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Erik ten Hag’s job is safe again – for now. Manchester United recovered from their humiliating home defeat to Liverpool by picking up a 3-0 win against Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday, thanks to goals from Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, moving up to 10th in the Premier League table in the process.
Rashford and De Ligt grabbed most of the headlines, with the former netting his first goal in 189 days and the latter producing a colossal display at both ends of the pitch to show exactly why United paid £50 million ($66m) to sign him from Bayern Munich. But it was the brilliance of United’s second summer recruit from the Netherlands that underpinned the crucial victory.
Joshua Zirkzee was handed only his second start for the club since his £36m ($48m) switch from Bologna, and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. All of United’s best attacks went through the 23-year-old as the Saints toiled in vain to pin him down. Zirkzee was also guilty of some wasteful finishing again, but he wasn’t signed to be the Red Devils’ primary marksman.
For so much of last season, United lacked a creative spark; that’s what Zirkzee provides. Rasmus Hojlund will certainly have been rubbing his hands together watching Zirkzee’s latest outing because the Dutchman looks like the perfect foil for the Dane, who Ten Hag desperately needs to welcome back from injury heading into a make-or-break run of games…
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Getty Images SportConstant menace
Zirkzee started in the No.9 role for United on the south coast, and struggled to get involved initially as Southampton dominated proceedings for the first half-hour. The momentum swung in the visitors’ favour after Andre Onana kept out a penalty from Cameron Archer, though, with De Ligt rising to head home the opener from a Bruno Fernandes cross just five minutes later.
Rashford then curled home from just outside the box to give United a comfortable lead, and Southampton were left clinging on until the half-time whistle. Zirkzee started to become the main thorn in their side, and picked up from where he left off in the second half, coming deep to show for the ball before pinging off intelligent first-time passes to get the Red Devils up the pitch quickly.
The Bayern Munich academy graduate’s intelligent movement helped to draw Southampton defenders out of position, too, as he served as the main link between defence and attack for Ten Hag’s side. For the first time you could see Zirkzee developing a rapport with Rashford and Amad Diallo as he held the ball up and looked for combinations, while also showing the confidence to dribble past players in tight spaces. Not everything came off, but he was a constant menace.
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Joshua-ZirkzeeGetty Images‘I’m a little different’
As per Sofascore, Zirkzee completed 82 percent of his passes against the Saints, the majority of which went forward, won seven of his 11 duels and racked up an impressive expected goals (xG) total of 1.14. The talented youngster scored on his debut to give his new club victory against Fulham on the opening weekend of the new season, but he properly announced himself as a United player at St Mary’s.
This was the version of Zirkzee who became a cult hero at Bologna. He doesn’t have the selfish mindset to be a prolific goal-scorer, and that’s okay; United have signed a technically-gifted forward who always wants to be involved in the build-up play and gets more of a kick out of providing chances for his team-mates.
“I am what I call a false striker,” Zirkzee told the Daily Mirror in August. “Not a No.9, not a No.10. I am a 9.5! That’s my game. Maybe I’m a little different than others. But being different is good, right?”
It certainly is for United, who only scored 57 Premier League goals last season – the joint-worst record in the top 10. Zirkzee gives them a whole new dimension in attack, and crucially, he’s not afraid to take risks.
“I want to play a pure game,” the Netherlands international added. “Nutmegs, chops and backheels are moments that belong in football. That style has value for me. It’s the soccer kid in me because it’s supposed to be fun too. You have to pick the right moments. It’s intuition. I think I have excellent skills. I spent a lot of time on that as a kid. But if I lose the ball, I want to regain it immediately with the team. But the fancy footwork is part of my game at the end of the day.”
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Getty ImagesZlatan’s heir?
Zirkzee’s natural desire to express himself bodes well for his chances of becoming a popular figure at Old Trafford. Crowd-pleasing mavericks have been in short supply for United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, and though Zirkzee’s start has been slower than he would have hoped, supporters will embrace him if he continues to push the envelope.
It also helps that he idolises a certain Swede who did the same thing during his time in Manchester. “I would love it if, in a few years’ time, people said that my game looks a bit like Zlatan Ibrahimovic,” Zirkzee told reporters last week. “The start, with the winning goal against Fulham, was nice. Then we lost twice – and you know that at a big club like Manchester United the attention then comes full on. I believe it will be fine. I’ve always had that. I never doubted it would still work out with my career.”
Ibrahimovic scored a very respectable 29 goals in two seasons with the Red Devils, but the truth is, they signed him too late at 34. The best years of Ibrahimovic’s career came at Juventus, Inter and AC Milan between 2004 and 2012, at which stage he was a masterful playmaker as well as a deadly marksman.
