Joshua Zirkzee image 11

Joshua Zirkzee Netherlands flag

2024-25 Performances

View full 2024-25 profile

5.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
48
Goals
7
Assists
2
Yellow cards
2
RuudTom83 said:
Josh must have been taking notes from Shaw/Lindelof/Mount…when you are having a poor season make sure to pick up an injury for the summer ;)

Joking aside, it’s a shame as he was (very slowly) finding some form and that link up play with Bruno in the first half was orgasmic!
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He's been the best attacker alongside Diallo this season. Certainly areas he can improve upon but a poor season? that's Hojlund's territory.

Zirkzee will be a success at this club, I agree with the poster above that another manager gets more out of him, this United attack isn't littered with outstanding talent but Amorim's one dimensional approach has handicapped the front three.
 
@Redstain

I like watching Zirkzee play, but 3 goals in 32 appearances can’t be described as anything other than a poor season. I’m amazed you even had to ask!

Saying that is hard to find anyone in the squad who has had a good season, all of them are either doing ‘ok’ or ‘poor’
 
Redstain said:
He's been the best attacker alongside Diallo this season. Certainly areas he can improve upon but a poor season? that's Hojlund's territory.

Zirkzee will be a success at this club, I agree with the poster above that another manager gets more out of him, this United attack isn't littered with outstanding talent but Amorim's one dimensional approach has handicapped the front three.
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Garna has 10 goals. I would say Amad and Gernacho are somewhat above him. However, it’s frankly slim pickings.

Zirkzee played under ETH and was also poor.

I think he has potential, but blimey does he need to step up. It’s not on the manager, we have a player who does not seem to fit well into any system in modern football.
 
RuudTom83 said:
@Redstain

I like watching Zirkzee play, but 3 goals in 32 appearances can’t be described as anything other than a poor season. I’m amazed you even had to ask!

Saying that is hard to find anyone in the squad who has had a good season, all of them are either doing ‘ok’ or ‘poor’
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Assessing stats then that's fair enough however G/A doesn't define every metric that assess a players contribution.

Zirkzee clearly aids this team significantly on balance of play. If he's signed to be the out and out striker then he's clearly going to disappoint but on the basis of him having the versatility to play the 10 I would say he has a future. The only two players I would retain across the front three are Diallo / Joshua. If United add to this with just having these two as the foundations to build from the team can form a very good attack within one or two windows.
 
RuudTom83 said:
@Redstain

I like watching Zirkzee play, but 3 goals in 32 appearances can’t be described as anything other than a poor season. I’m amazed you even had to ask!

Saying that is hard to find anyone in the squad who has had a good season, all of them are either doing ‘ok’ or ‘poor’
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Redstain said:
Assessing stats then that's fair enough however G/A doesn't define every metric that assess a players contribution.

Zirkzee clearly aids this team significantly on balance of play. If he's signed to be the out and out striker then he's clearly going to disappoint but on the basis of him having the versatility to play the 10 I would say he has a future. The only two players I would retain across the front three are Diallo / Joshua. If United add to this with just having these two as the foundations to build from the team can form a very good attack within one or two windows.
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You can’t discuss Zirkzee as though his performance level has been consistent over the whole season. He started off very poorly (with some occasional glimpses of talent) but has improved a lot as he’s settled and got used to the pace and physicality of the league. He’s become a good/important player for us. And yesterday was a great example of that when you compare the performance of the team before and after his injury.
 
The piece of play with Bruno and Eriksen was great. Just a shame he couldnt beat the keeper but it was a decent save
 
has grown into one of the few players we have who i would say plays with a bit of confidence and arrogance, and who doesnt look terrified when he receives the ball
 
Injurchester United FC. Amazing we are left with the Hojlund boy up front. We really need some reinforcements or CHido to get a sniff in.
 
I've gone from hating him to thinking he might be great in a couple of seasons. There's already a massive difference with him now he's settled and he's a bit leaner.

If next season we do play higher up the pitch and we dominate possession he could be a useful squad player.
 
Such a shame about the injury.

It's like he has gained a bit of acceleration and agility over the last month or two. Early in the season he looked so slow and rigid. Gives me a bit of hope that he will be useful next season a squad player that can cover both the #10 and striker position.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Such a shame about the injury.

It's like he has gained a bit of acceleration and agility over the last month or two. Early in the season he looked so slow and rigid. Gives me a bit of hope that he will be useful next season a squad player that can cover both the #10 and striker position.
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Yeah hes looking more athletic in recent games. Certainly stronger too when hes in 1v1s with defenders and holding them off.
 
Has looked a little stronger recently I agree, but he just has absolutely zero pace, which I think, is why he did his hamstring last night - that was problem the furthest he's had to run at full pelt, perhaps ever.
 
Looked like he'd be out for the season, but did we get any confirmation?
 
Dans said:
Has looked a little stronger recently I agree, but he just has absolutely zero pace, which I think, is why he did his hamstring last night - that was problem the furthest he's had to run at full pelt, perhaps ever.
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So that would suggest he does have some pace but refuses to use it. The one time he tried to it ended it tears
 
Redstain said:
Assessing stats then that's fair enough however G/A doesn't define every metric that assess a players contribution.

Zirkzee clearly aids this team significantly on balance of play. If he's signed to be the out and out striker then he's clearly going to disappoint but on the basis of him having the versatility to play the 10 I would say he has a future. The only two players I would retain across the front three are Diallo / Joshua. If United add to this with just having these two as the foundations to build from the team can form a very good attack within one or two windows.
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I don't buy this at all. At his best he's OK at linking up play, but even then his passing is erratic. At his worst, his passing is so bad he is taken off before half-time. He has stunk up the place badly so often this season.

He's slow, he's amazingly weak in duels, and he lacks any kind of intensity in his game. He doesn't assist much, doesn't appear to have much vision other than a nice through pass or flick here and there, but that is more random than anything, and he's not a goal scorer by any means. So a 9,5 that doesn't score or assist... well, that's pretty dire.

He may improve, and he has improved slowly, but people seem to go overboard with him now that he's injured. He's a loss because we have put ourselves in a position where we have no attacking players - quite incredible really, but he isn't good enough, yet at least.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
Garna has 10 goals. I would say Amad and Gernacho are somewhat above him. However, it’s frankly slim pickings.
Zirkzee played under ETH and was also poor.
I think he has potential, but blimey does he need to step up. It’s not on the manager, we have a player who does not seem to fit well into any system in modern football.
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Another Murtough special.
 
Glorio said:
So that would suggest he does have some pace but refuses to use it. The one time he tried to it ended it tears
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His version of full pelt isn't close to looking at all pacy imo.
 
It's nice to see people backpeddling, but it is also due to his output growing and getting more consistent, too. A lot of this must be confidence or flow or whatever you prefer to call it, but besides all that there's still discernible improvement. People are still dramatic and overly generalizing, but that's what you get when visiting a football platform, I guess.

Not suited to modern football while being the league's XI + talent of the year while playing in a system too modern for the current Juventus squad. Not an option for challenging as if they don't see the type of player he is. If you play him as an alternative to Haaland or even Hojlund, sure, but unless you to challenge a la Atletico 2014, Leicester 2016, often a creative forward is a very good option. That's why Firmino was a great player next to Mane and Salah, but often looked less useful when they (or similarly proficient/direct) weren't around.

Zirkzee can (and has) grown in those aspects, but while I understand the staff changed, why ask a player like Zirkzee to become a Jamie Vardy or Diego Costa type? If you ask Pirlo to be like Kante you'll have the worst DM/CM transfer ever (speaking in football fans' dramatized terminology).

Sure, he should still score more, but besides time to adjust (and grow in general), it's so ridiculous to think it's all black and white with players and how they fit into "any modern football system" or "challenging sides" as if they're monoliths. If anything, he currently shows to be too modern for most of this squad's and manager's (current) setup/composition. In case Pep decides to stop the finisher striker system again, I could see him preferring Zirkzee to Haaland. This season they're a bad example, but there's reasons that despite Haaland being the better pure striker, many games this year they do really miss Alvarez up front. Merino worked as a striker for Arsenal. The reason Zirkzee is a liability at United is because this club needs to go back to the basics every two years and might do better just going for a 4-4-2 with one tall and strong, and one fast and agile striker. It's a tactic that will always work if your team is fit enough and could even challenge if created like Atleti, but it will not last or dominate. That's why Ole managed to beat City a few times, but everyone could see that most of the talents weren't utilized and that the side wouldn't dominate, especially not for more than a few games in a row. Both Ten Hag and Amorim want to dominate more than we've seen with either of them, but neither of their squads were/are ready for Zirkzee, or even Mainoo and Amad. Heck, even Garnacho often struggles in Amorim's system and that's one of the most direct types of players in the world.

Ready to take any hit for that Haaland-Zirkzee one.
 
Redstain said:
He's been the best attacker alongside Diallo this season. Certainly areas he can improve upon but a poor season? that's Hojlund's territory.

Zirkzee will be a success at this club, I agree with the poster above that another manager gets more out of him, this United attack isn't littered with outstanding talent but Amorim's one dimensional approach has handicapped the front three.
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He's not even close to being mentioned alongside Diallo.

All of our attackers aside from Amad are currently having a poor season. The only difference is, Zirkzee is the only one who is (well, was?) on an upward trajectory — Garnacho started the season quite productively but lost it, Højlund simply never got things going, while Zirkzee actually seems to be adapting and improving. But at this moment no one from the top teams will take him as a starter (unlike Bruno or Amad if he wasn't injured, our actual best players/performers).
 
harms said:
He's not even close to being mentioned alongside Diallo.

All of our attackers aside from Amad are currently having a poor season. The only difference is, Zirkzee is the only one who is (well, was?) on an upward trajectory — Garnacho started the season quite productively but lost it, Højlund simply never got things going, while Zirkzee actually seems to be adapting and improving. But at this moment no one from the top teams will take him as a starter (unlike Bruno or Amad if he wasn't injured, our actual best players/performers).
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Majority of Garnacho’s productivity came in the league cup when we played against non PL opponent. He’s been crap all season.
 
elmo said:
Majority of Garnacho’s productivity came in the league cup when we played against non PL opponent. He’s been crap all season.
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As I've said, all of our attackers aside from Amad (and Bruno if you count him as one) are having a poor season. Garnacho is playing worse now than he did in August, Zirkzee is playing better but that doesn't change the full picture.
 
elmo said:
Majority of Garnacho’s productivity came in the league cup when we played against non PL opponent. He’s been crap all season.
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Yet he has more PL goals than Zirkzee still
 
Rossa said:
I don't buy this at all. At his best he's OK at linking up play, but even then his passing is erratic. At his worst, his passing is so bad he is taken off before half-time. He has stunk up the place badly so often this season.

He's slow, he's amazingly weak in duels, and he lacks any kind of intensity in his game. He doesn't assist much, doesn't appear to have much vision other than a nice through pass or flick here and there, but that is more random than anything, and he's not a goal scorer by any means. So a 9,5 that doesn't score or assist... well, that's pretty dire.

He may improve, and he has improved slowly, but people seem to go overboard with him now that he's injured. He's a loss because we have put ourselves in a position where we have no attacking players - quite incredible really, but he isn't good enough, yet at least.
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Amazingly weak in duels? Zirkzee is the lad with the afro not the blond hair.
 
elmo said:
Majority of Garnacho’s productivity came in the league cup when we played against non PL opponent. He’s been crap all season.
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It’s funny how goals can mask inconsistent and poor performances. Garnacho drives me mad but he’s lucky the team is lacking so many goals he has to play. Zirks would of fitted into a Ferguson team more then garnacho who’d be out the door with some of his decision making.

I think Zirks is a lovely player , he’s come through a really rough patch and has been getting better and better. Mentally, that’s not easy as better united players couldn’t hack it.

I do wonder if some people actually watch games or just read stats. I was gutted when I saw him limp off against Newcastle, I’d be more confident with him starting alongside Bruno than any other forward because he offers us more attacking front line as opposed to individual moments we were relying on from Amad and Garnacho.
 
Not his biggest fan but the injury is a disaster for us and our Europa chances. Hojlund does not even look like a footballer.

I've avoided criticising Amorim much since he joined because the squad and circumstances are dreadful, but bit baffling the way he's favoured Hojlund in the important games recently, and started Zirkzee in the meaningless one only for him to get injured.
 
Chumpsbechumps said:
It’s funny how goals can mask inconsistent and poor performances. Garnacho drives me mad but he’s lucky the team is lacking so many goals he has to play. Zirks would of fitted into a Ferguson team more then garnacho who’d be out the door with some of his decision making.

I think Zirks is a lovely player , he’s come through a really rough patch and has been getting better and better. Mentally, that’s not easy as better united players couldn’t hack it.

I do wonder if some people actually watch games or just read stats. I was gutted when I saw him limp off against Newcastle, I’d be more confident with him starting alongside Bruno than any other forward because he offers us more attacking front line as opposed to individual moments we were relying on from Amad and Garnacho.
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I think Fergie would have liked both of them actually. He'd like Garnacho because his head doesn't drop and Zirkzee because he plays nice football. He'd just get more out of them because he's a genius, no shame in that.
 
Dominos said:
Not his biggest fan but the injury is a disaster for us and our Europa chances. Hojlund does not even look like a footballer.

I've avoided criticising Amorim much since he joined because the squad and circumstances are dreadful, but bit baffling the way he's favoured Hojlund in the important games recently, and started Zirkzee in the meaningless one only for him to get injured.
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The whole lineup for Newcastle was a disgrace in all honesty. It's almost as if the manager threw the game.
 
Why whenever someone starts to look decent for us they get ruled out for the season. Never seen anything like it :lol:
 
Offside said:
Why whenever someone starts to look decent for us they get ruled out for the season. Never seen anything like it :lol:
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In this team when you start to look decent, it means you finally reach that state of intensity and effort you should put into every match. But because they are not used to it, they get injured.
 
TwoSheds said:
I think Fergie would have liked both of them actually. He'd like Garnacho because his head doesn't drop and Zirkzee because he plays nice football. He'd just get more out of them because he's a genius, no shame in that.
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Garnacho has more of a Nani feel. I know Nani had a lot of fans but he was a real pull your hair out at times player. He could do something extraordinary and something mind numbingly stupid and damaging in the same match.

I’d say Garnacho would have been considered a similar squad alternative like Zirks. People fondly remember henrik Larson brief stay at united and he only got 3 goals. I also think of Louise Saha who replaced Ruud, but on paper it was a ridiculous swap. But Saha made our forward line better even though ruud is and was one of the best strikers the club has ever had.

This is how I feel about Zirks, he’s really only starting to find his feet and he makes our forward line look a lot stronger. The “give it to amad and Garnacho and hope they do something good” approach is not a good long term strategy.
 
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