There's a narrative about him becoming a 10. I don't see it that way, I think he plays the number 9 role different to most, but plays it quite effectively. He arrives in the box when you need him to be there, which is brilliant. The fact he's getting so many chances is testament to that fact.
11
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 21
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 1
In the second chance discussed, he either should've gone for power shot early on, or find a hole to pass the ball into the net. So, we basically have all the corners covered in this little "analysis". As long as he has enough time to go for the latter (he certainly had), I don't see why it's worse choice than the former. As you said, it wasn't an open goal, he messed it up, it's nothing to worry about YET (might turn into a problem, but too early to tell).
What do you mean with "Hojlund being capable of linking up on same level as Zirkzee"? He is not anywhere close to this level, glimpses don't mean anything if he can't do it consistently. And it's fine, he's out and out goalscorer. Two different players, I quite like that. I am not a big fan of Hojlund for the type of player he is, but I don't want to be too harsh after the mess we've been last season.
Another player only now finding his fitness. I really like what I see, he isn't pretty on the eye at times but there is an intelligent brain in there.
I'd go as far as saying I've seen enough already to suggest he could be better for than side than Hojlund.
We need players who can play as a link man for our wide men and Bruno
I'd go as far as saying I've seen enough already to suggest he could be better for than side than Hojlund.
We need players who can play as a link man for our wide men and Bruno
I liked his weight and speed of passing yesterday, for a long time our passing has been very poor all round, usually under hit and behind the receiving player. Hopefully others take note and do the same.
There was a lovely one that was relatively simple but thought it set the tone for the rest of the game, where he set it perfectly square to Bruno from a fast paced ball into his feet.
Yeah I know the one you mean, a lot of our players take too many touches before passing, he seems to do it in one or two touches which is what you need to counter effectively.
Yep! I feel like runners around him will make him a hugely useful forward for us.
When Zirkzee first signed and we're all looking at youtube comps as we do, this was the video that got me most excited about him:
After a while, I had a little thought, was I getting caught up in the "new shiny toy" hype again?
So, I went back looking for a similar clip of Hojlund before he joined us, and found this:
Both clips are from each player's last season before joining us, both in Seria A and both created by the same user.
As such, they can serve as a good comparison for where each player was when they joined us.
In my opinion, I think Zirkzee is far more ready than Hojlund was, when he joined us. On that based, Zirkzee would get the nod over Hojlund as a starter. However, we'll have to see how much Hojlund has improved from the player he was at the start of last year.
This isn't to pit both players, just a comparison I found interesting and looks like may become relevant once both are fit.
Of course we have plenty of games to play and I'm sure both will get plenty of game time.
After a while, I had a little thought, was I getting caught up in the "new shiny toy" hype again?
So, I went back looking for a similar clip of Hojlund before he joined us, and found this:
Both clips are from each player's last season before joining us, both in Seria A and both created by the same user.
As such, they can serve as a good comparison for where each player was when they joined us.
In my opinion, I think Zirkzee is far more ready than Hojlund was, when he joined us. On that based, Zirkzee would get the nod over Hojlund as a starter. However, we'll have to see how much Hojlund has improved from the player he was at the start of last year.
This isn't to pit both players, just a comparison I found interesting and looks like may become relevant once both are fit.
Of course we have plenty of games to play and I'm sure both will get plenty of game time.
We'll have to agree to disagree then because imo he didn't have the time to pass it into the net. If you meant literally, then yes he had time because he did take the shot but I doubt we mean it that way because the goal (no pun intended) was to actually score/give him the best chance to score. A side footed execution was too cute/took too long. Anyways I'm not worried, just wanted to point it was a potential situation for improvement even if I am micro analysing.
As for Hojlund, you might want to read my sentence again. I never said he was the same level as Zirkzee, in fact I said the opposite. I simply said he was capable and that whilst he's not as smooth, I think he can contribute without detriment in this current system with an Amad. He lacks consistency but he's more than fine linking up, dropping and passing into feet. If we can't get any rhythm with his more rudimentary style of link up, then it's more on ETH and Bruno.
The fact we need a Zirkzee dropping deep and a Bruno (who basically is playing a second striker anyways) to look any bit functional means we have much larger problems.
This is the redcafe i like, optimism, positivity, vibes, admiration of talent.........
You'd definitely score less with Hojlund around
Two things I noticed about him, his first touch seems impeccable and he rarely wastes the ball when he has it.
That's a massive difference to just about every forward we've had in so, so long.
He might not be the clinical 20+ goal a season striker but he's gonna be incredibly useful for our forward play in general if he carries on being a useful user and keeper of the ball.
That's a massive difference to just about every forward we've had in so, so long.
He might not be the clinical 20+ goal a season striker but he's gonna be incredibly useful for our forward play in general if he carries on being a useful user and keeper of the ball.
I'm not a fan of those cutted clips. If I really want to see a player, I go for single performance clip, and honestly this feels pretty accurate to how they play for us. I was always a bit concerned what we saw in Antony, but that was back when I believed in the manager so I assumed there's a talent we're paying for. With Rasmus, I had my reservations about him, did always look a bit heavy in all the things he did and I thought he's on the lucky side with his goals. One season with us, I still have the same opinion, but if that's two in a row, maybe it isn't luck after all..
The first paragraph is confusing, so did he or did he not have time to pass the ball into the net? He did pick a place and hit the shot on target, so yes, he had time, he just executed it poorly/picked a wrong place. There's no evidence that if he went for power he would've had better chances of scoring, that's the whole point.
