[L1nk]

Let him start few in a row and then we will see. We look much better with him. Hojlund is all about finishing. Zirkzee offers a lot in general play.

Zirkzee looked absolutely dogshit in general play a game or two ago, giving the ball away constantly. I don't think either one is better than the other currently, they both ideally need to be impacts from the bench I think

 

[Andycoleno9]

Nah, equally lackluster in the basics department. Need a new option.

That is we defo need. But, for this season and between these two, Zirkzee is better option. Or simply better player.

 

[Paddymcc]

If he had a strikers instinct he could have been on the end of another tap in.

Improved performance from him at least and looking a bit more up for it.

 

[Matt851]

Yep, people have short memories. A week ago it was Hojlund coming off the bench and making a difference. The reality is we need to sign another striker.

Yep, unfortunately solanke is much better than either

 

[acid_fuji]

Is that me or his anticipation is much better than Holjund? Seems to be much better when fighting for the long balls. He wrestles less and position himself better.

 

[Alemar]

Scored, had a good header saved. Good cameo off the bench

 

[El Jefe]

Let him start few in a row and then we will see. We look much better with him. Hojlund is all about finishing. Zirkzee offers a lot in general play.

Then when Zirkzee starts and inevitably plays shit, Hojlund will be the answer. Rinse and repeat.

Neither are good enough.

 

[Lentwood]

Then when Zirkzee starts and inevitably plays shit, Hojlund will be the answer. Rinse and repeat.

Neither are good enough.

Hojlund needs time. Where was Solanke at 21? Championship?

Zirkzee also has some useful characteristics, I wouldn't write him off yet.

I would agree that it's frustrating that a club like United have spent over £1BN net and haven't had an elite forward in their prime for a decade

 

[Andycoleno9]

Then when Zirkzee starts and inevitably plays shit, Hojlund will be the answer. Rinse and repeat.

Neither are good enough.

I said many times; i would give these two this season to compete and prove who is better. That one should stay and be backup. Other one should be sold for raising funds for new starting striker.

 

[Lyng]

I understand Amorim's desire to rotate a lot and find who is best for each position. But i would love that he gets run of games as starting striker. I don't claim that he is 30 goals striker material but he has way more to offer than Hojlund or Rashford on striker position.
He can play with the back to goal, he is good for quick short passes, good in air and he has good sense for positioning in penalty box.
Pace and not being clinical enough are his flaws. Personally, i don't think that pace is a big issue (real football is not bloody FIFA) but he must start to be more clinical in front of goal.

Except they are both more clinical. He is not an out an out striker.

 

[Lay]

I think he might be fine in the end

 

[Matt851]

Hojlund needs time. Where was Solanke at 21? Championship?

Zirkzee also has some useful characteristics, I wouldn't write him off yet.

I would agree that it's frustrating that a club like United have spent over £1BN net and haven't had an elite forward in their prime for a decade

It's true but united can't afford to wait three seasons for him to become a quality striker

 

[Irwin99]

I think he came on and did pretty well but when he didn't run into the box when Mazraoui had the ball, and instead waited for the cutback, it was frustrating (we literally had not a single person attacking that space). He's just not that type of player I guess.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Having a striker who actually competes with - and wins! - headers from long hoofs up the pitch is so weird to see. Don’t think that’s happened since Cavani.

 

[CM]

Zirkzee's improvement in the last couple of games has been notable. He looks stronger, a little quicker and more assured on the ball. Night and day from the early part of the season where he was barely resembling a footballer.

 

[lsd]

Not sure he's a centre forward but he is better holding up the play and winning the ball than Hojlund.

At this point in time he is probably the better option for me

 

[Rozay]

Hojlund needs time. Where was Solanke at 21? Championship?

Zirkzee also has some useful characteristics, I wouldn't write him off yet.

I would agree that it's frustrating that a club like United have spent over £1BN net and haven't had an elite forward in their prime for a decade

And now he’s 27, he’s still not good enough to be United’s main striker.

With Hojlund, people need to ask themselves what they see his actual potential as. Why on earth would a club like United spend big on a raw 20 year old in the hope that after years of suffering, he can become Dominic Solanke or Richarlison at 26?

