Erik ten Hag makes Joshua Zirkzee prediction after slow Man Utd start
Erik ten Hag has backed Joshua Zirkzee to become a ‚prolific scorer‘ for Manchester United despite his slow start to life at Old Trafford.
The Netherlands striker has scored once in seven games for the Red Devils since his £36.5m summer transfer from Bologna.
Though he has struggled to find the net, Zirkzee has been praised for his ability to link up with his fellow attackers, while he was denied a second goal in United colours by a fine save from Lars Unnerstall during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Twente in the UEFA Europa League.
Ahead of this Sunday’s visit of Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, Ten Hag was asked whether he thinks Zirkzee can become a ‚prolific scorer‘ for United.
„Yes I do,“ he replied.
„Sure, he is young. We see his great abilities. He is a very good link-up player, as you say, he is creative.
„He is creating chances but be fair, also he has his moments towards the goal from the opposition. I think it was a great action he had [against Twente] and a great finish he had, top save from the keeper but in that area he can definitely improve.
„We know he has some very good attributes, and he has to improve, and he needs our support on how to improve.“
United rank among the Premier League’s lowest scorers through the first five games of the 2024/25 campaign, with only five goals to their name at this point.
Their attacking woes go beyond the contributions of Zirkzee, and Ten Hag admitted it will take a collective effort to get scoring again.
„That is the key area. We have to score goals as a team. I think across the team, we have the ability to score,“ he added.
„That is clear, when you see all the opportunities we are creating, we are not scoring enough.
„I think we bring the ball into the final third and the box a lot but now we have to take more advantage and more benefit from it.“