How anyone can look at this squad and think it needs “backups” is just bewildering. We don’t have a single player that starts for City, Liverpool or Arsenal outside of maybe Bruno - our attacking options are the worst in the top 8 - and we lack genuine quality in nearly every position. The last thing we needed was a backup - we already have a squad of players who should be backups - what we needed was a genuine top class goalscorer not a backup to Hojlund who himself has absolutely zero business being a guaranteed starter for Manchester United at this point in his career.
11
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 49
- Goals
- 7
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 3
Well ETH wanted to keep McTominay, it was a management decision due to FFP restrictions to sell him to make room on the books for presumably Zirkzee and Ugarte. Are they an upgrade on McT, well not yet, although Zirkzee has shown glimpses of good link up and build up play superior to what I feel McTominay is capable of. Not consistently as he is missing a proper partner. McTominay is a better finisher though and was a bigger goal scoring threat (and danger around the box) than Zirkzee so far, that is true. As well as more energetic, that's been a consistently big negative of Zirkzees game.
Ten Hag is crap at using False 9's - he did it at Ajax only when he had to.
I think he used tadic as a false 9 then started using Dolberg & Huntelaar.
Also, maybe I wrong here -
If your False 9 is spearheading the press then he isn't really a False 9 is he? Doesn't that mean he is playing a strikers role? I dont see Kane pressing for example. I guess Firminho did but so was the rest of the whole team Gegenpressing rather than him pressing the furthest forward almost by himself.
Anyway, the thing I hate the most is how both he and Bruno press forward leaving us in a 424 & it gets the best of absolutely no one.
I think he used tadic as a false 9 then started using Dolberg & Huntelaar.
Also, maybe I wrong here -
If your False 9 is spearheading the press then he isn't really a False 9 is he? Doesn't that mean he is playing a strikers role? I dont see Kane pressing for example. I guess Firminho did but so was the rest of the whole team Gegenpressing rather than him pressing the furthest forward almost by himself.
Anyway, the thing I hate the most is how both he and Bruno press forward leaving us in a 424 & it gets the best of absolutely no one.
Who were we going to get as a starter this past window? We were somewhat interested in Sesko but then he renewed his contract and also is still developing. The club paid a lot of money for Hojlund and need to invest in his development. Whether he will fulfil what we expect of him is up for debate but we can't just throw him away given his age and stage of development. Again I ask, who could we have got this window that would've come in as a bonafide starter that wouldn't have cost an arm and a leg?
Ivan Toney
He wanted over 200k in wages. No one was gonna pay him that considering the transfer fee plus his age. Why do you think the other top 6 clubs that were linked to him, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal didn't go after him.
Why do fans always put the burden on other fans to answer these sort of questions?
We've presumably got teams of scouts, analysts and all sorts of experts working on this situation.
We didn't necessarily need someone to replace Hojlund, who we've gone huge on so have to stick with. But could we have got better value than Zirkzee looks so far? It's very hard to think that's a no answer.
The problem is not who the club has signed or not signed. The problem is that the manager and his tactics are incapable of getting the best out of the players at his disposal and there is little evidence that he will improve the players.
Pointless signing anyone else until ETH is gone.
Expecting the problems to be solved just by continuing to sign players is not the answer. The club has spent 600m + for ETH, more money is not going to fix the situation.
Is he no good then? Or is it Ten Hag? Or both? Or don’t any of you really know?
All the signings get a free pass for a while yet, as it's clear it's a management / structure issue which is our biggest problem.
If we do actually ever get a strong manager at their best, then it'll be more interesting to see who can cut it.
Perhaps because they weren't as desperate as us for a striker or, in the case of Spurs, had their eye on another established striker on whom they were ready to pay a significant transfer fee.
I think we have more of a Muller/Van De Beek false No.10 our hands with this lad. The problem is that he can't be effective as long as Bruno occupies the No.10 spot.
For the best outcome, we either need to shift to a 4-4-2 diamond or a 3-5-2 and play him as a false No.10 who sits between the lines and that either drops in the midfield to create a numerical superiority or pushes upfront to ad an extra attacker.
For the best outcome, we either need to shift to a 4-4-2 diamond or a 3-5-2 and play him as a false No.10 who sits between the lines and that either drops in the midfield to create a numerical superiority or pushes upfront to ad an extra attacker.
Said I'd be surprised if he got 10 goals this season, I'm still not surprised by what we're seeing from him. He's never a striker, it seems like we're collecting these nothing players that play in the hole but can't do much apart from defend from the front. At some point your forward players need to score goals otherwise they're a waste of space.
Bit of both. He's a striker who averages a little better than 1 in 4 playing in a side that's rubbish going forward.
Wasn't impressed when I saw him play in Belgium for a year at Anderlecht. Amazed at the career trajectory he's had since leaving Belgium. Clearly there is something there I'm not seeing. Not a consistent goal scorer and never will be I'm afraid which is a shame because he does get into good positions a lot.
He is actually quite skilled, his dribbling and ball control are quite solid. But his pressing is just poor, and he lacks positioning awareness.
