Rasmus Højlund should be listening to some key advice from ex-Manchester United star Owen Hargreaves to help revive his career at Old Trafford.
Manchester United have faced significant challenges this season, with one of the main issues being a lack of attacking firepower.
Rasmus Højlund was tipped to make major progress following a promising debut year at Old Trafford, but the reality has fallen well short of expectations.
The Danish forward has managed just three Premier League goals this season and has found the net only once in his last 28 appearances for the club.
Ruben Amorim has continued to back Højlund, in part due to limited options up front. Joshua Zirkzee was the only senior competition for the 22-year-old but he is now injured for the rest of the season.
There are significant doubts over Højlund’s future at Old Trafford and he has to start showing some promise soon otherwise he may end up being moved on.
Hargreaves issues key advice for Højlund
Owen Hargreaves has been speaking about Højlund’s struggles at United during an appearance on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast this week.
The ex-United midfielder has advised the striker to strip his game back to what he knows he’s good at and to stop trying to be a hold-up centre forward.
In fact, Hargreaves believes that Højlund should be studying old tape of Robert Lewandowski from when he was at Borussia Dortmund.
“As much as needs better service, without question, at some point he also needs to score more and he’ll score more if he’s running onto things more,” explained Hargreaves.
“I think the moments where we see him struggle is back to play, so don’t put yourself in that spot all of the time. Spin, the guy is one of the quickest players in Europe by the way.
“Do you know who he should model himself on? When he was at Dortmund I thought he was the best at this, Lewandowski. He wouldn’t stand against the centre-back, he would stand off him and when it came into him – set, one time, and spin.
“The problem, he [Højlund] gets caught all the time trying to take too many touches and he’s trying to fight the defender. Mate, don’t worry about him just set it and spin. When he takes two and three touches, he gets caught because he keeps it under his feet. Just set it and spin.”
Højlund has to go back to basics
Every single time Højlund sets foot on the pitch, you know that he’ll get much more joy when drifting to wide areas and running into the channels than if he tries to battle these Premier League centre-backs.
The problem is that he’s doing it so much, and his technique during those moments is hugely frustrating.
Chido Obi is only 17 years of age but showcases better fundamentals when he’s receiving the ball with his back to goal. He doesn’t wrestle or try and take too many touches, he can use his body to protect the ball and lay it off with one touch.
But even without that hold-up play, Højlund can still be much more useful to the team if he listens to the advice of Hargreaves.
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Any player with shattered confidence should be trying to do what they are best at, but Højlund has seemingly been continuously trying to improve at what he’s not good at and so far there haven’t been many improvements.
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