Gary Neville has voiced his sympathy for Rasmus Hojlund, as the forward approaches the end of a tumultuous first season in England.
The Manchester United starlet dropped to the bench for the side’s final two Premier League games, yet showed his clinicality when scoring off the bench in both matches.
Erik ten Hag disclosed that he was keen on managing the 21-year-old’s minutes, presumably aiming to keep him in top shape for the forthcoming FA Cup final on Saturday, in which Hojlund is expected to lead the line.
Hojlund’s winning goal to seal all three points on Sunday’s final day took his tally up to 10 for his maiden Premier League term, along with a further six goals that came through the Champions League and FA Cup.
All in all, the Old Trafford faithful have been pleased with what they’ve seen of their frontman over the past nine months and remain optimistic that he has the quality to continue leading United’s line for the coming seasons.
In fact, one of the only criticisms surrounding Hojlund’s game is actually down to those surrounding him; supporters have often grown frustrated watching the attackers opt against playing in their striker and firing significant chances astray.
StatmanDave shared earlier this month that, at the time of posting (May 13), the side had created just five chances for Hojlund in the last eight league matches. In comparison, Manchester City created six for Erling Haaland when he hit Wolves for four.
Neville weighs in
Neville shared his verdict on the situation, writing in The Overlap newsletter (via the Metro): “Watching Hojlund, I felt sorry for him.
“You talk about the difficulty United have had putting out a consistent back four this season. But it’s the same up front. Hojlund doesn’t know what the pattern of play is, whether the wide player is going to go to the line or come inside.
“You can see he’s making good runs all the time and then the wide man will come back inside, and there will be a 15-pass sequence. Another time he’ll drop in and try to join in with that and that will inevitably be the time the wideman decides to get to the line and cross it.”
“Until United can establish a consistent pattern of play, being centre forward in that team will be an impossible job.” Neville declared.
