‘No help’ & ‘no confidence’ – What is behind Hojlund’s goal drought?

Manchester United’s third consecutive defeat against their misfiring forwards leaves them with a disappointing result.

Rasmus Hojlund has not scored in a penalty shootout loss to Fulham in the FA Cup since scoring twice against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on December 12th. This is the 18th consecutive game in which United has lost.

Joshua Zirkzee has also scored just one goal in 16 games for United, who have struggled in the final third of the pitch.

Chido Obi, a teenager, made way for him after United were chasing an equaliser against the Cottagers and Atalanta signed him from Atalanta in a deal worth up to £72m in 2023.

Hojlund, 22, had a difficult afternoon and struggled to have an impact. He only managed one shot, which fell wide of Christian Eriksen’s cross.

Zirkzee, 23, only managed one goal attempt while Obi, 17, had three and forced Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno to make outstanding saves.

And with Amad Diallo out of the game, Antony at Real Betis until the end of the season, Marcus Rashford’s unfavorable contract with Aston Villa on loan, and Antony leaving for Aston Villa, their options have been diminished.

The Brazil winger scored three goals for the La Liga team in February, which was even comical considering how many of United’s players had scored in the month.

However, Amorim is in charge of the staff and tactics, and Alejandro Garnacho’s bench substitution on Sunday caused a lot of annoyance in Old Trafford.

Wessair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot, United’s two wing-backs, had struggled to pose any sort of attacking threat until his introduction in the 53rd minute.

When the Argentina winger arrived, United played with more purpose and had six shots on target in the second half as opposed to the two before the break.

In contrast to the first period, when Zirkzee and Hojlund lacked support, Garnacho was also involved in Bruno Fernandes’ equaliser.

On BBC Match of the Day, former United captain Wayne Rooney claimed that “they play too slowly, the ball speed is too slow, and they are just waiting around for the center-forwards.”

“I occasionally made mistakes and played poorly, but I always had good players around me.” No assistance is being provided by Hojlund. He must use his body to hold the ball. He is making runs and is a little aloof.

Hojlund’s first Premier League goal came on December 26th, which was when he had to wait for it.

However, as a result of a club’s first season suffering from injury, the team had eight goals in eight games, which led to a purple patch that resulted in the club scoring only eight goals in 43 games.

Given that he has only managed seven of his 35 games this term in all competitions, his drop-off seems unsurprising given that he has averaged only 3.5 touches on average in an opponent’s penalty area while shooting just 1.5 on average in just three games.

In the opposition box, Garnacho (8.4), Diallo (7.3), Rashford (5.1), and Zirkzee (7.7) all had more touches than the Dane.

Hojlund, who made 12 goals in 21 games for Sturm Graz and another 10 in 34 games for Italy, also has a higher average of shots on goal than that quartet, Bruno Fernandes, and Casemiro.

When Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz scored 16 goals in the penalty area for Manchester City in their Premier League victory just over a week ago, those figures look horrifyingly low.

In a game that ended in six minutes less, Obi also managed six against Fulham, and Hojlund’s numbers have dropped to 1.3 and 3.1% since December 19 to give some concern.

Chris Sutton, who scored the most goals in the Premier League with Blackburn in 1997-98 while also playing for Chelsea, can relate to Hojlund’s experience, having gone 21 games without a goal while there.

When a striker is criticized, do I first check whether he is generating enough chances? Hojlund is not entirely certain, according to Sutton, who spoke to BBC Sport.

He is suffering from that persistent lack of confidence that causes a lack of faith and reluctance, as many strikers do. It plays on your mind when strikers engage in such a run. It probably has an impact on every aspect of his game, not just in the box, and the worse it gets the longer it goes.

Is there effort there, you ask? Absolutely, yes. He might be doing better, perhaps. He could be, of course, but that’s true for almost all Manchester United players.

You must keep in mind that United are miles off the mark, not just slightly underperforming. There is a claim that Ruben Amorim’s situation has improved since Erik ten Hag’s time.

Simon Stone, the chief football newscaster,

With the relocations from Copenhagen to Sturm Graz and then Atalanta, Hojlund’s valuation dramatically increased.

And despite his lack of exceptional goals, comparisons were made at the time between Erling Haaland, a fellow Scandinavian forward, and his size, strength, and speed.

Although United believed he had the potential to become a top-notch center-forward, he has not, and despite showing signs of his finishing prowess, his confidence appears to have waned.

He never appeared to be able to score against Fulham, and he is not the type of forward who digs deeper and gets involved in the build-up play.