Retired Watford striker Troy Deeney hit out at Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag over his use of new signing Joshua Zirkzee.
The striker, who arrived at the club from Bologna in the summer, enjoyed an impressive start to life in the Premier League, scoring the only goal in Man United’s 1-0 win over Fulham in his debut.
Since then, however, he has struggled to find his feet, coming on again as a substitute in the frustrating 2-1 defeat away at Brighton and Hove Albion before struggling to make an impact in the harrowing 3-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend.
Although Zirkzee missed several lucrative scoring opportunities during the crushing defeat to United’s bitter rivals at Old Trafford, Deeney pointed out that the onus might not rest solely on the striker for his underwhelming performance.
Speaking on David Seaman’s Seaman Says podcast, Deeney broke his silence on Zirkzee’s performances to date.
“I don’t think Zirkzee is a striker,” the retired Watford striker admitted. “I always watch strikers, and he moves like a No. 10.”
“He always wants to come off the top line to get involved, and he always arrives late to the box. I think with how they’re playing, they need someone a bit Haaland-esque who doesn’t really touch the ball much and is just always in the six-yard box, because there’s so many times the ball flashes across the face and no one’s in there.”
Deeney concluded by delivering a scathing testament of Ten Hag’s management, albeit without mentioning the Dutch manager by name: “I don’t think that’s his [Zirkzee’s] fault. I think they’re asking him to do a job that he’s probably not used to. He’s probably learning. Immensely talented player, though.”
Prior to the Liverpool game, Ten Hag picked out some questionable United lineups.
Against Fulham, Ten Hag played Bruno Fernandes out of position as a striker while slotting Mason Mount behind him. Fernandes’ inability to be a goal poacher showed, with United struggling to find the back of the net against inferior opponents at Old Trafford.
Then again at Brighton, Ten Hag kept Fernandes at striker, while still starting the constantly underperforming Marcus Rashford, thereby showing a reluctance to learn from past mistakes. Zirkzee, the only natural centre-forward in the team in any capacity, was only brought on in the second half.
United’s FA Cup victory aside, last season was a difficult one to bear, with the team slumping to their worst-ever Premier League finish.
With two losses in United’s opening three games, patience for Ten Hag is running thin, with United’s executive team reportedly also getting the message that the Dutch manager’s system is perhaps not a fit for United.
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