Joshua Zirkzee | 2026/27 Performances

He's probably just about the only player we have that we don't really need, and another club might actually want to buy.
 
If the game was a second slower or so he’d be pretty good. Probably why he looked alright in Italy
 
Should be sold as soon as a decent offer comes in, a couple of foot rolls in a friendly doesn’t fool me!
 
Gabriel Djemba-Bebe said:
He is too slow to consistently dribble past Premier League defenders. His little feints and drops of the shoulder look cool when he pulls them off, but this is a rarity, as his G/A numbers are a reflection of his minimal contribution in the final third. He is a highlights reel player who doesn't offer enough to warrant keeping.
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He’s never really needed the pace to beat players as he gets rid of the ball quite fast once he sees the angle for a forward pass, which he does often. He also struggled with confidence issues and injury problems so I’m hoping this is a good year for him because there’s a very good player there.
 
There's a player there. Great first touch, knows to hold the ball, passes well, strong. He's just not a striker and we have a better player in the number 10..
Good squad player to have, but we did overpay for such a squad player
 
Hopefully this makes him a bit more visible in the shop window of some of those leagues that play at the pace of a senior living facility.
 
He's not a 9. His best qualities are that of a 10 or second striker. His someone who need players ahead of him making runs.
 
Trex said:
He's not a 9. His best qualities are that of a 10 or second striker. His someone who need players ahead of him making runs.
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This is why I don't really blame him. He doesn't get to occupy the spaces he wants to play in and neither does he have the player making runs off of him.

If I had to pick 3 top tier teams for him to play I think it would be Inter Milan because they play/played with 2 strikers & Athleitco Madrid where Greizmann used to play behind the striker or Arsenal who use false 9's upfront.

Having Zirkzee play as the main goalscorer is a detriment to his ability but we have Bruno who is on a different level to adapt our tactics to get the best out of a player like Zirkzee.

I do think the coaches value him more so than the fans realise though. I feel like they hold on to him as a specialist player that can add something different from upfront primarily creativity in games where the front line has struggled to break the opposition defence.
 
In theory:

Cunha-Sesko-Amad should fit well with Cunha coming short and getting on the ball, Sesko a normal #9 and Amad able to cross the ball to either when he's not looking for his own shot.

and

Rashford-Zirkzee-Mbeumo should fit with Zirkzee as a false 9 and both wingers looking to get in behind and score goals from his passes like Lacey did today.

But it doesn't really work that way, and I don't really see him and Cunha ever having chemistry.
 
NoPace said:
In theory:

Cunha-Sesko-Amad should fit well with Cunha coming short and getting on the ball, Sesko a normal #9 and Amad able to cross the ball to either when he's not looking for his own shot.

and

Rashford-Zirkzee-Mbeumo should fit with Zirkzee as a false 9 and both wingers looking to get in behind and score goals from his passes like Lacey did today.

But it doesn't really work that way, and I don't really see him and Cunha ever having chemistry.
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Well I hope Bruno eats his Weetabix in this scenario, because he's gonna have to press and track back like a madman to make up for Rashford and Zirkzee
 
NoPace said:
In theory:

Cunha-Sesko-Amad should fit well with Cunha coming short and getting on the ball, Sesko a normal #9 and Amad able to cross the ball to either when he's not looking for his own shot.

and

Rashford-Zirkzee-Mbeumo should fit with Zirkzee as a false 9 and both wingers looking to get in behind and score goals from his passes like Lacey did today.

But it doesn't really work that way, and I don't really see him and Cunha ever having chemistry.
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It's quite astonishing that someone would want to see Zirkzee and Rashford in the united team again. Have you not been watching United for the past few years?
 
He is a good footballer. Very nice passing skills. It is a shame we don’t seem to have a place to play him more regularly.
 
Extremely underated by some on here and would be perfect for coming in CL games where the pace of the game is slower.
 
Litch said:
Extremely underated by some on here and would be perfect for coming in CL games where the pace of the game is slower.
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He's not underrated at all. After pretty much every game he plays he gets criticised for being invisible
 
Cnaiür urs Skiötha said:
He is a good footballer. Very nice passing skills. It is a shame we don’t seem to have a place to play him more regularly.
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Agree. Always thought technically he was very good. Nobody would be surprised by yesterday's finish cause we know he has that in his locker.
Something that people dont talk about is his character. Extremely supportive to his team mates and to recover from that absolutely disgraceful behaviour by so called fans at utd, speaks volumes.
These players always divide opinions, reminds me of Berba, some fans never took to him either....
 
It was hard for him last season when we didn’t have many games for him to build match sharpness and momentum. This will obviously change this season if he gets to stay for another year, which I hope we do unless we get our money back. Otherwise, I fancy taking a chance on him for another year.

He has rare attributes that we currently lack and he has shown some glimpses of it, hopefully his confidence will improve once he’s given more game time.
 
