Zirkzee: The squad is closer than ever
Joshua Zirkzee says Manchester United’s players are closer than ever, following a positive summer around the club.
The new facilities at Carrington are designed to place emphasis on functionality, openness and connectivity, and opened to great fanfare earlier this month.
That followed a promising pre-season campaign and now Josh says the focus is on translating the feelgood factor from behind the scenes to the pitch.
“The group, for me, is just, I don’t know, there’s such a good vibe. We’re all invested in something,” Zirkzee told United Review.
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“You can really tell that we really want to make sure that we’re not doing what we did last season.
“Also, outside the pitch, there’s some good vibes. We’re doing a lot of team bonding.
“I feel we’re much closer than we were last season, and hopefully we can translate all of that onto the pitch and share it with you, you know, the rest of the world who’s supporting United.”
Zirkzee was speaking before the Reds were narrowly beaten by Arsenal in the Premier League opener, a game in which we enjoyed the better chances at Old Trafford.
Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo particularly impressed against the Gunners, while Benjamin Sesko showed flashes of his ability off the bench.
Josh says the new arrivals have added to the squad’s bond and the closeness means that setbacks like Sunday’s shouldn’t be too difficult to recover from.
“Yeah, it is a special vibe. I mean, every individual contributes to that. For example, the new guys, we want to make it as easy as possible for them to feel at home in this environment.
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“But if you see the way that they [have] come in, and also what they add to our environment, it just works together very well. It’s just our job that we stay this close together and also when we have a setback.
“It’s not, of course, just going to be all sunshine. I think this group is ready for that, to be honest. We have some great guys, experienced guys, young guys.
“There’s a hunger in this team. There’s even a bigger hunger I think from our manager, from our coach.
“So it’s up to us to just keep improving and also enjoying what we’re doing.”