Rasmus Hojlund's Man Utd struggles summed up in eye-opening graphic

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·16 de dezembro de 2023

Rasmus Hojlund's Man Utd struggles summed up in eye-opening graphic

There’s been plenty of speculation over whether Manchester United parting ways with £72 million for 20-year-old Rasmus Hojlund was the correct decision. Still yet to open his goalscoring account in the Premier League, despite totting up 798 minutes of action, and a graphic has revealed he is, among all top flight strikers, the one that has received the fewest passes this term.

His arrival - potentially - marked a new era at the 20-time English champions with Anthony Martial, who’s now set to leave the Manchester-based club in 2024, unable to stay fit and be a reliable figure up top. Erik ten Hag, in his second campaign in charge, earmarked the young Dane as his long-term striker option after vying for now Bayern Munich talisman Harry Kane for the best part of the summer transfer window.

Vídeos OneFootball

Of course, sealing Hojlund’s signature was met with ample fanfare given Scandinavian forwards are all the rage nowadays – just take Manchester City’s free-scoring Erling Haaland as the prime example. But why hasn’t the new and shiny Red Devils man been unable to emulate the return of his Norwegian counterpart? An eye-opening graphic has now emerged online and may exactly be the reason why.

Hojlund has received the fewest passes among PL strikers

Man Utd’s striker has received less than 150 passes this season

Scoring in the Champions League has been no problem, with the former Atalanta ace topping the competition's charts with five goals in United’s six-game group stage campaign, one which they crashed out thanks to winning just once against Copenhagen. United’s marquee summer signing may be the top goalscorer in Europe’s top tier competition, but the same cannot be said domestically. And that’s all because of the lack of service.

While the likes of Ollie Watkins, Son Heung-min and the aforementioned Haaland continue to thrive in the scoring department, Hojlund is struggling somewhat – and a damning graphic created and shared by the Telegraph shows exactly why. With Hojlund’s name plastered at the bottom, the bar graph shows that a lack of service could be the main reason behind the centre forward’s zero goal return in the league.

Fabrizio Romano recently told GIVEMESPORT that Ten Hag is 'very happy' with Hojlund's progression since moving from Italy - though, we still cannot overlook his failures in the final third. Saying that, he has received fewer passes than any other main centre-forward since the current Premier League season got underway, while his teammate Martial is second bottom in that category.

United’s decision to invest such a sum on the talented but unproven Hojlund rather than a striker with a more experienced striker may have been naive, but with the service - or worrying lack thereof - it is not certain another number 9 would be more fruitful in this beleaguering United attack.

For a direct team who want to become the best transitional side in the world, according to The Athletic, Ten Hag is quite frankly not making the most of Hojlund's build-up play, speed and finishing through the middle or out wide - and with an all-enticing clash against Premier League-topping Liverpool next on the agenda, life is unlikely to get any easier against Jürgen Klopp's high-flyers.

Chris Sutton offers Hojlund some sympathy

Sutton: 'I felt really sorry for him'

While previewing the mammoth clash between the two Premier League behemoths this weekend, former Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers marksman Chris Sutton spoke to Mail Sports’ Ian Ladyman on their It’s All Kicking Off podcast, claiming that Holjund isn't the only star to blame for his insipid start to life in England and that his fellow forwards, namely Antony and Alejandro Garnacho, have failed to provide him with the service he needs in order to find the back of the net.

“If Liverpool have a bit of a vulnerability, I think it is defensively. Manchester United can only win playing counter-attack. I don't want to keep going back to Manchester United, but we watched Hojlund the other night. I felt really sorry for him. “I feel really sorry for him. He looks like a player that are a little bit low on confidence now, but I don't think that he has an understanding of how he can score a goal at Manchester United, because the wide players want the ball for themselves. “Antony, the other night, never got his head up. Pass, follow, link-up – there aren't combinations. And that's a massive issue. And then you look at what Liverpool have in their attacking armoury, and they are slick, there's a great understanding, they are dangerous. Manchester United's hope is that they can hang on in the game, defensive rear-guard action and maybe counter. “A piece of individual brilliance, whether it is Hojlund at centre forward with a ball over the top or whether it's [Alejandro] Garnacho [off the wing]. I just don't see it. You look in the midfield, [Sofyan] Amrabat is athletic, but he's not a great technician.”

Hojlund’s goalscoring woes may trickle into this weekend’s fixture with arch-rivals Liverpool, especially given that their primary creator-in-chief, and captain, Bruno Fernandes is unavailable through suspension. United will be looking to steal a march on the Merseysiders when they travel to Anfield on Sunday with their hope of putting their grim head-to-head record - against Liverpool - beyond them.