Ex-England boss Capello reveals why Zirkzee struggles at Man Utd

Tom Weber

• Updated: 25 Oct 2024 17:29 BST
• 3 min read

Joshua Zirkzee is struggling to come to grips with the quicker pace of English football, according to ex-England boss Fabio Capello.

The Dutchman has not quite found his feet yet at Manchester United. Zirkzee only has one goal to his name so far, showing himself unable to fix the Red Devils' woes in front of the net.

But this was, to some extent, to be expected. Zirkzee, despite his stature, has never been a particularly physical or clinical striker. The 23-year-old is a more technical player, who likes to combine with his teammates, but the problem is that he has also not really managed to show off this area of his game yet.

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Against Fenerbahce on Thursday, he notched an assist for Man Utd's only goal of the game, but there was also a moment when Alejandro Garnacho became furious at the striker for failing to properly execute a straightforward pass, symbolic of Zirkzee's slow integration into the team.

There have been rumours of a January return to Italy of the former Bologna man, but Fabrizio Romano has rubbished suggestions that Zirkzee is already thinking about leaving Old Trafford.

Capello on Zirkzee

Still, there is no getting around the fact that the Dutchman is struggling at Man Utd. According to former England manager Fabio Capello, this is due to the faster pace of English football compared to its Italian counterpart.

Writing in his weekly Gazzetta dello Sport column, the 78-year-old explained: “After Bologna’s defeat at Aston Villa, I asked [head coach Vincenzo] Italiano what impression he had of the two English teams he faced, Aston Villa and Liverpool. He replied: 'They run, they go faster, they have a different pace.'

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“Go watch Zirkzee play in the Premier League and tell me if he seems like the same player we admired at 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 [Italian] teams.”