Joshua Zirkzee missed out Holland’s World Cup squad so will get a full pre-season with Manchester United, presuming he isn’t sold this summer.
Speaking with the club’s official site, Zirkzee has discussed his pre-match rituals, including some breathing exercises he picked up from Lissandro Martinez.
I do some breathing work, so that I am focused. I listen to some music, get my prep done. While listening to music, I try to visualise what can happen in the game. And then what Kobbie says, just bringing good energy into the locker room, whether you’re playing or not. That’s my routine. Then I pray before a game. Because it’s something so standard, I wouldn’t call it part of my routine; it’s just in the system already. I came across it through Licha actually. It made me feel good, so I figured why not do it before a game? I think it’s always good to have a routine. I made it part of my routine and just stuck by it ever since.
Zirkzee was asked what rating he thought Mainoo gave himself from one to 10, with one being a calm and 10 nervous.
“One?” he said. “Did he not? Kobbie is the definition of calm. You can’t put pressure on him.”
Mainoo actually gave himself a three, with the unflappable midfielder clearly aware of his own coolness on the ball. We’ve yet to see the midfielder make an appearance for England but he’ll be hoping to get some minutes tonight in England’s final group stage game against Panama.
