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The Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman has been criticised for announcing that Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee will not start tonight’s Nations League encounter versus Germany.
The Serie A under 23 player of the season capped off a sensational season last year by completing a £36.5m move to Old Trafford in July, to become Ineos’ first signing at United.
The Dutch striker got off to the perfect start as he came off the bench to score a late winner against Fulham on his home debut.
Nonetheless, his fortunes changed when he unluckily cancelled out Alejandro Garnacho’s strike against Brighton and Hove Albion, touching the ball when in an offside position and missed a couple of big chances in the defeat to Liverpool.
He was outstanding however in his first start for his country against Bosnia and Herzegovina, scoring and assisting another at the weekend.
In spite of this, the Dutch boss claimed before the clash against the Germans, via TeamTalk, that “Zirkzee did very well, but I discussed this with them beforehand. I want to see both strikers from the start and the choice of why Joshua starts today and Brian on Tuesday is mainly to do with the opponent.”
“We hope to be dangerous in the transition against Germany. I want to see them both but ultimately you want to have a regular striker.”
Pundits and former Dutch internationals Van der Vaart and Pierre van Hooijdonk were left unimpressed by the former Barcelona coach’s call however.
Speaking on NOS, Van Hooijdonk stated, “it’s actually a shame that Koeman has already said that Brobbey will play against Germany because you are actually very curious to see how this duo [Zirkzee and Tijjani Reijnders] will do against a good opponent.”
Van der Vaart also had some choice words about the selection stating “what does Koeman gain from this? Imagine… Brobbey does great against a big country like Germany, or he does badly… I would just continue like this, I think. Why would you make a change?”
“He has already said it, of course, and he will do what he has in mind. But it is almost a bit of a shame, of course.”
Zirkzee will be aiming to build on his impressive display against Bosnia for United when they take on Southampton this Saturday in what already feels like a must-win match. With the news that the Red Devils will not rush back fellow striker Rasmus Hojlund from injury, Zirkzee’s role in the team will be even more vital over the course of the next few matches.
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2024-09-10 07:00:47
