Man United player raved about Liverpool when visiting former club in October

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Man United’s season is about to get interesting after hiring former Liverpool candidate Ruben Amorim.

Amorim takes over with United in a bit of a pickle. The record champions find themselves in 13th place in the Premier League and with plenty of work to do.

In the meantime, the Old Trafford club have likely been viewing goings on at Anfield with envious eyes.

Liverpool hired their own former Eredivisie-winning manager and where Erik ten Hag struggled to get going at United, Arne Slot has hit the ground running with the Reds.

One of the early markers of Slot’s time as Liverpool head coach was a 3-0 win over Ten Hag’s United back at the start of September.

And it seems that that resounding result had a big impact within the Man United dressing room.

Joshua Zirkzee hails Liverpool on Bologna visit

Part of the reason United have suffered over recent seasons is that their recruitment has been all over the place.

That seemingly continued into last summer, with a £36.5m deal to sign Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna looking like money poorly spent.

Zirkzee was linked with Liverpool before joining United, but his one goal in 17 appearances so far suggests that Liverpool were wise to steer clear.

That record is a far cry from Zirkzee’s tally last season, where he racked up 12 goals in 37 games for Bologna.

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That helped fire the Italian side into the Champions League for the very first time, where they met Liverpool in the League Table phase in October.

And according to Bologna striker Thijs Dallinga, Zirkzee visited his former club before their trip to Anfield, and hailed what he’d already seen from Slot’s Reds.

“Everyone wanted to talk to him, so it got late, and we didn’t have much time,” Dallinga told Corriere dello Sport. “We didn’t talk much about Bologna. He spoke mainly about Liverpool, which he had already faced, saying it would be a challenging game.”

Thijs Dallinga hails Anfield

Dallinga was nominally Zirkzee’s replacement at Bologna. However, just like his fellow Dutchman, he has struggled to get going and is still awaiting his first goal for the Rossoblu after 12 games..

He almost had one at Anfield for the second year running in October, but his finish past Alisson Becker was disallowed for offside.

Having found the net in front of the Kop for Toulouse last year, though, Dallinga said that he still has fond memories of playing at Liverpool’s home.

“It’s an iconic place full of history,” the 24-year-old said of Anfield. “It’s remarkable to play there.

“We lost a Europa League game there last season, but I scored a goal. It was nice to return. I felt extra emotions because I scored again, but unfortunately, it was disallowed.”