News about Joshua Zirkzee

GRAEME SOUNESS: I must say I am struggling to think of any action that the geniuses currently running Manchester United could have taken to turn more people against them than terminating Sir Alex Ferguson's contract as a club ambassador and showing him the door. I'm trying to compute how they could have actually come up with an idea like that, at a time when so many supporters' goodwill is ebbing away. This decision will have turned a great many more against them. The finger of blame will now not just be on Erik ten Hag. Ineos are in charge of a club sitting 14th in the league, having had their worst start to a league season in 35 years. So they've sat down in a room and said to each other: 'Right. What can we do to lose the little goodwill that's remaining to us? I tell you what - let's sack the greatest ambassador we have and restrict his access to certain parts of Old Trafford.'

Paolo Di Canio has sensationally claimed he would 'arrest all the directors' at Manchester United over a major transfer call. In his first summer window since becoming a co-owner of United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe green-lit a £180m window as Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui all arrived at Old Trafford.  However, United's new signings haven't exactly hit the ground running as United sit 14th on eight points, the club's worst start to a season after seven games.

SIMON JORDAN: The proper time for a robust discussion about Erik ten Hag's future was during the summer, not seven games into a new season in which he's been handed an extended contract and £200milion worth of new players and a so-called new framework which is only weeks old. While I am sceptical about Ten Hag's capabilities to be a successful Manchester United manager long-term, my question to Sir Jim Ratcliffe this week is: 'What is the point of sacking him now?'

Manchester United reportedly rejected signing one of the Premier League's most prolific strikers with Erik ten Hag instead demanding Rasmus Hojlund moved to Old Trafford instead. The club's goal struggles have been well documented during Ten Hag's reign with Hojlund yet to score in the league this season having only just recently returned from a disruptive injury. The 21-year-old centre forward's arrival buoyed United supporters when he made a £72m switch to England's northwest from Atalanta last year.

Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez has shared that him and partner Muri Lopez Benitez are expecting their first child.  Posting on Instagram, an elated Martinez and Lopez Benitez shared a picture of the couple holding a picture of their baby scan. The picture was accompanied by a heartfelt message from the Argentinian, who wrote of his jubilation. 

Oh, to be Erik ten Hag for just one day. Driving into Manchester United's Carrington training base under a microscope of scrutiny that has been present since he stepped into the role. But away from football, he also has to contend with being a dad. Admittedly, much of the recent criticism of the Dutchman has been fair with United enduring a miserable start to the new Premier League season, sitting in 13th position and with just two wins to their name. Consecutive 3-0 home hammerings against Liverpool and Tottenham, along with Thursday's chaotic 3-3 draw against Porto, have piled renewed pressure on Ten Hag ahead of Sunday's visit to high-flying Aston Villa that many believe could be his final game in charge if another heavy defeat follows.

NATHAN SALT: The case for the defence. Difficult to make this week, granted. Back in the Netherlands, Ten Hag is currently being dismissed as a 'pathetic little man', while other prominent columnists have hit out at him for being 'stupid and naive' in his transfer dealings. Mail Sport reported on Monday that there is a feeling among players in the dressing room that the sacking of Ten Hag feels imminent following the aberration against Tottenham.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has opened up on his future, amid increasing speculation surrounding his job. Ten Hag and United have endured a difficult start to the season, losing three of their first six Premier League games, while they also failed to beat FC Twente in their opening Europa League match. Sunday's 3-0 defeat by Tottenham was seen by many as the nadir in Ten Hag's tenure after a dismal display, with reports claiming the Dutchman has just two games to save his job.

CHRIS WHEELER: It was still dark when Erik ten Hag drove into Carrington on Monday morning with the storm clouds once again gathering over Manchester United's beleaguered manager. Sunday's 3-0 capitulation against Tottenham at Old Trafford has plunged Ten Hag back into crisis just six games into the new Premier League season. United have lost half of them and are languishing in the bottom half of the table with a negative goal difference. Unless results improve quickly, Ten Hag is facing the sack just three-and-a-half months after a delegation from co-owners Ineos led by Sir Dave Brailsford flew to his holiday home in Ibiza to tell the Dutchman he was keeping his job, and a month after he was given a vote of confidence by new chief executive Omar Berrada. How has it unravelled again so quickly? After reshaping the leadership team and coaching staff, and spending another £200million on new signings in the summer, why can't Ten Hag produce a winning team? Mail Sport looks at the issues behind the scenes that have pushed the United boss back to the brink again.

A former Manchester United star blasted his former employer after Sunday's 3-0 home thrashing against Tottenham and called for the squad to be 'dismantled'. Defeat piles more intense scrutiny on Erik ten Hag's managerial position at the club after the 54-year-old was kept in charge following United's FA Cup victory on the final day of last season.

IAN LADYMAN: The good news for Manchester United is that, as the rain came down, the roof didn't leak. They have managed to fix something at last at this great, beleaguered football club it seems. That is where the positive stuff starts and ends, though. Erik ten Hag and his send 'em out and hope for the best tactical masterplan continues to steer United down an alleyway marked irrelevant.  Ten Hag's team have scored five goals so far this Premier League season and three of those came against Southampton. Leicester, Ipswich, Wolves and Everton have all scored more than Ten Hag's failing bunch. Seems the seven they banged in against Barnsley here in the Carabao Cup a couple of weeks ago were not portentous of better times to come after all. Who would have thought it?

Manchester United 's miserable 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur left fans asking tough questions about individual performances. With several players failing to meet expectations, the match exposed weaknesses all over the pitch. Who were the main culprits in United's collapse, and how did Spurs capitalise so effectively? Some new signings, expected to make an impact, struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League .

