New Delhi: During a lackluster first half against Newcastle United on Monday night, Joshua Zirkzee was the target of the booing and jeering of Manchester United supporters. With Newcastle hitting the woodwork and another goal disallowed for offside in a horribly lopsided first half, the Red Devils were trailing the Magpies 2-0 at home after being completely outplayed. After just 32 minutes, Ruben Amorim decided to use his substitutes bench to try to strengthen the center of the field, where the home team had been far superior. Kobbie Mainoo took Zirkzee’s place.
The decision to remove Zirkzee was met with raucous applause right away, and as he walked off the field, he was met with an equally loud volley of jeers. Instead of taking his seat on the bench, the Dutch attacker seemed to put on a coat right away and head into the tunnel, only to emerge a little while later. Zirkzee only managed 14 touches of the ball, three passes, and one free kick in his roughly thirty minutes on the field, but he made no contributions to the creation or taking of shots.
Rasmus Hojlund, a 23-year-old Dutch player who has scored three goals in his little under 700 league minutes this season, is usually selected as the starting No. 9. This was his seventh Premier League start of the season. Newcastle still had the better chances in the first half and led 2-0 at the half, thus Amorim’s early substitution had little effect.
Beginning of the end for Zirkzee?
🚨 Joshua Zirkzee was almost in TEARS while walking down the tunnel after being substituted.
(Source: @beINSPORTS_EN) pic.twitter.com/alpI5zfOI7
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) December 30, 2024
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side is something Joshua Zirkzee might be feeling right now. Him getting subbed-off early isn’t the problem here. The real problem is with the fans attending the match who showed no support whatsoever and instead, booed their own player after his poor night at Old Trafford. Gary Neville had some strong points to take just moments after the substitution, as he showed his sympathies for the Dutch international.
During half time, this is what the United legend Gary Neville had to say: ‘I actually feel sorry for Joshua Zirkzee. He was bought for big money but there is a human being in there.
“He is essentially being cheered off by his own fans. He’s has not been good but they’ve all been poor.” He further added.
It has clearly not been a good start for Zirkzee, despite showing early positive signs for United when he scored on his debut back in August in a match against Fulham. His brace against Everton during the start of Decenmber suggested that he might just be settling into the system now. But since then, he has barely manaed to put on good performances for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United. With few of the Italian giants such as Juventus and AC Milan interested in bringing him back to Serie A, is the Dutch forward’s dream of succeeding at Old Trafford already over?
Joshua Zirkzee’s early substitution and cheers from the United crowd fuel led to him leaving the pitch and heading straight towards the tunnel. So is his time at Manchester coming to an end? Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
