December 20th 2024.
Manchester United has been making some signings recently, but not all of them have been impressive. According to former Match of the Day pundit Mark Lawrenson, one of their signings from last summer was a bit of a flop. In the 2024 summer transfer window, the club welcomed Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs De Ligt, and Joshua Zirkzee to Old Trafford. While Yoro has been sidelined due to an injury sustained during pre-season, Mazraoui and De Ligt have been regulars in the team, despite Manchester United's position in the bottom half of the Premier League. Zirkzee has also been given playing time, but he has yet to convince both fans and Lawrenson, who is a Liverpool legend.
Zirkzee did manage to score on his Premier League debut in August, but then went over three months without finding the back of the net. He did score a brace in a 4-0 win over Everton and in a 4-3 Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham earlier this week, but Lawrenson still has his doubts. "Joshua Zirkzee has been a bit of a flop since joining Manchester United in the summer," he said in an interview with Paddy Power. "I don't like using that word, but he's been in and out of the team without any consistency."
Lawrenson goes on to explain that Manchester United's forward players are all competing for a spot in the starting lineup, and unless they perform exceptionally well, there is no guarantee that they will keep their place in the team the following week. This, to Lawrenson, shows that the manager has a difficult job on his hands. Ruben Amorim, the current manager, has a large squad to choose from, making it challenging to keep everyone happy. Lawrenson believes that this is causing issues within the team.
Zirkzee is not the only forward at Manchester United who has been struggling to impress. Marcus Rashford, who recently dropped out of the starting lineup under Amorim, is also expected to leave the club in January. In an interview, Rashford admitted that he is "ready" to leave. Lawrenson believes that Rashford has already made up his mind and will likely move on. "From Marcus Rashford's interview, I think he's already decided on what he wants to do next," Lawrenson stated. "I think he'll leave Manchester United because he doesn't seem interested when he plays."
Lawrenson also points out that Rashford's reduced playing time and lack of performance will make it difficult for him to find a new club. "The longer this goes on with Rashford not playing and not performing, the fewer interested teams there will be," he said. Overall, Lawrenson believes that Manchester United's current situation with players struggling and wanting to leave shows that the manager has a big job ahead of him.
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