What Joshua Zirkzee did in second half vs Bournemouth infuriated Ruben Amorim on the sidelines

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Ruben Amorim put his faith in Joshua Zirkzee to lead the line for Manchester United against Bournemouth.

Rasmus Hojlund has been the first-choice striker under Ruben Amorim’s management, but the Portuguese head coach has also given plenty of opportunities to £36m summer signing Joshua Zirkzee.

Zirkzee scored on his debut for Manchester United but then waited until early December to add to his goal tally under Amorim in the 4-0 win over Everton.

After Hojlund started against Manchester City and Tottenham, Zirkzee was one of six changes made to the lineup for Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

However, the 23-year-old was poor up front and United fans slammed Zirkzee’s display against the Cherries. It seems Amorim was also far from pleased with what he saw from the Dutchman.

Why Ruben Amorim was ‘frustrated’ by Joshua Zirkzee

During his first game in charge as manager back in November, Owen Hargreaves pointed out that Amorim was ‘frustrated’ with Zirkzee against Ipswich Town for his lack of pressing and intensity.

That suggests why he has dropped below Hojlund in Amorim’s pecking order, with the Dane better suited to the 3-4-3 system currently in use.

Amorim needs Zirkzee to adapt but he was once again left shaking his head at the Dutch striker against Bournemouth.

As reported by Manchester Evening News, Amorim “jumped up and down in frustration” when he saw Zirkzee jump out of a challenge against United target Milos Kerkez early in the second half.

By that point, Zirkzee had already lost his marker Dean Huijsen for Bournemouth’s opening goal and despite being one of United’s tallest players he continued to lose aerial duels.

Zirkzee won two of the five aerial duels he competed for against Bournemouth. After jumping out of the challenge against Kerkez, he was brought off by Amorim moments later.

Joshua Zirkzee linked with Man United exit

While Hojlund has been tipped to replicate Viktor Gyokeres under Amorim, the future for Zirkzee is much more cloudy.

He doesn’t suit the high-intensity style of play that Amorim is trying to introduce and United look worse whenever Zirkzee is on the pitch.

Just six months after moving to Manchester, Zirkzee has been linked with an exit from United with Italian clubs showing an interest in a deal.

READ MORE: MUTV pundit criticises Manchester United forward for defending vs Bournemouth, ‘he’s cost us a goal’

United could be open to offers as early as January with Zirkzee’s agent holding crunch talks over his future at the club.

Juventus admire Zirkzee while Antonio Conte at Napoli has also shown interest in the centre-forward.