Rasmus Hojlund needs a rest but Erik ten Hag has no choice but to keep playing him | OneFootball

Manchester United were happy to keep damage to a minimum in their 0-1 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday.

They rarely threatened despite enjoying 55 percent possession with the visitors happy to sit back and defend, knowing the hosts will struggled up top.

Even when the Gunners looked nervy, the Red Devils failed to take advantage with Alejandro Garnacho guilty of spurning a few decent openings while Rasmus Hojlund once again failed to influence proceedings.

The Dane looks like he has been overworked in his debut season and while ideally, the club should have given him time to adapt, they were forced to throw him straight into the deep end.

Struggling physically

He is only 21 and with one season of Serie A experience behind him, he looks like someone who is not ready to lead the line for the 20-time English league champions consistently.

His biggest struggle so far has been with physicality with the striker looking far too focussed on trying to win the physical duels rather than focussing on holding on to the ball.

And that leads to trying to back into defenders and eventually losing possession, unable to relieve some of the pressure on his backline.

Against Mikel Arteta’s side, he lost all his ground duels and won only one aerial duel. He also lost possession four times.

And the lack of service has not helped either. The former Atalanta starlet had only 17 touches in 88 minutes and managed only 10 passes (stats via sofascore).

Rasmus needs help

He had a decent chance early on in the game with Scott McTominay’s ball finding him in space but he slipped and failed to make the keeper work.

Maybe if the ball had fallen for him during his six-game scoring streak, he would have made the chance count. His confidence is also not quite high.

Increased scrutiny and criticism can affect a young player but the Dutch boss has had no choice but to keep playing the Denmark international due to the perennial absence of Anthony Martial and the poor form of Marcus Rashford, who is also out injured currently.

The club is almost bludgeoning the promising star into mediocrity and it is clear that the club should bring in help for the Denmark international.

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