Manchester United’s 1-1 draw away at Fenerbahçe on Thursday was not a bad result in itself, but it did little to get Erik ten Hag’s side out of the slump in which they’ve found themselves since the beginning of the season.
Joshua Zirkzee provided an assist to help Christian Eriksen open the scoring after just 15 minutes, but apart from that the Dutchman had another difficult appearance for the Red Devils.
Since his big money move – thought to have cost €40m plus €15m in commission – from Bologna, Zirzkee has been struggling to really fit and have a positive impact on Ten Hag’s side. There’s certainly been flashes of good stuff, especially in link-up play, but at times the 23-year-old appears to be playing the game at his own speed… and it’s usually far slower than the tempo required.
The former England manager believes Serie A clubs have tried to copy aspects of Pep Guardiola’s style but they do so at a much slower pace and therefore it doesn’t have the desired impact.
That’s when he came around to Zirkzee, and Capello said: “After Bologna’s defeat at Aston Villa, I asked Italiano (Vincenzo, Bologna manager) what impression he had of the two English teams he faced immediately, Aston Villa and Liverpool. He replied: “They run, they go faster, they have a different pace”.
“Go watch Zirkzee play in the Premier League and tell me if he seems like the same player we admired in Bologna: in Italy he did what he wanted, in England he doesn’t even have time to think about the play before the ball is stolen from him. More or less the same thing happens to our teams.”
Joshua Zirkzee will have a chance to show he can speed things up on Sunday against West Ham United, should Erik ten Hag give him the opportunity.
