Michael Owen feels sorry for Man Utd star in 'hardest position in Premier League'

Rasmus Hojlund has one of the hardest roles in the Premier League because Manchester United are so dysfunctional, according to Michael Owen.

United slipped to their third defeat in seven days on Boxing Day as Wolves picked up a 2-0 win at Molineux. Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a second yellow card in the 47th minute after catching Nelson Semedo with a clumsy challenge.

Andre Onana compounded the dismissal by allowing Matheus Cunha’s corner to drift into the far corner before Hwang Hee-chan made the points safe for Wolves with a simple finish on the counter-attack. It was a nightmare evening for Amorim, who pointed the finger at his captain for his lack of discipline.

Despite having four shots on target altogether, United failed to test Jose Sa, with just 0.35xG mustered by their attack. Hojlund was chosen to lead the line ahead of Joshua Zirkzee, who played in the 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth, but the change of striker didn’t make any difference.

“They’re absolutely awful going forward, I can’t think of a chance that they had there today [against Wolves],” Owen said on Premier League Productions. “Hojlund… I feel so sorry for the lad. That first half, six passes he received, four of them from defenders so in other words four of them are probably hopeful, long passes and two passes in the first half from a player who you would want to receive a pass off. And he’s supposed to do something with that.

“I can’t judge him as a player, I don’t know if he’s good or bad, and that’s the most damning thing you could say because after watching him for a year, I just feel as if he’s playing in possibly the hardest position in the Premier League to play in at the moment – centre-forward for Manchester United – I never thought I’d be saying that.

“Centre-forward for Manchester United used to be the dream for every centre-forward in the world, scoring dozens and dozens of goals, and now it’s a poised chalice. And I never thought I’d be saying that.”

Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Amorim has endured a largely miserable start to his time at United, who are stuck in 14th place in the Premier League, closer to the relegation zone than the top four. “They’re not so bad at the back but I mean they play to defend, they don’t commit everybody forward,” Owen added.

“I’m looking at the Manchester United team half the time there [against Wolves] and they’ve got three players marking one at the back, you’d never see a Liverpool team doing that, they’d all go man for man and if they’ve got spare men they’d push them into attacking areas.

“That’s probably what he (Amorim) is working towards but at the moment, even if they weren’t conceding many goals I wouldn’t be getting carried away because the team isn’t functioning.”

Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp communityand receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to read article