Former Dutch international Youri Moulder heaps praise on Bayern Munich forward Joshua Zirkzee.
Bayern Munich ended 2019 on a strong note courtesy of wins over Werden Bremen, Freiburg, and Wolfsburg. These wins helped the defending champions to go into the winter break with some sort of momentum and a top-four position in the table.
The win against Bremen was straightforward as Philippe Coutinho bagged his first hattrick in Bavarian colours. Meanwhile, games against Freiburg and Wolfsburg were more tricky where Bayern had to dig deep to collect six points.
Joshua Zirkzee was the reason for Die Roten’s happy ending to the year. The 18-year-old forward came off the bench in the final ten minutes of the game and effectively scored the winners for Die Roten. His goals made sure that Bayern ended both games with three points instead of sharing spoils with opponents.
Zirkzee’s impressive cameos came after being included in training sessions with first-team under Hansi Flick. In an interview with SportBild, former Dutch international Youri Moulder has backed Zirkzee to go on to become a world-class player. Moulder insists that Zirkzee has all the qualities to be a perfect striker.
"“This guy has a massive career ahead of him, he’s a serious talent,”“He’s got a great build for a striker, a real nose for goal and he can really play. He’s just a fantastic footballer.”"
More from Bayern Strikes
- Bayern Munich: Tactical takeaways from 2-2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen
- Bayern Munich: Kingsley Coman set to be fit for Manchester United clash
- Bayern Munich unlikely to move for Trevoh Chalobah in January
- Bayern Munich: Key lessons from draw against Bayer Leverkusen
- Bayern Munich remains keen on hiring Max Eberl
Moulder also praised Flick for trusting a young striker like Zirkzee when the team was chasing games. He believes that the German manager showed bravery and smartness by relying on young forward to win the game for his team.
After his eye-catching performances, Zirkzee is likely to get more minutes in the second half of the season. He may not play regularly as Die Roten have great depth in the attacking department. It will be a good debut season for Bayern if he manages to make ten appearances across all competitions.
Flick also needs to make sure that he doesn’t get carried away and overuses Zirkzee. The youth players from the academy deserve opportunities in the first team, but the transition from reserves to the first team should be facilitated by proper man management by the head coach.
Bayern Munich has struggled to make youth players as key men of the first team in the past few seasons. They currently have a talented group of young players that can become stars in the first team. Along with their talent, Die Roten also needs to manage the expectations and fitness of these players to make sure that they have a long successful career at the club.