I don’t put any stock in pre-season, either positive or negative. Such performances are irrelevant, and that’s a general point about every player. The past two years are relevant.
Joshua Zirkzee | 2026/27 Performances
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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I want us to sign Kvara and Olise, but I don't think that's going to happen.
If Zirkzee is getting minutes, we need players who will run in behind. True for Cunha when he's the 9 as well. Only Mbeumo is the type of 9 who would seem a logical fit with Cunha as his LW.
I don't think Zirkzee as a 9 fits well with Cunha as an LW, but Rashford and Zirkzee seems like a fairly natural fit with Rashford looking to score goals and run in behind and Zirkzee dropping deep to hit passes to wingers and fullbacks, which is by far his best quality.
So yeah, if Zirkzee and Rashford are getting minutes here, it might make sense for them to be paired, whether that's in cup games, the odd weaker CL game or a home prem game agains a bottom 5 team, or as a pair of subs coming on for Cunha and Sesko for the last 20-30 minutes of more serious games. Might well be Dorgu, though, as he'll track back more than Rashford, though it's hard to score a lot of goals on your "natural" side.
If Zirkzee and Rashford are getting games after the transfer window closes, then we can look forward to continuing the pattern of qualifying for the CL, only to drop straight back out the following season
Yeah, 4th is where we seem to be in betting odds.
5th or 6th is very possible unless one of the new managers at Chelsea, Liverpool or City are the classic "logical enough appointment but it's like a transplant that doesn't take". Iraola had a rough start at Bournemouth while the team learned his pressing approach. Haaland feels like he keeps City's floor high because he seem to get about a goal in any system so I dunno abut that one. Chelsea are 5th and the squad is new and young, but they don't have Europe so I think Alonso will probably have a good first season there. Rogers-JoaoPedro-Palmer with Caicedo and Enzo behind them is a strong front 5 on paper. Attackers all still in that 23-24 age bracket and so young enough to have their big breakout (or return to his breakout in Palmer's case) seasons this year as they peak like most attackers in their age 24-27 seasons.
I'm not sure upgrading Zirkzee and Rashford as the backups will do a ton, but if we could sign first team players to replace them and had Cunha-Sesko-Mbeumo/Amad as a backup trio for the front 3, then maybe we'd be pushing for the league and the CL, yeah (though the CL is pretty ruthless and our defence and manager might just look real mid-table Prem pretty quickly if Lisandro is injured as usual).
We're still a mess I think overall, but we should finally have a midfield who can pass and that hasn't been true for many post-Fergie seasons other than that one good Eriksen-Casemiro one. I don't think the Van Gaal ones count even with the high passing completion rates.
None of us would be talking about Zirkzee if he wasn't at the club already.
Some people can act snotty because they cant comprehend dealing with players that could continue to be with us once the transfer window closes. They think that people who talk positively about Zirkzee is a sign of un-intelligence and that we regard him as a vital player in our first team. They assume its easy to send a player to another home as it is to send a letter with a postage label which we have seen with Rashford to be exceptionally hard.
People then assume that we want him to stay and be one of our main players in the squad to try to find the way to get the best out of him.
I do the same with Zirkzee, Rashford, Ugarte even players like Shea Lacey & Amass; as long as they are usable, you have to find a way to get the best out of them. Rashford had the best synergy with Zirkzee under Ten Hag vs Everton. Zirkzee plays more like Martial whilst Rashford gets to be like himself.
Just because people don't rate them doesn't mean that they stop being an asset that can't be utilised if needed. The less you even play players the lower transfer fees get so we have to keep them active.
I'd just give players like Vitek, Mazroui, Mount & Zirkzee, Rashford etc to be put Carabao Cup first team and see how well they can do.
People on this forum trying to show negligence about a good goal vs Rosenburg just because it's a preseason and act like no one else realised. They've given up on the player so much that nothing about the player is enjoyable anymore.
When regards to his goal, I actually think the 2nd faint around the keeper is why Zirkzee won't make it in the PL. A natural striker would have beaten his defender and shoot in to the corner of the goal instantly. But Zirkzee tries to get past the goalkeeper aswell before tapping it in.
He isn't going to have the time to walk past a goalkeeper in the PL; the fact that he doesn't have the ability to take a shot as soon as he beat his first defender is why he lacks killer instinct.
