So still some time for this to happen then.
Donny van de Beek | van de Beek's father: "[Moving to United] a dream come true."
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He crushes news that's what he does. Crushes muppets dreams
Stone isn't a source. He's a mouthpiece for the club that's all. He'll say what the club actually say.
Good player and versatile, covere Bruno and Pogba, makes more sense than Grealish and for half the price if true.
Ole is in for a rude awakening if he thinks Fred is a #6, he's a decent box to box but positionally he's poor and that's a big issue when playing in a double pivot as he often ends up ahead of Pogba, teams will run through us like a hot curry with a laxative chaser.
That the idea we wouldnt be moving on VDB unless we had found an agreement with Sancho is stupid. Read whats quoted
They were reportedly interested last year after he helped knock them out of the CL but they reportedly have their sights set elsewhere now. Zidane's supposedly determined on bringing in wunderkind Camavinga from France
Yeah, they started once Gerard Romero ruled out Barcelona and a journalist close to Overmars dropped our name in regarding van de Beek.
I don't get it. I mean, if you like a player, place a bid?
All this watching, waiting, perving, just seems an odd way to approach a transfer target.
Van De Beek has been getting 5- 10 goals a season with 5- 10 assists. Its not to replace Matic/Mct, as he plays a completely different role on the pitch. More forward more creative, so if bruno or pogba are reseted/injured.....small cup games.....he can fill in.
For me this is one of our biggest weaknesses apart from RW.
Why on earth would you put Fred in the same bracket as Lingard and Pereira?
In this context, it means that this transfer isn't out of the blue. We've kept tabs on him for a while, so any recent developments shouldn't be a surprise.
If we can get him for that price that makes much better value for money than Grealish. I would be happy if we get him in. A good box to box player who can slip in in place of Pogba or Bruno when we need more stability in the midfield. I can get behind it. This would be a good transfer from all angles if it actually happens.
I really hope that's not accurate. I find it quite obvious that that's a terrible idea. A less bad idea would be to retain Garner at the club, as he can actually play that role, though it's still a big ask. It's just not Fred's game. He can be super sloppy under pressure, rushing his passing and creating trouble.
Out of that lot probably only leicester could, but I don't think they will. I think hes good enough to go anywhere, I just think he won't want to spend another season at villa. The time to move is now.
Basically, we like him, but prefer Grealish, so we’re going to haggle to get his price down & if that fails we’ll come back for VDB, who by that point will be at Barca, and we will end up giving Lingard a new 5 year contract.
I agree and been saying the same thing, but I also feel that the team needs to learn to play with a mobile DM if we can't find an exact replacement for Matic. I'm actually interested in seeing what a Fred-Donny double pivot can do.
Early October we might see something happen here.
I’ve been saying this for months in the Sancho thread and others. The guy just jumps on this when things become evident.
I would bet anything on it. He has contacts but he plays up to his messiah like following online and pretends to have his finger on the pulse of every single transfer.
2021?
What is Fred's game?
He's not got much attacking use, won't score or make any asists. He hasn't got much passing range either.
What he can do, is get about a lot, and intercept. Play easy balls.
Being the deepest midfielder in our system might just work. We can't expect Matic to play ever game, and we are 50million deep into Fred, who had a decent first half of last season.
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Another deadline
I wouldn't worry too much about that combination. I am thinking about when Matic is knackered and we need a partner for Pogba, with Bruno further forward. That really needs a more defensively sound and positionally aware DM, who can receive the ball with his back to play without creating a mess.
Views of Donny from Ajax fans on their subreddit:
‘ He is very good with his feet, amazing first touch in the box, good placement with his shots, smart backheels. He is really good at quick passing (the tiki-taka kind), makes smart runs into the box and sets up combinations with the striker. I think he can become a really good player, but he does need a good team around him that can give him the pass when he makes the run into the box. At Ajax he is usually one of the most consistently good players in the squad, but in the Dutch NT he is kind of disappointing so far mostly because nobody gives that pass when he makes a run, which makes the run look pretty stupid. His personality is awesome, really humble and nice guy as far as I've seen.’
You’ll get a lot of different opinions on him, but here’s my input:
1. He works extremely hard on the field and doesn’t just give up. That mentality puts him with the likes of Muller, Ronaldo, Iniesta, etc. World class work ethic on the field.
2. His first touch is flawless. His passes are solid and extremely good. He gets the basics right (very important and often overlooked when compared to flair)
3. He’s smart. He knows what to do, when to do it, and where to position himself. We saw this with his innate poaching ability during the UCL.
4. He might not dribble like Iniesta, De jong - or have flair like Neymar or Dinho. BUT he’s able to twist and turn, pull off great back heels, and again get the basics extremely right.
5. His shooting is great too. He has scored many important goals and remains very calm on the ball. Big club mentality.’
‘ There's an argument to be made that he was Ajax' best player this season. Ziyech definitely had better "highs", but Van de Beek was consistently solid, both in the league and UCL.
As far as his potential goes, that's always hard to guess. But IMO it's a great tell that whenever we were in poor form, he was the one who tried to pull the team out of it. He can play anywhere in midfield, but he shines at ACM as a second striker - you should see his defensive skills and amazing workrate as a bonus when he tracks back, not as his main quality. Don't get me wrong, that aspect of his play is great, but he'd be "just another midfielder" at a world class club if he's not used in that attacking role.
