pressure, which is not really Hojlunds fault.

Fans need to be patient with him, which unfortunately, us Man United fans have ran out of patience with everything related to the club.
 
The holy trinity 68 said:
I seen a stat the other week showing that Hojlund was 19th in passes received to the striker, in the league. What kind of service is that?!

How can a 20 year old lad that is only in his first season in the PL and having to settle to a new country, while playing in such a disjointed team, be expected to be scoring goals left and right.

The problem is the price tag and being brought in as the main striker, there is so much expectancy and pressure, which is not really Hojlunds fault.

Fans need to be patient with him, which unfortunately, us Man United fans have ran out of patience with everything related to the club.
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Specially the expectation of him being the main striker. You cannot ask a 20 year old to fulfill that role at a top club in his first season at the club and when arriving from another league.
 
The holy trinity 68 said:
I seen a stat the other week showing that Hojlund was 19th in passes received to the striker, in the league. What kind of service is that?!

How can a 20 year old lad that is only in his first season in the PL and having to settle to a new country, while playing in such a disjointed team, be expected to be scoring goals left and right.

The problem is the price tag and being brought in as the main striker, there is so much expectancy and pressure, which is not really Hojlunds fault.

Fans need to be patient with him, which unfortunately, us Man United fans have ran out of patience with everything related to the club.
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The problem is our brain dead and selfish winger(s) who would rather dribble past 8 players and lose the ball against the 9th than actually play as part of a functioning team.
 
The Urban Goose said:
The problem is our brain dead and selfish winger(s) who would rather dribble past 8 players and lose the ball against the 9th than actually play as part of a functioning team.
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This is the problem. Whether it’s resentment or something else, Marcus and Bruno refuse to pass the ball to Rasmus.
 
RoyH1 said:
Specially the expectation of him being the main striker. You cannot ask a 20 year old to fulfill that role at a top club in his first season at the club and when arriving from another league.
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Especially when he wasn't a regular at his previous club for the first 6 months
 
DRJosh said:
One player who has been sadly set up to fail by this shambles of a club. A player that should never be leading the line at this stage of his career and with the level of past EPL experience he has had as a lone forward (none).
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I'm not sure he is failing. In the league alone, perhaps, but overall he's scored 7 goals and he's put himself about enough to suggest there is something there to develop over the next couple of seasons. It's a pass for me at this stage based on performances so far, with some very obvious areas to work on. Some will come naturally because I don't think he's got his full man strength yet, and some needs work on the training pitch in terms of movement and polishing his hold up play.

Admittedly this is based on his actual status, not the one we've propelled him into. If we look at him purely as a United #9 then they aren't great numbers, but I think in the real world we knew from the start he's going to be raw.
 
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