Lisandro Martinez spells out solution to Man Utd attacking problems amid Rasmus Hojlund criticism
Lisandro Martinez spells out solution to Man Utd attacking problems amid Rasmus Hojlund criticism
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Lisandro Martinez is demanding more from Manchester United’s struggling strikers. But Sunday’s doubly fortunate matchwinner against Fulham admits the rest of the team could do much more to ease the burden on Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. Martinez’s goal was heavily deflected and arrived after he appeared fortunate to avoid a red card for an unnatural and late tackle on Adama Traore.
And that was United‘s only shot on target at Craven Cottage with Hojlund struggling in just under an hour of action before Zirkzee failed to impose himself too. Hojlund, a £72m signing 18 months ago, had just one touch in Fulham’s penalty area in 58 minutes and completed six passes while losing all five of his aerial battles with compatriot Joachim Andersen.
Zirkzee, meanwhile, had five passes in 32 minutes but did not touch the ball once in the box. And for both it was the continuation of a trend rather than a bleak anomaly. Hojlund has failed to score in his last 11 appearances and has two league goals all season and Zirkzee, booed off by United fans when substituted against Newcastle last month, has one goal in 14 games.
And while there is an admission that United are still getting used to Ruben Amorim’s tactical plan, Martinez says more can be done to supply the centre-forwards with better quality passes. “We take the responsibility,” Martinez said. “I think we played many long balls to them and for them it’s really tough, they fight against two centre-backs and the centre-backs here in the Premier League are really difficult to win something.
