Manchester United have found an absolute monster, the potential is unreal
Dan Coombs
It’s all negative at Manchester United right now. Except for one man, striker Rasmus Hojlund.
Let’s set aside all the doom and gloom at Manchester United for a moment and focus on the one player giving fans genuine reason to be optimistic.
Rasmus Hojlund looks like the real deal, the striker Manchester United have been waiting for, giving hope not seen since Anthony Martial‘s opening weeks and months at the club.
Martial’s troubles since have been a cautionary tale. He has not developed into the top centre-forward United hoped for. Injuries are one reason for that, while the striker may have to look inwards and ask why he has not kicked on. Multiple changes of managers have not helped.
Manchester United v Galatasaray A.S.: Group A – UEFA Champions League
Manchester United’s recent history with strikers
Manchester United’s main success with strikers in recent years has only been short-term. Even Robin van Persie lasted just two full seasons. Radamel Falcao was a one-year stop-gap, and not an effective one.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was outstanding for one season, before injury struck. A little more patience from all sides could have got more out of him.
Romelu Lukaku was supposed to be the man. He started brightly, before fading to the point where United supporters were quite content to let him leave two seasons later.
Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo rolled back the clock, each enjoying strong individual seasons between 2020 and 2022. It didn’t last. Both of them were short-term solutions.
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Rasmus Hojlund is the player Manchester United hope to build around. This was the objective when in the summer, the club identified him as a top target, rather than spend the entire budget on Harry Kane, who is 30, a whole decade over.
Rasmus Hojlund looks fantastic, and he’s just getting started
Rasmus Hojlund may be Manchester United’s first choice striker this season, but he was bought as an investment for the future too. Whatever happens this season, he is just getting started.
So it is a real bonus for United that already, he is making an impact. He has three Champions League goals in his first two games in the competition, becoming the youngest player since Erling Haaland four years earlier, to do so.
Hojlund has got it all. He is fast, powerful, and has a terrific work rate. We are already seeing evidence of it, and his two goals were the type no other player in the Manchester United squad can score.
It’s worth bearing in mind he is only 20. He could still be playing for United’s under-21 side. Simply to be leading the line for the Red Devils shows what he has accomplished in his career already. And he is embracing it.
Hojlund’s brace in midweek was reminiscent of young Wayne Rooney scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut against Fenerbahce back in 2004. The difference being, Rooney came into a well-oiled team under Sir Alex Ferguson, while Hojlund was performing for a team that is a total shambles right now. It almost makes his midweek brace more impressive.
The best part of this for Manchester United supporters is that Hojlund will get better. It’s a scary thought. He is a real monster in United’s attack, causing havoc for defenders when he runs at them with his combination of speed and power, combined with close control of the ball, and a deft touch in front of goal.
Yes, there will be challenges. Injuries are something United can’t project, but the club should strive to give Hojlund the stability not afforded to Anthony Martial, who has been through a churn of different managers.
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Club urged to bring back Manchester United man if he leaves Old TraffordPhoto by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Club urged to bring back Manchester United man if he leaves Old Trafford
Dan Owen
Former Ajax ace Kenneth Perez is backing the Eredivisie giants to consider bringing back Erik ten Hag as pressure rises on the Manchester United boss following another Champions League defeat.
Less than two years ago, Erik ten Hag’s Ajax side topped their very own Champions League group, winning six games out of six, scoring 20 goals along the way and handing out vicious beatings to Borussia Dortmund and Sporting Lisbon.
Manchester United may be in no position to boat a similarly hefty points tally this term – the Red Devils have lost successive group-stage games versus Bayern Munich and Galatasaray – but Ten Hag’s past success in the same competition, while in charge of a far less-deep-pocketed side no less, remains proof of his tactical chops.
There is, however, the danger of Ten Hag becoming increasingly reliant on past success to keep the wolf from the door. Life in the present, after all, is certainly proving challenging. Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat against Galatasaray meaning United have lost more home games this season already than in the entirety of 2022/23 alone.
Manchester United v Galatasaray A.S.: Group A – UEFA Champions League 2023/24
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United lose again
Things at Ten Hag’s former employers, meanwhile, are hardly going much better. Ajax are not even a Champions League team these days, while stumbling along in 15th place domestically after their worst start to a season since 1965.
There are, as of yet, no suggestions that Ten Hag’s job is under threat at Old Trafford. In fact, both Fabrizio Romano and The Guardian are reporting precisely the opposite.
But Perez, who played 43 games across two spells at Ajax as a midfielder, is not the only one who would welcome Ten Hag back with open arms should a worse-case scenario become a reality in Manchester.
A season to forget for Ajax too
“Imagine if Erik ten Hag were fired,” Perez muses, via Voetbalpraat. “Would it be very crazy for Ajax to invite him back?
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“Manchester United is known for the fact that things can get difficult if things don’t go well. It’s not a crazy idea, is it?”
While Ten Hag retains the support of most Manchester United fans – and the board, it seems – a continuation of recent results will see some rather awkwar
d questions tumble out of the mouths of even the Dutchman’s biggest backers.
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