Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee got off to a fast start for the club on his debut. Since then it has been a little mixed.
When you play for Manchester United you are always 90 minutes away from becoming a hero, or villain. Just ask Casemiro.
Joshua Zirkzee scored on his Manchester United debut, before accidentally causing a goal to be ruled out against Brighton.
Against Liverpool he started his first Manchester United game and it was a struggle. Virgil van Dijk explained how he had a gameplan to stop him, and it largely worked.
Zirkzee will still come good, it is all part of the learning curve for the Dutch forward – but expectations must also be fair.
Owen Hargreaves on Joshua Zirkzee
Like any player arriving at Manchester United, Joshua Zirkzee has to prove himself. And when it comes to strikers, they are judged on goals.
Zirkzee arrived with a moderate goal record, he scored just 11 Serie A goals last season for Bologna. His strengths lie in other ways he can benefit the team too, keeping possession in the final third, linking up with his teammates, and being more than simply a target man.
Against Liverpool it did not go well, even these areas of his game were found wanting, and Zirkzee failed to convert the chances which came his way, lacking the clinical edge he demonstrated against Fulham.
Former Manchester United Champions League winner Owen Hargreaves is unsure about Zirkzee, seeing positives, yet wants more.
Hargreaves told Rio Ferdinand Presents: “I quite like him. He has got something, but he’s not a Haaland killer who is going to get you 40.
“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.”
Where are the ‘Haaland killers’
Joshua Zirkzee is part of the puzzle at Manchester United, and he needs the full season to really show what he can do.
United are awaiting Rasmus Hojlund to come back from injury, another young striker developing his ruthless edge in front of goal.
Yet it’s also unfair to criticise a player for not being a ‘Haaland killer’ – because there are no strikers around who match up to the City forward.
Haaland has scored seven goals in three matches this season, included two hat-tricks. That’s more than three times Manchester United’s paltry goal tally of just two goals all season.
Trying to find a striker who can compare to Haaland is pretty much impossible. Even if you could find one – how much would he cost?
United do hope that young talent Chido Obi-Martin might develop into one. He scored 32 goals in 19 games for Arsenal’s youth sides last season.
But it could be a long while before he is dominating the Premier League, if at all.
In the meantime, there are areas for Zirkzee to work on, and the only real way for him to make an impact if he is scoring, or the players around him are – and against Liverpool, neither happened.
Criticise him if he does not perform. But don’t criticise him for not being a 40-goal a season man.
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