Manchester United grabbed a point late on in their Premier League game against Bournemouth on Sunday, thanks to an injury-time goal from Rasmus Hojlund.
The Dane has massively underperformed this season, netting a meagre three times in the English top-flight before Sunday. And that has naturally led to rumours of an impending exit in the summer.
He was largely anonymous against the Cherries as well, before his heroics in added time, and skipper Bruno Fernandes was asked about his teammate’s poor form in front of goal this season.
A lack of service has been a common issue throughout the campaign, something the attacking midfielder agreed with, painting Hojlund’s lack of goals as a team problem instead of an individual issue.
Not enough service “He just has to look at his game and see what he can get from our players,” Fernandes was quoted as saying by The Manchester Evening News. “We need to understand the characteristics of every player on the pitch.
“You need as a striker to read whoever is on the ball, what kind of movements you can do. If the player on the ball is capable of doing a pass in behind or a risky pass or whatever, we can’t make the same runs for every player that is on the ball.
“As a team, we need to improve a lot. We need to improve to play to the strengths of everyone and as a player, as wingers, as a ten, as a midfielder, we need to play for the strengths of our wingers, strikers or wherever.
“We need to find the best way for them to score goals. If we’re creating the chances we’re creating and still not scoring goals, we have to find a way to create more and more chances.”
The pressure heaped on the Denmark international has increased tenfold following Joshua Zirkzee’s injury with Chido Obi also ineligible for the Europa League.
How the 22-year-old performs in the remaining games will go a long way in determining the trajectory of the club’s season.
Fernandes provided the embattled star words of encouragement, claiming fellow attackers including him should help out with the goalscoring duty to ease the pressure on the former Atalanta ace.
“Playing for Man United, it’s always being under the spotlight and you have to be prepared for that. If you’re still not prepared, you need to prepare yourself for what’s coming and for every game ahead.
Attackers have underperformed “You can’t pay too much attention to the outside world because the number nine will have pressure anywhere because number nine is expected to score goals, so whether he’s not scoring for Man United or any other club, you will always get the spotlight.
“It’s been a difficult season for everyone. We can’t hide behind Rasmus not scoring as many goals as we wanted him to score. The team is not scoring as many goals as we should.
“We can’t put everything on Rasmus not scoring goals. He has to score more. He’s the number nine of the team. Josh has to score more. I have to score more. Garna has to score more. Mason, Amad.
“Whoever plays up front needs to score more goals and then as a team also we need to create more and score more goals because if we create the chances we’re creating and we’re not scoring enough, we need to try to find a way of creating more chances for the team to score.”
It will be a huge test for the 20-time English league champions to get a result against the Athletic Bilbao, especially away from home given their defensive solidity this season.
Hopefully, Fernandes and Hojlund can be at the top of their game to steer United to a place in the Europa League final.
Feature image Ryan Pierse via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
