Manchester United need a big performance on Thursday night with a spot in the Europa League quarter-finals up for grabs.
Ruben Amorim is about to walk into his last chance to bring some joy to Manchester United this season.
Out of the FA Cup, out of the EFL Cup, 14th in the Premier League table – the Europa League is now the one and only focus in terms of finding something redeemable about this troubled campaign.
Amorim has played down the Europa League, suggesting that the long-term picture at Old Trafford is more important than winning one trophy.
Many United fans will disagree with that stance and so many Sir Jim Ratcliffe with Ineos budgeting for European football.
United drew 1-1 at Real Sociedad last week and must now see off the La Liga side in the second leg at Old Trafford.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Wayne Rooney on Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee
A place in the quarter-finals against Lyon or FCSB would really raise spirits around United.
Goals are needed though and United haven’t exactly been thriving going forward of late.
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Joshua Zirkzee scored against Real Sociedad last week but hasn’t exactly been prolific this season.
Rasmus Hojlund’s goal drought has now hit 20 games with the Dane seriously bereft of confidence.
Christian Eriksen has backed Hojlund to turn things around and Wayne Rooney has now offered a comparison for both Hojlund and Zirkzee.
Speaking on Stick to Football, Rooney suggested that the two forwards simply aren’t ready to lead the line for United at this stage in their development.
Rooney feels that both Hojlund and Zirkzee should be ‘dipped into’ first-team action as supplemental strikers behind proven goalscorers.
United have had that over the years and Rooney actually compared Hojlund and Zirkzee to a former Sir Alex Ferguson signing in David Bellion.
Rooney believes that the two United forwards are probably of the same quality as Bellion, who had to sit behind bigger strikers at Old Trafford as he wasn’t ready for major first-team action.
“I was thinking about this the other day, when we were playing – I’ll go back to when we had myself, Saha, Ronaldo, then you’ve got Tevez, Berbatov; top strikers,” said Rooney.
“Where Hojlund and Zirkzee are at now is probably, when I first joined the club, we had myself, Ruud and then you had David Bellion.
“They’re probably that quality of what Bellion was, so they’re not going to lead Manchester United, at this moment in time, to go on to the next level. They need to be dipped into it to then try and become those players because they’re not at that level yet. Can they get there? Hopefully they can,” he added.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Former Manchester United misfit David Bellion profiled
Some United fans may not remember Bellion but there was some buzz around him in the early 2000’s.
The French forward had emerged with Cannes but moved to England with Sunderland at the age of just 18.
United saw potential in Bellion and paid up to £3million in compensation for the forward, as noted by Sky Sports.
Bellion arrived in 2003 with suggestions that he could be the next Thierry Henry – and we simply didn’t see that in a United shirt.
Eight goals in 40 games – of which just four goals came in the Premier League – saw Bellion move on to Nice in 2006 following a loan spell at West Ham United.
Bellion ended up shining for Bordeaux, spending seven years with the club before ending his carer at Red Star in 2016.
Red Star is where Bellion ended up becoming a creative director as he also worked alongside art galleries in France.
The Bellion comparison may be a little harsh towards Hojlund and Zirkzee, but Rooney’s point about the pair not being ready to be United’s top striker does hold some truth.
The problem is that United paid big money for both players and must give them major playing time as a result – and when the goals don’t flow, the pressure of scoring for United can be overwhelming.
Hojlund and Zirkzee both have plenty of talent but need time to develop; time that United may not have after such significant investment.
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