On the second paragraph, Antony is capable of scoring a worldie. Not that it means much if he can do it once every 30 shots. Same logic applies to Hojlund linkup, buildup, back to goal play. I feel he's pretty poor at it.
It also seems like people don't want to admit X player is poor at Y, I don't get it. Rasmus is a different type of player and that is okey, he has his strengths and weaknesses. His linkup play is nowhere near Zirkzee, if anyone is saying otherwise he can't be serious. Let's give him another season or two, that's not "sell him" kind of discussion, but a weird argument.
Completely agree on the last part of your comment.
I agree, cut clips aren't always the best. However what surprised me watching Hojlund's one here was how similar this was to everything he has shown for us, especially what feels like wars he has to fight each time to hold up the ball. Everything just feels like hard work, apart from the pace in behind, and generating power on his shots. He's 2 years younger than Zirkzee, so hopefully he's got more development to do. With Zirkzee, we need Ruud to really teach him how to become a fox in the box. Both player need to improve their headers significantly. They should be winning a lot giving their heights.
On Antony, I felt the same as you, unsure whether or not he was the right guy for us at the time. I even thought Rafinha would have been a much safer but, giving what he had showed for Leeds. I think Antony is much better than what he showed last year, he has to be. However, I hope we can bring in a starter and start phasing him out. Amad is doing well but a player with one year starting experience shouldn't be expected to be our starting winger.
I'm actually really impressed with the amount of chances he's getting on the end of. I thought that wouldn't be as big a part of his game, but he could easily have a goal a game by now.
Zirkzee/Hojlund could become a potential new Yorke/Cole partnership.
The reason I think it's lazy, is it just looks at the results of a very small sample size and ignores the bigger picture.
The chances he had yesterday at first glance, looked like bad misses - in front of goal, no defenders close, but I think on second and third viewing they weren't indicative of someone being a poor finisher. The first one he is at full stretch and struggles to make decent contact with the ball. The second chance from Mainoo he should have scored, again at first glance, it looks easier to score, but on replay you can see there is a defender on the far post, the goalkeeper is off his line slightly. Playing it low and hard towards the near post looks like the right option, with the goalkeeper going the other way. The defender who clears it isn't on the post, Zirkzee doesn't hit him with the ball, he does well to stick out a leg and stop it.
From what I've seen he strikes the ball well when shooting. He generates decent power, while placing his shots. If you look at his efforts, but ignore the end result, then I like what I see. I know for a lot of people the result is all that matters, and in the longer term I agree. However if you are trying to project what a player is, or what they will be going forward, you need to look beyond goal or no goal. If in 3 years time he is consistently underperforming his xG and missing big chances then obviously how good his technique looks doesn't matter and there is a problem somewhere... but after 3 games, I think you need to look a little closer at the context.
A good example of this was Suarez early on for Liverpool. In his first full season he went through a spell of hitting the post a lot. I remember a pundit using the "scorer of great goals, not a great scorer of goals" cliche and I thought they were dead wrong. Unfortunately I was proven right.
Probably closer in style to Sheringham/Solskjaer, but either way I'm looking forward to seeing them play together.
It does seem like they could dovetail very nicely.
Couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo
Yeah, I’m not personally sold on him and was pretty annoyed when he missed the chances, but on reflection they weren’t as bad as initially judged, for the reasons you’ve described.
Seems like a decent addition to the squad so far, issue for us and him probably is that we need a lot more than what he can reasonably offer to get our attack functioning to a high level.
Why would he be attempting to damage a musical intrument?
He looks like a proper baller
Great ball control, pass and temperament
I’m a big fan already
He does the simple things very well.
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Great ball control, pass and temperament
I’m a big fan already
He does the simple things very well.
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To what tune are you singing this?
Maybe wait for them to play together a bit first
I think it's Dancing Queen by ABBA.
Everybody worried about his missed chances over the past three games, I went to fbref to look at how well he takes his chances over a large sample size of data (365 days).
His non-penalty xg vs his expected non-penalty xg is 0.30 vs 0.30. That's a one to one ratio. This suggests that he generally finishes the chances he gets.
Now, if you add that we expect him to better in terms of opportunities and conversation with the help of Ruud and with age in general, then we can all relax, knowing the goals will come.
Agree with your first points, but not sure why you think Zirkzee will be more clinical. He’s already shown he’s not a great finisher and that was Hojlands main attribute last season .
I like his ability with the ball, and it looks like he is good at getting on the end of things in the box.
He's really good with the buildup play and his positioning is good as well. Just needs to be more clinical and he's golden.
Can’t wait to see him link up with Hojlund. They both have different attributes that could suit each other.
People overrate the importance of pure finishing ability, the much more important quality is the ability to get on the end of chances, unless the finishing is an outlier level poor that is a much more reliable indicator of goal-scoring potential.
Good spot! Just have to switch out 'already' for 'now', and maybe short that first line a bit. Just 'Proper Baller' would also work.
I don't think Höjlund is clinical and it is too early to tell how Zirkzee will develop but he has better technique which is why I think he will be the better finisher.
Think he's been a bit unlucky with a couple of his chances. Just slightly out of reach, having to stretch too far.
Other than that I'd say he's got a lot of what we need.
Other than that I'd say he's got a lot of what we need.
Maybe take a look at Hojlund's chances, clinical finishing is his number one attribute so far, getting the chances in the first place has been his problem
Should have done better on his last two sitters