Man Utd forward Joshua Zirkzee may struggle to recover from being booed off the pitch against Newcastle, according to former England midfielder Izzy Christiansen.
The Netherlands international was substituted after just three minutes on Monday night in a 2-0 loss to the Magpies in the Premier League.
Kobbie Mainoo replaced Zirkzee, who signed for Man Utd in the summer transfer market from Serie A side Bologna, in the side with the Red Devils looking more solid with the extra midfielder in the side.
But former England footballer Christiansen insists that it was “harsh” to take Man Utd forward Zirkzee off instead of Christian Eriksen or Casemiro, who have been at Old Trafford a lot longer.
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Christiansen said on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast: “The midfield two of Casemiro and [Christian] Eriksen – we all highlighted it before the game and said it would be a problem and it was.
“[Joshua] Zirkzee was the player that was dragged off but it could have been Eriksen or it could have been Casemiro. Zirkzee is a new signing – it was harsh. He’s only 23-years-old. That’s difficult for him and the reaction he got from the crowd as he exited the pitch – they booed. How he recovers from that, I don’t know. It is going to take some serious mental resilience for him to recover from that.
“Why was Casemiro still on the pitch? He was abysmal in the first half and that is me saying that about a player I’ve admired a lot over the years. Casemiro was way off it and Eriksen was way off it, but Zirkzee took the brunt of it.”
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On the match itself, Christiansen added: “It was not a good night at all. Tonight was a reflection on the players, I think it is probably deeply ingrained in the players, the standards have dropped for a long time now. That was evident tonight
“It is going to take a long time for Ruben Amorim to lift things up. The spotlight is on him and he is taking it but as players, no matter who your manager is, you can’t play like you did tonight.
“It’s a matter of personal pride and that first half was terrible, I was actually shocked that Newcastle only went in 2-0 up.”
After the defeat to Newcastle, former Man Utd midfielder Jesper Blomqvist told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast: “It is a relegation fight for United now. I don’t think anyone wants to let Ruben Amorim down. The team are really looking out of form, there is no confidence at all.
“I admire [Amorim] and I think he’s being really honest all the time. I think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel but it’s hard at the moment.”
On Joshua Zirkzee being substituted in the first-half: “It’s going to take a lot for him to rise up again. I admire Ruben for making that change after only 30 minutes for the best of the team.”