Yeah, I think in general people have a lot more certainty than they should on a mercurial talent like Zirkzee. He's the sort of player who would fall out with one manager and have another really love what he brings to the table, because he has such massive weaknesses and strengths. He's not an 7/10 at everything type like a Watkins or a Saha. He's more of a 7/10 version of Berbatov or Bergkamp.
Zirkzee has been frustrating and wasn't a good signing, but he has talent and obvious strengths and tall, skilled players like him have sometimes taken time to adjust to the frenetic nature of the Prem. Could still have a decent season here if he can set up goals for Mbeumo, Rashford and Amad who all seem to score a big chunk of their goals from 1 on 1s against CBs as they get inside the fullback and cut on to their stronger feet. Zirkzee can obviously drop deep, be a big tall target for passes that just have to good but not great to get to him and play that pass.
On the other hand, I remember him coming on for 10 minutes, not running for loose balls or working as hard as he should to hold it up against CBs when we had to go long under pressure and inviting attacks that could have led to an equalizer, and me wanting him replaced with any passable #9 who would at least work his ass off for 10 minutes.
Might just need to be in a league against slightly weaker CBs he can bully a little before making his passes, or in the #10/2nd striker role someone like Rutter has gotten to play at a pair of Prem clubs now. I think like Martial, Zirkzee's sheer aversion to busting a gut and getting into the box to grab garbage goals will probably be his doom as a #9. They're both like a 1/10 on that scale, which you could name after Inzaghi, Haaland or Van Nistelrooy.
That second faint was pure arrogance and you could see that coming if you noticed him grow in confidence as the game went along. I doubt he’d be doing that in a game he wasn’t getting as many touches as he did yesterday.
Could he be converted into a midfielder?
His fitness would get him demolished there. Dude looks knackered 5 minutes into any appearance
What? He’s lazy as feck with concrete boots. I don’t care how he played yesterday, I saw enough before and we just need to get rid asap. Sell him to US or the Arabs where he can waltz at his level
Zirkzee is highly mis-profiled and totally unsuited to the way we play. The only position I can see him being useful in is as a bruno stand in , where he can link play, provide useful passes and maybe pop up with the occasional goal.
He does not have the pace for a Winger or the finishing of a no. 9. We really should be looking to cash in and use the money to get a credible back up striker or a pacey LW.
He does not have the pace for a Winger or the finishing of a no. 9. We really should be looking to cash in and use the money to get a credible back up striker or a pacey LW.
Yes, but not a Premier League one.
I think the club needs to be a bit realistic with this one and accept a cut price deal from a Serie A club. If we are demanding the fee we paid for him after he had 2 poor seasons then it's a bit silly.
Take your lumps and move on like we did with Antony.
Take your lumps and move on like we did with Antony.
One thing about Zirkzee is he’s extremely popular in the dressing room. Certainly a team influencer so to speak.
If there’s no good offers on the table then arguably not the worst thing him being around if he’s happy and not creating any issues as such.
That said I think he’s not got the ability to keep up with the pace of the PL, despite being a good technical footballer.
If there’s no good offers on the table then arguably not the worst thing him being around if he’s happy and not creating any issues as such.
That said I think he’s not got the ability to keep up with the pace of the PL, despite being a good technical footballer.
He's paid to be a footballer not a cheerleader.
All of this is rubbish. Clubs like City, Chelsea, Real, Bayern etc. make efforts to replace players who clearly aren't up to the required standard. They don't say sod it, they're already at the club so we'll try and slot them in somehow.
You can try to be as positive as you like about Zirkzee, but the fact is he's been shite ever since he jojned United and some meaningless friendly against some minnows from Norway doesn't change that. Pointing it out isn't being negative either, it's looking at the reality of the situation and accepting it, rather than being a deluded fan who pretends a player will magically turn into something they aren't
I hope this pre-season attracts interested buyers in him. Surely the performance against Rosenborg has opened the eyes of some clubs at least?
Does he do card tricks?
I can’t remember the circumstances now, but Zirkzee scored a critical goal for us last season, and it was one of those goals that left you wondering HTF did he do that? But he delivered too little and needs to move on to a club with lesser demands.
