I don't know what's everyone's issue with him. People act as if we signed prime R9!
When Zirkzee signed for United, everyone was excited because not only was he a 'new toy' but also given his abilities and style of play, he would bring something different to the team.
Zirkzee is no traditional striker as his game is more focused on creating rather than scoring. He's basically a false 9. That gives United a bit more dynamism and unpredictability in their style of play.
The Dutchman likes to drop deep, dribble with the ball, drift across the front line, link up the play and has decent hold up play as well. These all suggest a forward that is more creative than an out-and-out goal machine.
His debut goal against Fulham which gave United the 1-0 win to start off this campaign, was a proper poacher's and striker's finish. This led us to believe that we do have a player on our hands and perhaps he is more than just a false 9.
As is with today's society though, when someone does something good once, they are the best thing since sliced bread. As soon as a person falters in whatever way, they're useless and have no idea what they're doing.
That seems to be the case with Zirkzee.
When he scored in match one, the thought was that we had made the right choice in bringing in the former Bologna player. Everyone was quick to jump on the Zirkzee bandwagon.
His following few matches didn't see him score but his overall game was something to smile about as Zirkzee showcased all his strengths which actually made us play some pretty good football.
That link up and hold up play was what many believed allowed others like Rashford, Amad and Garnacho to flourish as Zirkzee dropping deep and pulling away a defender created space for the wide forwards to move into.
His biggest flaw though, is his ability in the box. Zirkzee is not exactly clinical as he has missed a fair few big chances this season, chances that could've changed the complexion of some of our games.
Misses at Southampton, against Liverpool, in the 0-0 draw at Palace were all opportunities that a top striker would've taken. To rub salt into the wounds, he inadvertently got in the way of a Garnacho strike at Brighton that would've seen us take the lead and perhaps got us something out of a game that ended in defeat.
He hasn't been playing like he was in the early days as now he isn't displaying some of those attributes from the start of the season that got us all excited about the new kid in town.
Zirkzee looks a lot slower than before, his touches aren't good enough, he can't control the ball, that hold up play isn't there and he seems to be a yard off the pace. These football basics have gone out the window.
Not putting the ball in the back of the net has added to everyone's frustrations as many who believed in him at the start are beginning to become doubters.
News from Calciomercato has come out saying that Zirkzee could return to Italy but this time to Juventus rather than Bologna, in what could be a loan deal. This would see him reunite with his former Bologna manager Thiago Motta. Calciomercato are also saying that United are looking to bring in Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig causing them to potentially move Zirkzee on.
This sort of news doesn't bode well for our Dutch forward even it may not turn out to be true. This is how some of that negativity towards him begins as well as people feeling that we made a mistake with signing him in the first place.
Admittedly, even as someone who rates Zirkzee, he has been poor in recent weeks. As I said, some of his football basics seemed to have disappeared which is obviously unacceptable.
But I don't think it's a quality issue with Zirkzee. I feel it's more a confidence and self-belief problem.
He's obviously got some quality otherwise we wouldn't have spent £36m on him. Those early performances also displayed some of that quality. So how is it that he can go from those performances to what he's showing now?
This is where he needs to display some character and mental strength or else there would be even more questions about what he's doing at our club. We already have too many weak mentality players as well.
Maybe he's having struggles with adapting to life in Manchester? Playing in the PL is always difficult for most new signings, maybe that is a problem for him too? Perhaps all those missed chances are playing with his head?
Whatever the case is, he seriously needs to improve as we cannot be having a striker who cannot perform. A reason for him coming to the club was to give us another option up front as we don't want to be using Hojlund all the time.
Speaking of the Dane, perhaps his return also made Zirkzee a little worried at losing his place? The Dutchman was striker while Hojlund was injured but because he perhaps knew that he didn't make the most of those chances whilst Hojlund was absent, he would soon be replaced.
If that is the case, then Zirkzee does really need to strengthen his mind because healthy competition is good. No point having another Martial situation IYKWIM.
But people need to remember that he's just 23-years-old, he is new and the season is only 11 games in. Patience is required because not many hit the ground running from the off. Hojlund himself took 14 league games to get his first goal. Zirkzee took one.
A lot of people do have that patience with Rasmus and were/are willing to give him the time he needs to develop as we can see his qualities. The same should be done for Zirkzee in my opinion.
Maybe playing the pair together could work for all? Several would like to see that happen.
Background Image: Joshua Zirkzee | Creator: Michael Regan | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Man Utd News