Manchester United

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In a troubled season for Manchester United, their lack of goals has been one of the biggest concerns.

United have scored 30 goals in their 26 Premier League games so far this season, with striker Rasmus Hojlund only netting twice.

The 22-year-old has faced criticism for his numbers in recent weeks, but manager Ruben Amorim blames a lack of service from the rest of the team rather than it being "a Rasmus thing".

"It's clear, as a team, we are not helping Rasmus," said Amorim. "We don't create a lot of chances.

"Rasmus has a lot of potential. If we improve the way we play the game, he will have more opportunities to score. He came here very young and, when you are very young, to be the number nine and play all the time sometimes is hard.

"We have to look as Rasmus as a player: he has the pace, he has the technique, he scores some goals that are really hard to score. Sometimes he doesn't choose the better runs, sometimes he's so anxious to touch the ball because there are long minutes without the ball and he moves away from the goal.

"We address that in training. He has the ability - he already showed that here - but I think it's more a team thing than a Rasmus thing."

Listen to Amorim's response on Hojlund's numbers on BBC Sounds

Alex Turk
Fan writer

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Manchester United are near the depths of the Premier League for a reason. The brutal reality is that they will remain there unless a new striker is leading the line next season.

And I'm not talking about another "long-term investment". United do not need another raw striker aged between 20 and 23 with just one season of goalscoring on their resume.

United are crying out for a seasoned frontman who is nearing or in the peak of their powers and will guarantee at least 15 league goals per season.

A top-five finish looks increasingly likely to be enough to qualify for next season's Champions League. Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth are among the clubs vying to compete against Europe's elite.

Meanwhile, the most striking fifth-place standing you can associate United with this term is on the rankings for the top flight's worst attacks.

Only Everton and relegation-destined Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton have lacked bite in the box more than Erik ten Hag, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ruben Amorim's attack.

And you do not have to boast industry-leading analytical prowess to understand why that is the case.

Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho are the only senior forwards at Amorim's disposal for the rest of the season.

Amad Diallo is ruled out with ankle ligament damage, while United could not replace winter loan exits Marcus Rashford and Antony amid severe financial constraints.

Hojlund has not scored a goal in his past 16 appearances. Garnacho's drought extends to 19 matches. He has not been assisting much either.

If you revisit Zirkzee's previous 19 outings, you will watch two strikes. It is hardly a Golden Boot-winning rate, is it?

Minimal service? Sure. But United's chance-conversion rate is another metric among the Premier League's most damning.

Ineos simply cannot afford to follow suit and misfire this summer.

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Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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In his chat with SEG Stories' YouTube channel, Erik ten Hag does not discuss the detail around his time at Manchester United, what he thinks about Sir Jim Ratcliffe or the rationale behind some of the players he signed for instance.

However, he does reflect on his two and a bit years at Old Trafford with fondness, particularly when it comes to the club's supporters.

"I enjoyed it very much," he said. "English football, the fans. I've said it before the fans are so committed to the club, so loyal to the club, so dedicated and so loyal to the team to our staff, to me as manager. I can only be grateful for that.

"We also gave them something. We gave them two prizes, after six years of drought.

"I was appreciated and I always felt that when I walked the streets of Manchester."

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We asked you to tell us an issue no-one is talking about at Manchester United.

Here are some of your replies:

Remi: Alejandro Garnacho hasn't scored in his past 19 games. I don't even think this is a huge issue on his part, he clearly plays well enough to stay in the squad, but if he can go on that kind of goal drought and stay... why couldn't Marcus Rashford?

Mike: How bad is Bruno Fernandes? How many times does he give the ball away seeking the killer pass from all over the pitch? Attempting that gets them into trouble more often than not!

Martyn: The fact Altay Bayindir is actually wearing the number one shirt but isn't actually our first-choice goalkeeper. Every time Bayindir has started a match he has been pretty solid. Andre Onana, on the other hand, makes everyone nervous! It is time Bayindir was given more game time and Onana dropped to the bench.

Pete: Kobbie Mainoo. His performances recently have been seriously under par, and the only time he has looked vaguely quality was as a number 10 in the Europa League. What has happened to the young defensive midfielder we saw at first? He looks slow and heavy - almost a different player.