Talent is there. He has shown that he tries his best.
The thing is due to his style, for PL he needs a team to play a certain kind of football around him. And he is not a top top player, so some PL teams can accommodate and adjust to him but not the ones competing.
 
His application and lack of drive are big factors for me. Has everything physically to succeed at the highest level apart from pace (which isn't the be all and end all) but when I look at him I just don't see a particularly driven footballer.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
He's not underrated at all. After pretty much every game he plays he gets criticised for being invisible
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Its a false narrative that becomes a truism by some fans. Seen it a million times on here, fans dont like a player and then only focus on when they make mistakes.
Being invisible up front for utd, well thats been the case for over a decade.
 
One thing I do appreciate with him is that he’s one of our few forwards capable of actually seeing and executing difficult through passes. All of our other options except Bruno of course are just incapable of regularly finding incisive passes. I don’t for a second think that means we need to keep Zirkzee however, we definitely need a more creative option up there.
 
Litch said:
Agree. Always thought technically he was very good. Nobody would be surprised by yesterday's finish cause we know he has that in his locker.
Something that people dont talk about is his character. Extremely supportive to his team mates and to recover from that absolutely disgraceful behaviour by so called fans at utd, speaks volumes.
These players always divide opinions, reminds me of Berba, some fans never took to him either....
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Berbatov was a player who scored 20 goals for us once. (Albeit on only about 7 games!). I do t see any scenario where Zirkzee contributes significantly.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
It's quite astonishing that someone would want to see Zirkzee and Rashford in the united team again. Have you not been watching United for the past few years?
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Is it want to see or more that we can’t seem to sell them and thus people simply hope it works out, rather than the opposite.
 
Lyng said:
Is it want to see or more that we can’t seem to sell them and thus people simply hope it works out, rather than the opposite.
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It’s more of the latter.

I think a big majority of people want both players sold. But, there’s been no real interest in either, so figuring out how they can contribute.

Even as part of a squad, I’ve not seen anyone suggest that either of them would be a starter.
 
Despite his lack of speed and not having striker instincts he could still be valuable but my biggest issue with him by far is how little he makes use of his size. He is massive and should be a nightmare for defences in a way Fellaini was.

If he could manhandle defenders it would open up his game more to create chances for others. Even a player like Deeney used to do this. Zirkzee plays like he’s in the body of Amad and is too much of a finesse player. He needs to be more of a nasty person to play against.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
It's quite astonishing that someone would want to see Zirkzee and Rashford in the united team again. Have you not been watching United for the past few years?
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They should both be sold this summer, with a quick, creative winger and backup #9 coming in to replace them. That's what should happen. But it's obviously a lot easier said than done and there's a decent chance we end up stuck with both of them for another year, unfortunately.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
It's quite astonishing that someone would want to see Zirkzee and Rashford in the united team again. Have you not been watching United for the past few years?
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This place will have a collective aneurysm if we line up for a prem game with a front 3 of Zirkzee Mount and Rashford
 
Rooney kind of sprung to my mind. Just positionally as 2nd strikers, or 9.5s. And that where the comparison ends as they are actually very different players style and quality wise. Rooney was more prolific, explosive and could play as a pure 9 or 10 to a high degree while zirkzee is more of a facilitator. I don't think there is a role for zirkzee in this team but could be decent in a 2 striker set up with runners.
 
Can't believe his goal against such unserious opponent has raised so much talking. Has anyone actually watched at keeper's reaction before Zirkzee even made a dummy? Or that defender's on the left side non reaction?
 
Redlyn said:
Rooney kind of sprung to my mind. Just positionally as 2nd strikers, or 9.5s. And that where the comparison ends as they are actually very different players style and quality wise. Rooney was more prolific, explosive and could play as a pure 9 or 10 to a high degree while zirkzee is more of a facilitator. I don't think there is a role for zirkzee in this team but could be decent in a 2 striker set up with runners.
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We do need more than one first team striker. Keeping ZZ around as a false nine option could be valuable next season, even we get our back up striker. Having three strikers is absolutely fine.

It depends on his performances. If he keeps this up I say keep him.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
2 years of evidence shows he’s not a good footballer though.

It’s not that I don’t ‘like’ him. It’s that’s he’s so woefully short of being anywhere near an effective footballer.
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Do you not feel continued negativity is a waste of energy though? Same in the Martinez thread.

Surely there’s a point you must
 
Litch said:
Agree. Always thought technically he was very good. Nobody would be surprised by yesterday's finish cause we know he has that in his locker.
Something that people dont talk about is his character. Extremely supportive to his team mates and to recover from that absolutely disgraceful behaviour by so called fans at utd, speaks volumes.
These players always divide opinions, reminds me of Berba, some fans never took to him either....
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This “reminds me of Berba” needs to stop, Berba actually put in the performances and end product.
 
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