When Ten Hag decided to spend £73 million to sign his agent's centre-forward Hojlund as United's main striker, many Red Devils players were rumoured to be unconvinced. This was evident in the games that followed, with even Ten Hag's favourites such as Antony and Garnacho being reluctant to pass the ball to the 20-year-old Danish international. Statistics show that Hojlund is the team's top scorer with eight goals this season, but only three goals have come from assists from team-mates.
Hojlund's last three goals have not been scored by team-mates. The goal against Newport came in stoppage time, against Tottenham it was when Marcus Rashford broke through and the ball fell to his feet, and against Aston Villa it was an own goal from a corner......
Hojlund has scored just one goal in the Premier League so far, which is no surprise given his lack of top-flight experience and the lack of adequate ammunition for Manchester United. Some fans joked that he could only live on the "leftovers" of his teammates, which is not an exaggeration.
In Manchester United's FA Cup clash with League Two underdogs Newport, left and right wingers Garnacho and Antony accounted for 11 of the team's 22 shots, while Hojlund had only one, and it was his own effort to get back in the 96th minute, which he converted into goals.
Against underdogs, Hojlund made a number of brilliant runs and selflessly created chances for his team-mates, almost setting up Bruno Fernandes' goal. However, his team-mates did not reciprocate him, they only thought about scoring their own goals, and in the end, Hojlund was also furious, waving his arm and scolding Garnacho for not passing.
It wasn't the first time Garnacho hadn't passed the ball to Hojlund, as on one occasion in the first half, the 19-year-old 'New Ronaldo' picked up his foot from a tight angle on the left and hit the crossbar, and if he played the ball down the middle, two of his team-mates faced the empty net, including Hojlund. The Dane was also very sorry, although he did not curse at the time, but his actions said it all.
Premier League legend Alan Shearer also regretted Hojlund, believing he struggled to get the ball throughout the game and was left alone in the front pitch. Therefore, Shearer praised the Danish youngster for not giving up in the end and winning the goal with hard work.
"I think he's worked really hard up front, and he's done a really good job at the fulcrum. So I think he deserved it. Shearer explained, "He didn't give up hope and stuck to his tactical duty. So as I said, I think he deserves to score because of everything he does, his effort and everything. He didn't stop all afternoon and playing as a centre-forward in this United team can be frustrating at times because I'm not quite sure when the ball will come through. But you have to keep going, he did it, he scored goals and he deserved it. 」
Fans have no idea whether Hojlund's repeated isolation at Manchester United was due to Ten Hag's problematic tactical set-up, inadequate training drills, poor execution by his players or other reasons, but either way, it is not good news.
The young "freighter" has the defect that his grasp ability is not the strongest, and if he also encounters the problem of teammates not cooperating, Manchester United's forward scoring will naturally have big problems.
The only thing that is certain is that this is not an uncommon phenomenon at Manchester United, after all, the Red Devils' young wide players, such as Mason Greenwood, are the selfish masters of Cristiano Ronaldo who don't even give face and don't pass the ball, and Hojlund will certainly not be able to get their supply from them.