The Dane has been unable to replicate his brilliant Champions League form domestically, which is a huge concern for Erik ten Hag
Manchester United knew that they were buying into potential rather than proven quality when they signed Rasmus Hojlund in the summer, but even so, they would have expected their £72-million ($90m) striker to have scored at least a few Premier League goals four months after his arrival.
Yet after 14 appearances, the Danish hitman is still waiting to score his first Premier League goal in the famous red shirt. And after drawing another blank in a pathetic display against West Ham, he now has an even worse record for United in the English top-flight than Wout Weghorst, who became a figure of ridicule during his lacklustre loan spell with the club last season.
Hojlund has had a paradoxical start to life with United since his big-money move from Atalanta. He had been on fire in the Champions League, notching five goals in his opening four games to make him top scorer alongside Erling Haaland and Alvaro Morata.
But as luck would have it, none of those goals yielded any points for United due to their shambolic defending, and Hojlund failed to score against Galatasaray and Bayern Munich as the Red Devils completed an utterly miserable return to the Champions League by finishing bottom of Group A.
United now have just the Premier League and FA Cup to play for, which means Hojlund urgently needs to adapt to the demands of English football and relocate his scoring boots to help them salvage something from this nightmare season…
Getty ImagesOne disallowed goal in 945 minutes
Hojlund had to wait almost a month to make his United debut after injuring his back over the summer, but his first appearanceoff the bench against Arsenalgave fans plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
In just 23 minutes on the pitch he put the Gunners' defence under real pressure with his searing pace and clever runs, nearly winning a penalty and helping release Alejandro Garnacho to score a goal that was ruled fractionally offside by VAR.
In his first start for United against Brighton he thought he had scored when he converted a Marcus Rashford pass from close range, but that was also chalked off as his fellow forward had dragged the ball out of play. United ended up losing the game 3-1 but it looked to be just a matter of time before Hojlund started scoring for fun.
Surprisingly, that has not happened in the Premier League. Despite 945 minutes of action and 11 starts, that disallowed goal against Brighton remains the only time Hojlund has put the ball in the net, while he has no assists to show for himself either.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesA meagre shot rate
It's not just the lack of goals that are concerning for Hojlund. He is barely getting glimpses of action in the penalty area. The striker is averaging 1.3 shots per game in the Premier League, compared to 1.8 in the Champions League and 2.9 in European Championship qualifying with Denmark.
And his statistics in his last five matches in all competitions make for particularly grim reading. He has mustered just three shots in total against Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Galatasaray, only one of which hit the target.
He was barely involvedin the limp 1-0 loss to Bayern, taking no shots and touching the ball just 18 times – half the amount of touches that goalkeeper Andre Onana made – while making just nine passes.
This was an occasion when the drawbacks of him being 20 years old and boasting just one and a half seasons of experience in Europe's top five leagues were exposed. He was repeatedly muscled off the ball by Kim Min-jae, the Bayern defender who was entrusted with marking him, while he lost six of the eight duels he was involved in.
GettyA glaring miss at Anfield
Hojlund may not have enjoyed great service from his team-mates but he has not helped himself with some bad finishing in league games. And one of his worst misses game in the biggest match of the year, against Liverpool at Anfield.
United created few chances in the scrappy 0-0 draw at Anfield but Hojlund was given a golden chance to break the deadlock in the second half. United poured forward on the counterattack after winning the ball back deep in their own half and broke quickly, with Antony leading the charge.
The Brazilian played in Scott McTominay who played a perfectly-weighted pass to the feet of Hojlund, but the Dane, who had just Alisson to beat and was under no real pressure from Liverpool defenders, sent the ball straight at the Brazilian.
Diego Forlan lifted his ailing United career by scoring twice at Anfield and John O'Shea became a cult hero to Red Devils supporters with his last-gasp goal there in 2007.
Everything would have been forgiven if Hojlund had scored, especially as it was in front of the Kop, but the miss underlined the fact that he is still a rough diamond, far from the accomplished and proven finisher United need right now.
GettyTeam-mates not making most of him
Hojllund is yet to work up a good understanding with many of his team-mates and it often feels like his runs are either not noticed or ignored.
Alejandro Garnacho broke free in the first half against Bayern and could see Hojlund to his right but decided to go it alone, although he failed to test Manuel Neuer. Hojlund looked frustrated but the truth was he was not in the best position to receive the ball and cause danger.
But on plenty other occasions he has been justified in complaining to his team-mates about not getting the ball.Take the 3-0 home defeat against Bournemouthlast weekend, when Diogo Dalot galloped down the right wing and shot into the side netting from a tight angle, ignoring Hojlund's pleas to give him a cut-back.
"I think that's a total lack of respect for him [Hojlund], he doesn't even acknowledge him," saidpundit Ian Wright. "He's had a shot from the most ridiculous angle. He's upset with himself but he doesn't even look for Hojlund. Hojlund has got to be pulling him up in the dressing room and saying 'come on.'"
Hojlund gave Dalot a piece of his mind for not passing to him and has also been seen telling off Antony for not giving him the ball earlier. The only forward who seems to be on the same level as him is Marcus Rashford, who has had a terrible season on an individual level and has not started a game since December 2.
