Manchester United v Arsenal - PL 12/05/24 4:30pm KO - Official Match Thread

Originally Posted by Coracao

Ŵe badly need a centre forward. Hojlund is currently miles off it, and not seen much so far to suggest he will get there.

I think he'll be a solid forward in time but he needs coaching desperately. And more importantly a settled team around him who know how to create chances for each other. We never put the ball in the box early, we very rarely deliver anything resembling a decent cross and we get absolutely zero support around him when he is in the box.

Remember yesterday in the first half when he had the ball in the box with his back to goal? Surrounded by 5 arsenal players and not one United player anywhere near him.

Apprently that benjamin sesko's agent was at old trafford yesterday, which is telling.

Originally Posted by Coracao

He is part of the issue in this though.

His movement is poor. He doesn't offer a threat aerially. His hold up is nowhere near good enough, his passing is below average, there is no x factor in terms of individual ability to create himself, and he often struggles to make the half yard to get his shot off.

There isn't really an area of his game where I'd consider him to be currently be near the level required. He'd currently be alright as a third choice option, but he is currently the first pick in the most important position on the pitch. A striker is a must.



He probably wouldn't get in the positions to miss those chances, truth be told.

You can’t say this.

you have to be deluded, you have to lie to yourselves.

after about 10 games i noticed everything you are saying.
even in his highlight reel before he joined there wasn’t nothing that screamed out “wonderkid”
He is distinctly average but comes in below average because of his poor positioning and lack of strikers know-how!
There’s a reason The Scottish Player got the goals he should have been getting in the same team with the same amount of service!

He might improve but for the moment he should be getting 15 minute cameos. So about 3rd choice!

Originally Posted by Sparky***

I think he'll be a solid forward in time but he needs coaching desperately.

needing coaching is your polite way of saying deep down you know he isn’t it!

him with rashford and Antony either side of him is the team most of you predicted would do well this season?

Originally Posted by marlo

needing coaching is your polite way of saying deep down you know he isn’t it!

That’s not true at all. Writing the kid off because he’s not the finished article is worse than pretending he’s something he’s not now. He needs what most kids need, education. Then it’s up to him.

Originally Posted by marlo

You can’t say this.

you have to be deluded, you have to lie to yourselves.

after about 10 games i noticed everything you are saying.
even in his highlight reel before he joined there wasn’t nothing that screamed out “wonderkid”
He is distinctly average but comes in below average because of his poor positioning and lack of strikers know-how!
There’s a reason The Scottish Player got the goals he should have been getting in the same team with the same amount of service!

He might improve but for the moment he should be getting 15 minute cameos. So about 3rd choice!



needing coaching is your polite way of saying deep down you know he isn’t it!

him with rashford and Antony either side of him is the team most of you predicted would do well this season?

Cmon mate. Think pretty much everyone gets it and accepts it now. No need to keep banging on about it.

Getting worse than my Mrs!

Originally Posted by marlo

needing coaching is your polite way of saying deep down you know he isn’t it!

him with rashford and Antony either side of him is the team most of you predicted would do well this season?

I didn't say we'd do well this season, i actually predicted we'd finish about 6th.

This relentless windmilling you're constantly doing around the forum, strutting about saying "i told you so" to all and sundry, doesn't convince people you're the clued up, knowledgeable fan you think it does. It just makes you look like you're revelling in the club's misfortunes which makes people think you're a bit of a @#%&!.

rasmus is not some alan j. pinkney. the service has been shit. rashford completely ignores him, nacho and amad are unpredictable and antony... it is better not speak of him. rasmus has rattled in the goals, assisted by pinball, persistence and bruno. if the scottish player scores, it's usually because rasmus has created space for him. shame scotty can't £#%&!ing pass, but still....

he's obviously not peak ruud. but picking on him is ridiculous. he's made run after run. it's not a case of not knowing where to be, but rather not knowing where the rest of the clowns want him to be.

https://twitter.com/Chris_G_Howard/status/1789735987184066762

Originally Posted by jem

rasmus is not some alan j. pinkney. the service has been shit. rashford completely ignores him, nacho and amad are unpredictable and antony... it is better not speak of him. rasmus has rattled in the goals, assisted by pinball, persistence and bruno. if the scottish player scores, it's usually because rasmus has created space for him. shame scotty can't £#%&!ing pass, but still....

he's obviously not peak ruud. but picking on him is ridiculous. he's made run after run. it's not a case of not knowing where to be, but rather not knowing where the rest of the clowns want him to be.

