‘You have to score’ - Erling Haaland gives verdict on Rasmus Hojlund’s start at Man Utd

Erling Haaland has praised Rasmus Hojlund’s impact at Manchester United following a difficult start to life at Old Trafford.

The Danish striker failed to net in any of his opening 14 Premier League matches until a Boxing Day winner against Aston Villa reinvigorated the player, who has now netted eight in his last eight matches.

“I think his start was a bit hard, but then they became much better and when we played them he was good,” opined Haaland, when asked for his view on the United forward.

"He is a good player and he is young, like me, I am not the youngest anymore but I am still young. He has to keep on developing. As a striker for Manchester United you have to score goals as well. That's his job"

Hojlund has drawn obvious comparisons with Haaland given their similar names, career paths and the fact both are blonde, Scandinavian strikers. But the Manchester City star revealed ahead of the Champions League tie against Copenhagen that he has not been in contact with the Danish international.

While Hojlund has been ruthless in front of goal in the last few months, Haaland, hasn’t been as efficient recently as he was during his maiden campaign in England, when he broke the Premier League scoring record. The Norwegian missed a sitter from a few yards out against United at the weekend and recently failed to score from 10 shots in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea.  

“Last year I was top scorer and I got 36 goals, this season’s top scorer has 18 so far, so you can think about it in two ways if it’s been a good season for me,” said the City star in Tuesday press conference. “I think we’re doing pretty good as a team - that’s my main focus on course.

“Yeah, I have been missing. I miss a lot of chances and I will still keep on missing chances and I will keep scoring goals. I will probably miss a big chance in the future as well and people will criticise me. What should I do then? Should I think about it? No.”

At the weekend, Pep Guardiola praised Haaland's ability to quickly forget about missed chances and the ex-Borussia Dortmund man was asked how this skill has developed.

"It's been a challenge for me. I remember when I was young, I could start crying if we lost and I missed a lot of chances. I have been working on it a lot," he replied.

"I demand a lot from myself and my team-mates demand a lot from me, and the manager and all the fans. In the end, everything is in here [points to head]. It's the easy answer that is also so difficult.

"It's a mental thing," he added. "I don't have any exercise but I think it's something I have been working naturally on. It's like everything in life, if you overthink something it's not good. If you have stress in your life it is not good. My life is mainly about Liverpool so that's my focus.

"I have one career and I do my best to try and have the best career possible. My focus is to become the best version of myself and the main part is the mental part."