I am where Rasmus Hojlund is now on different points in my career, where there is a slight hesitation in all aspects of his game.
Not scoring against Real Sociedad on Thursday means that they are 19 games without a goal now and I do feel sorry for him because I don't really see how he created service and opportunities for him. Diogo Dalot that does not cross for him is a case-in-point.
People can say that it has no influence on you, but it is. I remember that I was out of shape at Chelsea, I would tell myself that there is nothing wrong, but that hesitation is what you kill. This is not football at a lower level, you play against some of the best players in the world and if you are a bit out, you can't afford that.
Look when 17-year-old Chido Obi came to Fulham and everything was so natural for him and he was not thinking; He played as if he would normally be for the youth sides and with a freedom he shows with his own age group. For Hojlund he hesitates and looks uncertain there.
Looking back when, in terms of my way of thinking as an upcoming player, I was young, full of S ***, and I had so much confidence and everything was so free and I was fearless, even when I was raw.
But when my form ended like at Chelsea, my thing was practicing, practicing, practicing.
I remember that at Chelsea I spent a lot of time on the training pitch with extra one-on-one shooting exercises with Gianluca Vialli, which I really liked and was a great help for me.
We would practice volleying techniques, just hear that the ball neatly the back of the net, the left foot, the right foot, one touch, two-touch finishes, things like that heard. That was my thing that I did regularly.
For me it was a number game, just hear the ball go repeatedly to get me going again. One of the best goals I have ever scored was a volley against Juventus in the Champions League, all of whom was to Vialli and his time to help control that technique.
Hojlund undoubtedly tries different ways to try to get that freedom and trust back. It seems like a good fair type that finishes his tail in training.
But he is in a team that has difficulty creating opportunities and if you don't know how those opportunities will get, it's a number of things in the mix. He hesitates, he is little trust, he is not sure when someone will pass him, so that the concept is not there.
There will also be an element that he is aware that OBI is now on site and that people want him to play and do well.
For him, and it was similar to me at Chelsea who went for big money, there is a weight with it and a millstone around my neck sometimes.
It feels like he's in the same boat at the moment with his £ 72 million tag. Manchester United is a huge club and if you think of the big strikers they have had over the years and he was brought in to pursue them. It was a huge question.
Unfortunately he was introduced as a development player and I am afraid that you will go for an astronomical money and that people will just forget.
He must develop in the most uncomfortable circumstances and it is there for everyone to see now.
His numbers before he comes to the club. They did not sign anyone who had ever been productive at Atalanta and the expectation at Manchester United is always around 20 goals per season. That's a problem.
Hojlund looked clearer against Real Sociedad without getting the service to test the goalkeeper. At the moment it is about getting his instincts back.
I always remember Martin O'Neill at Celtic who repeatedly told players that if they have a bad touch, the ball always shows. I feel that it is part of what has happened to Hojlund now. He is hesitant and it kills you.
When you start missing a few chances and then don't even get opportunities, there is that doubt to make a certain movement or even to hesitate to make the run that you would have earlier.
There have been many occasions in which Hojlund will make a run and the ball will not come and then he is at a point where he probably still wants to make that, but he is reluctant to do it because teammates do not feed him.
My advice to him would be at the moment to stay with social media. That is absolute madness that it now uses. As a player I could not think of anything worse because he gets criticism from all directions.
He will undoubtedly tell people that it is good and that he is confident, but how can it be good and confident?
I was sometimes in Chelsea as a Pinocchio. People would ask me when I had a goal drought and I would always say, “I'm fine, I feel confident”, but I lied. You are human anyway. He is a young player with that price tag and some people are better in bluff than others. It's difficult.
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