A Manchester United player has been axed from his national team after the manager claimed he “doesn’t deserve” to be selected.
Man United played out a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
The point saw United to 14th place in the league - going above Everton. Aside from Bruno Fernandes’ stunning first-half free-kick, Ruben Amorim’s side offered very little going forward.
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The Gunners dominated possession, having 69 per cent of the ball as well as registering 17 shots with six of these finding the target compared to United’s 10 shots and six on target.
And United misfiring in the final third has been a theme of the 2024/25 campaign, with Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund scoring a combined five league goals.
As a result, Zirkzee, 23, has been left out of the Netherlands’ squad for their upcoming fixtures against Spain in the quarter-finals of the Nations League.
The forward had previously been included in Ronald Koeman’s last three squads.
Koeman, 61, gave his reasons for snubbing Zirkzee and claimed he doesn't think he's "good enough” when speaking to Dutch TV show Studio Voetbal.
“He wasn’t in the preliminary selection because I don’t think he’s good enough at the moment," Koeman said.
"Especially scanning when turning or passing often goes wrong.
“Yes, in principle, form and fitness are always leading, but that is not always possible. We have a lot of central defenders and midfielders, but we are somewhat limited up front.
“But even then, I still think that you have to earn your selection, and I think he doesn’t deserve that now, but that could be the case again in another period.”
Zirkzee’s United teammate, Matthijs de Ligt, was also left out by Koeman, having previously been in every Netherlands squad, when fit, since receiving his first cap back in 2017.
In October, the centre-back was taken off at half-time after he made a mistake during a 2-2 draw against Germany.
"It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished," Koeman said after the match.
"I gave him a new chance today, but eventually, I protected him by taking him off."
Several Premier League players have been included, such as Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch, Brentford’s Mark Flekken and Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert.
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Netherlands, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs De Ligt, Ruben Amorim
Luke Davies