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR - OLIVER HOLT AT OLD TRAFFORD: The truth is that Ten Hag is out of excuses. His time is up. There is no hiding place for him any more. His boasts about winning minor trophies are worthless when his team plays like this. Let's be honest about what United stand for as we enter the autumn of the year: no philosophy, no identity, no discipline, no guile, no pattern, no determination, no adventure, no belief, no subtlety, no desire, no intent, no plan. Apart from that, everything's fine. United's attitude stinks. Entitlement runs through them and Ten Hag simply cannot eradicate it, however big he talks and however tough he acts. 

THE SHARPE END: Erik ten Hag , whatever you think of his management, is no idiot. He can see the problem. 'We are not scoring enough goals,' he said this week. That is the key area.' He's right, of course. Manchester United have scored five league goals this season. Five. Before this weekend, only three Premier League sides had scored fewer. That's why they're in the bottom half and that's what happens when you don't have a top-class striker.

CHRIS WHEELER: Erik ten Hag has urged Manchester United fans to be patient with his team through a stumbling start to the new season. United have dropped eight points in their first five Premier League games and drew the opening Europa League tie against FC Twente at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. It follows another £200million spend in the transfer market this summer - taking the total outlay under Ten Hag past the £600m mark - and the Dutchman admitted that scoring goals remains the chief problem despite signing young forwards Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.

Erik ten Hag vented his frustration at his Manchester United players for keeping Dutch opponent FC Twente 'alive' in Wednesday's disappointing 1-1 Europa League draw at Old Trafford. The United coach watched on miserably as his side unravelled in the second-half against his former club and eventually conceded a cheap goal after a passage of poor team defending. Twente scored a dream goal upon their return to European competition after more than a decade away when full-back Bart van Rooij went on a monstrous run past four United players on his way to the edge of the box.

MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 FC TWENTE - CHRIS WHEELER AT OLD TRAFFORD: In any other circumstances, Erik ten Hag would have joined in the celebrations with his boyhood club last night. FC Twente acted like they had won the Europa League. Some players sank to their knees at the final whistle, others embraced. They posed for pictures in the corner of Old Trafford where 3,000 jubilant fans were in full cry. After 23 years at Twente man and boy, Ten Hag knows what this result means to them, even though he won't have enjoyed it one bit. The United boss came into the game saying he wouldn't take any pleasure from hurting the club he loved, but it was Twente who inflicted the damage on him.

The Red Devils have had a mixed start to the campaign and are currently 11th in the league table, with two wins, one draw and two defeats to their names so far. Erik ten Hag had bid to turn around his side's goal scoring struggles from last year, with United scoring 57 league goals - the fewest in the top half of the table - in the league last term. Those struggles are yet to turn around, however, with United drawing 0-0 with Crystal Palace on Saturday despite having 15 shots and nearly 67 per cent of possession.

CHRIS WHEELER: Although United enjoyed a 7-0 win over Barnsley in the Carabao Cup last week, they have only scored five goals in five games in the Premier League, failing to score in two of them. United added more firepower in the summer by spending £36.5million on Joshua Zirkzee (bottom right, right) - having previously spent £72m on Rasmus Hojlund and £86m on Antony under Ten Hag (left) - but the Dutchman believes they still need to be more clinical after finishing with a negative goal difference in the Premier League for the first time last season. United were guilty of wasting a number of chances in Saturday's goalless draw at Crystal Palace when Alejandro Garnacho (top right) and Bruno Fernandes hit the bar.

Erik Ten Hag has explained his decision to drop Marcus Rashford for Manchester United's clash with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The English forward was a notable absentee from the Red Devils' starting lineup on Saturday evening having been replaced on the wing by Alejandro Garnacho.  The 26-year-old eventually came on for summer signing Joshua Zirkzee on the hour mark.

Mail Sport has rounded up a pick of the best Premier League youngsters that are set to star in the Carabao Cup as the third-round gets underway with plenty of rising stars hoping for a chance. Manchester United host League One Barnsley on Tuesday evening, Spurs make the trip to Coventry and plenty other ties have academy stars believing this could be their moment.

Manchester United reportedly only paid the full asking price for one of their five summer signings. United brought in forward Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna, while defender Leny Yoro arrived from Lille. In addition, defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui both joined from Bayern Munich before midfielder Manuel Ugarte signed from PSG on deadline day.

Manchester United signed five first-team players during the summer transfer window but it was not plane sailing. Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee was the first to arrive on July 14 before defender Leny Yoro joined from Lille four days later. United then added three more signings in August, as defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui were brought in from Bayern Munich before a deal for former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte was finally completed on deadline day. INEOS chief executive Sir Jim Ratcliffe - who took control of sporting operations at Old Trafford after securing a minority stake in United in February - had been keen to get business done earlier in the summer.

Since taking charge at Old Trafford in April 2022, the under-fire manager has spent over £600million on 21 new arrivals despite a large number flattering to deceive. Compatriots Tyrell Malacia, Wout Weghorst, Joshua Zirkzee and De Ligt all joined under Ten Hag while five players he coached at Ajax - Andre Onana, Noussair Mazraoui, Lisandro Martinez, Antony and De Ligt again - were also snapped up. De Ligt was recruited from Bayern Munich alongside Mazraoui in a double deal and Mail Sport understands around £38.5million was splashed out on the centre back. But Van der Vaart, 41, has hit out at the muddled strategy and believes it has only heightened the pressure on Ten Hag after a sluggish start to the season.