Ruben Amorim breaks silence on Rasmus Hojlund goal drought, gives clear stance on Manchester United problem

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Rasmus Hojund has gone eight games without a goal for Manchester United.

Questions are beginning to get asked of Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, who has struggled in his second season at the club, after missing the start of the campaign with a hamstring injury.

United added competition to the striker department in the summer by signing Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna. While the Netherlands’ international has struggled to adapt to English football, he has more goals in the Premier League than Hojlund, which doesn’t bode well for the under pressure Dane.

Hojlund, 21, is not only younger than Zirkzee but he has been handed the responsibility of leading the line for United. It’s a big job for a player of his age but Ruben Amorim has continued to show faith in the prospect goalscorer.

We have seen the best strikers struggle during goal droughts and Hojlund will be working hard to break that duct. United’s first team are back in Premier League action against Brighton on Sunday when he might get his next chance to get on the scoresheet.

Rasmus Hojlund defends Rasmus Hojlund

Amorim has jumped to Hojlund’s defence in the wake of a worrying goal drought which has dragged on since mid-December.

The Reds have had to rely on goals elsewhere, such as Amad Diallo, who scored a hat-trick in United’s 3-1 win over Southampton on Thursday.

Amad overtook Alejandro Garnacho has United’s leading scorer on nine goals, while Hojlund is stuck on seven with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.

Hojlund looked frustrated as he was hooked off in the 53^rd minute for Zirkzee, but he has not lost the faith of United’s head coach.

“I think it’s more a team problem than a Rasmus problem,” Amorim told reporters in his pre-match press conference before the Reds host Brighton. “You can see it, it’s not just from now, it’s from the past. So we have clearly a lack of goals and a lack of threat.

“When you threaten the opponents, the opponents maybe don’t press you so high. So everything is connected.

“All the players have moments in this season. I think when we started this journey together, Rasmus was the player that was always scoring. He can come back in the next game. We will see.”

More questions asked of Manuel Ugarte

Amorim also had to answer questions about Manuel Ugarte’s fitness after admitting that the Uruguay international was tired against Southampton.

Having been one of United’s stand-out performers in recent games against Liverpool and Arsenal, Amorim was quick to defend the midfielder, who he worked with at Sporting CP.

Ugarte went on to struggle against the Saints. He scored an own goal at the end of the first-half before he was substituted at the same time as Hojlund.

“Mateus (Fernandes) was creating a lot of problems for Manu with the No.7 (Joe Aribo),” Amorim added. “Because Manu was running against two guys, it’s more my fault than his fault. He’s going to get used to playing every three days.

“Ugarte was tired because he did a great job against Liverpool. If you look at the game against Arsenal, maybe Ugarte and Bruno were the best players against Liverpool.

“I think that happens with all players in the Premier League. They can play, but they don’t play the same way.”