There’s nothing wrong with buying players who are not the finished article, and sticking with them through developmental phases until they become the best version of themselves. But that best version needs to be worth it. It’s moronic for top clubs to buy young Joe Willocks or Dominic Calvert-Lewins at 19 or 20 and play them through all the pain so that they can ultimately become matured and consistent squad players at 26. For me, we shouldn’t just be playing kids frequently for the sake of it. We bought Rooney/Ronaldo and waited because they had world-class potential, which we believed would be better than whatever else was out there by the time it matured, which made it worth it getting them in when we could. It worked out with them. It didn’t work out with Martial and Rashford. But it was still the right thing to do. We bought Amad early for big money because he was considered the one of the world’s best for his age. We believed he had the potential to develop into a world class player. But does Hojlund have Martial level talent? What’s the best case we are even hoping for here? He’s not some Golden Boy nominee. He had barely done much in the game and to me, never showed top level natural technical gifts.

Personally, I don’t even see real elite talent. I see a player who IF it all works out, will be a Solanke-level player, but not an Isak level player.

 

[sillwuka]

Better, makes a world of difference when he plays with urgency not the Van De Beek like timidness.

 

[Lentwood]

And now he’s 27, he’s still not good enough to be United’s main striker.

With Hojlund, people need to ask themselves what they see his actual potential as. Why on earth would a club like United spend big on a raw 20 year old in the hope that after years of suffering, he can become Dominic Solanke or Richarlison at 26?

There’s nothing wrong with buying players who are not the finished article, and sticking with them through developmental phases until they become the best version of themselves. But that best version needs to be worth it. It’s moronic for top clubs to buy young Joe Willocks or Dominic Calvert-Lewins at 19 or 20 and play them through all the pain so that they can ultimately become matured and consistent squad players at 26. For me, we shouldn’t just be playing kids frequently for the sake of it. We bought Rooney/Ronaldo and waited because they had world-class potential, which we believed would be better than whatever else was out there by the time it matured, which made it worth it getting them in when we could. It worked out with them. It didn’t work out with Martial and Rashford. But it was still the right thing to do. We bought Amad early for big money because he was considered the one of the world’s best for his age. We believed he had the potential to develop into a world class player. But does Hojlund have Martial level talent? What’s the best case we are even hoping for here? He’s not some Golden Boy nominee. He had barely done much in the game and to me, never showed top level natural technical gifts.

Personally, I don’t even see real elite talent. I see a player who IF it all works out, will be a Solanke-level player, but not an Isak level player.

It's still very difficult to know what Hojlund's ceiling is, because he's so young and raw.

His finishing is excellent, rarely see him fluff a chance. His problem is getting himself more involved in the game in an effective way.

I wrote several times about how his game suffered because he takes too many touches. Amorim came in and immediately said this publicly, so unlike the negligent ten Hag, Amorim is already working to improve our players.

A CF should be playing a two-touch game, one touch if they're really elite. There's no need for a CF to ever take three.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Not sure he's a centre forward but he is better holding up the play and winning the ball than Hojlund.

At this point in time he is probably the better option for me

Same. Which is not ideal. Because in the last game he started Zirkzee put in one of the worst individual performances I’ve ever seen.

 

[MadDogg]

Zirkzee started the season with a few good performances, then had a long run of terrible ones. He now seems to be turning it around again as he's had a few good ones recently (with a couple of bad still thrown in). Hopefully we'll see that improvement continue and the good will start coming more regularly.

 

[flameinthesun]

Affected the game far more than Rasmus did.

 

[Gaidal]

Affected the game far more than Rasmus did.

He got to play with Amad instead of Antony though.

 

[flameinthesun]

He got to play with Amad instead of Antony though.

You make the most of what you are given.

 

[Gordon S]

He is still rather inexperienced at high level. He has just switched club and country and will need some time to bed in and adapt to the pace and intensity.
There is surely a player in there.

 

[TempusFugit]

Give him Højlund's pace and he'll be very serviceable. He's much better technically and stronger as well. His striker instincts aren't that good but at least he can head a ball and be a physical presence in the box. For me he's got to be starting over Højlund in the next few games.

 

[Desert Eagle]

The header that was saved required pretty decent technique. He could score some big goals for us.

 

[Lyng]

He is like the opposite of a Amorim striker. Very decent in build up, but somehow even worse than Rasmus at actually getting in the box and his finishing is miles off. But I can see him being a good option with Garnacho and maybe Rashford where he essentially is feeding them.
With Amad and Bruno Rasmus is still a better option imo as he is more likely to score.