I think so. Penn and Teller style.
Shouldn't be hard to find seeing as he only scored twice. It's either a goal in a 2:1 win over Palace or a 1:1 draw against Wolves. Also side note on the MUTV commentary for the game against Wrexham they said something along the lines of Zirkzee played a big part towards the end of the season and just had a look at the games and he barely played
Edit: Just checked the games and the Wolves one was a massive deflection but was a nice turn and the Palace one was decent control and shot straight at the keeper who should have done better honestly but I assume you're talking about that one?
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Juve interested apparently.
Just need him to break his wrist celebrating one of our wins and the Jordan Hendersifcation will be complete
That goal vs Rosenborg is not surprising. He's got great skill set but not suited for PL. Two seasons was enough time to judge him.
You can bet they're looking for some kind of 'dry loan' like they did with Sancho year or two ago.
You act like all the players we struggled to sell for the last 20 years was just the result of wanting to keep them rather than struggling to sell them. Is that as delusional as me thinking that we may not have the ability to sell him so finding how Zirkzee can be used? I haven't got a shirt with Zirkzee on the back; but your acting like talking anything positive about a crap player is blasphemy and negligent. I personally don't think Lacey is going to make it here but I'm happy he scored a great goal and made a difference and I hope he proves me wrong. Brilliant goal. See I say something positive about a player I don't rate yet but you can't say anything positive about a player that hurt you in the past. You act pessimistic about players that have yet to meet expectations whilst I act optimistic about the same players instead.
The only positive thing I have to say is not about Zirkzee but much more to do with Carrick because ive seen Zirkzee fail enough. Carrick within weeks turned Dorgu to a LW, Mbeumo to a ST, Mount to a CM, Lacey as a CAM. It wouldnt surprise me if Carrick understands Zirkzee's position more than Amorim did just like the other 3 players I listed above.
What that means is if Carrick wants to keep him because he believes he can get the best out of him then that's really Carrick's decision because Carrick has shown the ability to get the best out of an individuals skillset. If Carrick finds him to be useless then he will leave the club as soon as possible.To sell a player you need to have interest. If Roma came with an offer its likely we sell him, but you act like we rejected an offer from Roma to keep him.
I don't see why? Presumably our other players who gained us 3rd would still play ahead of them anyway. We'd just have more depth for subs and cups.
I genuinely think we should never have signed him, not that he isn't a good player, just that he's not what we ever needed. He's not a proper out and out striker, nor is he a proper number 10. In my mind he's like if Berbatov played a bit deeper? Such a strange profile, he's tall but not strong and unremarkable in the air, he can dribble but isn't fast, he doesn't give you penetrative runs, there's not much in the way of tracking back or putting tackles in when he plays deeper, he only plays centrally and can't do a job out wide.
Luxury player, and we don't have that luxury. He's just a square peg in a round hole when it comes to what we need in the squad. It's a shame and it feels harsh because he's evidently a very popular figure in the locker room, but I'm essentially treating him as someone who will be leaving us. I don't blame him for any of it, he's not a terrible player, I just think he was never what we needed and we should never have signed him. I see he's linked to Juve and I do think he'd do better in Italy or maybe France.
Luxury player, and we don't have that luxury. He's just a square peg in a round hole when it comes to what we need in the squad. It's a shame and it feels harsh because he's evidently a very popular figure in the locker room, but I'm essentially treating him as someone who will be leaving us. I don't blame him for any of it, he's not a terrible player, I just think he was never what we needed and we should never have signed him. I see he's linked to Juve and I do think he'd do better in Italy or maybe France.
We applied high standards to Hojlund, and sold him rightly, as he was deemed not enough despite scoring 10 in PL, and 5 in CL, his first season here.
Technical ability is undeniable, solid link up play, if not too much swift physical pressure applied on him from opponent, but you'll have to ask, if attacking depth consisting of Rashford & Zirkzee will be enough for two matches per week season.
Decision should be Carrick's because he'll be th eone under fire, no matter results in first two games.
Okay, enough of this pseudo intellectual garbage. He's another slop from Bayern. They almost always sell garbage to us.
Technical ability is undeniable, solid link up play, if not too much swift physical pressure applied on him from opponent, but you'll have to ask, if attacking depth consisting of Rashford & Zirkzee will be enough for two matches per week season.
