Football News: Højlund Can Be A Success At Manchester United

Rasmus Højlund was good and showed promise in his first season at Manchester United. Unfortunately he picked up a few injuries that limited his minutes on the pitch. But 10 league goals and 5 UEFA Champions League goals showed that he has the ability to score at this level.

It was his second season where he really struggled, it seemed like he changed his game. He stopped playing on the shoulder of the defence and started trying to come deep and link play. Which he really struggles with. He kept getting into physical battles with defenders that weren't necessary, and to make matters worse, he would pretty much lose all of them.

His skill set is far more naturally suited to a counter attacking team, he's quick and has good finishing when 1v1 with the keeper. His first touch can be loose, his passing and link play is poor, and he isn't good at holding off defenders.

Yet he spent all last season playing to his weaknesses and not his strengths. Maybe that was a direction from the manager, who wants to play a more possession based style which requires the CF to be able to link play better. I don't think he should be putting so much focus on developing those parts of his game. Sure work on them, but not for 90 minutes during a game every week. Work on them in training.

What he should be looking to develop is his off the ball movement, learn to make clever second man runs, work on his timing of his runs, and continue to develop his strengths. If he focuses on that, he'll get 10-15 league goals at least, and that takes the pressure off of him, and the team. When he plays to his strengths, he has shown he can reliably score at this level. If he ultimately doesn't suit the manager's tactics, then it best for all parties that he leaves.

The odd thing is that I actually think that his original style of play actually suits what the manager wants from his striker, 70% of the time. Gyökeres is a relentless channel runner, playing on the shoulder and stretching the play to make space for the attacking midfielders to play in behind him. He then checks his run and makes a second run across the defender to get into space to receive the pass and be able to shoot. Which is the kind of player Højlund should be developing himself into.

Only 30% of the time does Ruben Amorim actually want his striker to drop deeper and link play, normally against low blocks as there isn't space to run into behind. If we are honest against those teams, we have Zirkzee who is almost perfect for that role.

Højlund has the raw ingredients to be a success striker at this level if used correctly and he plays to his strengths. That just didn't happen last season, if it's not going to happen this season then it's time for him to move on. However, if we cannot get the top striker we want / need, then it becomes vital that we coach him to get the best out of him.

To be fair to him, he did make a lot of good runs last season but never received the ball. At times, it did seem like his teammates didn't trust him, or were just looking to get the shot themselves.

Written by Shappy July 27 2025 12:17:33