As the Red Devils’ winning streak snaps in a stalemate with Sunderland, the United boss defends his Joshua Zirkzee while weighing up urgent summer transfer reinforcements.
A rotated Manchester United side drew 0-0 in a flat fixture against Sunderland, with the Red Devils' three-game winning streak coming to an end.
Senne Lammens was undoubtedly United's best player as he denied Noah Sadiki from taking the lead after the Sunderland midfielder was slipped through one-on-one, but the Belgian stood tall to keep the scores level.
Michael Carrick's side huffed and puffed at times, but never really created any opportunity of real quality. That was until the 93rd minute, when Matheus Cunha had a golden opportunity to snatch the three points from 11 yards out, but he was denied by Robin Roefs.
Despite the disappointing result, United now extended their lead ahead of Liverpool with six points.
Carrick defends Zirkzee's performance
Until today, Joshua Zirkzee had not started a Premier League game this calendar year, with his last start coming against Wolves on the 30th December.
It has been a difficult season for the Dutchman, with him almost leaving in January, and also failed to make the most of any opportunities, which have been few and far between.
Carrick defended the striker in the post-match interview and said (quotes via Chris Wheeler): "'An away game coming here is challengieng. Josh linked the play really well, and certain times we left him isolated.
"He played a real part for the team. It’s not always easy when you’ve not played for a while."
Striker needed
While the midfield should be the clear area of the pitch that needs to be addressed first, the importance of signing another striker should not be understated.
Benjamin Sesko has been in brilliant form under Michael Carrick but when the Slovenian has had to be substituted or miss games, the lack of real focal point or authority is clear to see.
Zirkzee, Bryan Mbeumo and Cunha have all had stints playing as the striker, and none of the three players are natural forwards, with the shape of the team changing.
If Sesko were to be out for a sustained period of time, United would really struggle to have real firepower that consistently performs. Last season is indicitive of what having a lack of an in-form striker does to an attack.
Going for another option, whether that is Ollie Watkins, another option from Europe like Serhou Guirassy, or even bringing Ivan Toney back from Saudi Arabia, needs to be something the club consider.