Rasmus Højlund | Match Discussion Thread 2023/24

justintime said:
Yup and he does a lot better than he looks he is doing. He does hold a lot better and brings others into play. He was the only one who can buy us a penalty. He just still is better at CF than Rashford.
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His performance at CF against City, albeit a couple of years ago, was the most complete I've seen from a United striker for yonks, he's got all the tools he just needs to stay fit ....

But for some of our fans if he doesn't score and/or smile he's sh*t, funny lot.
 
jsp said:
I think both sides would have changed players around Wednesday if it's 3 weeks that probably puts him out of

Fulham (h)
Forest (a) cup
City (a)
Then after 3 weeks is
Everton (h)
Sheff Utd (h)

That's the 5 before the next international break if they don't get decent results in these 5 the seasons basically over.
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We should have enough of the ball in the three home games that it shouldn't really matter but him missing the Forest and City games is massive as he's the only one with the ability and confidence to take their defences on when we are under pressure and a chance of us being overrun, and we will be in those two games, nothing surer.
 
Justin Cider said:
His performance at CF against City, albeit a couple of years ago, was the most complete I've seen from a United striker for yonks, he's got all the tools he just needs to stay fit ....

But for some of our fans if he doesn't score and/or smile he's sh*t, funny lot.
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yes and a bit like Berbatov. Amazing player and when you watch him in detail he never wastes any energy. I know that fans like to see players fighting for lost cause. But fighting for a lost cause is a waste. Players like Berbatov only chases the ball if he knows that he is going to get it. There is no point in reaching a ball just as it passes the byline. Total waste.
I have a close relative who is an analyst for a top club and he says he has access to data that the general public normally does not get. He says that Martial moves into space and keeps the ball a lot better than a lot of players at United. But when he moves into those spaces the passes never come in the instant the passes needs to be made. yes he does seem to have a dour face always.
 
Justin Cider said:
We should have enough of the ball in the three home games that it shouldn't really matter but him missing the Forest and City games is massive as he's the only one with the ability and confidence to take their defences on when we are under pressure and a chance of us being overrun, and we will be in those two games, nothing surer.
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It's just having players who will take the chances when they come like you say the chances will be there just need someone to put it in the net rather than in the stand.

Hojlund right now is taking pretty much every other chance that comes his way, that's not sustainable over a long period but the other players are just so wasteful and none of them will "lead the charge" in the way he does when it comes to pressing and hold up play.

The one who might is Anthony and I wouldn't be surprised to see him as the number 9 tomorrow.
 
justintime said:
yes and a bit like Berbatov. Amazing player and when you watch him in detail he never wastes any energy. I know that fans like to see players fighting for lost cause. But fighting for a lost cause is a waste. Players like Berbatov only chases the ball if he knows that he is going to get it. There is no point in reaching a ball just as it passes the byline. Total waste.
I have a close relative who is an analyst for a top club and he says he has access to data that the general public normally does not get. He says that Martial moves into space and keeps the ball a lot better than a lot of players at United. But when he moves into those spaces the passes never come in the instant the passes needs to be made. yes he does seem to have a dour face always.
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Oh yeah Martial is too clever for most of his team-mates, it's no surprise he gets frustrated at times.

And Berbatov was another that was misunderstood, statistically he covered more ground per game than any of his team-mates, but you get he never runs, he never tackles, he never plays for the team .... :rolleyes:
 
jsp said:
It's just having players who will take the chances when they come like you say the chances will be there just need someone to put it in the net rather than in the stand.

Hojlund right now is taking pretty much every other chance that comes his way, that's not sustainable over a long period but the other players are just so wasteful and none of them will "lead the charge" in the way he does when it comes to pressing and hold up play.

The one who might is Anthony and I wouldn't be surprised to see him as the number 9 tomorrow.
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Be far too easy to nullify, just keep him on his right foot for starters, plus not sure he'd be disciplined enough to not react every time he had a 6'3" bruiser kneeing him in the back at every opportunity.
 
Justin Cider said:
Be far too easy to nullify, just keep him on his right foot for starters, plus not sure he'd be disciplined enough to not react every time he had a 6'3" bruiser kneeing him in the back at every opportunity.
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Think he's played up there a few times earlier in the season.

Was thinking more from a pressing from the front and setting the tone sort of thing.

He is rather easy to wind up but still it's better than Rashford just standing up there like a lost child.
 
jsp said:
Think he's played up there a few times earlier in the season.

Was thinking more from a pressing from the front and setting the tone sort of thing.

He is rather easy to wind up but still it's better than Rashford just standing up there like a lost child.
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Don't recall that, maybe a minute here, a minute there when the flow of the game has taken him centrally, but not positionally there.

.........

Not sure about that, he's a tough little bugger, I think a lot of it is just to get the Refs attention hoping his direct opponent gets carded so he has more freedom to play his natural game, border-line cheating, but don't care, but hate it when our opposing players do it
 
EPL player of the month for February.

Good on him after a difficult start. Hope we can get him back on the pitch and firing again asap!
 
After today, I think it's pretty crucial he plays against Liverpool. Can't see us beating them conceding 20 shots and being toothless upfront. Let's hope he can make this one.
 
