Bruno Fernandes believes Rasmus Hojlund must learn to deal with the pressure of being Manchester United’s No.9 – but needs his teammates to weigh in with more goals too.
Hojlund’s ninth goal of the season saw United snatch a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth on Sunday as he scored for only the second time in more than 31 hours of football.
The young Dane has struggled in front of goal after scoring 16 times in his first season following a £72million move from Atalanta.
United captain Fernandes claims it would be unfair to place too much blame on Hojlund’s shoulders, but admits the 22-year-old should expect to be in the spotlight playing in such a key position at a club like United.
‘It’s been a difficult season for everyone,’ said Fernandes. ‘We can’t hide behind Rasmus not scoring as many goals as we wanted him to score. The team is not scoring as many goals as we should. We can’t put everything on Rasmus not scoring goals.
‘Obviously he has to score more. He’s the No.9 of the team. Josh (Zirkzee) has to score more. I have to score more. Garna (Alejandro Garnacho) has to score more. Mason (Mount) and Amad (Diallo). Whoever plays up front needs to score more goals.
Bruno Fernandes believes Rasmus Hojlund must learn to deal with the pressure of being Manchester United ’s No.9
Hojlund prodded the ball towards goal and wrong-footed Kepa Arrizabalaga late on in the contest
The young, who has been struggling for goals this term, let out a roar after finally netting
‘Playing for Man United, it’s always being under the spotlight and you have to be prepared for that and if you’re still not prepared, you need to prepare yourself for what’s coming and for every game that comes ahead.
‘You can’t pay too much attention to the outside world because the No.9 will have pressure anywhere because the No.9 is expected to score goals.
‘So whether he (Hojlund) is not scoring for Man United or any other club, you will always get the spotlight because everyone expects the strikers to score goals. But as I said, as a team we need to improve that, we need to score more goals and that’s all.
‘He just has to look at his game and see what he can get from our players. We need to understand the characteristics of every player on the pitch.
‘Obviously you need as a striker to read whether he’s on the ball, what kind of movements you can do. If the player on the ball is capable of doing a passing behind or a risky pass or whatever, we can’t make the same runs for every player that is on the ball.’
United face a huge Europa League semi-final on Thursday as they meet Athletic Bilbao in the first leg in Spain looking to win the competition and qualify for next season’s Champions League.
However, Fernandes admits that even that would not ‘save’ a difficult season that could end with United finishing one place above the relegation zone in the Premier League.
‘I wouldn’t say a reward,’ he added. ‘I think it will be successful in the Europa League because we started in the Europa League and we want to go until the end of the competition.
‘Obviously for us it’s very important to do that, to get the silverware this season. It won’t save anything but we’ll be a huge success in Europa League, that’s all.
‘The expectation at United is always high so it doesn’t matter if it is a semi -final or whatever. We’re going to play Brentford after the first leg against Athletic and the expectation will be there still. You just have to be prepared for that.’