Zirkzee doesn’t possess the same instincts in front of goal as Ibrahimovic, but he is equally as imaginative on the ball. And just like the Swedish icon in his prime, Zirkzee uses his imposing physical frame and deceptive turn of pace to barge past defenders at will.
The arrogant streak that helped bolster the Ibrahimovic brand is not so prominent in Zirkzee, but he doesn’t want for self-confidence either. In the Southampton game, there were real signs that the Dutch ace could become a similarly inspirational figure for United, especially when Ten Hag can field his strongest team.
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AFPHojlund holds the key
United have been largely dire to watch in 2024, but on the rare occasions they have clicked as a collective, including in the FA Cup final against Manchester City, Ten Hag has opted to play with split-strikers. The Red Devils look far more fluid going forward with that 4-2-2-2 formation and less open out of possession, which is why it should be revived when Hojlund returns.
Zirkzee and Hojlund could lead the line with Fernandes and either Alejandro Garnacho or Amad backing them up, while Kobbie Mainoo and new addition Manuel Ugarte sit at the base of the midfield in a compact shape that doesn’t leave United exposed to swift counters. There is enough firepower there to blow most teams away, too.
Hojlund was starved of service in his debut season at United but still scored 16 goals, so imagine what he could do with Zirkzee next to him. The former Bologna star will hold the ball up and look to pick out the intelligent runs in behind that Hojlund made so often in 2023-24.
Indeed, Ten Hag has already admitted that is his ideal gameplan, telling Viaplay Sports in the summer: “Joshua Zirkzee & Rasmus Hojlund can play together. They compliment each other.”
They look like a match made in heaven on paper. Hojlund’s finishing is still quite erratic, but he gets in the right positions and will see a lot more chances with Zirkzee on hand to provide stellar service. The only concern is whether Hojlund can avoid any further injury setbacks, because United don’t have another centre-forward to call upon, which has seriously hampered their progress in recent weeks.
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AFPUnfair judgement
Unfortunately for Zirkzee, until Hojlund is back, he will continue to be judged mainly on his goal output by those who weren’t familiar with his game before he arrived at Old Trafford.
“I quite like him. He has got something, but he’s not a [Erling] Haaland killer who is going to get you 40 [goals],” former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves said to Rio Ferdinand Presents after seeing Zirkzee struggle against Liverpool. “In our team, he probably would have been a good squad player, he would have been the third or fourth guy. But I think if you want to win, you need a guy at the top of the pitch who is just ruthless.”
Hargreaves would have benefitted from watching Zirkzee during the latest international break, as he shone for the Netherlands in a 5-2 Nations League victory against Bosnia & Herzegovina. Zirkzee marked his maiden international start with a genius flicked header to put the Oranje in front after just 13 minutes, and also provided the assist for Tijjani Reijnders to double their advantage.
Zirkzee’s perfectly-weighted pass for Reijnders left former Eredivisie star Hans Kraay Jr. in awe, as he said while covering the game as a pundit for Dutch media: “Zirkzee is so intelligent. He not only passes it on the run, he also passes it in such a way that it is not too hard and ends up on Reijnders’ left. I think that is so beautiful.”
The United starlet sees openings that others can’t, and has the quality to make the most of them; that’s what makes him a huge asset. Dismissing Zirkzee as a “squad player” because he’s not a traditional No.9 is plain unfair, and he could silence a lot of doubters before the season is out – providing the Red Devils get their act together as a collective.
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AFPWhat’s next?
Quite when Hojlund will return is uncertain, with Ten Hag saying ahead of the 7-0 Carabao Cup win over Barnsley on Tuesday: “Of course, it’s an important period with many games to play – I think seven in 22 days. We need everyone and hopefully players are returning. It will not be the case for the next game, but hopefully, in the next weeks they [Hojlund, Mount and Shaw] will return to the squad.”
United can continue to make do without Shaw and Mount, but it will be nigh impossible for them to build any real momentum until Hojlund is back. That seven-game run includes Premier Lague trips to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, and home games against Tottenham and Brentford at home. If the Red Devils don’t get at least eight points from those games, Ten Hag will find himself under huge pressure again.
But if Hojlund is available, the outlook for United will be far more positive. He’s the final piece of the puzzle for the Red Devils to start climbing back towards the Champions League spots.
They really shouldn’t be so reliant on one player, but Ten Hag’s blueprint just doesn’t work without him. Zirkzee’s unique qualities will certainly go to waste, which would be a huge shame. He’s a potentially world-class operator forced to play at 75% of his capacity right now, and that has to change if United are to have any hope of a proper resurgence before the new year.
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