Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund has been slammed in Danish media for his performance during Denmark’s defeat to Spain in the Nations League in Copenhagen last night.
Spain took the lead early on courtesy of a neatly worked move involving Mikel Merino and Ayoze Perez, finished off by Mikel Oyarzabal. The Euro 2024 winners then doubled their advantage shortly after the break, with Perez slotting beyond Kasper Schmeichel, before Gustav Isaksen pulled one back for the Danes late on, pouncing on Fabian Ruiz’ loose back pass to score a consolation.
The result means Spain win the Nations League group, while Denmark remain second with one match to play. Struggling to influence the game, Hojlund delivered an uninspiring performance, failing to find the back of the net for the 11th consecutive game for his country.
Hojlund Slammed for Performance v Spain
He looks desperate for a goal
Joining Manchester United in a £72 million deal from Atalanta last summer, Hojlund has experienced an inconsistent opening 15 months in English football. Scoring 16 goals in all competitions last season, he’s netted just twice in 12 appearances thus far this term.
Having produced a ‘worrying’ display against PAOK in the Europa League prior to the international break, it’s fair to suggest that the 21-year-old isn’t firing on all cylinders. With United supposedly eyeing a move for prolific Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres, the pressure is on Hojlund to start delivering in front of goal, and he appears to have let this pressure feed into his performances for his national team.
Deployed as a lone number nine last night for Denmark, Hojlund was ineffective, and didn’t look like scoring. Taking no shots throughout the game and creating no chances, like his outing against PAOK, this showing against Spain could be deemed worrying.
Writing in their player ratings, Danish publication Tips Bladet lamented Hojlund’s inability to find the back of the net for his nation, giving him a two:
“May Denmark meet Guam, the Seychelles or another small nation soon, so that Rasmus Højlund can score the goal he is so hungry for in the national team. More than a year – 11 games – has passed since the last Højlund meeting in red and white, and that must bother him. Against Spain, he was nowhere near. “
Meanwhile, Bold awarded the player with a three out of five, critisicing his involvement in the Spain opener:
“A first half to forget. Just straight in there. Tried a cheeky chest pass that instead became the start of the first Spanish score. It looked several times that he had been given his own notes on how to press in the first half. The second half was a different story, where he got to play up a bit, but the end product was just as lacking in the rest of 2024.”
B.T heaped the criticism on the under-fire striker, although the outlet expressed sympathy for him over his desire to score:
“It radiates from him how much he wants to succeed. And that’s why it hurts to see how rarely Højlund succeeds in the national team, where he hasn’t scored in over a year. He won his duels, but too often the next action or the first pass was imprecise. We miss him becoming REALLY dangerous.”
|
Hojlund’s Statistics vs Spain |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes Played |
79 |
|
Accurate Passes |
10/11 (91%) |
|
Shots |
0 |
|
Key Passes |
0 |
|
Tackles |
0 |
|
Dribbled Past |
2 |
|
Ground Duels Won |
1/4 (25%) |
All Statistics via FotMob – correct as of 16/11/2024
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