Ruben Amorim rushes to defence of underfire Man Utd forward | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has defended his much-criticised striker Rasmus Hojlund, blaming the Dane's scoring drought on a lack of service from his teammates.

Hojlund has not scored a single goal in his last 16 appearances across all competitions for United. In a more concerning development, the Denmark international has failed to even register a shot in seven of those blank outings.

Amorim has been at pains to point out that this lack of clinical edge is a collective malaise. United have scored just 30 league goals this season - only four clubs have lower tallies. "I think it's clear," the Red Devils boss sighed this week, "we as a team aren't helping Rasmus. We don't create a lot of chances. We have a lack of threat and you can feel it in the games.

"Sometimes we are in the final third but you don't feel like we are a very dangerous team and you feel it also when we're defending low and sometimes the opponent is not afraid of transitions. So I have this feeling also as a coach that we are not helping the strikers.

"I think 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're young to be the No 9 and play all the time, sometimes it's hard. It's everything together. The context."

Rasmus Hojlund (left) has received the backing of his manager / Matt McNulty/GettyImages

Hojlund has scored just two top-flight goals this season. The 22-year-old mustered ten across his debut Premier League campaign after moving to Old Trafford for a sum which could rise to £72m. This underwhelming form has led to rumours that some members of United's coaching staff are "losing patience" in their No 9. Amorim does not share that view.

"We have to look at Rasmus as a player - he has pace and he has the technique, he scores some goals that are really hard to score," Amorim reasoned. "Sometimes he didn't choose the better run, sometimes he's so anxious to touch the ball because he goes a lot of minutes without the ball and he moves away from the goal where he's supposed to be, especially in the final third. We address that in training and sometimes it has to be the confidence of the player but especially the way we play.

"It's more of a team thing than a Rasmus thing. If we improve, Rasmus will improve, and I have that feeling."