“Ruben wanted to sell him but I opposed it and now he’s the most inform player in the team now”: Manchester United’s legend Sir Alex Ferguson names ONE player who was almost sold in January but now the best player in the team
Manchester United threw away a possible victory against Real Sociedad on Thursday night.
As the Europa League heats up, Ruben Amorim will be having nightmares of his team’s lack of final third quality against the La Liga outfit.
Manchester United managed to draw against Sociedad 1-1, but the game should have been wrapped up only for familiar problems to plague the travelling Reds.
Alejandro Garnacho missed a huge chance, and shortly after Paul Scholes spotted him sulking on the bench. The 19-year-old did have bright moments in the game though, with his assist a key point.
Amorim only named an 18-man squad for the trip to Spain, which meant there was no additional attacking option on the bench. The goal came through Joshua Zirkzee, who scored his first goal in a European competition and number six this season for United.
With United having a few impressive performances, the MUTV pundits were tasked with picking out the star of the show.
Joshua Zirkzee caused ‘havoc’ against Real Sociedad
Zirkzee was once again United’s best player against Sociedad as he continues to endear himself to both the fans and his coaches.
After this performance, Danny Simpson and Sammy McIlroy were on punditry for MUTV, when they were asked who got their vote for player of the match and there was only one winner.
“He’s overturned his performances from the start of the season to now,” Simpson began, “and I think there’s a player in there. It was a great finish and he should have had the winning goal to come back here with the win.”
McIlroy then continued to explain why Zirkzee got his vote for player of the match.
“Forget the goal and I would still give it to Zirkzee. I thought he was the one player that looked like he could create or cause them havoc which he did on a few occasions. I thought his passing and positional play tonight were excellent. I’m glad he got the goal.”
Simpson then added, “I agree. His goal, he deserves it for his recent performances. He was working back and his workrate for the team hasn’t gone unnoticed from us.”
McIlroy then concluded, “His character, his strength… it’s unbelievable how he’s turned it round cause many a player would have wanted out of here when things weren’t going right for him.
“The crowd were against him and other players might’ve told their agent to get them out. He’s rolled his sleeves up and said ‘this is what I can do’.”
The pair of MUTV pundits and former United players were not alone in praise for the Dutchman.
Ruben Amorim labels Joshua Zirkzee as ‘very important’
Speaking after the game, Amorim spoke very highly of Zirkzee and the performance he put in when talking to the press.
“He [Zirkzee] deserves it,” the United head coach explained, “because he works very well. He improves a lot of things in his game. He deserves this moment. He was very important for us today.”
Zirkzee’s importance is growing game by game and he has evolved tremendously since he joined the club, looking sharper and quicker with and without the ball.
United fans were also impressed with Zirkzee, voting him man of the match in the club’s poll with 44 per cent of the vote.