Decision should be Carrick's because he'll be th eone under fire, no matter results in first two games.
Okay, enough of this pseudo intellectual garbage. He's another slop from Bayern. They almost always sell garbage to us.
The Saliba being dropped on his backside was enough. But he should be sold, premier league doesn’t suit him. He’s a talented player on the ball however his attributes don’t blend well in this league. He needs a slower league where he can showcase his ability. Either that or go to a team where they play quick short passes.
Juve looking at him, apparently
Shouldn't be hard to find seeing as he only scored twice. It's either a goal in a 2:1 win over Palace or a 1:1 draw against Wolves. Also side note on the MUTV commentary for the game against Wrexham they said something along the lines of Zirkzee played a big part towards the end of the season and just had a look at the games and he barely played
Edit: Just checked the games and the Wolves one was a massive deflection but was a nice turn and the Palace one was decent control and shot straight at the keeper who should have done better honestly but I assume you're talking about that one?
Yes, Palace. Zirkzee had to thread the eye of a needle and with power...and he did both. The ball rocketed rocket under the keeper's arm, not "straight at the keeper". It was a brilliant shot on a quick turn.
But such occasions were too few to consider keeping Zirkzee any long, even though his holdup play is decent. Stellar holdup play isn't enough for a 9 at this level.
I really like his character. He is aggressive and a proper lad. That controversial celebration in his first season had me in stitches, but probably should have not done it, ther are kids about. Outside of that, I think he has shown flashes of some really good play, scored a couple of important goals. Is technically good on the ball, I think he prefers the 10 role. Saying that, I think he is not consistent enough for this level. Seria A will offer him more time and space, I think he would do a fabulous job if he went back. Good player, just not the back up striker we need.
I really don’t understand that there can be a single United supporter that still wants him in the team. He doesn’t score enough to be a 9. He’s too slow, not aggressive enough, lacks any intensity and doesn’t look to have a striker’s instinct.
As a 10 he’s even more ill suited. He’s not close to having the mobility, agility, stamina or quick foot top operate there. In addition, his passing is at best random. He’s not creative and his hold up play is quite poor for such a big lad.
Honestly it’s like people haven’t seen him playing for two years. He comes on in the 60th minute and looks knackered after 70 whilst not putting in a shift.
As a 10 he’s even more ill suited. He’s not close to having the mobility, agility, stamina or quick foot top operate there. In addition, his passing is at best random. He’s not creative and his hold up play is quite poor for such a big lad.
Honestly it’s like people haven’t seen him playing for two years. He comes on in the 60th minute and looks knackered after 70 whilst not putting in a shift.
Kills me every time
I’m always like, how the feck is he blowing, he came on 3 minutes ago and hasn’t moved ffs!
You obviously sell if you get a ~£30m bid but any offers will probably be loans, and with our squad and schedule this season we're not really in a position to be loaning out bodies.
Are we an actively worse team with Obi up front than Zirkzee?
Judging by Obi's appearances to date, absolutely yes.
I'll take our chances.
I'll give credit to Zirkzee for apparently being a really good team player - I think all of us have seen his celebrations from the touchline whenever someone scored, he's the first guy in there. It's clear he's a Jordan Henderson-esque individual in that respect.
... but that's not good enough. We all know he's not good enough. The comments along the lines of "there's a real player in there" are so inadvertently damning, it just goes further to show that he's not good enough for us or indeed any PL team. In England he's a championship level player at best.
That's almost impossible to judge, Obi has had very little first team minutes. By all accounts his hold up play and pressing has improved a great deal over the last year in the U21s. I thought he was very good on the weekend.
Last season Zirkzee offered a goal against Palace and a good 10 minutes against Leeds. That was basically the entirety of what he brought to us.
I'd be shocked if Obi wouldn't offer more than that. At least he desperately wants to score goals and would get us up the pitch with his energy and pressing. If all we can get is loans for Zirkzee then eventually we will have to take that bit with the view of getting him a move.
Using Obi is obviously the worse case scenario, hopefully we would be able to get a loan fee and find the money to bring in someone, even if it were Welbeck for a season.
The way Carrick used Zirkzee and got the best out of him makes me suspect he‘s not leaving in a hurry.