Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman was in no mood to answer questions about Joshua Zirkzee’s uninspiring performance after his side’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Manchester United forward Zirkzee was selected in the No.10 role in support of Brian Brobbey as Koeman fielded an entirely new-look starting XI at Bosnia’s Bilino Polje Stadium.
Though nothing was riding on the outcome of the Nations League contest, with Germany flying high at the top of Group A3, the Dutch were keen to secure maximum points after what has been a tough year for the national team.
The night got off to the perfect start for the visitors as Ajax striker Brobbey headed home a pinpoint cross from Noa Lang to break the deadlock midway through the first half.
But hosts Bosnia rallied in the second half and levelled through Ermedin Demirovic, who reacted well on the rebound after Edin Dzeko’s initial strike was denied by Mark Flekken.
While the Netherlands’ pursuit of a winner proved unsuccessful, Koeman’s men had already secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Hungary at the weekend.
Bosnia’s fate had also been secured, with a humbling 7-0 defeat at the hands of Germany confirming their relegation from the top tier of the Nations League on Saturday.
Zirkzee has endured a tough start to his Manchester United career following a big-money transfer move from Bologna in the summer and the attacker’s struggles continued this evening.
With five minutes remaining of the first half, Zirkzee squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to double the Netherlands’ advantage and the 23-year-old cut a frustrated figure for the most part in Zenica.
In the 77th minute, Koeman decided to make a change and brought off a tiring Zirkzee, with Ajax’s Wout Weghorst – formerly of United – coming on in his place in attack.
‘My thoughts on Zirkzee’s performance? I am not going to talk about individual player performances,’ Koeman told reporters at his post-match press conference when asked for his thoughts on the forward’s display.
The Netherlands manager appeared to blame the pitch for his players repeatedly losing their footing across the 90 minutes.
‘The pitch was very difficult to play on, many players slipped,’ he added.
‘But despite this, we controlled the game quite well until the last half an hour.’
There has been some speculation that Zirkzee could be set for a temporary switch away from United on the back of his underwhelming start at Old Trafford, with Juventus reportedly exploring a January loan move.
Zirkzee enjoyed a dream Premier League debut following his £36.5million arrival from Bologna, scoring a dramatic late winner at home to Fulham back in August.
But the goals have dried up for the out-of-sorts Dutchman, who has failed to find the net in any of his last 16 appearances that have followed both domestically and in Europe.
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