The importance of Joshua Zirkzee is becoming clear at Manchester United and against Crystal Palace was the most obvious example yet.
This comes after the disappointment of drawing 0-0 with the Eagles on Saturday night in which Joshua Zirkzee was very impressive.
Erik ten Hag will have been thrilled with the impact Zirkzee had in the game – despite the lack of penalty area threat.
Manchester United had three players occupy the No.9 role during the game with Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund both coming off the bench.
However, of the three it is undeniably Zirkzee who was most impactful.
Joshua Zirkzee is too important to drop
For United against Crystal Palace, almost everything good had Zirkzee’s fingerprints all over it. This was clear in the first big chance Alejandro Garnacho had, with the Dutchman creating the chance with an expertly timed through ball.
Zirkzee was also at the centre of some really nice phases of play and linked everything up so well, with his exit leading to United losing control of the game and stopping creating chances.
With Zirkzee on the pitch, United completed 91 of 124 passes (73%) in the attacking third – a figure which drastically decreased after his departure with just 17 of 28 (60%).
This is quite an interesting stat which shows that when Zirkzee is on the pitch, United are far better at getting up the pitch and keeping possession.
With the Dutchman, United can dominate games, without him we become much more of a transition team that gifts the opposition control.
Manchester United’s strongest front three becomes clear
After the 7-0 Barnsley win, it looked like Ten Hag would have a tough time selecting a front three from all the in-form forwards at his disposal.
But now after this game, it once again seems pretty nailed on who the strongest front three is and it involved Zirkzee as the number nine.
Despite not being as natural a goalscorer as Hojlund for example, Zirkzee ties the whole team together and with him on the pitch, United are a far better team than without him.
In-form Rashford should also be starting for the time being, as he remains better than Garnacho when starting – the Argentine is deadly off the bench and should be used there for now, to protect him instead of overplaying like we did last season.
- READ MORE: Who is Marcus Rashford? Inside the life of Man Utd’s book-writing, government-tackling ace
On the right, Amad Diallo has very quickly become one of the first names on the teamsheet and he will likely start against Twente on Wednesday and also Spurs next weekend.
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