Manchester United has had a dismal start to their Premier League season this year due to their stuttering offensive.
Erik ten Hag has players like Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes, and Antony, but they have only scored four goals in the league as a team, so it is understandable that they are having trouble finishing in sixth place.
Ten Hag may end up on the scrap heap if significant progress isn’t achieved by Christmas, and things won’t get much worse with games against Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Newcastle United on the schedule.
Attackers for Man United in 2023–2024
Participant
Aims
Supports
PL Showcases
Nicolai Hojlund
Zero
Zero
9.
Bradley Rashford
1.
1.
Eleven
Martial Anthony
Zero
Zero
10.
Antonio
Zero
Zero
9.
Rafael Garnacho
Zero
Zero
10.
Recoleta Pellistri
Zero
1.
5.
Joshua Sancho
Zero
Zero
3.
Data from Transfermarkt & the BBC
The management obviously needs more from his offensive players, particularly Hojlund, but Martial keeps performing poorly since he didn’t step up when he was given the opportunity.
The stats for Anthony Martial’s season
There was optimism that Ten Hag, a Frenchman, might improve on his nine goals in 29 games during his first season in charge. It was a respectable but unspectacular total.
The former AS Monaco star’s career hasn’t quite gone as planned, though, as he has only scored once, in an EFL Cup match against Crystal Palace, and his Premier League stats don’t really add up.
Manchester United vs. Martial
The 27-year-old’s numbers are obviously inadequate as he is ranked 20th in the league for successful dribbles per game (0.1) and 14th for shoots per game (0.4).
Maybe Ten Hag could put one of the academy’s future talents in charge in his place? Joe Hugill merits a chance since he is presently excelling in Premier League 2.
The youth statistics of Joe Hugill
Journalist Josh Bunting praised the 20-year-old for his clinical style in front of goal when he initially emerged, and he has scored an incredible 54 goals in 98 games thus far in his young career.
In 2020, Bunting described Hugill’s skill level as follows: “Such a clinical young player a real natural finisher with so much confidence.”
With seven goals in only 11 games this season, the Englishman has now surpassed every senior United player in scoring terms. This indicates that Ten Hag could want to give the striker a closer look.
Hugill was given three opportunities to impress during the EFL Trophy, in addition to appearing in the Premier League 2, when the United youth team faced more experienced opponents.
The youthful player was eager to increase his goal total over these three games as he scored once, created a good opportunity, and took one shot on average each contest.
It shows that there is a route to the first team since players like Alejandro Garnacho and Facundo Pellistri, who excelled in the lower age groups last season, are receiving plenty of opportunities under the Dutch coach.
For now, the forward’s primary goal is to maintain his composure and keep adding goals for the U21 team.
Should he succeed, the Dutchman may provide him a chance at some point during the season, and he might be a better choice than Martial.
