Louis Saha hopes for increased performance from Rasmus Hojlund, having observed the Manchester United player confronting Alejandro Garnacho in last week’s victory against Newport County.
Despite the 20-year-old Danish international’s £72million transfer from Atalanta in the summer, he has faced challenges in meeting expectations and endured a goal drought in the Premier League for several months.
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Hojlund’s challenging initiation at Old Trafford partly stems from inadequate support, as both Garnacho and Antony have faced recent criticism for not effectively delivering the ball to the striker in the box.
Hojlund even confronted Garnacho during the 4-2 win over Newport last weekend.
Louis Saha, having spent four years at United in his playing career, sees this confrontation as “a positive sign,” but he remains eager to witness further progress from the young player.
He told Betfred: “I think you can see his desire and realise how he can be an asset. Rasmus is a big lad and he’s got the right mentality and the right approach.
“He’s still young and you can see that he’s confident enough to demand the ball from his teammates. Against Newport County, I saw one situation where he actually shouted at Alejandro Garnacho for failing to provide him with a cutback and that was a good sign.
“His application and mentality is impressive, but he needs to improve his movement and sometimes he’s fighting too much with the defenders, so he’s making it harder for himself.
“I think he needs an experienced forward in the squad alongside him that can show him why he shouldn’t be fighting with defenders all the time.
“He needs to get away from defenders and I think he’s losing energy by choosing to battle with them physically instead.
“He needs to reserve his energy for when he’s in the box. I think that his runs tire him out and that makes him less efficient in the box, where it really matters. He’s so eager to prove how hardworking he is, that he’s almost making things harder for himself by the energy he wastes in the wrong areas of the pitch.”