So what does he do as attacking midfielder? It mostly boils down to: aggressively pressing the opponents when his team loses the ball, and creating+scoring chances in the small spaces by combining through the middle of the pitch. If the opponents sits in the box with 10 players, he's the guy who's going to get a goal and an assist. He's also going to neutralise half the counter opportunities by bullying defenders off the ball in transition. Don't expect him to be at the end of a whipped cross, though. He'll also need smart and creative players (Tadic, Ziyech...) around him who can spot his runs behind and through the lines. Watch any Ajax game and you'll see him set up for at least one great chance, which goes to waste because no one passed the ball to him.’
So it looks like he can be good cover for both Bruno and Pogba, which is something we have been crying out for.
‘ He is very good with his feet, amazing first touch in the box, good placement with his shots, smart backheels. He is really good at quick passing (the tiki-taka kind), makes smart runs into the box and sets up combinations with the striker. I think he can become a really good player, but he does need a good team around him that can give him the pass when he makes the run into the box. At Ajax he is usually one of the most consistently good players in the squad, but in the Dutch NT he is kind of disappointing so far mostly because nobody gives that pass when he makes a run, which makes the run look pretty stupid. His personality is awesome, really humble and nice guy as far as I've seen.’
You’ll get a lot of different opinions on him, but here’s my input:
1. He works extremely hard on the field and doesn’t just give up. That mentality puts him with the likes of Muller, Ronaldo, Iniesta, etc. World class work ethic on the field.
2. His first touch is flawless. His passes are solid and extremely good. He gets the basics right (very important and often overlooked when compared to flair)
3. He’s smart. He knows what to do, when to do it, and where to position himself. We saw this with his innate poaching ability during the UCL.
4. He might not dribble like Iniesta, De jong - or have flair like Neymar or Dinho. BUT he’s able to twist and turn, pull off great back heels, and again get the basics extremely right.
5. His shooting is great too. He has scored many important goals and remains very calm on the ball. Big club mentality.’
‘ There's an argument to be made that he was Ajax' best player this season. Ziyech definitely had better "highs", but Van de Beek was consistently solid, both in the league and UCL.
As far as his potential goes, that's always hard to guess. But IMO it's a great tell that whenever we were in poor form, he was the one who tried to pull the team out of it. He can play anywhere in midfield, but he shines at ACM as a second striker - you should see his defensive skills and amazing workrate as a bonus when he tracks back, not as his main quality. Don't get me wrong, that aspect of his play is great, but he'd be "just another midfielder" at a world class club if he's not used in that attacking role.
So what does he do as attacking midfielder? It mostly boils down to: aggressively pressing the opponents when his team loses the ball, and creating+scoring chances in the small spaces by combining through the middle of the pitch. If the opponents sits in the box with 10 players, he's the guy who's going to get a goal and an assist. He's also going to neutralise half the counter opportunities by bullying defenders off the ball in transition. Don't expect him to be at the end of a whipped cross, though. He'll also need smart and creative players (Tadic, Ziyech...) around him who can spot his runs behind and through the lines. Watch any Ajax game and you'll see him set up for at least one great chance, which goes to waste because no one passed the ball to him.’
So it looks like he can be good cover for both Bruno and Pogba, which is something we have been crying out for.
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A preference as opposed to a cast iron deadline.
We should be called Monitoring United. All we seem to do is monitor players.
You don’t drop him from the match squad for this.
Go and get the lad. A very good player as 8 and 10, great attitude. For the quoted price, that couldn't go wrong.
This is all total nonsense though. We’ve been following him for months. Something has clearly changed for him to have been pulled from the squad last minute.
Sounds like btec Bruno Fernandes, which is good for squad depth
What page do we get confirmation on the signing?
I say 438.
I say 438.
Exactly.
Interesting that the ITK account tweeted about this over 3 hours ago. Same one that’s said Sancho deal has been agreed.
His initial tweet about Van De Beek was 3 days ago.
His initial tweet about Van De Beek was 3 days ago.
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"No formal offer has yet to be made". What the feck does this mean. That's not even English.
Journos just know what we briefed them. If it is us, then we are far more ahead than they report
Until he signs a DM that can handle playing in style that places emphasis on fast transitions he might not have any choice, unless he wants to carry on playing a reactive style with a immobile/slow DM like Matic. Fred isn't ideal but IMO suits playing in a team that wants to employ a high press much more than Matic.
Fraud, they know nothing
We should be called CCTV.We should be called Monitoring United. All we seem to do is monitor players.
Not saying it makes him legit. Just interesting he got this one as well.
By seeing his highlights as well as touches highlights, he seems like a decent buy. He can carry the ball due to his stature and build and has a decent assist and goals record, though in the Dutch league. Excellent player overall for the price quoted and would be a better alternative to Fred/ McT and would help rest Pogba and Bruno who particularly keeps running like a mad dog in games.
But honestly in my opinion this seems like a ploy by Ajax to hurry Barcelona or any other buyer in Europe to make a bid. The muppet in me knows that United can't do a deal quietly and we would have known for a long time before if we were bidding for this player. But would be a great addition if these rumours are to be believed.
But honestly in my opinion this seems like a ploy by Ajax to hurry Barcelona or any other buyer in Europe to make a bid. The muppet in me knows that United can't do a deal quietly and we would have known for a long time before if we were bidding for this player. But would be a great addition if these rumours are to be believed.
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