Man Utd’s failure to sign a quality forward continues to cost them | OneFootball

Manchester United invested heavily in their squad this summer but the failure to add a high quality forward is continuing to hold them back from progressing.

United have scored the joint second fewest goals in the opening seven games of the this Premier League season with five. The same amount as Crystal Palace, more than only Southampton, and less than newly promoted Ipswich and Leicester.

Their goalscoring struggles are not a new problem. They scored only the ninth most in the league last season with 57 in 38 games, just five more than relegated Luton Town.

Missing chances was not the only factor behind United’s goalscoring problems last season, but actually creating them too. According to the Premier League’s own stats, they created just the 13th highest number of big chances across the 2023/24 campaign with 60.

The early stages of this season has seen Erik ten Hag’s side improve in creating chances, prior to Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Aston Villa where they struggled to carve out opportunities. But their goalscoring problems remain.

United’s summer recruitment focused largely on improving the midfield and the defence, with Joshua Zirkzee the only attacking player to arrive at the club. Last summer they invested heavily in a new striker, Rasmus Hojlund, splashing out £72m on the Danish youngster.

But United bought Hojlund, 21, well aware that he was not the finished article and that it might take time for him to get to the level they required to make a signifcant difference. His main problem since arriving in Manchester however has been injuries, with the striker consistently missing chunks of games with various problems.

Zirkzee was a similar signing, a young player who was unlikely to come in and improve the goalscoring numbers right away. He scored 11 in 34 league games for Bologna last season and has so far has looked very raw since his £36.5m move to United.

ten Hag issued a defiant response after the goalless draw with Villa when questioned about his team’s lack of goals, insisting it will improve. “Sometimes it’s the form, Rasmus Hojlund has just come into the season and is not up too 100% match fitness,” he said.

“He is our goalscorer, I would say our best goalscorer, but also others we know can score goals like Rashford. He scored in Porto and had a good assist in Porto. Today he created two very good chances.

“I think Garnacho all season is a threat but also scoring and assisting. Bruno also has the ability to score goals so we will get there. We trust the players and one day it will click.”

That might well be the case but in the here and now, United simply do not have enough players who can reliably score goals. Marcus Rashford has dropped off considerably since ten Hag’s first season in charge, when he scored 30 goals in all competitions. Alejandro Garnacho is an exciting young talent but is not yet someone who can deliver the goals that Liverpool, Manchester City or Arsenal’s front players do, for example, and Bruno Fernandes’ big dips in form are a concern.

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It begs the question why United did not go all out for a top forward this summer when it was quite clear what the biggest issue for ten Hag was. Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney both moved clubs in the summer and are two players who surely would have improved the attack.

United are instead counting on a young attack to improve enough over time and stay fit when the evidence so far has suggested they cannot. There is no guarantee that either will happen, or how long it will take, and with the pressure mounting on ten Hag, the club’s decision not to strengthen enough in attack is coming back to bite them.

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