Even when a half-inch of space opened up, Kyle Walker was there in a flash to whip the ball off him. It is asking a lot of Hojlund to lead the line for United at such a tender age. It would be better for him – and United – if he were able to learn the ropes off a senior pro up front.
In the absence of such a figure – unless you include Anthony Martial which would be unwise – he is left to try to work it out for himself. Hojlund will have learned a lot from yesterday’s experience – one of the main things being that he has signed for a horribly inferior team.
The gulf, as City chose derby day to move into a higher gear and expose United’s many, many inadequacies, was awkward verging on embarrassing at times. It was blue murder. Ten Hag’s side are not the first to have been played like marionettes by Pep Guardiola’s men but this sort of thing is not meant to happen at Old Trafford.
