Joshua Zirkzee image 11

Joshua Zirkzee Netherlands flag

2025-26 Performances

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4.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
20
Goals
2
Assists
1
Yellow cards
1

IRN-BRUno

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2021
Messages
2,518
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Full Name: Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee
Date of Birth: May 22, 2001
Nationality: Netherlands
Other Nationalities: Nigeria
Height: 193cm
Squad Number: 11
Position: Attack - Centre-Forward
Foot: Right
Player Agent: Sports Invest UK ltd
Contract expires: Jun 30, 2029
Contract option: Option for a further year​
 
Not the first pre-season game and he is ALREADY injured with a hamstring injury. You only get more hamstring injuries and I don’t trust our medical department.

Need another striker.
 
he's Martial from wish, once you start seeing him putting things together he will do his hammy, because he's not used to intense running.

Perhaps we can step up our hunt for a striker now. Shame Hojlund will stink the place thw whole season now.
 
Is it not just the existing hamstring injury from last season?

Mitten said a few weeks ago that he rushed back for the Europa Final, really shouldn't have been playing, but he wanted to make himself available. The medical department apparently authorised it on a strict minutes limit (seemed crazy to me).

He played 19 minutes in the Europa Final then wasn't seen again in our final PL game or the postseason friendly so it sort of tracks, as weird as it seems.
 
Everything about the way he acts and presents himself is a red flag to me. Languid movement, joined overweight and never looks serious/ overly jokey about everything.

Pogba, Lingard vibes.
 
ItDoesntEvenMata said:
Everything about the way he acts and presents himself is a red flag to me. Languid movement, joined overweight and never looks serious/ overly jokey about everything.

Pogba, Lingard vibes.
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Think that's a bit harsh personally, however maybe I'm wrong and many here will agree with you
 
Onana and Zirkzee getting injured could be blessings. The club have to act.
 
If he can stay fit. I back him to ball out this year, We're limited on options yes and ideally we bring another striker in, but he's a far better footballer than Højlund.

He has undeniable tekkers and I think he'll link up with Cunha and Mbuemo well, if he can play with a bit more intensity and keep his hammy in check I think we'll be looking back on this signing differently at the back end of this season.
 
TallReed said:
If he can stay fit. I back him to ball out this year, We're limited on options yes and ideally we bring another striker in, but he's a far better footballer than Højlund.

He has undeniable tekkers and I think he'll link up with Cunha and Mbuemo well, if he can play with a bit more intensity and keep his hammy in check I think we'll be looking back on this signing differently at the back end of this season.
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Agreed. I'm still holding out hope for him. Needs to up the intensity and really hit the ground running this season, but I think he's shown some really nice flashes. Needs to be involved more though.
 
Bastian said:
#1 his celebration is pathetic
#2 he has no pace

Other than that I'm fine with him. He's not good enough, mind.
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Same. He currently gets a pass because so many other players are poor and he’s been here a season.

Needs to dramatically step up this season to stay beyond it. Some half decent control and 9 yard passes ain’t going to cut it. He needs to start scoring and or creating.
 
So did he actually do his hammy again or is it just a minor knock?
 
Glorio said:
So did he actually do his hammy again or is it just a minor knock?
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He’s going to America so I would assume they just thought he wasn’t physically ready last week but will get minutes in the USA
 
So, he's most likely going to be our main striker next season. It would be good if we could get him back to 100% so that he can learn how to enter the box during preseason!
 
There might be a role for him as enabler for Cunha and Mbeumo as a false 9, similar to how Firmino played with Salah and Mane.. Otherwise I really dont see a role for him..

The difference though which makes me sceptical is that in that Liverpool system Firmino he had a midfielder 3 behind him of which 2 were a threat in the box, where we play a midfield 2 where none will have a role to get in the box a lot, as well as our wingbacks..

So in a system where outside of the 3 attackers no one on the formation frequently gets runs in the box and poses a goal threat, could a system with a false 9 actually work?
 
BrilliantOrange said:
There might be a role for him as enabler for Cunha and Mbeumo as a false 9, similar to how Firmino played with Salah and Mane.. Otherwise I really dont see a role for him..

The differenve though which makes me sceptical is that in that Liverpool system Firmino he has a midfielder 3 behind him of which 2 were a threat in the box, where we play a midfield 2 where none will have a role to get in the box a lot, as well as our wingbacks..

So in a system where outside of the 3 attackers no one on the formation frequently gets runs in the box and poses a goal threat, could a system with a false 9 actually work?
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I think it would as the 10s and WBs are expected to play very high and bomb forward so he can help forming those breakaways.

