Joshua Zirkzee image 11

Joshua Zirkzee Netherlands flag

2024-25 Performances

View full 2024-25 profile

4.9 Season Average Rating
Appearances
40
Goals
5
Assists
2
Yellow cards
2
He’s a 5 a-side beast. He’s not cut out for the PL. Like Ugarte, he’s not a complete player but has about half of what he should , and needs much better players around him. We have to stop with these kinds of purchases, having 3 out of 7 or 8 requisite skills is not good enough.

Zirkzee has good close control but isn’t fast, strong, technical, or tactical enough. He should not be taking anyone’s place in the team. There’s no point to playing an erstwhile 10 who couldn’t score in a brothel, and he is not a 9 in any way, shape, or form.
 
He looks like if he would throw a punch then it wouldnt be a proper punch with the arm and fist movement snappy and towards you. it would like like a 4 year old where the arm goes out and then in and it looks like weird body mechanics.

Im trying to say he looks disjointed but dunno why
 
Man Utd 3:2 Ipswich New
I'm not sure what the opposite of all-action is but whatever it is thats what Zirkzee is.
 
Yik said:
I'm not sure what the opposite of all-action is but whatever it is thats what Zirkzee is.
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He tries and he influences the game with his link up play, he's the best attacker at the moment.
 
He's playing (marginally) better than Hojlund, which is really all that matters currently.
 
The amount of hate this guy is getting is absolutely mind-boggling.

Especially when there's still people making excuses for HOjlund despite him currently being comfortably the worst striker in the league and one of the worst strikers MU have ever signed by some distance.

He's a much better footballer than Hojlund (not that difficult, mind) and to the contrary to the latter, he never got a run of games. There's no comparison between the two when it comes to technique, hold-up play and football IQ.

How can some prefer that danish version of Ali Dia to an actual footballer is beyond me.
 
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I like him. Give him a season to get used to the pace and he will be a star. Not as classy as Berbatov yet but I have never seen him at the age of 22. So you never know.
 
His lack of pace will likely hold him back from being good enough, but he can be pretty assured on the ball and is orders of magnitude better at holding it up than Hojlund, who often seems to have magnets in his boots that just so happen to be the opposite pole to the one in the ball.

There's potentially a good system player in there, holding up the ball to play to two 10s that have the pace and trickery to complement him, he's far from our biggest issue at the moment.
 
He’s miles better in the 10 role than up front, but his final ball and decision making is still letting him down.

Still, it feels like he has a very low ceiling as a player. Decent touch here and there, but no real threat.
 
There is something there for sure.
Not convinced how he would fit in to a fully functioning side but he’s got some skills and determination.
 
I do like him, his link up play at times is great and he's a solid outlet when we need to progress the ball forward.

At times he just makes unusual decisions with the ball, but I can see the potential in him. Better as a 10 as others have said.
 
The talent is there but it's the output and application. Like why does all that silk abandon him in the final third? It would be so much more forgiving if we were judging a midfielder. Why can he not translate the link up for playmaking opportunities? and why does he miskick in so many threatening positions? It's not that he isn't good, it's more that we were supposed to be upgrading on the likes of Martial, rashford, Greenwood with title winning strikers not going back to opening support groups
 
Tha counter attack where Bruno and Mazraoui left him for dead wasn’t a great look. His pace and fitness aren’t really poor . He was fit to collapse at the end while Bruno probably covered double the ground he managed.
As far away as a Amorim type player but he and we are stuck with him
 
He tries, but he's in the wrong league.

This comment might also apply to our manager.
 
You can see enough nice touches and decent lay-offs to think there might be a good player there eventually.

Needs to make far more of an effort to get into the box when players are crossing and cutting it back though. He's too big and strong to just be hanging around the edge of the box. Get in there and occupy a defender.
 
He looks a lot fitter. He’s improving, but he has a long way to go. He’s got a great touch, it needs to find a better balance between the flicks and tricks, and keeping possession.
 
Saw him sprint a few times which is a huge improvement. His holdup play is good but he needs to find a final ball as others have mentioned.
 
Yik said:
I'm not sure what the opposite of all-action is but whatever it is thats what Zirkzee is.
Click to expand...
I totally disagree. I think he's lowkey a really willing defender and intelligent presser. It's easily the most underrated part of his game. Especially at his size - it's hard to lug a body that big around.

Tonight he had 4 tackles/interceptions combined. Joint highest in the entire team alongside Ugarte. It's not a rarity that he has good defensive numbers.

On the eye test he's not only a willing presser but a very smart one. As an example, this goal against Southampton last month: https://streamff.com/v/397f4171

Amad got the credit but Zirkzee's press is just as good. He triggers the press by pressuring the keeper, but doesn't overcommit. He puts enough pressure on the keeper to worry him but more importantly blocks the easy pass to Stephens. Instantly, as soon as the keeper is baited into the pass to Harwood-Bellis, Zirkzee sprints to close down the next passing lane from Harwood-Bellis to Stephens. It's great awareness - ends up being as good as an assist for me - yet he got no credit for it.

There's a reason Bologna always ranked so high on their team press; and Zirkzee individually ranked 2nd among all Serie A players for possession won in the Final 3rd.

I never see people talking about how good his out of possession work is. The opposite actually. I've seen him called lazy when it's so far from the case.
 
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He's doing a decent job at the minute, his hold up play is really good. He does still give the ball away too often though.
 
Mike Smalling said:
He’s miles better in the 10 role than up front, but his final ball and decision making is still letting him down.

