Rasmus Hojlund sees worst Man Utd fears realised after 'massive issue' warning
Rasmus Hojlund drew a 14th straight blank in the Premier League on Saturday, but the lack of service for the Denmark international was laid bare after Manchester United's defeat at West Ham.
Hojlund, a £72m summer signing from Atalanta, was the joint-highest scorer in the Champions League group stage despite United's early elimination. He has yet to net in 945 league minutes, though, and didn't even register a shot at the London Stadium before making way for Marcus Rashford shortly before the hour mark.
Ahead of the game, though, former England striker Chris Sutton suggested poor service from Antony and Alejandro Garnacho played a part in the striker's struggles. Whether or not that's true of the first 13 games, the numbers from Saturday's defeat appear to back up Sutton's assertion.
Antony and Garnacho were found to have played just one pass to Hojlund during his 56 minutes on the pitch in East London. Not one each, one combined.
"I don't want to keep going back to Manchester United, but we watched Hojlund the other night, I felt really sorry for him," Sutton said on Mail Sport's It's All Kicking Off podcast several days before the game. "I feel really sorry for him. He looks like a player that is 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.
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"Antony, the other night, never got his head up. Pass, follow, link-up – there aren't combinations. And that's a massive issue."
Does Hojlund need better service? Have your say in the comments section
Rasmus Hojlund is still waiting for his first Premier League goal (David Loveday/TGS Photo/REX/Shutterstock)The striker's replacement, Rashford, didn't provide much more of a goal threat in the closing stages. The England international managed just one shot, a speculative effort which didn't force Alphonse Areola into a save.
Hosts West Ham were also quiet in front of goal in the early part of the game, only to burst into action in the final 20 minutes. Jarrod Bowen put the Hammers in front at the second time of asking after Andre Onana kept out his initial effort, and Mohammed Kudus scored the home side's second after capitalising on an error from Kobbie Mainoo.
"I think it was a decent 72 minutes where we didn't take our chances," United boss Erik ten Hag told Match of the Day after his team's defeat. "We should've gone in the lead but we didn't and then it was one moment of switching off."
West Ham's victory was enough for them to climb above United in the table, with David Moyes; men sitting sixth. Ten Hag's team are eighth, some eight points adrift of the top four after rivals Spurs beat Everton on Saturday afternoon.
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