 

[Rozay]

It's still very difficult to know what Hojlund's ceiling is, because he's so young and raw.

His finishing is excellent, rarely see him fluff a chance. His problem is getting himself more involved in the game in an effective way.

I wrote several times about how his game suffered because he takes too many touches. Amorim came in and immediately said this publicly, so unlike the negligent ten Hag, Amorim is already working to improve our players.

A CF should be playing a two-touch game, one touch if they're really elite. There's no need for a CF to ever take three.

Depends, unless you mean exclusively in front of goal. Players like Martial or Rooney are so much better than being limited to one or two touches, they have elite link play too. I think we newd more than a two touch striker at a club like United.

On a side note, always said Defoe is the best two-touch striker I’ve ever seen. His second touch was almost always a shot on goal. If you watch his goals, most were scored within the first two touches.

 

[RuudTom83]

They do offer very different things to the team, neither are perfect, but there is something to work with in both Zirkzee and Hojlund.

 

[Lentwood]

Depends, unless you mean exclusively in front of goal. Players like Martial or Rooney are so much better than being limited to one or two touches, they have elite link play too. I think we newd more than a two touch striker at a club like United.

On a side note, always said Defoe is the best two-touch striker I’ve ever seen. His second touch was almost always a shot on goal. If you watch his goals, most were scored within the first two touches.

I never really though of Rooney as a striker in a traditional sense though, or Martial for that matter.

In Amorim's system, those two would play as the #10s.

What I want to see in a CF in Amorim's 3-5-2 is someone who's great at 'bouncing passes back into the AMs / CMs and spinning in behind. It's one of the hardest to defend against attacking moves in football.

Currently, Hojlund takes two or three touches to get the ball under control and another couple to get it out his feet. That's not good enough and slows down every attack.

 

[Apokalips]

And now he’s 27, he’s still not good enough to be United’s main striker.

With Hojlund, people need to ask themselves what they see his actual potential as. Why on earth would a club like United spend big on a raw 20 year old in the hope that after years of suffering, he can become Dominic Solanke or Richarlison at 26?

There’s nothing wrong with buying players who are not the finished article, and sticking with them through developmental phases until they become the best version of themselves. But that best version needs to be worth it. It’s moronic for top clubs to buy young Joe Willocks or Dominic Calvert-Lewins at 19 or 20 and play them through all the pain so that they can ultimately become matured and consistent squad players at 26. For me, we shouldn’t just be playing kids frequently for the sake of it. We bought Rooney/Ronaldo and waited because they had world-class potential, which we believed would be better than whatever else was out there by the time it matured, which made it worth it getting them in when we could. It worked out with them. It didn’t work out with Martial and Rashford. But it was still the right thing to do. We bought Amad early for big money because he was considered the one of the world’s best for his age. We believed he had the potential to develop into a world class player. But does Hojlund have Martial level talent? What’s the best case we are even hoping for here? He’s not some Golden Boy nominee. He had barely done much in the game and to me, never showed top level natural technical gifts.

Personally, I don’t even see real elite talent. I see a player who IF it all works out, will be a Solanke-level player, but not an Isak level player.

Fully agreed. It seems that people claim Hojlund to have great potential simply because he plays for us and cost a lot. If he was signed by any other club there is no chance our fans would claim he has obvious great potential, because outside of his age he does not show world class potential. The "where was Solanke at 21" doesn't matter because we spent paid 27 year old Solanke money on a 20 year old with about 10 career goals.

I also find it weird how many use the excuse of service. It's as though people think a strikers job is to just lay back and finish chances put on a plate for them, but the best strikers constantly find themselves on the end of chances regardless of the players around them...almost as if that is one of the skills of an elite CF.

 

[SambaBoy]

I think he came on and did pretty well but when he didn't run into the box when Mazraoui had the ball, and instead waited for the cutback, it was frustrating (we literally had not a single person attacking that space). He's just not that type of player I guess.

Yeah striker should always dart into the six yard box, 10 comes on to the penalty spot or opposite winger. Poor movement for him, and not enough desire to score the 'scrappy' goal.

 

[Hughes35]

He scored but i'm afraid I still just don't see it with him unfortunately.

I would be absolutely amazed if he ends up being a success here.