Former Manchester United player John Sivebaek has criticised Rasmus Hojlund and the team for their recent performances.
Hojlund has scored seven goals this season but he has not found the back of the net since a brace against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League in mid-December.
That means he has now gone 10 games without a goal and as a result, he has lost his starting place to Joshua Zirkzee.
It is not as if the Dutchman has set the world alight when he plays but he does offer the team more in link up play than Hojlund at this moment in time and made a difference when he came off the bench against Southampton.
The former Atalanta striker has had to make do with a couple of substitute appearances since and has typically had little to no involvement in the game, failing to have a shot in either match against Brighton and Hove Albion or Rangers.
Sivebaek lambasted Hojlund’s current role at United in Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
Hojlund “should never have started [against Southampton] and apart from one good move where he set up Garnacho, he was completely hopeless again. A boy among men,” the former United man said.
He also stated that it is a complex situation for Hojlund and that there is perhaps too much pressure placed on his shoulders.
“He’s struggling. But it’s also very difficult for such a young guy. There are high expectations for him to be the new Haaland, and that’s a lot of expectations at such a young age.”
The Euro 1992 winner did compliment the striker’s effort levels however in spite of the poor performance. He rationalised his form as being due to the struggles of his former side.
“He’s playing in a team that doesn’t work, and you can’t blame him for underperforming. However, I think he works really hard for it,” Sivebæk said.
The former defender also commented that it was “painful” watching the team at the moment and that they are certainly in a “big crisis”.
Feature image Stu Forster via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
