Manchester United legend believes Marcus Rashford, Antony and Alejandro Garnacho may have to adapt their game if Rasmus Hojlund is to start scoring in the Premier League.
The Denmark international has been likened to Erling Haaland for a reason, and not just because they are both blonde bombshells who made their name in Scandinavia. Rasmus Hojlund, like his Manchester City counterpart, boasts rapid pace, fearsome physicality and superb movement inside the penalty area.
But while Pep Guardiola has developed a system capable of getting the very best out of world football’s finest finisher, it’s fair to say Erik ten Hag is yet to do the same at Manchester United.
Hojlund has not scored a single goal in nine Premier League games. Such a statistic, however, probably says more about his United team-mates than it does the man himself, Hojlund going almost three hours without having a single chance created for him before missing from close range against Luton Town last time out (ESPN).
Rasmus Hojlund struggling in Premier League
“He’s a big strong lad with pace. (Hojlund) looks like he has everything to be a top-class centre-forward,” Scholes tells the Webby and O’Neill podcast.
“There is a lot of pressure on the kid. You think of the teams Manchester United have had. They’ve always had centre-forwards who can score 25 to 30 goals. They’ve almost got one now, who is a 20-year-old kid who has come without a real proven goalscoring track record. He needs help.”
That ‘help’, Scholes says, should be coming from out wide. Hojlund proving in the Champions League (where he has scored all five of his United goals) that he is a natural at attacking deliveries from the wing.
But therein lies the problem. United, Scholes points out, have three wingers who prefer to cut in and shoot rather than dart to the byline and cross.
Onus on Rashford, Antony and Garnacho
“(Hojlund) has got wide players around him who don’t cross the ball,” adds Scholes, who celebrates his 49th birthday today. “He looks to me like he’s a centre-forward that wants crosses. He’s got clever movement on crosses.
“On Saturday against Luton for his chance, some really good movement. He checked, moved the lad out the way and got in.
“Now, you’ve got Marcus Rashford who just wants to cut inside and shoot. You’ve got Antony playing at times, Garnacho… They’re almost trying to be goalscoring wide players who, at the minute, aren’t scoring goals.
“But they don’t provide crosses either.”
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