I have been where Rasmus Hojlund is now in various parts of my career, where there is a slight hesitation in every aspect of his game.
Not scoring against Real Sociedad on Thursday means there are 19 games without a goal now and I’m sorry for him, because I really don’t see how he had service and opportunities created for him. Diogo Dalot not crossing it is a case in point.
People may say that this does not affect you, but it does. I remember Chelsea when I was out of shape, I would say to myself that there is nothing wrong, but hesitation is what kills you. This is not lower level football, you are playing against some of the best players in the world and if you are a little out, you can’t afford it.
See when 17 -year -old Chido Obi entered Fulham and everything was so natural to him and he wasn’t thinking too much; He was playing as if normally went to young people and with a freedom he shows with his own age group. For Hojlund, he’s hesitating and looks insecure around.
Looking back when, in terms of my mindset as a player, I was young, full of shit, and had so much confidence and everything was so free and I was fearless, even if it was raw.
But when my form walked away as in Chelsea, my thing was to practice, practice, practice.
Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, 22, is in the midst of a drought of 19 games
Hojlund seems devoid of trust and seems to be hesitating and guessing
I spent a similar drought during my season at Chelsea in 1999-2000
I remember Chelsea that I spent a lot of time on the training field doing individual shooting exercises with Gianluca Vialli, whom I liked a lot and it was a great help to me.
We played volleyball techniques, just listening to the ball to reach clean on the back of the net, left foot, right foot, finishes with a touch, two touches, that kind of thing. That was my thing I did regularly.
For me, it was a number game, just listening to the ball repeatedly to try to recover. One of the best goals I ever scored was a volleyball against Juventus in the Champions League, who deviated to Vialli and his time helping to master this technique.
Undoubtedly, Hojlund is experiencing different ways of trying to recover this freedom and confidence. He looks like a good honest type who works with training training.
But he is on a team that is struggling to create opportunities and when you don’t know how these chances will come, there are several things in the mixture. He is hesitating, he is little confidence, he is not sure when someone will make a pass for him, so that the understanding is not there.
There will also be an element that he is aware that Obi is on the scene now and people want him to twist and do well too.
For him, and it was similar to me in Chelsea to go a lot of money, there is a weight with it and a mill stone around my neck sometimes.
It seems that he is in the same boat now with his £ 72 million label. Manchester United is a huge club, and when you think of the big strikers they have had over the years and it was brought to imitate them. It was a big question.
When my form walked away as in Stamford Bridge, my thing was to practice, practice, practice
The emergence of Hotshot Chido Obi striker, 17, will probably be playing in Hojlund’s mind
Hojlund was a development player brought to United for an astronomical amount of money
He seemed brighter against Real Sociedad and he should only work as much as he can in training
Unfortunately, he was brought as a development player and fear that you opt for an astronomical amount of money and people just forget it.
He is having to develop in the most uncomfortable circumstances and is there for everyone to see now.
Your numbers before coming to the club are important. They have not signed someone who had already been prolific in Atalanta and the expectation at Manchester United is always about 20 goals per season. This is a problem.
Hojlund looked brighter against Real Sociedad without the service the goalkeeper. At the moment, it is about recovering your instincts.
I always remember Martin O’Neill at Celtic repeatedly telling players that if they have a bad touch, always show the ball. I feel this is part of what happened to Hojlund now. He is hesitating and it kills you.
When you start losing some chances and then there is no chance, there is a question to make a certain movement or even hesitate to make the race you would have earlier.
There have been many occasions when Hojlund will make a race and the ball doesn’t come and he’s at a point where he probably still wants to make this race, but he’s reluctant to do so because teammates are not feeding him.
My advice to him now would be out of social media. This is absolute madness using it now. As a player, I couldn’t think of anything worse, as he will receive criticism of all directions.
He will undoubtedly tell people that he is fine and confident, but how can you be well and confident?
I was like pinocchio sometimes in Chelsea. People asked me when I was in a goal drought and I would always say, “I’m fine, I’m feeling confident,” but I was lying. You are human, after all. He is a young player with this price and some people are better in bluff than others. It’s tough.