Will: Ineos' first transfer window last summer was a success. Matthijs De Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Noussair Mazraoui and recently Joshua Zirkzee have been the best of a bad bunch this season. I don't think people realise that if every summer window brings in four or five solid players that work hard for the coach, we will win more and more. Ineos are not perfect but they do at least do transfer business better than the Glazers.

Manchester United drew at Ipswich in November, in Ruben Amorim's first game in charge.

Three months on, Ipswich will head to Old Trafford thinking they have a decent chance of beating them. No-one fears United at the moment.

You just do not know which United side is going to turn up and, in the first half against Everton on Saturday, they were absolutely woeful.

United do deserve some credit for the way they fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Goodison Park - but I am not convinced by them at all.

Ipswich ended up losing 4-1 to Tottenham at the weekend but they created a ridiculous amount of chances in that game, and they will get opportunities here too because Liam Delap is such a handful.

A win for the Tractor Boys would be huge, especially now the gap to fourth-bottom Wolves has grown to five points, but despite United's many problems I just have a feeling Amorim will get a win, somehow.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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The financial constraints around Manchester United are well known and are expected to lead them on a post-season trip to Malaysia and Hong Kong.

United are about to embark on another round of redundancies but head coach Ruben Amorim has accepted the first-team group bear responsibility for driving up revenues.

One way of doing that is playing overseas matches. United are set to return to the United States next summer as part of the Premier League's pre-season tournament, beginning in late July, after the Club World Cup has concluded.

However, while nothing is signed off yet, it is almost certain United will head to the Far East immediately after their Premier League campaign finishes for two games, against opposition yet to be agreed.

There is a window of a week between the last match against Aston Villa on 25 May and the Champions League final on 31 May, after which players have to be released for international duty.

Tottenham and Newcastle both attracted a lot of criticism last season for heading to Australia for a post-season match at a time when the demands placed on players by the congested calendar is a major debating point.

United have a massive fan base in Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines is the club's official commercial airline partner. However, they last played in the country in 2009, while they last went to Hong Kong in 2013.

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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim says the club's "recruitment is crucial" to restoring success to the club as more staff "pay the price" of recent years in redundancies.

On Monday, United announced they expect to make up to 200 more employees redundant as part of cost-saving measures to "return the club to profitability".

Amorim accepted words will do nothing to reassure fans or colleagues that better times are ahead, but said he is going to do all he can to help the situation.

"We need to show [it]," he said. "It's easy for me to be here and say all the pretty stuff - but we have to improve.

"The recruitment is crucial and we need to improve the team. We need to perform better, we need to be in Europe and not in our position during the season.

"They [employees] are paying the price for our lack of success and I cannot say anything now that is going to convince the fans and all the staff that we are going to do it.

"We have an idea. For me as a coach, we need to be a better team and to recruit better and not make a lot of mistakes in that department."

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Ipswich were the last side to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in the league in a game the hosts led at half-time - in May 1984. United are unbeaten in 388 such games since then.

Meanwhile, United are unbeaten in their past seven home league games against Town, and have won the past three by an aggregate score of 15-0.

(Give Me Sport), external

Serie A club Napoli are prepared to offer Rasmus Hojlund a move away from Old Trafford, if United are willing to take a financial hit on the striker, who cost £72m. (Talksport), external

There has been no firm interest in midfielder Casemiro, with the 33-year-old unwilling to budge on his salary demands. (Teamtalk), external

Meanwhile, clubs are looking to take advantage of Manchester United's financial crisis by offering instant cash to buy out sell-on clauses for players who have left. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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Manchester United continue to hit the headlines on and off the pitch as further financial cuts mean more job losses, as well as the closure of the staff canteen.

But you know the club best, so we want to know the one thing - good or bad - flying under the radar at Old Trafford right now.

Tell us here

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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I assume Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has a lot on his plate trying to get a winning team on the pitch just now.

But the weight of responsibility as the face of his football club means Amorim has to answer questions about any subject even loosely affecting Old Trafford.

Clearly, today, that includes up to 200 staff members losing their jobs, some of whom he will have daily interaction with.

