Manchester United's opening weeks to the season haven't gone quite according to play, in what is a huge understatement. Erik ten Hag's side find themselves in 10th spot heading into the weekend's action having scored just seven goals and conceded 11. A 3-2 home defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday night really compounded a miserable start to the campaign.
The high-profile additions of Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund were supposed to elevate the club to title contenders. After seven games, United are already nine points behind Manchester City. It'll take a monster turnaround in form and fortunes for that gap to shorten. However, while this injury-hit United side is plagued by negativity, there is a positive to take, particularly from the midweek Champions League loss, in the shape of a 6ft 2in Dane.
Hojlund may not have been United first choice frontman target over the summer, with Harry Kane intially taking that mantle, but the 20-year-old eventually moved to Old Trafford at the end of July for a reported £64m. It was a big price tag for a striker with limited experience in one of Europe's top leagues, however United had evidently seen enough of Hojlund's performances for Italian side Atalanta to spend big on the Danish hitman.
The issue was Hojlund arrived from Atalanta carrying an injury, so it wasn't until a brief second half cameo at Arsenal that fans caught their first glimpse of the young forward. In the league games since, Hojlund has failed to hit the back of the net, though it's not for want of trying having mustered a total of six shots across three starts, but three goals in two Champions European outings, including a brace in midweek, enough to secure a spot in the Champions League team of the week, is proof that Hojlund is making the right impact in Manchester.
That he has walked into an unstable environment at Old Trafford is not down to Hojlund, nor is it that Ten Hag has a raft of injuries to contend with at present, but the striker is showing just why United spent big to secure his services in the first place. Ten Hag likes to operate in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He wants his striker to be a physical presence in an around the opposition box. Sebastien Haller was his go-to for his final two seasons at Ajax, while it was reportedly his decision to bring in compatriot Wout Weghorst for the second half of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.
In Hojlund, Ten Hag is able to call upon a physically imposing striker who is prepared to run the channels in search of possession or hold up play for teammates. In addition, the Denmark international puts in the yards to make the lung-busting runs into the box both with and without the ball. The latter was evident against Galatasaray as he held off pressure from Davinson Sanchez to head in Marcus Rashford's cross for his first of the night.
⚽️ Rasmus Hojlund has scored from all 3 of his shots on target in the #UCL this season
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 4, 2023
🥇 The Manchester United striker is the competition's top scorer with 3 goals, can anyone join him this evening? pic.twitter.com/FGS5G03INk
His second was a powerful run from the halfway line before delicately dinking past Fernando Muslera. "Wow, there’s a bit of Van Nistelrooy in there," former United midfielder Paul Scholes said after the midweek game, and it's easy to see why the TNT Sports pundit has made the comparison. For a United side shrouded by gloom, Hojlund is a ray of light shining through the despair.
Now supporters are hoping he can build upon the midweek player of the match performance. United host Brentford on Saturday afternoon and the Bees themselves aren't in great form having failed to win in five, losing twice in that run. The west London side aren't exactly watertight either having shipped 10 goals in the opening seven matches, though just two of those have come away from home.
Nevertheless, with Hojlund really beginning to find his feet in Manchester, a disheartened Brentford might just be the perfect opponent for the Dane to open his Premier League account. The early signs that he can shoulder the burden of being United's leading frontman are understandably positive and it's only a matter of time Hojlund begins to climb the goalscoring charts because once United's Scandi-sensation bags that first goal; it wouldn't be a surprise to see the floodgates open.
