A new elephant knocking on the door: can Bruno, Zirkzee and Højlund play in the same side?

[acnumber9]

You can't measure that with a spreadsheet mate, its clear and obvious watching a match or even if you just play football, and I don't mean to sound condescending when saying that so please don't take it the wrong way.

Neither of the other two are anywhere near as guilty of playing the Hollywood pass as Bruno. You don't need your attacking midfielder to have an incredibly high pass completion rate but the way Bruno loses it is indicative of a player with a lack of intelligence.

Then why do they give it away so often? If they’re consistently making much better decisions then their passing must be worse.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

That doesn't make him a turnover machine though. How many times do we lose the ball over the course of a game? At least 50. How many of those end up in turnovers (which is just a fancy word for "dangerous counter" right)? And then how many of those were on average Bruno's fault in particular?

Few turnovers come as a result of a long ball being played into the box or a shot missing the target. That is also one of the reasons why some pretty average DMs and CBs still have a pass accuracy in the high 90's. They cannot afford to make that mistake. But a creative AM can and should. Honestly, I don't want my AM to have a pass accuracy high above 85%. That's starting to look like a player who's afraid to take any chances.

I can’t speak for anyone else but I’ve pulled my hair out numerous times watching Bruno over the last few years giving the ball away with a miss placed pass or an unnecessary flick. When we are in the ascendancy that’s all fine to try, but Bruno also tries them when we are clearly getting over run and battered in games when a bit of conservatism wouldn’t go amiss to try and gain some control.

 

[mewnew11]

We go to a back 3 and play with wing backs or wingers based on the situation in the game

Yoro de ligt licha
Amad/dalot ugarte maino garna/shaw
Bruno zirkzee
Hoijlund

 

[dubplate warrior]

I can’t speak for anyone else but I’ve pulled my hair out numerous times watching Bruno over the last few years giving the ball away with a miss placed pass or an unnecessary flick. When we are in the ascendancy that’s all fine to try, but Bruno also tries them when we are clearly getting over run and battered in games when a bit of conservatism wouldn’t go amiss to try and gain some control.

You're speaking for a lot of us mate, the difference between him and the likes of KDB and Odegaard is they know when the team needs to slow things down and when they need to speed things up.

There are different circumstances for which a player can lose the ball. Sometimes he might as well be playing against us.

 

[NinjaZombie]

This is not a problem. It's called having options, one of which is we get the luxury of being able to rest players and avoid burning them out. The other is we get actual competition so if someone is not performing, there is an actual threat of them being dropped and losing their place in the team. No more players stinking the place out putting in little effort in games.

 

[SalfordRed18]

I think Hojlund's place in the team is at risk

It's not.

 

[devilish]

I think Zirkzee and Hojlund would work quite well as partners, especially if you had Amad on the right, but the issue becomes that you don't have a fullback on the left that will hold width and provide that outlet and balance. Shaw/Dalot etc. aren't really that type of player.

To answer OP's question, no I don't think those two along with Bruno work well, at least not in this team dynamic.

I like zirkzee alot. I made a detailed post about him which was appreciated by many including those sceptical about him

However I can't see him playing anywhere but as a lone forward

A- he lack the pace to play on the flanks
B- we are already well stocked of no 10s

That doesn't mean he won't be useful. There will be games were hojlund will be more suited and others were zirkzee will be more suited. It's similar to the teddy vs cole situation here. They were both important, both played a lot and their different skillset could change our game in an instant

 

[Borys]

It's not.

It very much is. Unless he keeps his very impressive goal scoring ratio, or we want to play simple counter attacking football, Zirkzee seems to be higher in the pecking order already.

 

[AneRu]

We shouldn't look to shoehorn players into a first eleven given how European football has raised the amount of games we must play. We could have a Thursday-Sunday gameweek from here on in until Christmas so there is scope to play a Garnacho-Hoijlund-Antony supported by Eriksen/Mount in the hole and a Rashford-Zirkee-Amad supported by Bruno in the hole. A proper squad game.

 

[Josep Dowling]

I swear we are the only fan base that complains about having options. We have 2 strikers in our squad, 2! There is argument we should have at least one more.

Hojlund has picked up multiple injuries and he’s only been here a season. There is no elephant in the room. Those 3 are unlikely to start together.

 

[Shabby as she goes]

When Hojlond’s fit I’d try a cup game with him upfront and ZZ on 10
Bruno can rest

 

[SalfordRed18]

It very much is. Unless he keeps his very impressive goal scoring ratio, or we want to play simple counter attacking football, Zirkzee seems to be higher in the pecking order already.

Why does zirkzee look to be higher in the pecking order already?

 

[pacifictheme]

Why does zirkzee look to be higher in the pecking order already?

How many games has hojlund played this season? How many has zirkzee played? Who's played more? Yeah I thought so, check mate.

No idea how they've come to that conclusion either. Ones been injured all season.

 

[romufc]

He also is just way too ill disciplined and leaves us wide open. A number ten absolutely should be able to dribble or at least play on the half turn.

As opposed to when he doesn't play we are solid and hard to break down? I remember going to Palace last year without Bruno and we were really solid, tight? Oh wait...

When it's the right decision to play the pass. Bruno just straight up gives the ball away doing dumb shit, and puts his team under constant pressure when he loses it.

Maybe it's the manager, but this has been a problem many people have stated over and over again since his second season under Ole.

So they are not good passers? if they are passing at the right time but giving the ball away, they are poor at passing the ball?

What dumb shit does Bruno do?

 

[GoodTimes]

As opposed to when he doesn't play we are solid and hard to break down? I remember going to Palace last year without Bruno and we were really solid, tight? Oh wait...



So they are not good passers? if they are passing at the right time but giving the ball away, they are poor at passing the ball?

What dumb shit does Bruno do?

His attempts to first time volley a pass when receiving a throw in is pretty dumb. He’s been caught out when doing it a few times.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Bruno is quite terrible on the wings traditionally. Nullifies most of what he's good at.

Myth. Some of our best victories vs tougher sides have come with him there with us having packed the midfield. But that best ther here not there.


Anyway I just find it strange when we finally have depth in selection options and can rotate without a drop in quality people want to find problems with it. It honestly doesn't matter if Zirkee and Rasmus never get to play with each other. It matters more that we have either or as quality options. Same thing with Bruno, Eriksen , Mount and perhaps even Zirkee for number 10.

 

[romufc]

His attempts to first time volley a pass when receiving a throw in is pretty dumb. He’s been caught out when doing it a few times.

Right, so Bruno does that every game? What about all those times he has played a first time pass and we are in and score goals?

 

[leeroyTX]

I have said this in another thread before. But I think it’s worth trying a midfield trio of

Ugarte (6)
Bruno (8)
Zirkzee (10)

Especially against weaker opposition.

Bruno needs to play deeper and more positionally disciplined.

Zirkzee will be valuable in the final third due to his link up play. The combination of Zirkzee feeding Hojlund and two pacey wingers (Garnacho / Rashford / Amad) should be a great combination.

But Bruno is the key to making it work. Else Ugarte will get overrun.

I agree with this. There's been some games where Bruno played deeper and it worked really well. He was getting the ball directly from the back line and pinging long balls into the wingers or the striker. Also gave him more space to operate and push forward.

I don't see ETH doing it but I do think it would work well.