Amorim can empathise. But he also understands his squad is ring-fenced from the cuts.

As he rightly pointed out, they are the engine of the club. Even reducing the standard of hotels United stay in is off limits because it could have a negative effect on performance.

That is a heavy burden.

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Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Premier League game against Ipswich Town at Old Trafford (kick-off 19:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• There are no new injury concerns but there are also no sidelined players who can recover in time.

• Amorim said the latest staff redundancies "have a lot to do with the lack of success of the football team" because it has resulted in a loss of earnings.

• He described it as "a difficult period inside the club and on the pitch" but, as "the engine" of the club, the responsibility lies with them - the team.

• On how hard it has been for him to manage: "It's always hard for everybody. They see their friends and team-mates losing their jobs but, again, I have to focus on what I can do to help the club in this moment. We as a club have to understand what we did wrong to get in this situation."

• He said "it's hard enough to win football matches" without the current external noise around the club and went on to call the last year "very hard" for everyone involved at Manchester United.

• On the pressure to win home games: "Every time you go to Old Trafford you feel the support until the end. I don't feel the pressure and we have to stop and think about the last game. It's a new game and it can be a new story."

Follow all of Tuesday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to more from Amorim on BBC Sounds

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BBC Radio Manchester's Gaz Drinkwater says Ruben Amorim has turned United from an "average football team" into "relegation candidates".

The Red Devils were 13th before the Portuguese's arrival as head coach in November, but have slipped to 15th after taking just 15 points from his 15 Premier League games in charge.

Only a late fightback and controversial VAR decision helped salvage a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday after another lacklustre display.

"That was one of the worst United performances I've ever seen," Drinkwater told The Devils' Advocate podcast.

"That was absolutely desolate in terms of any sort of quality. The players couldn't string three passes together. There were instances when they couldn't even trap or control a ball. They couldn't turn with the ball on the halfway line. The defending was utterly embarrassing and the goalkeeper didn't cover himself in glory either.

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"We've got a defence, at the moment, who can't defend. That first goal - what is going on? They're just not very good.

"You've got to point blame at the players when they're professional footballers who can't adapt to a new manager's system. However, the fact still stands that Ruben Amorim has come in and taken over what was an average football team and turned them into relegation candidates. We're lucky the three promoted teams are awful.

"We aren't finishing higher than 15th - so by that metric you're going into next season thinking anything can happen.

"Amorim is lucky this system isn't going to get us relegated because they can't play it. He needs to change something, it's a travesty."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Many football fans enjoy watching their rivals stagger as much as watching their own favourites stride on to victory. I have never really felt this but I am told it is "a thing". Now where is that winking emoji when you need it?

Take the pleasure many have had in watching Manchester United's ignominious slide over the years since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down. I stuck to my guns back then and felt like a lone voice shouting in the distance: "You are making a mistake sacking David Moyes - give him time!"

I still feel that is their worst error of many, whatever the prevailing feeling is. I am sure Moysie didn't feel any special warm glow inside as his Everton went 2-0 up against his old club at the weekend, he is much bigger than that... possibly.

Manchester City have their detractors too and you don't have to look far to find hordes of anti-Chelsea fans wallowing in their New Year implosion. Nine points from the past 30 is relegation form, not Champions League form.‌

My old team seem to get more stick than most, probably because they were the original 'new money' club. They were seen as brash and un-British under Roman Abramovich and then the new owners throw their wads around.‌

Spending well over a £1bn in no time at all, is something the true English football fan shies away from like a startled mustang. So, yes, I do understand why they are loving the Blues' current slide.

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Nigeria striker Ademola Lookman, 27, will leave Atalanta after falling out with manager Gian Piero Gasperini. (Sky Sports Switzerland - in French, external)

Newcastle are considering a summer move for Lookman and could face competition from Manchester United. (Teamtalk, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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A new episode of The Devils' Advocate podcast is available to download and listen to on BBC Sounds.

Gaz Drinkwater and Joe McGrath discuss Manchester United's 2-2 draw at Everton and debate whether there were "glimpses of positivity" at the football Ruben Amorim wants to play or whether it was simply a "desolate" performance.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds