[Dominos]

This early sub gets more bizarre the more time that passes. Especially given how Amorim apparently could give two fecks about us winning or losing, he basically engaged in some psychological warfare with Zirkzee with that sub. I don't think Zirkzee is good enough but what Amorim did is fecking harsh.

I think it was correct, the game was a mess and we were probably the better side after the sub so it did work. At 2-0 the game can still be rescued, he cannot wait till half time because we can be 3, 4, 5-0 down by then.

Amorim can't have predicted the crowd jeering him as he came off, nor is he responsible for the crowd's reaction. Without the crowd making it newsworthy, it would have been a nothing incident.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I think it was correct, the game was a mess and we were probably the better side after the sub so it did work. At 2-0 the game can still be rescued, he cannot wait till half time because we can be 3, 4, 5-0 down by then.

Amorim can't have predicted the crowd jeering him as he came off, nor is he responsible for the crowd's reaction. Without the crowd making it newsworthy, it would have been a nothing incident.

I can think of 2 occasions when I player was subbed off in the first half and it wasn't due to injury: there was a Mourinho sub when he was in his first Chelsea spell, and this one with Zirkzee. I think it would have been newsworthy even without the crowd reaction. I think it was a dick move on Amorim's part, unless there was something said we didn't see, i.e., Amorim told Zirkzee to do X and he didn't, or Zirkzee asked to come off. Think of all the terrible performances we've seen since Amorim came aboard, that one wasn't even top 5.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Shocked to see he's already played 49 times for us. Feels like about 10.

 

[Dominos]

I can think of 2 occasions when I player was subbed off in the first half and it wasn't due to injury: there was a Mourinho sub when he was in his first Chelsea spell, and this one with Zirkzee. I think it would have been newsworthy even without the crowd reaction. I think it was a dick move on Amorim's part, unless there was something said we didn't see, i.e., Amorim told Zirkzee to do X and he didn't, or Zirkzee asked to come off. Think of all the terrible performances we've seen since Amorim came aboard, that one was event top 5.

Newsworthy but then forgotten about within a week. Which even with the crowd reaction, no one really cared about the incident in the 2nd half of the season. It's only interesting for a few days.

I'm shocked people think a manager should deliberately throw a game just to be nice to his players. If he didn't change the tactical set up the game would have been over by half time, they looked like scoring every 30 seconds so something had to be done. You can't be going in at half time 4-0 down and the manager's patting himself on the back because at least he didn't hurt his players feelings.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

I have high hopes from him this season. He has the grasp of the league and was playing very well before he got injured.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Newsworthy but then forgotten about within a week. Which even with the crowd reaction, no one really cared about the incident in the 2nd half of the season. It's only interesting for a few days.

I'm shocked people think a manager should deliberately throw a game just to be nice to his players. If he didn't change the tactical set up the game would have been over by half time, they looked like scoring every 30 seconds so something had to be done. You can't be going in at half time 4-0 down and the manager's patting himself on the back because at least he didn't hurt his players feelings.

You say this like it was all Zirkzee’s fault we were a shambles.

 

[Marcus]

I have high hopes from him this season. He has the grasp of the league and was playing very well before he got injured.

Yup I agree. His ball control is exquisite. After his deserved substitution in the first half, he improved by leaps and bounds before he got injured. If he gets back to full fitness and has a great pre-season, we will have a very decent player on our hands.

 

[mattunited1978]

Countless instances over the years of players coming good, after struugling in there first season in a higher standard league, with the premier league arguably being the toughest of all to ajust to.

Not saying its going to happen with Zirkzee, but iv seen enough to get me intrigued for next season. Physically, it will all start with being fitter and faster, which is within his control to a degree, mentally, you would think that should take care of itself with regards to being more settled, and knowing what to expect. Combined, we will hopefully see a more confident player

Excited to see how his second year goes

 

[Mcking]

Good player. Hard see where he would fit in with Cunha, Mbuemo, and a proper striker probably all coming this summer.

First back up striker and back up for Cunha ahead of Mount. I thought he looked good in the period he got consistent minutes as the left AM last season.

I'm hoping he comes into his own next season. He is a big man, is skillful, and gets past players easily. He should learn to use his body better, and improve his shooting.

 

[Amir]

You say this like it was all Zirkzee’s fault we were a shambles.

Of course not, but we needed a change. The team comes before any player.

 

[izec]

I am also in the camp that he is better than he showed, needed time to adjust, improved throughout the season and have hopes he will be a good player next season for us.

 

[Tiber]

There are curious overreactions with Zirkzee.

He was terrible but it was harsh to see him booed off.

After this he improved a bit, but there seemed almost a desperation from many online to praise him for even the smallest things, presumably as a counter to the booing

Still a clear sell imo

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Of course not, but we needed a change. The team comes before any player.

OK pal, if you say so. I’m tired of this discussion. Peace out.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Countless instances over the years of players coming good, after struugling in there first season in a higher standard league, with the premier league arguably being the toughest of all to ajust to.

Not saying its going to happen with Zirkzee, but iv seen enough to get me intrigued for next season. Physically, it will all start with being fitter and faster, which is within his control to a degree, mentally, you would think that should take care of itself with regards to being more settled, and knowing what to expect. Combined, we will hopefully see a more confident player

Excited to see how his second year goes

Agreed. I think he’ll come very good next season. Unfortunately he seems like a player who doesn’t suddenly make an attack good. He’ll never be a “main man” sort of player, but if he has a functional fluid attack around him, he’ll be a great cog in the machine.

Lazily I’ll make the Firmino comparison again, which I do think is actually a good one. Firmino wouldn’t ever have been as effective if he didn’t have Mane and Salah for company.

Give him a Cunha and Mbeumo either side of him, with Amad and Dorgu bombing down the wing, with Bruno making darting runs off him from midfield, I feel his link up play will make it very smooth.

I’m unsure if we’ll get a striker this window or not, if we do then I suppose Zirkzee will be back up. If that is the case, I do think he’ll be a great option off the bench for us.

 

[Trequarista10]

Feels like one of those players where it will always be suggested that if the team is built to his strengths that he'd do really well, but it isn't likely to ever happen because he's not outstanding enough for a club to do so.

 

[Red00012]

He’s not good enough to be honest but he’s a better option than Hojlund .

 

[Rossa]

There are curious overreactions with Zirkzee.

He was terrible but it was harsh to see him booed off.

After this he improved a bit, but there seemed almost a desperation from many online to praise him for even the smallest things, presumably as a counter to the booing

Still a clear sell imo

Agreed. He had good close control, but his passing is still erratic, and he’s no goal threat. Pace wise, he looked to improve from his start, which was terrible, and working on his fitness he can improve more, so maybe not such an issue.

 

[Mercurial]

He’s not good enough to be honest but he’s a better option than Hojlund .

He's a 15m player we paid 50m for. I wonder what ETH and the club were thinking. Perhaps Amorim can get a tune out of him? If an offer is tabled we should cut loose.

Edit. Correction on the price.

 

[Red00012]

He's a 15m player we paid 50m for. I wonder what ETH and the club were thinking. Perhaps Amorim can get a tune out of him? If an offer is tabled we should cut loose.

We paid £36 million for him

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

He's a 15m player we paid 50m for. I wonder what ETH and the club were thinking. Perhaps Amorim can get a tune out of him? If an offer is tabled we should cut loose.

He’s 30m player we paid 36m for.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

I'd hazard to say he may be a £35m player that we paid £36m for.

 

[Mercurial]

We paid £36 million for him

He’s 30m player we paid 36m for.

Ah my bad then, thanks for the correction.

 

[statpadders]

I'd hazard to say he may be a £35m player that we paid £36m for.

Wasn't he like the young player of the year in Serie A? If so then I believe he was a £37m player that we paid £36m for

 

[Dominos]

You say this like it was all Zirkzee’s fault we were a shambles.

I didn't.

Amorim needed to make sun to change the game at 2-0 before it got any worse. Someone needed to be subbed. He can't change all 11 players as punishment for being shite. Whoever he chose to sub couldn't have complained.

The sub worked as we were the better side after that.

He cannot just refuse to make a sub because it's mean on whoever gets subbed, that would be pathetically weak management.

 

[Brightonian]

He's an odd one for sure. There's really only encouraging things to say about his footballing ability, and his performances in the latter half of the season.

The issues are more to do with his profile as a footballer, which is unusual. Big but not really an aerial threat. Tall and strong but also technically excellent with a sound first touch and quick feet. Flair to spare and he can beat a man, but too slow to do much with it. Decent finisher but not dynamic enough to get in the right place at the right time to provide a regular supply of bread and butter goals. Good passer with range to play with, but not athletic enough to be a midfielder.

He's not an ideal fit for any position in Amorim's system but he's also not an obvious fit for many systems. If I was him, the world class player I'd be looking to emulate is Kane, particularly in terms of his playmaking and the way he uses his dribbling without pace. He'll never be a Kane-level finisher, but he could be some kind of hold-up specialist/false 9 who receives long balls then releases fast wide forwards running beyond him. Only not for a team who want to have an intense press, because he doesn't have the pace or engine for it.

Fun to watch though.

 

[Garnacho Libre]

I'm not sure about Zirkzee to be honest. I think with a better team he could make a better impact. When it comes to being kept or sold, either way I wouldn't be upset or too happy!

 

[santeria13]

 

[Glorio]

His performance thread pic reminds me of how overweight he was when he joined

 

[OverratedOpinion]

His performance thread pic reminds me of how overweight he was when he joined

Yeah both him and the club have done really well with that. Big difference

 

[MadDogg]

Wasn't he like the young player of the year in Serie A? If so then I believe he was a £37m player that we paid £36m for

Yes, and was also in the Serie A team of the season. So more like he was a £46m player that we paid £36m for.

 

[NotQuiteManc]

There is a player in there, just get the right support.

Potentially yes especially if he continues his upward form trajectory before the injury hit him that ended his season. That, and based on the highlights, replace Garnacho and Hojlund with Cunha and/or Mbeumo, the stats might have been very different.

 

[afrocentricity]

Deserves another season

 

[Dempsey19]

Not a fan of him at all, and I know at the start he didn't even look like a footballer. He has improved but just doesn't seem to fit with what we are doing, he's like a Temu Berba.

He's very chill on the pitch with no urgency, can string together a nice touch and lay off here and there but my biggest thing is some of his attempts at goal, can't recall a professional footballer at a top club shooting so bizarrely? It's almost as if he's never kicked a football before majority of the times.

I don't think we would be able to shift him even if we wanted to. Best case would be a loan to Serie A.

 

[Blackwidow]

Deserves another season

That was just a part of the season... Right now he is near the base camp of Bayern at Disney resort...


The Bayern players could bring family for the first days and after the match on Sunday Monday was off.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Not a fan of him at all, and I know at the start he didn't even look like a footballer. He has improved but just doesn't seem to fit with what we are doing, he's like a Temu Berba.

He's very chill on the pitch with no urgency, can string together a nice touch and lay off here and there but my biggest thing is some of his attempts at goal, can't recall a professional footballer at a top club shooting so bizarrely? It's almost as if he's never kicked a football before majority of the times.

I don't think we would be able to shift him even if we wanted to. Best case would be a loan to Serie A.

I think he's honestly perfect for what we need. Someone who can have Mbuemo and Cunha play through him and he can set them both up. When you've 3 good attackers, someone needs to make the sacrifice of setting the others up. Like Benzema for Ronaldo

 

[simonhch]

There are curious overreactions with Zirkzee.

He was terrible but it was harsh to see him booed off.

After this he improved a bit, but there seemed almost a desperation from many online to praise him for even the smallest things, presumably as a counter to the booing

Still a clear sell imo

That is in itself an overreaction though, isn't it?

Without the hyperbole, he is a player who struggled pretty badly for the first half of the season, hitting the nadir in the being booed off at half time incident. He bounced back from that and became a decent player for us, without pulling up any trees. He had a couple of excellent performances, and a series of very promising ones. He did show significant improvement over the course of the season, without getting to the levels we would need him to be at to lead the line reliably. Nevertheless, he's on reasonable wages, is on an improvement curve, and we don't have a lot of liquidity tied up in him.

He is also a player who is suited to having runners and goalscorers around him, as his strengths are focused around linking play and facilitating others. With that in mind, playing with players who can't score, is pretty awful for a facilitator, however if you put Cunha and Mbuemo next to him, his skill set suddenly seems very well suited to dovetailing with those players. So in that regard, he seems like a player who would cost more to replace than we could get for him, has been steadily improving, and is well suited to the signings we are bringing in. For me he is a clear "retain" for now.

 

[Glorio]

That is in itself an overreaction though, isn't it?

Without the hyperbole, he is a player who struggled pretty badly for the first half of the season, hitting the nadir in the being booed off at half time incident. He bounced back from that and became a decent player for us, without pulling up any trees. He had a couple of excellent performances, and a series of very promising ones. He did show significant improvement over the course of the season, without getting to the levels we would need him to be at to lead the line reliably. Nevertheless, he's on reasonable wages, is on an improvement curve, and we don't have a lot of liquidity tied up in him.

He is also a player who is suited to having runners and goalscorers around him, as his strengths are focused around linking play and facilitating others. With that in mind, playing with players who can't score, is pretty awful for a facilitator, however if you put Cunha and Mbuemo next to him, his skill set suddenly seems very well suited to dovetailing with those players. So in that regard, he seems like a player who would cost more to replace than we could get for him, has been steadily improving, and is well suited to the signings we are bringing in. For me he is a clear "retain" for now.

Agreed

 

[Ace]

I think he's honestly perfect for what we need. Someone who can have Mbuemo and Cunha play through him and he can set them both up. When you've 3 good attackers, someone needs to make the sacrifice of setting the others up. Like Benzema for Ronaldo

I get what you’re saying I guess, but the comparison of Zirkzee to Ballon dOr winning Benzema is entirely too much. He’s one of the best center forwards of the modern era.

 

[T00lsh3d]

She looks like a character out of Mortal Kombat

 

[simonhch]

I get what you’re saying I guess, but the comparison of Zirkzee to Ballon dOr winning Benzema is entirely too much. He’s one of the best center forwards of the modern era.

I would say he’s more of a Firmino to Salah and Mane, again without yet getting close to Firmino performance levels. It just feels less egregious than comparing him to Benzema. Because let’s face it, none of the players really merit comparison.

Point is that it’s about building a functional effective unit, rather than stellar individuals, and with Zirkzee you get the feeling he can be an important puzzle piece if he keeps improving. His natural game and strengths are well suited to the type of player Cunha and Mbeumo will need. He also provides a very different option which can also be important. I feel that with a year under his belt, the improvement curve he’s been on, he’d be a viable alternative to someone like Ekitike, to the point where it would provide genuine competition for the place, whereas Hojlund just need straight up replacing. He’s ineffective at what he’s supposed to be good at, which is problematic. Zirkzee isn’t really seen as a goal scorer, more a facilitator who can score goals. Hojlund is supposed to be a goal scorer who can facilitate. But he can’t score goals.