“I spoke with him…” – Erik ten Hag addresses ‘not the answer’ criticism of Manchester United star

Erik ten Hag has addressed criticism of one Manchester United star after claims that he is ‘not the answer’ to one problem at Old Trafford.

The Reds got off to the perfect start in their new Premier League season, collecting three points after their 1-0 victory over Fulham.

Despite their dominance throughout the game, displayed through their 2.51 expected goals, Erik ten Hag’s side were expectedly wasteful in front of goal.

It took until the 87th minute for Joshua Zirkzee to open the scoring with his first goal for the club on his debut.

However, despite the Dutchman’s impressive finish and stellar start to life at United, former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy says United still need to strengthen their attack.

“Joshua Zirkzee has made a dream start at Manchester United and looks a wonderful talent,” he told MailOnline.

“But, sorry to disappoint United fans, he is not going to be the answer to their goalscoring problems.

“The Dutchman is strong and skilful but not a proper centre forward. He likes to come to the ball and is more comfortable as a number ten or wide.

“His scoring record at Bologna was a goal every four games – not great.”

While this is somewhat true, Ten Hag has already addressed this type of criticism after the game on Friday.

The manager clearly appreciates Zirkzee’s abilities to drop deep and create but also explained that he has told the no.11 that he needs to strike the right balance, also getting into the box to ‘kill’ – which is exactly what he did against Fulham.

“Scoring for strikers is important,” Ten Hag said when asked about the 23-year-old’s creative playstyle.

“And he should be there where he was, to finish, to kill, but he has more qualities so he has to get the right balance.

“We have to work with him – I think that is one of the things I spoke with him about. He has to arrive in the box to get his finishes.

“Of course, we want him to link up also. For that attribute, we bought him, and he has great qualities to make that link-up play. We have some great midfielders around him who we can make combinations so we can take control of the game.”

It is clear that Zirkzee was not a killer in the box beforehand, but United have already begun working on it, and with Ruud van Nistelrooy coaching the player, it is clear that he will not be allergic to the box like Murphy suggested.

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