Did 3 perfectly weighted passes in the final third - each of which could have easily resulted in goal had we been more clinical. I think we'll see him get plenty of assists this season.
11
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 21
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 1
Obviously he needs to improve as a goal threat but he glues play together in a way that Bruno doesn’t.
He’s a great footballer. Definitely see a lot of firmino in him with his ability to create.
Game changed for the worse when he went off.
He’s vital to us now. We absolutely dominated the game with him, Eriksen and Amad, who all keep the ball so well. They all came off and we couldn’t hold on to it
He gives the team so much more than our other centre forward I'm afraid.
We looked a lot worse when he came off. Very tidy player
Lost our chance of winning when he was subbed off.
Crucial to our play when he was on.
He has become the glue of attack.
Should have had two assists. Was criminal to sub him off after 60 mins.
A lot of good play but we still need that clinical player somewhere in the team
Absolutely key to how good we were and the control we had in the first half. His intelligence, touch and link-up are already really high-level. Liked how he used his physicality more today on a few occassions.
Much like Mazraoui, at the very least, he’s technically very good. Whether he’s good enough long term is a different question but you need as many players who actually know how to play with a football, control it, and handle it when it’s a bit hard to as you can.
He is so dominant in build up phase of play and has excellent sense for positioning. Must work on finishing though.
Nevertheless, he will be excellent signing
Nevertheless, he will be excellent signing
Pressed intelligently, linked play well, should of had an assist, thought our play suffered when he came off.
Discount Ruud Gullit
fecking love this guy. He's already this good without any real work or development on the goalscoring side of his game. Exposes Bruno's lack of technical class comparitively when you watch how sharp his passing is as a forward consistently.
We looked considerably worse without him.
The team plays better when he's on the pitch. It's already obvious and you could see as soon as he went off the attack went to shit.
We simply should not be playing rashford, Hojlund and Garnacho at the same time. They all want to run on to the ball, we need at least one who wants the ball to feet.
We simply should not be playing rashford, Hojlund and Garnacho at the same time. They all want to run on to the ball, we need at least one who wants the ball to feet.
He raises the base technical level of the team massively and provides so many more attacking options for the rest around him. Needs to start every week even if he is not scoring.
We look better with him on the pitch but then again we're not scoring...
Zirkzee at 10 and Hojlund at 9 should be our next experiment, as Bruno is just dreadful.
Zirkzee at 10 and Hojlund at 9 should be our next experiment, as Bruno is just dreadful.
Yes this what I want to see us try, zz should be the 10 until he finds his scoring boots. Rashford or Hoijlund up top
Certainly has talent. Added to his physicality and relatively young age, he's a fun prospect.
I really like him. Love how he always finds the right pass in tight situations. Will be a very important player for our offense.
He's a bit of a baller, we should give him a shot as a number 10.
He needs to start scoring, though
He needs to start scoring, though
That is not how it works. He, as a creative striker, offers extra body for midfield trio in build up. If you put him in midfield and replace him with poacher like Hojlund then you are back to square one.
If by any chance you don't want it, send it back to us in Bologna. We enjoy seeing who can address the ball informally.
Needs a proper goalscorer to play off, since he's not one himself. As others pointed out, we obviously got worse after he came off.
What? Whats the issue with playing him behind another striker?
This. Totally agree
This exactly, he's playing #9 role in a specific way that makes the team click. Bruno is becoming a marginal persona in that team now, he's the easiest one to replace now. But that won't be Zirkzee. Maybe another player that knows how to move the ball quickly, is good at pressing and making runs into the box. Or we can try Mount there.
Or to put it another way, you could try him as the 10 if you had another striker who plays the way Zirkzee does to play off. He would have Hojlund who wants to run in behind and has very limited ability with back to goal.
1. He is not a midfielder. It is like playing Sergio Ramos as a poacher just because he is good in the air. Zirkzee's best trait is when he comes from striker position and plays quick passes. As a no10 he would not do that. Plus no10 has a lot of other things to do (see what Bruno is doing).
2. We look good with him because we have 3 mids PLUS striker in build up. With him on no10 we are back on 3 midfielders (plus striker who is awful in build up play).
It can work only if you have another Zirkzee in attack. Zirkzee and Rooney for example would be fun.
Growing on me… did very well today.
Him and Bruno starting won’t work unfortunately . Ten Hag doesn’t have the balls to drop Bruno though.
Your' e stuck on numbers and positions when I'm talking about skillset... I know what I want to see. Football is so rigid with you guys sometimes....
Why? We are creating chances with those two together. A lot of chances.
He’s not a finisher. We need an out and out goalscorer. We are going to seriously struggle with goals again this season I reckon
Exactly what I was thinking, we’ve been crying out for someone who is calm and get hold the ball up and pick the right pass.