Joshua Zirkzee should become the striker of the Dutch national team, according to Pierre van Hooijdonk. He cannot wrap his head around the fact that the current Bologna striker has not yet been called up for the Dutch team. “I don't see a better striker, but he doesn't eat what the farmer doesn't know,” Van Hooijdonk is quoted by De Volkskrant.

“Joshua has been doing fantastic in Serie A this season from day 1. He puts a layer of elegance over his game. I don't see a better striker,” the former international is complimentary about the game of his fellow striker.

“In the hustle and bustle he knows which door is open,” Van Hooijdonk poetically explains. He sees Zirkzee as a better attack leader than, for example, Brian Brobbey, Wout Weghorst and Thijs Dallinga.

Erwin van de Looi, the new trainer of Heracles Almelo, also praised Zirkzee. The two had frequent contact with each other at the Dutch Juniors. “In terms of football, he is better than Brobbey,” says the coach. “He (Brobbey, ed.) is also an excellent striker by the way.”

“Zirkzee is a stylist who loves the beauty of the game. He really has many qualities. Two-legged, good technique, excellent reception,” Van de Looi sums up.

“He also scores completely different goals, from inside or outside the penalty area, from the counter or in the rush.” But the former national coach of the Dutch Juniors saw one problem with Zirkzee.

“If he got second-guessed, it was more difficult for him to keep focus, he found it difficult to get the most out of himself. He could get stuck in disappointment.”

“That was also the case last season, with Marko Arnautovic,” thinks Willem Vissers De Volkskrant. “But now he is a star at Bologna, where the crowd moves when he is near the ball.”

Van Hooijdonk also sees one concrete point for improvement at the striker. “Joshua roams around the field, he is sometimes more of a midfielder than a striker. In his head he does not yet have that instinct of Huntelaar or Van Nistelrooij when it comes to scoring.”

More sports news