This exactly my thought. As annoying as tony was,he was great at linking play when on form and fit. Worked well with bruno and wingers,we need a different type of option from raemus. So a fit option with them attributes would be great. Hopefully he presses though and isn't as lazy and stroll around like martial.
Joshua Zirkzee | signed for Manchester United
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Posting this just so that we can have his bad moments in this thread too.
Well, let's hope he has improved since then as that was fecking terrible.
Well, let's hope he has improved since then as that was fecking terrible.
If he has a chance to join United at higher salary, prefers to join us over Milan and his agent demanding outrageous fees is the reason his future can be "ruined", could he fire the agent?
Agent should work for him, he is not a slave of an agent, right? Right?
Agent should work for him, he is not a slave of an agent, right? Right?
Good post
Is it worrying he’s got 0 caps for Holland when their attacking options are fecking Memphis and Weghorst?
I don't get how Italy is still seen as this bastion of defensive football. Let's face it it's a poor league where Tammy Abraham and Lukaku have looked among the best strikers and united rejects Darmian and Ashley Young have been top class defenders. The days of Maldini thuram stam and recently chiellini in defense are gone. Their teams aren't successful in Europe and their star players look average when they move out of seria A.
Hojlund had a very good season relative to his age and type of striker he is. He'll be fine. He's not a title winning or challenging striker yet, but he's absolutely worth sticking with and developing.
We need a squad and depth, and we aren't spending 120m to sign Osimhen who would be the only realistic signing we could make up top to actually start ahead of Hojlund.
Zirkzee is a talented player but who is average as a striker. He'll do a decent job, probably have some good impact games and people think he just needs to be unlocked when in reality he's just a player who doesn't get among chances very often.
Don’t think international football is ever really the greatest indicator of much
Never heard of him before people started linking him to us.
Fixed
We are obviously being name dropped to speed up his next transfer. He won't be in Manchester anytime soon.
Their teams are not successful in Europe they won the 5th CL coefficient spot by a landslide this year, Last year Fiorentina, Roma and Inter all made European Finals but lost, this year Atlanta defeated two of Europe’s best 5 sides in Liverpool and Leverkusen and won the Europa League with Fiorentina getting to another final, Last year Ac Milan and inter played a CL SF.
It’s not a poor league, it’s just football is very different in Italy it’s veryTactical and the national team are the current European Champions and if they get to the 1/4 finals again this year, they’ll be a problem for anyone because they just know how to get the most out of players available and more importantly how to win ugly!
If its true that his agent is looking for substantial fee in addition to the transfer fee, hopefully the club walk away from the deal.
Is this supposed to mean something?
Watching a few more highlights videos of his and honestly doesn't look a bad player at all.
- Has scored goals and played passes with both his feet in that video so seems he's genuinely two-footed.
- Mostly made good decisions in that video as lot of the passes he made were passes to players in good positions and in space.
- Good first touch and ball manipulation.
- A tall lad at 6'4 so probably has potential to dominate in the air. I should add that it's a statement more out of hope than anything from me as in the video he showed none of it so he probably just sucks at it.
At that price point, I don't see any issues with us going in for him. The only stumbling block seems to be the fee demanded by his agent. He could be genuine competition for Hojlund which can only be good for both him and the team.
Would love to get some opinions from people who have regularly watched him as both stats and highlights can skewed either in favour of him or against him.
A few different sources jumping on this today says there might be something in this, may suggest he has now moved ahead of Toney on a striker shortlist. Would I be right in thinking he has that ability to play as a wide forward too.
You really think Osimhen is the only striker on the market that could start ahead of Hojlund? Dearie me. He was poor in the majority of his games last season, and reflects a but more favourably when you watch his season back on Wikipedia but that’s about it. There are almost certainly better strikers on the market. And that is obviously not limited to players you would need to break the British transfer record for either.
Excuse you, Weghorst has scored more goals than Harry Kane in this competition
No.
I am just saying what it is it. I am not going to pretend that I spend my weekends watching Andrelecht or Bologna. So I came here to learn something about him, and my only conclusion is that no one watched this guy bar few Bayern fans.
So it's another young gamble when we are in desperate need for goals. We already young project in Rasmus.
I am just saying what it is it. I am not going to pretend that I spend my weekends watching Andrelecht or Bologna. So I came here to learn something about him, and my only conclusion is that no one watched this guy bar few Bayern fans.
So it's another young gamble when we are in desperate need for goals. We already young project in Rasmus.
Who cares if he's 2 years older? Progress isn't linear and when you're comparing hojlund to a 23 year old it's clutching at straws by citing age
He has better dribbling, link up and balance. He can also beat a man. I think it's impressive we spunked >50% more on a relatively limited player.