Them's fighting words
He's lazy, I've watched him the flesh four times this season and the stand out thing for me is his lazy attitude around the field. He never looks fully prepared for the ball into his feet and often he loses it because he clumsily trying sort himself out when receiving the pass.
In short he's horrible to watch and for me personally I'd love to see the back of him already. He doesn't look anywhere near the level needed and is becoming an added source of embarrassment to the club.
The pundits usually cut players a bit of slack to start with but Carragher had no choice but to comment on his display off the bench on Sunday. It was almost like he'd popped to the park with his mates after a heavy night on the beer. He was miles off it.
In short he's horrible to watch and for me personally I'd love to see the back of him already. He doesn't look anywhere near the level needed and is becoming an added source of embarrassment to the club.
The pundits usually cut players a bit of slack to start with but Carragher had no choice but to comment on his display off the bench on Sunday. It was almost like he'd popped to the park with his mates after a heavy night on the beer. He was miles off it.
I was replying to the poster who said we should've bought another striker instead of Zirkzee. We all knew we had to get another striker but had financial constraints so this wasn't a situation we could go and break the bank and get whoever we wanted.
In terms of value, its hard to say at this stage. At the time of the transfer, it did look like a value deal
My impressions from watching him live numerous times this season are exactly the same as you’ve said. Hopefully he turns it around
Probably been mentioned in here already, but looks like Berbatov lite. There for the build up, but no desire to be at the end of a move in the box. He's quite good at knowing where he wants to pass the ball before he even got it, but not sure why he's hellbent on always playing 1-2 touch football. He could use a bit of his strength to hold the ball up from time to time.
This is one of those "came out of nowhere" signings. Some transfer hipster at United had a mare.
I figured he was Ten Hags signing or recommendation, simply due to the Dutch connection.
https://www.footballtransfers.com/u...-manuel-ugarte-joshua-zirkzee-erik-ten-hag-us
Not sure how reliable that source is though.
I think he has the raw tools to be a good player but he needs quality coaching as he's raw as feck, and he isn't getting that from Ten Hag.
Berbatov very very Lite.
Berbatov looked lethargic but wasn’t - just an “ambling” style of running but he could move when needed and his link up ability was fantastic.
I haven’t seen Zirkzee move off the ball much or use his height to win headers/keep CHs occupied.. not impressed.
Plays like a kid who's forced to do sports activities in school.
This is a joke of an article, mate. Sorry, but there's no other way to put it. There's also nothing concrete to suggest Zirkzee had anything to do with ten Hag. People are just pushing this narratives because the player is Dutch.
Tbf the list of players at United who are in the young & talented group is fairly substantial…
Would be hard for any manager to develop them all whilst also challenging for trophies.
I just was speculating, and noted that the source might not be reliable. I have no agenda. I was trying to find some info on how he was scouted and found that article.
There is also this:
https://onefootball.com/en/news/he-...s-ten-hag-wanted-him-to-join-man-utd-39998577
Which references this interview, in Dutch, maybe someone can translate and see if there is anything interesting there regarding how he was approached:
https://nos.nl/video/2535895-zirkzee-over-oranje-gekke-zomer-en-gesprekken-met-united-in-wolfsburg
But I don't see why it is outrageous to think that Ten Hag had some influence in his signing because of a Dutch connection.
I think Zirkzee was similar to Yoro, Ugarte, or Hojlund from the previous summer, where the club identified them, and the manager just okayed their signings. If they then talked with ETH before joining, that doesn't mean ETH initiated the whole thing.
I think it's best to rely on what the Athletic and similarly reliable outlets share, regarding what goes on behind the scenes in recruitment. I mean articles such as this one, for example: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/48...ideo-calls-agents-scrap-and-turning-down-psg/
Or this one: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5151315/2023/12/22/manchester-united-fotball-news-transfers/
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Well the first article regarding Hojlunds signing doesn't seem to me to indicate that it was simply a case of Ten Hag okaying a signing that the scouts had identified. Ten Hag seemed to have been heavily involved from an early stage, and there is
a connection between Ten Hags agency which was representing Hojlund as well.
The second article is a bit too long for me to read at the moment.
As for Ugarte: https://www.tribalfootball.com/arti...-of-ajax-1a5b3cdf-ef99-4463-86a9-8fddd314109e
How that transfer got started exactly is not clear but Ten Hag also had a large interest in him and surely played a big part here.
But no they are not like Antony, Martinez or Malacia which can be more confidently claimed as his signings. As for Zirkzee it is unclear, again maybe someone can get an insight from that Dutch interview.
Oh God did he have his hands in this debacle also? Fecking hell. He's worse than Moyesy
He was fantastic for us 1.5 months ago. 5 games for United and he's turned to absolute shite. Well done.
Football heritage
He looked very, very bleak in yesterdays game against Hungary...
I’m telling you now, there is something fundamentally wrong at this football club. Players literally crumble mentally while here, as do managers. All of them so far.
A club that’s run and managed poorly drags down its constituents.
We suck the joy of football out of every player. We’re the football equivalent of the Dementors.