Also our wing backs should cut in as a threat where the 10s push into the box so Zirkzee can lay it off.

Zirkzee wouldn't be ideal but I do think he can improve and he has enough to work around unlike Hojlund.
 
Smores said:
I think it would as the 10s and WBs are expected to play very high and bomb forward so he can help forming those breakaways.

Also our wing backs should cut in as a threat where the 10s push into the box so Zirkzee can lay it off.

Zirkzee wouldn't be ideal but I do think he can improve and he has enough to work around unlike Hojlund.
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If we really have the idea that the wingbacks will get in the box a lot and cut in a la Dumfries it could work... But apart from Amad on the right.. Which of potential wingbacks would do so.
 
BrilliantOrange said:
If we really have the idea that the wingbacks will get in the box a lot and cut in a la Dumfries it could work... But apart from Amad on the right.. Which of potential wingbacks would do so.
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Dorgu actually has a fair amount of shots, 10 in the league and 12 in Europa. It's about equal to Hojlund's shots per game. The issue with both is the ball going into the net. Quality issue rather than tactics.
 
BrilliantOrange said:
There might be a role for him as enabler for Cunha and Mbeumo as a false 9, similar to how Firmino played with Salah and Mane.. Otherwise I really dont see a role for him..

The difference though which makes me sceptical is that in that Liverpool system Firmino he had a midfielder 3 behind him of which 2 were a threat in the box, where we play a midfield 2 where none will have a role to get in the box a lot, as well as our wingbacks..

So in a system where outside of the 3 attackers no one on the formation frequently gets runs in the box and poses a goal threat, could a system with a false 9 actually work?
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It would require a change in philosophy from Ruben. He does not play with a false 9, his system relies on a forward who is a consistnet nuisance and presence in and around the box to open the space behind for the tens to operate in. Zirkzee seems to be a poor fit for this as does Hojlund but the suggestion is that failing a new striker arriving they will be asked to change how they play to fit the system rather than the system changing to suit them. If we don't sign a striker I imagine pre season and the first few games of the campaign will be a competition to see who can most effectively adapt to give Ruben what he wants.
 
Gandalf said:
It would require a change in philosophy from Ruben. He does not play with a false 9, his system relies on a forward who is a consistnet nuisance and presence in and around the box to open the space behind for the tens to operate in. Zirkzee seems to be a poor fit for this as does Hojlund but the suggestion is that failing a new striker arriving they will be asked to change how they play to fit the system rather than the system changing to suit them. If we don't sign a striker I imagine pre season and the first few games of the campaign will be a competition to see who can most effectively adapt to give Ruben what he wants.
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He doesn’t have the time to do this once the season starts, he’s been here long enough now to know which he wants to play if we don’t buy anyone new.
 
Ollie Derbyshire said:
He doesn’t have the time to do this once the season starts, he’s been here long enough now to know which he wants to play if we don’t buy anyone new.
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What I meant is that he will obviously be using pre season as his first real extended opportunity to retrain both of his existing forwards to play in the way he wants. He may well have an idea of who that is going to be and it will become apparent to the rest of us over the course of the tour and then once the games start. My money would be on Zirkzee but only by a small margin. I am fairly certain that in his ideal world Ruben would have sold the pair of them and brought in two replacements but that is not looking like happening at this point in time.
 
Gandalf said:
What I meant is that he will obviously be using pre season as his first real extended opportunity to retrain both of his existing forwards to play in the way he wants. He may well have an idea of who that is going to be and it will become apparent to the rest of us over the course of the tour and then once the games start. My money would be on Zirkzee but only by a small margin. I am fairly certain that in his ideal world Ruben would have sold the pair of them and brought in two replacements but that is not looking like happening at this point in time.
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I know what you’ve mean but he’s had more than half of last season and he now has preseason, he needs to know his first 11 for the first match cause he’s not going to get much time if we start the season as badly as the last one.
 
Quite worrying that he seems to have complication of hamstring injury from rushing back for the EL final. He didn’t play that much last season and his injury is already this serious. It’s difficult to think we can afford not t sign a no.9 and build around Zirkzee if he is to miss pre season.
 
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DatIrishFella said:
I actually do think he'd be good in a front 3 with our new signings. There's a baller in there.
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Why do people feel this way? I keep seeing this take and I honestly am trying to understand why he’s all of a sudden going to come good because we have Cunha and Mbeumo. Where would he play? The 9?
 
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