People are acting like he's fecking 28
Also just bizarre how skeptical people are of a pretty highly rated young forward. He's a great profile and, if we are keeping all of our wingers, then striker is probably the most important of the front 3 that we need to address. If I need to spell it out for some:
Strikers. Are. EXPENSIVE. If we can get a high potential young one for a cheap price then it's absolutely a smart move.
Yeah I think he'd work perfectly in the setup you presented because he'd be able to drag CB's deeper while Rashford/Garnacho made those runs in behind.
And I think Hojlund would work better with Amad on the right or a setup that looks to see the wide players be more creative as opposed to just direct goal threats. But having both options is never a bad thing.
Looks like a talented player. Reminds me a bit of Firmino for some reason in that false 9 role due to the way he dribbles probably. We should get him if he is available for a reasonable price.
Name them! The striker market is horrendous, that's why we spent big on Hojlund. He's got the potential to actually reach the level we need. Not spending stupid sums on guys like Toney, Watkins, Solanke who ultimately aren't good enough anyway and don't have the upside that Hojlund has. There's nobody who is a top level striker and available without it being 80m+. There's nobody for cheaper who would actually improve on hojlunds current level, ignoring the upside he brings.
I'm fine with the signing. We need depth/competition for Hojlund. I'm just tempering expectations for people who think he would bench Hojlund, which he absolutely won't.People are acting like he's fecking 28
Also just bizarre how skeptical people are of a pretty highly rated young forward. He's a great profile and, if we are keeping all of our wingers, then striker is probably the most important of the front 3 that we need to address. If I need to spell it out for some:
Strikers. Are. EXPENSIVE. If we can get a high potential young one for a cheap price then it's absolutely a smart move.
People are acting like he's fecking 28
Also just bizarre how skeptical people are of a pretty highly rated young forward. He's a great profile and, if we are keeping all of our wingers, then striker is probably the most important of the front 3 that we need to address. If I need to spell it out for some:
Strikers. Are. EXPENSIVE. If we can get a high potential young one for a cheap price then it's absolutely a smart move.
Agree. Rhian Brewster was 26 million euros in 2021. If the scouting department think he is good for us then he is a very smart buy at the mentioned money. There aren't many gettable strikers out there at the moment and we dont have the money to throw megabucks at someone like osimhen.
We can’t spend £60-100m on every position, like Man City. We’re also not in a position to win all the best wonderkids on the cheap like Madrid.
So yes, like Liverpool did under Klopp we’re going to have to make do with some young smart purchases and hope our coaching staff can help them fulfil their potential.
At the end of the day, every signing is a gamble to an extent. But IMO Zirkzee is the perfect gamble for us this summer given his age, profile and low release clause, and I trust our scouts judgement better than us lot watching YT comps.
Zirkzee is not somebody Liverpool would go for. Their signings always popped in analytics and they had a good hit rate as they were heavily analytics focused with recruitment.
Zirkzee is just a nothing player if you look at analytics only, and it'll say he's basically like just getting a random average footballer who works hard and gets involved in the game without contributing anything towards goals or chance creation. You're not signing him on anything the numbers say, you're signing him based on hope that some of the talent he's shown is yet to be unlocked and that you can change him, make him effective, etc.
Someone like Hojlund was signed on the combination of having a good analytical profile combined with impressing while watching and having the raw skills relative to his age.
And you have done this analysis to say all that?
I’m 50:50 on this one because on the negative side I’m not sure if he’s ready to be man united player because at his age he needs lot of minutes to develop not just some bench player behind Hojlund. At the current level, He’s below Weghorst and Memphis in the pecking order of Netherland squad.
But for the positive side, the mentioned amount of his release clause, it could be a smart buy because he’s still young 23 years old and offer something different to Hojlund. Even the way how he plays is almost like he is a false 9 or no 10 or second striker, which means he can also be used to play alongside Hojlund if required or if there are lot of injuries.
If it doesn’t work out, we can probably sell him again for at least £25m-£30m as long as we don’t offer him big wages.
In addition, he could be the right profile if we want to progress to be possession based team, Zirkzee has been coached in a possession based team by Thiago Motta in Bologna.
But for the positive side, the mentioned amount of his release clause, it could be a smart buy because he’s still young 23 years old and offer something different to Hojlund. Even the way how he plays is almost like he is a false 9 or no 10 or second striker, which means he can also be used to play alongside Hojlund if required or if there are lot of injuries.
If it doesn’t work out, we can probably sell him again for at least £25m-£30m as long as we don’t offer him big wages.
In addition, he could be the right profile if we want to progress to be possession based team, Zirkzee has been coached in a possession based team by Thiago Motta in Bologna.
Get him in
Is there a squad that will have similar players as back ups or competing for spot?
For example Madrid has Benzema and Higuain, couldn't have been more different.
