One Manchester United star has been slammed for being ‘nowhere near’ one of his teammates despite getting chances recently.
Manchester United’s Premier League season has been inconsistent, much like many of their rivals, yet they remain within six points of second-placed Manchester City.
Ruben Amorim’s team have produced eye-catching results, including victories over Liverpool and Crystal Palace, but have also let valuable points slip in games they were expected to win, such as the home draw against a 10-man Everton.
Several players have not been happy with the amount of games they are playing. Joshua Zirkzee had not started any of the first 13 matches of the season.
After an injury to Benjamin Šeško, the Dutch striker started three games in a row and scored one goal, although he was put back on the bench for the victory over Wolves.
United star slammed for being “nowhere near” teammate
Zirkzee is a player who splits opinion within the United fanbase but ex-Red Paul Parker is not a huge fan of the no.11, who believes that he is ‘nowhere near’ the level of his competition in Šeško. Parker has suggested that Zirkzee is selfish and tries to hard to be ‘flashy’.
“He is nowhere near the level of Sesko, who is very unselfish and makes all the right runs, and we also see now how big of a gap there is between the two of them. Zirkzee is just miles away from what is expected when you play at Man United,” Parker told AceOdds.com.
“It’s quite ironic actually, that Zirkzee is now playing more because Sesko is injured, but I think Zirkzee would rather want Sesko to be ready and play ahead of him, so he can get his loan move away in January. He might miss out on it now because of Sesko’s injury.
“I don’t like what I am seeing from Zirkzee at all. Everything about him is trying to be flashy and it just doesn’t work. He has to be frustrated, because nothing works out for him. He looks like he is frustrated, and I totally get it, but at the end of the day it is his own fault.
“I am wondering at times what they actually saw in Zirkzee. Fair enough, he is alright on the ball and his touch is decent, but he is just not going to make a difference for Man United ever.”
Zirkzee not best option
Zirkzee’s biggest problem is that he is not United’s best rotation option. If Šeško is out in the future, Amorim will almost certainly turn to Mason Mount to play ahead of the Dutchman, and then move Matheus Cunha centrally.
Mount offers a similar kind of style to Zirkzee – good movement, one and two touch football – while also being a huge upgrade out of possession.
Zirkzee also seems like the kind of player who needs regular football to sharpen his skillset and that is not easy to get at United right now.
He will likely try and look for a mid-season exit to try and push for a World Cup spot but unfortunately United still need a backup option.
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