Things haven’t quite gone to plan for Joshua Zirkzee since his summer transfer to Manchester United. The Reds splashed £36.5million on the Dutch forward after an impressive campaign with Serie A side Bologna helping them qualify for the Champions League.
Despite scoring on his United debut against Fulham, Zirkzee has struggled since then. In 11 Premier League appearances, the winner against the Cottagers remains his only goal, and has just one assist to his name.
The 23-year-old has never been prolific in front of goal and reports have since emerged after his transfer, former Reds boss Erik ten Hag was not overly keen on signing the Dutch international. However, with Ten Hag sacked by United’s hierarchy after a disappointing start to the season, Zirkzee has an opportunity to reignite his career.
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New boss Ruben Amorim has a decent track record of getting the best out of strikers, having transformed Viktor Gyokeres into one of Europe’s most feared goal scorers after his move from Coventry City. There remains plenty of debate around Zirkzee. What sort of striker is he? Does he need to play with a strike partner? Is he more of an attacking midfielder?
Ex-Bologna boss Thiago Motta got the best out of him by allowing him to roam around the pitch, dropping deeper to pick up the ball and link up play in his infamous 2-7-2 formation. Interestingly, that formation refers to players in three areas of the pitch.
Motta splits the pitch into three areas vertically, with two players on either flank and seven players in central areas of the pitch. Zirkzee would lead the line but often drop into midfield and allow runners to run in beyond him.
At United, we haven’t seen that link-up anywhere near the heights of last season, though it is still early days. Amorim has quite the job on his hands to transform the club’s fortunes, let alone Zirkzee’s.
However, Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman may have handed Amorim the perfect blueprint to get the best out of Zirkzee. The United forward was utilised as a number 10 in the Netherlands’ 1-1 draw with Bosnia in the Nations League clash on Tuesday night.
Zirkzee may have struggled on the night, but it’s another option for Amorim if he wants to tinker with his preferred 3-4-3 formation. That being said, Zirkzee was replaced by former United loanee Wout Weghorst, with the Dutch head coach refusing to comment on his performance.
The Reds striker had a golden opportunity to score a second for the Netherlands, who were 1-0 up with five minutes of the first-half remaining, but Zirkzee fluffed his lines.
“My thoughts on Zirkzee’s performance? I am not going to talk about individual player performances,” Koeman told reporters at his post-match press conference.
