- Joshua Zirkzee got here off the bench to attain the winner for Manchester United
- Jadon Sancho was absent regardless of enjoying within the Group Protect final week
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Erik ten Hag hailed match-winning debutant Joshua Zirkzee after the summer time signing got here off the bench to fireside Manchester United to a season-opening victory over Fulham.
Zirkzee got here on with half-hour to go and netted what could be the sport’s solely objective when he turned in Alejandro Garnacho’s cross in entrance of the Stretford Finish.
Whereas Ten Hag was delighted to see his £36.5million recruit get off the mark on his debut, he’s longing for him to do much more as he seems to construct on it subsequent weekend away at Brighton.
‘It doesn’t matter if he’s Dutch, English, Russian or South American, he’s a Manchester United participant,’ Ten Hag stated.
‘It’s superb as a striker to attain the successful objective in his first recreation.
Joshua Zirkzee got here off the bench to attain a late winner for Manchester United on his debut
Erik ten Hag has hailed the impression of his summer time signing Zirzkee after the striker’s important objective
‘I bear in mind Rasmus Hojlund [scoring] in his first recreation (versus Brighton) after which VAR got here to the conclusion. He was so annoyed. For [Zirkzee], I’m very glad for him, it can give him perception and the followers. It’s an excellent begin.’
Zirkzee has needed to bide his time since becoming a member of from Bologna, discovering himself as an unused substitute within the Group Protect at Wembley final weekend as Ten Hag calls for extra from his health.
Requested what was so interesting about Zirkzee to recruit him this summer time, Ten Hag stated: ‘He has so many attributes that we didn’t have and right away he confirmed it.
‘He is excellent in his linking up, his mixtures. We’ve got good ball-playing attacking gamers they usually can profit from this.’
As for what extra he needs to see from Zirkzee, he added: ‘He has to get into the field and rating targets, it’s the principle attribute of a striker.’
One participant who was not concerned within the matchday squad in any respect was Jadon Sancho, who has had a rocky relationship with Ten Hag throughout his time on the membership.
That was stated to have been smoothed over over the summer time however his absence right here, having missed a penalty within the Group Protect, raised eyebrows.
For Ten Hag, Sancho nonetheless has a task to play this season.
Ten Hag defined that Jadon Sancho had been fighting an ear an infection this week
‘To start with we’d like squad depth, this season is survival of the fittest and I can solely put 20 gamers within the squad,’ he stated.
‘Jadon within the week had an ear an infection and he wasn’t 100% match for this.
‘He may play however you’ve got selections and make the selection that we most well-liked different gamers on the bench. That may change and it’ll change.
‘You noticed in the present day how essential subs are. We’d like the appropriate steadiness. It’s irritating for the participant however it’s in regards to the group, in regards to the membership. We anticipate gamers to struggle for the membership and everybody can have their minutes they usually need to show it.’
