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Rasmus Hojlund enjoyed a relatively successful first season at Manchester United where he has cemented himself as the club’s number one striker.
Nonetheless, the road has been paved with bumps as goal droughts and criticism have also been combined with wonderful finishes and passionate play.
There has already been much made of the Dane’s necessity to live off scraps as his side have failed to create chances for him and even failed to pass to him at times.
In fact it was even suggested that his teammates do not trust him and therefore, often won’t pass to him, but this has been refuted by the Dane.
Despite the difficulties the 21 year old has faced, he finished the season as the club’s top goalscorer with 16 goals in all competitions.
The Athletic have gone into detail explaining a roadmap on how United and Erik ten Hag can get the best out of Hojlund next season, mirroring how Denmark use their star forward.
The Dane often cut a frustrated figure on the pitch in his first season and could be seen bellowing at his teammates. He claimed, “I’m always telling them that if they play the pass and I’m not there, then they can scream at me all they want and they can destroy me outside of the pitch. But the opposite way if they don’t do the pass and I’m there, I can scream at them.”
The American outlet claims that Hojlund thrives when the ball is played for him to run into space and where he can exchange quick passes with his teammates.
His second goal against Galatasaray in September, where he easily beat the Turkish side’s defender for pace and dinked the ball over the onrushing keeper, shows just how devastating he can be on the run.
The outlet refers to the 21 year old’s shot map in Euro 2024 qualifying where he was prolific, scoring seven goals.
“That shot map is similar to his six games in the Champions League last season. The forward is quick when running into space, making him a threat on counter-attacks and his movement attacking crosses is exceptional. Several of Hojlund’s goals for club and country come from one-touch finishes after making a run towards the near post.”
The problems become clear when you take a look at his shot map for the Premier League. It paints a picture of a striker being used as a hold-up player due to his side’s injury crisis and tactical flaws.
“Hojlund’s 0.20 expected goals (xG) per shot, a measure of average goalscoring quality and likelihood, indicates a player who knows how to wrong foot defenders inside the area and get shots off from relatively dangerous positions. He did not shoot anywhere near enough for the main striker of a club of United’s supposed standings.”
In short, Hojlund focused on shooting inside the six yard box for Denmark but had to settle for further out attempts and shots from wide angles for United. Once again, his incredible rifled finish at home to Tottenham Hotspur in January showed exactly what he can do from close range.
Another issue is that Hojlund had to spend far too much time “as an isolated target man”, which does not suit his strengths. “Despite his 6ft 2in (191cm) frame, Hojlund is not the best at holding off defenders with his back to goal. His first touch can be shaky and long passes sometimes bounce off him.”
In addition, Ten Hag’s preference for inverted wingers means that he is often starved of crosses which he can thrive on due to his “excellent” movement.
The Dane was also often tasked with making runs to the front post to make space for other players in the box, mainly Scott McTominay, who scored 10 goals in all competitions for the Red Devils.
The Scot’s strong heading allowed for goals to be scored but his poor passing meant there was little reward for Hojlund for continuously making selfless runs.
The former Atalanta attacker admitted that the Premier League was faster than Serie A and took some time to adapt to. “He has worked strenuously at Carrington on improving his body orientation when receiving the ball to be more decisive in his movement around the penalty area.”
The Athletic prescribe that Ten Hag should take a leaf out of the Danish coach, Kasper Hjulmand’s tactical playbook, and “look to get more attackers working closer to Hojlund, providing him with more passes in behind defences and additional opportunities to shoot. The return of Luke Shaw to full fitness will see an increase in the number of crosses United will send in from the left towards the near post, where Hojlund flourishes.”
New signings in the midfield department could also see a new type of player replace McTominay and not make such similar runs to the Dane.
Ten Hag could also tweak how the team presses and counters so Hojlund can find himself picking the ball up against a disorganised defence and running at them, as he did for goals against Newcastle United and Brighton and Hove Albion at the end of the season.
The Athletic provide a final vote of confidence in the United striker stating, “there is an impressive goalscorer within Hojlund”, it just needs the team to bring it out of him.
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