Zirkzee’s attitude is perfect for United, but it’s not enough to avoid exit
Not all stories have happy endings, especially in football and at Manchester United in particular. Many times have bright sparks been snuffed out by the fug of Old Trafford toxicity to go on and burn ...
Zirkzee’s attitude is perfect for United, but it’s not enough to avoid exit Not all stories have happy endings, especially in football and at Manchester United in particular. Many times have bright sparks been snuffed out by the fug of Old Trafford toxicity to go on and burn bright elsewhere, fashioning their own positive narrative after a turbulent time as a Red Devil. Too late for redemption The move away from United can be transformative.
Whatever the club lacks it seems Napoli, for example, offer in spades – the maligned Scott McTominay turned almost overnight into a Ballon d’Or challenger as the key man in delivering last season’s Serie A, and the wretched Rasmus Hojlund has put in a solid shift in an ultimately futile title defence. Neither will have a United redemption arc, but both go with the blessings of the sympathetic football fan. Closer to home, and potentially also halfway to Italy , Joshua Zirkzee would have given anything for a similar turnaround in fortunes while still wearing red.
It’s probably too late now, but the Dutchman has been a misfit at United since the start, his mercurial style of play at odds with the requirements of a desperate squad several years away from being able to accommodate an unpredictable showman at its focal point. Strictly sidelined Brought in to address a lack of goals despite never being a prolific striker, Zirkzee was slowly ushered to the sidelines and now occupies the fringes of Michael Carrick ’s squad with nine goals in 71 matches for United. The interim boss has handed him barely half an hour of football across 13 matches, some of which have been begging for a creative spark from the bench.
The longest the 24-year-old has been given on the pitch was 13 minutes in the hopeless 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United. For whatever reason he is not trusted by Carrick, just as he was largely peripheral under Ruben Amorim . Impressive attitude That this brutal treatment has taken place in a World Cup year will not have been lost on the Dutchman, who could be forgiven some frustration.