06 Dec 2024 22:33:45
Surprised to see a few posts writing off Zirkzee. I really think there’s a player in there. He’s perfect for the false 9 and allows us to switch up our attack from two number 10s to two wide players. I hope he kicks on.
07 Dec 2024 05:31:55
It's the modern game amz. Players get no time to settle. It's like we haven't seen players start slow and get very good slowly before. Salah, de brune, vvd, vidic, evra, plenty of players have questionable first few months, even seasons and then start to show their quality. Especially players adjusting to the epl. Same with managers, people already calling for top 4! Wild expectations and short term thinking.
07 Dec 2024 09:52:38
Theres definitely a player in there, and I was a fan of signing him in the summer.
However, I do have two concerns with him currently. The first is one that I have with every single player we sign from outside the EPL and that is can they adapt the style of football here. The pace of the game and the quality of the opposition means you don't get time on the ball like you do in other leagues. You need to know what you are going to do with the ball BEFORE you receive it or you're chalked.
Zirkzee has shown flashes of great skill and link up play, and at other times has looked slow, lethargic and off the pace. He might just need a little time to settle, or maybe this is him in this league. The only way to find out is to give him more time.
The second concern is that I'm not sure he's a great fit for our new manager. Under EtH Zirkzee made a lot of sense. EtH has throughout his career switched between playing a traditional No.9 and a false 9. With Zirkzee being more of a false 9 and Højlund being more of a traditional 9 having the two of them made sense.
Especially when playing with more of a 4231/ 433 shape where the wide players in attack are more like inside forwards who want to cut in and shoot. That can work well with a false 9. Think of Liverpool a few years back with Firmino as the false 9 pulling out CB's and linking play for Salah and Mane to run on to.
Yet under Amorim there is less certainty about how Zirkzee could be used. Amorim hasn't really ever used a false 9. He prefers to have a traditional CF who'll stay high, and run the channels to stretch play. With the other players in attack set up to create for the striker.
In that system a false 9 isn't ideal as they drop deep off the line leaving no one to stretch the play and allowing the opposition to step up.
I actually don't see Amorim playing Zirkzee as a CF much at all. I expect it'll be either Højlund or Rashford who plays as the central striker.
Which means Zirkzee will be fighting for a starting spot as one of the inside forwards/ attacking midfielders. It's a role he can play, but will certainly require a bit of adjusting to it. Which isn't ideal when he's trying to also adjust to a new league.
Only time will tell if he can overcome these challenges and become a success with us. I hope he does and will continue to support him in doing so. Yet the fact remains that as yet he hasn't fully convinced and that will always leave room for debate over his suitability and whether he should be playing or replaced.
07 Dec 2024 09:54:46
I mean I can’t see him being loaned or sold as soon as January.
He’s a tidy finisher and his link-up play is very good - he he’s played parts in quite a few goals with some good vision and lay offs.
I do confess to being massively underwhelmed overall at a time when we were crying out for someone who could become our main man pretty quickly, simply as we don’t score enough as a team or individually. Hopefullythe work we’re doing in training will rectify the goal issue but I don’t see a Zirkzee poster appearing on my wall just yet.
07 Dec 2024 14:21:30
I agree with everything that everyone has said above. He has some good touches and decent vision but his first step seems slow, which results in him being just being a little short of where he needs to be. Were it different he would have at least 2 or 3 more goals this season. It is, as has been pointed out, only his first season in the EPL, and it's hardly been the easiest of times given United's struggles and now change in direction. The jury's out for me, but I am concerned that he may never be able to develop the level of quickness necessary to make the big time.