Still, it feels like he has a very low ceiling as a player. Decent touch here and there, but no real threat.
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He's not a 10 and will never be. He's a CF, but his playstyle relies less on him scoring goals than facilitate the other attackers to do so.

Whilst not setting the world alight, his hold-up play allows him to do a world of of good, provided the other two on the front have more than two footballing brain cells to rub together.

For some reason, Amorim doesn't want to give him any kind of chance aside from micro-waves minutes, whilst Hojlund's form is absolutely in the pits.
 
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Was knackered at the end but for the 3/4 of the game, I thought he looked very good.
 
His technical ability is often very impressive but in this league he struggles to have any impact in an attacking sense. We should offload him in the summer if he continues to look silky but out of place. For now, he’s one of our better options.
 
Magnificent player who'd be 10 times more effectivel if he had decent partners up front as opposed to Hojlund and Garnacho.. Needs people who make good runs in to the box so he can find them. No doubt he'll be a star next season when we upgrade our attacking options.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
His technical ability is often very impressive but in this league he struggles to have any impact in an attacking sense. We should offload him in the summer if he continues to look silky but out of place. For now, he’s one of our better options.
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I think it’s too soon to make that call. He’s clearly progressed during this season, and is building momentum. I could live with holding on to him, if he doesn’t fall conpletely through towards the end of the season.

I get the feeling that he may surprise us in terms of stepping up his game. He’s got something mysterious about him in contrast to Højlund where what you see is what you get.
 
Martial'sEmergingSmile said:
I totally disagree. I think he's lowkey a really willing defender and intelligent presser. It's easily the most underrated part of his game. Especially at his size - it's hard to lug a body that big around.

Tonight he had 4 tackles/interceptions combined. Joint highest in the entire team alongside Ugarte. It's not a rarity that he has good defensive numbers.

On the eye test he's not only a willing presser but a very smart one. As an example, this goal against Southampton last month: https://streamff.com/v/397f4171

Amad got the credit but Zirkzee's press is just as good. He triggers the press by pressuring the keeper, but doesn't overcommit. He puts enough pressure on the keeper to worry him but more importantly blocks the easy pass to Stephens. Instantly, as soon as the keeper is baited into the pass to Harwood-Bellis, Zirkzee sprints to close down the next passing lane from Harwood-Bellis to Stephens. It's great awareness - ends up being as good as an assist for me - yet he got no credit for it.

There's a reason Bologna always ranked so high on their team press; and Zirkzee individually ranked 2nd among all Serie A players for possession won in the Final 3rd.

I never see people talking about how good his out of possession work is. The opposite actually. I've seen him called lazy when it's so far from the case.
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I agree, that's one part of his game that is so underrated. Also with pressing, so much of it depends on the team. Today we looked good, with the CBs also pushing with their man, makes it easy for the front 3.
 
That_Bloke said:
He's not a 10 and will never be. He's a CF, but his playstyle relies less on him scoring goals than facilitate the other attackers to do so.

Whilst not setting the world alight, his hold-up play allows him to do a world of of good, provided the other two on the front have more than two footballing brain cells to rub together.

For some reason, Amorim doesn't want to give him any kind of chance aside from micro-waves minutes, whilst Hojlund's form is absolutely in the pits.
Click to expand...
He’s just not threatening at all. We’re so starved for attacking talent, that when we see Zirkzee trapping the ball a few times, we think there might be something there. There isn’t - he’s a dud.

Our forwards should do what Zirkzee did yesterday and provide a legitimate goal threat. Zirkzee never will.
 
Practically every match this season at least one of these 2 has started. And in recent games both have started together. 5 league goals between them.
 
That_Bloke said:
He's not a 10 and will never be. He's a CF, but his playstyle relies less on him scoring goals than facilitate the other attackers to do so.

Whilst not setting the world alight, his hold-up play allows him to do a world of of good, provided the other two on the front have more than two footballing brain cells to rub together.

For some reason, Amorim doesn't want to give him any kind of chance aside from micro-waves minutes, whilst Hojlund's form is absolutely in the pits.
Click to expand...

He's not a traditional 10 but as the two AMFs in Amorims system he could work. Clearly we need to upgrade our striker and the other 10 position though because Zirkzee and Bruno together behind the striker just doesn't work. Would be interesting to see how Zirkzee, Mount and a proper striker work together as the front three.
 
He might actually be a decent player if we ever get to a place where we're pinning the opposition in their box consistently, or manage to get very pacey threats around him but not otherwise he's going to be ineffective.

Pace is really important in football
 
Much better performance, still needs to quicken up his play though. Should be given a chance up top on his own when we have players back.
 
Starting to be better at that attacking midfielder role behind the striker.
The guy is never a striker though, he doesn't know how to shoot the ball its obvious.
Let him create in that inside forward role and improve on him later on to have him as a squad player.
 
There is clearly a footballer there anyway, don't see how he fits into this system long term though.
 
Technically a pretty decent footballer.. physically however. Slowpoke
 
Great at link up play and technically very good, we just need a striker to partner him that can score to make use of his abilities.
 
His hold up play is good and I like his technique but his basic passing is awful. His good hold up play became pointless because he ends up giving the ball away cheaply when he made passes. I think his passing is something he can fix through training, gain more confident, and improve his concentration.

He’s bit too slow and he’s not a prolific goalscorer so we need two very quick players who can score goals to compliment his weaknesses. So May be play him as false 9 striker with Cunha and Amad as no 10 exploiting space that he can create with his hold up play. Or play as L10 and having quick striker like Osimhen? I like the Cunha and Amad option with him as false 9 more though.
 
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