The service has been shit but he hasn't done much either. Still very early days but he needs to make space for himself better. Someone said if he got the chances Nunez gets he'd score tonnes. The problem is that Nunez gets himself into far better positions. Yes, he has better service but his movement is light years ahead of Hoijlands. He's just a poor finisher.

The club have done a disservice to Hoijland because he shouldn't be leading our line yet. We needed an experienced striker and we signed a kid. That's not his fault. We desperately need to bring in someone this summer for him to work alongside and learn from. We also need to work on a system that creates chances for our forwards, rather than having wingers who either run into defenders or turn back and pass it to the full back.

Originally Posted by jem

he's obviously not peak ruud. but picking on him is ridiculous. he's made run after run. it's not a case of not knowing where to be, but rather not knowing where the rest of the clowns want him to be.

He runs, no one is denying that, but at the moment they’re not smart runs. Too often he’s either back post, behind or next to the goal side cb or too parallel to the runner which kills forward momentum. Go back and watch the key moments, it’s all there on tape; I’m not making it up.

I like Hoijland, he's got pace, physicality and work rate. I tend to agree that his positioning is awful but having said that, the way Garnacho played yesterday he may as well have sat in the south stand. Again, great work rate by the little fella but his decision making is way below what you expect.

Højlund’s definitely shown glimpses here and there of eventually becoming a top class centre forward
He’s scored some really expertly taken goals this season and even some scruffy centre forward type goals

However he is incredibly raw and needs a lot of work
Hopefully he gets better coaching and a structure to play in next season

Originally Posted by jem

rasmus is not some alan j. pinkney. the service has been shit. rashford completely ignores him, nacho and amad are unpredictable and antony... it is better not speak of him. rasmus has rattled in the goals, assisted by pinball, persistence and bruno. if the scottish player scores, it's usually because rasmus has created space for him. shame scotty can't £#%&!ing pass, but still....

he's obviously not peak ruud. but picking on him is ridiculous. he's made run after run. it's not a case of not knowing where to be, but rather not knowing where the rest of the clowns want him to be.

I left teaching higher adult education about six years ago, but had no idea what a calamitous effect that would have on grammar in the north west.

All my time in Alderley Edge wasted...........

https://x.com/statmandave/status/1789966111988957214?s=46&t=l_IDjZwQTig51Y-d5izVYA

Originally Posted by Sparky***

I think he'll be a solid forward in time but he needs coaching desperately. And more importantly a settled team around him who know how to create chances for each other. We never put the ball in the box early, we very rarely deliver anything resembling a decent cross and we get absolutely zero support around him when he is in the box.

Remember yesterday in the first half when he had the ball in the box with his back to goal? Surrounded by 5 arsenal players and not one United player anywhere near him.

Apprently that benjamin sesko's agent was at old trafford yesterday, which is telling.

His agent may have been there speaking to Arsenal because thought we wanted to sign experienced ST

Between his inability to see what is happening on the pitch and increasingly on his person I wonder if ETH is on an NHS waiting list to get an eye condition checked out, perhaps river blindness. How can anyone locate these items in their wardrobe much less deem them acceptable for broadcast across the world?

Not many stylish Dutch folk around tbf. His Skechers obsession was a big giveaway as soon as he arrived.

Originally Posted by Chris Quayd

Between his inability to see what is happening on the pitch and increasingly on his person I wonder if ETH is on an NHS waiting list to get an eye condition checked out, perhaps river blindness. How can anyone locate these items in their wardrobe much less deem them acceptable for broadcast across the world?

white socks with black shoes

Paul Smith isn't it ?

Should not be wearing that colour scheme with that complexion/skin tone. Schoolboy error

Originally Posted by jem

rasmus is not some alan j. pinkney. the service has been shit. rashford completely ignores him, nacho and amad are unpredictable and antony... it is better not speak of him. rasmus has rattled in the goals, assisted by pinball, persistence and bruno. if the scottish player scores, it's usually because rasmus has created space for him. shame scotty can't £#%&!ing pass, but still....

he's obviously not peak ruud. but picking on him is ridiculous. he's made run after run. it's not a case of not knowing where to be, but rather not knowing where the rest of the clowns want him to be.

Agreed