City don't have similar profile for KdB replacement. I believe Haaland and Alvarez are also different profiles.
It's very difficult to have similar profiles for first and second team.
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Why players allow agents to hamper their moves with fees, when they're already paid by the players i'll never understand.
Would be an excellent signing. I was actually disappointed when he looked nailed on for Milan.
We need players that can join defense to midfield and midfield to attack. Zirkzee is going to be perfect us. Our forwards are all runners, Rashford, Garnacho and Holjund need chances created for them if they can't use their speed to beat an opponent.
Imagine the space Zirkzee would generate for his forward partners by using his movement and playmaking.
It also gives us the ability to rest Bruno for a few games and not be starved of creativity.
We need players that can join defense to midfield and midfield to attack. Zirkzee is going to be perfect us. Our forwards are all runners, Rashford, Garnacho and Holjund need chances created for them if they can't use their speed to beat an opponent.
Imagine the space Zirkzee would generate for his forward partners by using his movement and playmaking.
It also gives us the ability to rest Bruno for a few games and not be starved of creativity.
Seems really mediocre from those stats. So we are definitely in for him.
He’s not going to lead the line for a team trying to challenge for the title or the champions league eventually, when you look at what you’re up against in Real and City. Could be a decent stop gap until a genuinely good striker becomes available.
He is a creator not a finisher.
He is about linking up play more so than finishing.
Ten Hag used False 9 in his last few games because he understood that Hojlund and inverted forwards dont play fluid enough and dont interlink well.
He played Bruno Fernandes as a False 9.
I really want him here because it will make the false 9 position one of our tactical approaches - to actually have that type of player in our squad.
He kind of reminds me of Kaka where he is a good dribbler and passer more than a finisher.
Part of the reason i want Zirkzee is because he will make Rashford, Garnacho, Amad all better and even antony or greenwood because Zirkzee will interlink the play. Sancho may also have a chance at False 9 depending on the situation with the current manager and future manager and if he struggles to get sold sinze Zirkzee solidifies the role as part of our tactics for the future. Also Ten Hag is quite good at improving players - AWB, Rashford, Garnacho, Mainoo, Dalot etc have had periods of the fanbase saying that they have improved - so ten hag improving zirkzee is something im also looking forward to.
I reckon if Milan have the money and are interested then he will move there. If they don't then we have much more of a chance.
He is about linking up play more so than finishing.
Ten Hag used False 9 in his last few games because he understood that Hojlund and inverted forwards dont play fluid enough and dont interlink well.
He played Bruno Fernandes as a False 9.
I really want him here because it will make the false 9 position one of our tactical approaches - to actually have that type of player in our squad.
He kind of reminds me of Kaka where he is a good dribbler and passer more than a finisher.
Part of the reason i want Zirkzee is because he will make Rashford, Garnacho, Amad all better and even antony or greenwood because Zirkzee will interlink the play. Sancho may also have a chance at False 9 depending on the situation with the current manager and future manager and if he struggles to get sold sinze Zirkzee solidifies the role as part of our tactics for the future. Also Ten Hag is quite good at improving players - AWB, Rashford, Garnacho, Mainoo, Dalot etc have had periods of the fanbase saying that they have improved - so ten hag improving zirkzee is something im also looking forward to.
1.
Rashford-Zirkzee-Greenwood
(Ole season 2 tactics)
2.
Garnacho-Zirkzee-Amad
(Ten Hag's youngsters)
3.
Hojlund
Sancho-Bruno-Amad
(Creative side more for a channel running striker like Hojlund)
There was an interview where Zirkzee was talking about his love for San Siro & even Van Basten as an idol.Rashford-Zirkzee-Greenwood
(Ole season 2 tactics)
2.
Garnacho-Zirkzee-Amad
(Ten Hag's youngsters)
3.
Hojlund
Sancho-Bruno-Amad
(Creative side more for a channel running striker like Hojlund)
I reckon if Milan have the money and are interested then he will move there. If they don't then we have much more of a chance.
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People who think this guy has a good hold up play don't know what they are talking about. This guy is a forward, not a striker. He is better running at the goal rather than with his back to the goal. He would be useful if he had goal scorers like Mane and Salah on either side of him who can take advantage of his link-up and passing. I don't know how he'll shine in our set-up. Also, half the time we are hoofing the ball for the striker to hold up the ball and get others into play, this guy won't be useful on those occasions. Nor will he be useful in games against big teams where TH parks the bus.
I am not talking based on some youtube snippets. I have actually seen him play a few times while I was checking out Bologna to see what is Motta's style of play.
I am not talking based on some youtube snippets. I have actually seen him play a few times while I was checking out Bologna to see what is Motta's style of play.
Looking at our inability to create chances, a forward like him could make more sense
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