Joshua Zirkzee looked close to tears when he was booed off in the first half of Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United (December 30). The Dutch attacker lasted just 33 minutes before Ruben Amorim hooked him off for Kobbie Mainoo as the Magpies dominated midfield.
The 23-year-old was crestfallen as he made his way to the bench with jeers ringing around Old Trafford, a disgusting display from a section of a usually passionate and loyal fanbase. Zirkzee headed down the tunnel to escape the hell that he was experiencing, and many thought he’d perhaps walked his way out of United and pulled the plug just three months into his Red Devils career.
A few minutes later and Zirkzee returned to the bench with a lucozade in hand. It showed an enormous amount of bottle to show his face again after the torment he was put through, but there was still a sense that he’d be headed for the exit door come January.
Joshua Zirkzee showed enormous courage to fight on
Zirkzee was linked with a move to Juventus, per talkSPORT, and the chance to reunite with his former Bologna manager, Thiago Motta, will no doubt have been appeasing. But, the former Bayern Munich youngster opted to remain with United and wanted to turn things around.
Now it’s not to say that he’s lived up to expectations on the goal front but Zirkzee has shown vast improvement following that controversial incident. He’s linked up superbly with the likes of Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho and kept possession of the ball with impressive hold up play which had been missing in Rssmus Hojlunds game.
The major criticsm he received in the winter period cramps was taken on board and the forward didn’t cater to a potential early departure - instead working his way back into Ruben Amorims thinking and outperforming fellow striker Hojlund.
Gary Neville: Exactly the response you want to see
Gary Neville was on commentary when Zirkzee was brought off against Newcastle and he described the incident as 'brutal'. The United icon was among those who thought he may have played his last game for the club but that wasn't the case.
The Sky Sports pundit wrote a lengthy analysis of Zirkzee bouncing back from that ordeal when the Dutchman fired in the Red Devils' winning penalty in a 5-3 shootout win over Arsenal in the FA Cup. He wrote on his LinkedIn account:
"To step up to take the final pressure penalty yesterday at the Emirates is exactly the response you want to see from a player when something like that happens and you could see the reaction from the other players toward him and what it meant.
It will have been a rough moment for him the other week and he still has a long way to go but scoring that penalty and hearing the United fans singing his name was a great pick me up moment for him!"
Zirkzee is no longer Manchester United's fall guy up top
Manchester United will enter the summer transfer window with a new striker signing one of their priorities. But if bringing a new centre-forward to Old Trafford means parting ways with one of Smorims crop it shouldn’t be Zirkzee.
The Dutch attacker has versatility, is still getting to grips with English football and deserves time and patience, which Hojlund, who cost around £30m more, received up until recent weeks. The young Dane is feeling the wrath of fans for his goalscoring struggles, and if one of the duo is put up for sale in the summer, it should be him.