Erik ten Hag defends Rasmus Hojlund with the £72m striker still awaiting his first Premier League goal for Man United… with the Reds heading to West Ham having gone three games without scoring
- The Danish forward scored five times in the Champions League before United left
- But he is still waiting for his first Premier League goal after arriving for £72million
- Liverpool will regret not putting Arsenal away at home after failing to beat Man United – Listen to It all starts
Erik ten Hag is backing Rasmus Hojlund to get good at Manchester United despite the £72m club yet to score in the Premier League.
Hojlund has scored five times in the Champions League but is still waiting to break his domestic duck after missing United's best chance in last weekend's goalless draw with Liverpool.
The Ten Hag team will visit West Ham on Saturday for the first time since April 2015 after a series of three games in a row without a goal.
Ten Hag urgently needs more goals from his attackers, but refuses to shift the blame to twenty-year-old Hojlund.
“Of course we are open and he is open, his mentality is great,” said the United boss.
Rasmus Hojlund still waiting for his first Premier League goal after his £72m summer transfer
The Dane missed United's clearest chance in last Sunday's goalless draw against Liverpool
United manager Erik ten Hag offered his support to Hojlund as his goal drought continues
'He performs very well under stress. It's also about Rashford, Garnacho, Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay. There are many, and don't forget our full-backs, who have a big role to play in that.
'We are working on that as a group and with a full complement and better balance we should create more opportunities.
'We can certainly improve. It's not about one player, it's a group of all of us. My philosophy is that we should attack with 11. We need to get better movement and better decision-making on the ball.
'Sometimes we have to be more clinical. The best chance at Liverpool was ours, it was a great effort.'
Ten Hag provided an injury update ahead of Saturday's trip to West Ham – where Diogo Dalot will be suspended – and revealed that Victor Lindelof has undergone surgery that will rule him out for two weeks.
The Dutchman added: 'We have some doubts, some illnesses, we will have to see who is available. Hopefully some will recover.
'Casemiro and Martinez, they won't be available for Christmas. We expect them back in January. Mount is similar, until January. Harry Maguire, I expect him early.
'Victor is not available. He had surgery and will be out for a few weeks. He had a problem and needed surgery.
Defender Victor Lindelof had to undergo surgery for his injury and will be sidelined for several weeks
“We've had such a busy schedule and we've given the boys a few days off because we have a busy week ahead of us.
'They needed rest, both physically and mentally, to get away from football. We expect them to be fresh for a whole week. Liverpool's result will give the team confidence and we need to take the next steps.”