I think he is going to be a better player than Haaland and people might laugh but when there is no service Haaland is poor. Rasmus seems to be able to survive on his own a lot better.
 
justintime said:
I think he is going to be a better player than Haaland and people might laugh but when there is no service Haaland is poor. Rasmus seems to be able to survive on his own a lot better.
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I was going to say the exact same thing in the Liverpool thread. Haaland was so bad, and he offers nothing other than goals. It's not a bad thing to have in your locker as a striker, but yeah I agree, I think he's pretty shocking at everything else. Strange player.
 
justintime said:
Yes but Rasmus had scored goals created by himself. He can also hold the ball up and looks a bit quicker than Haaland.
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Agree but he shouldn’t have to create chances himself if that team was set up properly to help him more he‘d really fill his boots.
 
JammyRed said:
Agree but he shouldn’t have to create chances himself if that team was set up properly to help him more he‘d really fill his boots.
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Entirely agree with you and it looks like that all our forwards want to score goals instead of scoring goals for the team. I wonder how many of our players Sir Alex would have thrown out by now because they do not pass to team mates in better positions to score goals?

This is a quote "
He said: 'He's [Van Persie] going to win you the league if you pass him the ball like this.' And we wasn't."

Van Persie himself then added: "He literally said to Scholesy, Carrick, Shinji [Kagawa] and Wayne, 'If you cannot find him, you will not play.'"
 
Not sure he is properly fit. He would be eased back into the team under normal circumstances. He struggled to hold the ball up and link play was poor.
 
Think he's been poor in the last 3 games.

Worked hard and done the dirty work but hasn't look as sharp as he did in that run before his recent injury.
 
I think he’s probably playing due to a real lack of options? Might have needed a more gentle reintroduction to the United first team.
 
He had a purple patch of 3 or 4 games, but other than that I haven't been that impressed. He's a young lad and I see some potential. But we cannot go into next season with him leading the line.

Unless our way of playing changes
 
Remarkable that the players give him next to no scoring chances it almost looks deliberate, it was the same yesterday we are set up all wrong to create chances for a centre forward.
 
JammyRed said:
Remarkable that the players give him next to no scoring chances it almost looks deliberate, it was the same yesterday we are set up all wrong to create chances for a centre forward.
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I thought a few times he could have been put in and the players didnt, in the last 2 games.

I think given the chances he will score, it's the other stuff that bothers me a little
 
Needs to work a bit on his first touch it can be clumsy sometimes but not touching the ball for long periods isn’t helping.
 
The service into him is absolutely awful really all our attacking is designed to go create chances for the wide players rather than the centre forward.

There's almost no balls into the box, cut backs etc to feed on as the wide players are all scorers rather than creators and with the full back situation they aren't really getting forward at all down the left to cross the ball.

Not an easy side to play up front for and he certainly needs some help but I think there's a good player in there but it's going to be a bit up and down.

The touch with back to goal does need to improve.
 
The question must be asked - why spend so much money on a player, you don't intend to use to their fullest? ETH's system doesn't suit Hojlund at all, and this is another baffling mystery. It's the same with Mount, we all know he's not going to drop Bruno, yet spends another huge chunk of cash on him. That's two player signings that make no sense. We're just lucky Hojlund is clearly class, and he's going to be a great player to have going forward regardless. I can't wait to see him in a system set up to support him, but we might be waiting another season to see that. Shame.
 
My answer to that question would be how many times has Ten Hag been able to field his best XI this season? Have we even seen all the key signings he's made together on the pitch? Onana, Martinez, Casemiro and Hojlund to me look like the spine of his team and I'd say we've probably had them all on the pitch together less than 5 times this season because of injury.

Is £50m even that much money? That sort of fee gets you a Jesus, a Richarlison or a Jackson sort of striker it doesn't get you the finished product.

Hojlund's strength is facing goal and the tactics since Christmas have been to get the ball to him quickly so that to me is playing to his strength but we don't create a lot of chances for him or for any centre forward. To me that's down to the wide players our wide players all want to shoot rather than cross so whoever plays centre forward isn't going to get the ball coming across the box very often.

Mount is a different story the more I think about it the more he was a player to strengthen the squad rather than the starting XI.
 
He cost £72m.

I don't think the team is set up to play to his strengths at all, he would end up with some chances if it was. We have spells of good counter attacking football yet the ball never ends up with him, or even close to him. He's in there fighting for the scraps, deflections and whatever else. If anything I saw him more as the creative player yesterday, he's good at initial link up play, holding then passing the ball wide etc, but then when he runs central to look for the pass back, it never seems to come.... how is that playing to his strengths?
 
Wants the point in a manager who can only play one way, and then any injuries throw his system out.

Thats a rubbish excuse for the failing of ETH.

If he wanted Hojlund to pump balls in from wide, Antony, Rashford, Garnacho have all been fit all season. In fact, he should have adopted that system months ago.
 
I thought it was £50m up front with loads of add ons, turns out it was £64m plus £8m in add ons.

I agree the team isn't setup to feed a centre forward with loads of chances it's setup to feed the wingers that is where the goals for us come from.

Yesterday it felt like the direction to all the forwards was when you get the ball just head to goal as quickly as you can there was no real interplay between them.
 
That's the point, he's spent a lot of money on nothing. If he didn't get lucky with the fact Hojlund is clearly going to be good in years to come to a new manager, it would have been more money wasted - more ETH stupidity.

It's the polar opposite of Rice to Arsenal.
 
You've got to be desperate to have a go at the Manager if you blame him for Hojlund, it was a club decision, we couldn't get who we wanted(Kane and Osimhen), so went in early for potentially the next best thing.

And in years to come it will become obvious it was the right decision.
 
thats not the point. It may well prove a brilliant signing.

The point being made is the manager is not playing to his players strengths and seems incapable of having various, if any, tactical nous
 

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