Manchester United legend Paul Scholes reckons Rasmus Hojlund can be an ‘Alan Shearer-type’ striker, but may struggle to get on the end of crosses because the likes of Marcus Rashford and Antony don’t put any in.
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The 20-year-old is finding his way with the Red Devils after his big-money move from Atalanta over the summer, but is struggling for goals.
Three in three games in the Champions League is a good return, but the Dane is yet to score in six Premier League outings, five of which have been starts.
Scholes thinks the youngster needs time to develop and to work out where is best for him to score most goals, which the former United star reckons will be as a traditional centre-forward looking to get on the end of crosses.
However, this may not be that fruitful for Hojlund as his teammates in the Manchester United front three very rarely cross the ball.
‘It takes a lot to fill that shirt, but he’s a very young player. He’s not got a great goal-scoring record as of yet, but he’s getting into great positions,’ Scholes said on TNT Sports.
‘He needs to find out what kind of centre-forward he is: is he more of a Rudd Van Nistelrooy or an Alan Shearer-type player? For me, he’s more of a Shearer, where he’s going to want balls crossed into him.
‘The only problem with that is United don’t really have wide players that cross the ball – [Marcus] Rashford doesn’t, Antony tries to cut inside and shoot every single time, but [Sergio] Reguilon can cross a ball. Luke Shaw is to come back as well.
‘I think he can be an aggressive centre-forward that scores those Alan Shearer-type goals, not that he’ll… well, I hope he scores as many as he did!’
Hojlund started in the 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday, as did Marcus Rashford, who is also struggling to score regularly this season, with Harry Maguire the hero against the Danish side.
Ahead of the game Erik ten Hag reassured fans that he had no fears over his misfiring forwards, saying of Hojlund: ‘He is always in scoring positions. I am sure – the same with Marcus Rashford – that when we as a team do what we have to do, they will be in scoring positions. Then it’s about the finishing.’
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