[Tony247]

As I remember lost the ball only once.

VdB is not a risky passer. That is not his game. He however moves the ball around the pitch in lightening speed without losing possession. He can be good against high press, he can be good in and around the box.

 

[kirk buttercup]

tbh Dont know why we took him off . For me he was one of the better players on the pitch.

 

[Woodzy]

I like him. Seems to have a touch of stability and class we are lacking.

For all Bruno's strengths, he can be very soppy and gives the ball away loads. Then the less said about Pogba the better.

 

[sillwuka]

With Bruno in the team playing the risky passes, it's good to have Van de Beek in the team who keeps things ticking over with a higher pass percentage.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

If anything yesterday showed that he would be best in a box to box role. His strength are his great positioning, carrying the ball, work rate, good interceptions, fantastic on the ball. I don’t know why some think he is kind of a number 10. The perfect number 8 for a team playing quick passing football.

A lot of his passing is very conservative, short range and often sideways or even backwards.
However, you can see he is used to a system that asks to not keep the ball for too long but create space by shifting the ball and the players constantly around to create pockets of space. Most of the time he receives the ball (often in not perfect positions because our other players are too sloppy), makes one touch with a quick movement to gather some space and plays a pitch perfect pass.
Most of our other players keep the ball for too long and need too many touches. And often they try to compensate by trying Hollywood passes that more often than not end up with the ball at the opposition.

Unfortunately Ole does not seem to prefer that kind of system of quick passing and movement, so Donny does not really offer what he is looking for. It is just sad as his short cameos highlight what we are missing here.

 

[Sylar]

As I remember lost the ball only once.

VdB is not a risky passer. That is not his game. He however moves the ball around the pitch in lightening speed without losing possession. He can be good against high press, he can be good in and around the box.

Yeah, this is needed against a team like yesterdays so it was baffling to come off.
But maybe the 'easy' option to sub off and pre-planned?

Team defo looked much worse when he came off.

 

[Fastplay]

As an Ajax fan I follow the premier league for a long time now.
Shortly i watch Man Utd with more interest since Donny is in your squad.

But the more i see him play at United the less i understand why you bought him.
He is not used correctly, he is not a playmaker like Bruno also not a spectaculair player with skill moves like past Pogba not a defensive midfielder like.
Het is a player who is brilliant in fast combination play and good in small spaces. He can come in the box and score a goal for you also. but not with a banger, mostly tap ins made because of his intelligent for good positioning.

But Man Utd doesn't play this kind of football, to be honest i do not know a name for the football Man Utd is playing now. but het definitly is not made for this.
The players don't understand him or can't make short passes in tight spaces and create room for the other players or themselfs. hopefully the system will be changed to one wich suits him more. but i also understand you won't make a system specially for van de Beek. Maybe he still have to adept the Premier League is another level compared to the Eredivisie

But i think he and Man Utd made the wrong choice.

 

[FrankDrebin]

He did ok I thought but he was too far away from goal for my liking. But Ole put out a weird freakin formation last night.

 

[bond19821982]

As an Ajax fan I follow the premier league for a long time now.
Shortly i watch Man Utd with more interest since Donny is in your squad.

But the more i see him play at United the less i understand why you bought him.
He is not used correctly, he is not a playmaker like Bruno also not a spectaculair player with skill moves like past Pogba not a defensive midfielder like.
Het is a player who is brilliant in fast combination play and good in small spaces. He can come in the box and score a goal for you also. but not with a banger, mostly tap ins made because of his intelligent for good positioning.

But Man Utd doesn't play this kind of football, to be honest i do not know a name for the football Man Utd is playing now. but het definitly is not made for this.
The players don't understand him or can't make short passes in tight spaces and create room for the other players or themselfs. hopefully the system will be changed to one wich suits him more. but i also understand you won't make a system specially for van de Beek. Maybe he still have to adept the Premier League is another level compared to the Eredivisie

But i think he and Man Utd made the wrong choice.

Thank you for the explanation. But as you said it's too early to pass any kind of judgements now. This was his second start in a team that has no clue how to play, going through a worst period of Ole reign.

Lets revisit this after an year.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

As an Ajax fan I follow the premier league for a long time now.
Shortly i watch Man Utd with more interest since Donny is in your squad.

But the more i see him play at United the less i understand why you bought him.
He is not used correctly, he is not a playmaker like Bruno also not a spectaculair player with skill moves like past Pogba not a defensive midfielder like.
Het is a player who is brilliant in fast combination play and good in small spaces. He can come in the box and score a goal for you also. but not with a banger, mostly tap ins made because of his intelligent for good positioning.

But Man Utd doesn't play this kind of football, to be honest i do not know a name for the football Man Utd is playing now. but het definitly is not made for this.
The players don't understand him or can't make short passes in tight spaces and create room for the other players or themselfs. hopefully the system will be changed to one wich suits him more. but i also understand you won't make a system specially for van de Beek. Maybe he still have to adept the Premier League is another level compared to the Eredivisie

But i think he and Man Utd made the wrong choice.

I think it will work out for him at United in the long run, but the bold above is so true and what most of United fans feel like right now. It can't last forever.

 

[marktan]

As an Ajax fan I follow the premier league for a long time now.
Shortly i watch Man Utd with more interest since Donny is in your squad.

But the more i see him play at United the less i understand why you bought him.
He is not used correctly, he is not a playmaker like Bruno also not a spectaculair player with skill moves like past Pogba not a defensive midfielder like.
Het is a player who is brilliant in fast combination play and good in small spaces. He can come in the box and score a goal for you also. but not with a banger, mostly tap ins made because of his intelligent for good positioning.

But Man Utd doesn't play this kind of football, to be honest i do not know a name for the football Man Utd is playing now. but het definitly is not made for this.
The players don't understand him or can't make short passes in tight spaces and create room for the other players or themselfs. hopefully the system will be changed to one wich suits him more. but i also understand you won't make a system specially for van de Beek. Maybe he still have to adept the Premier League is another level compared to the Eredivisie

But i think he and Man Utd made the wrong choice.

I agree, he would fit it in more in a team like City or Barcelona that have a lot of possession. We struggle with possession, our best play comes from counter attacking. Spending £40m On VDB just seems pointless as he basically plays the same as Mata, but then it adds to a long list of poor spending under Woodward.

 

[poleglass red]

I have to wonder when, during their talks prior to signing, did the agent/ player not discuss his role in the team. I can't believe for 1 min, that Ole/club would have said, you're a squad player and they were happy with that. It reeks of a club signing over what the manager wanted. He's a quality player but right now it's hard to see where he fits in. I think Bruno needs to be rested, I can't believe how tired he looks 8 or so games into a season. I just feel though, even if he did come in and do well, he'd be dropped right away for Bruno to come back.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

As an Ajax fan I follow the premier league for a long time now.
Shortly i watch Man Utd with more interest since Donny is in your squad.

But the more i see him play at United the less i understand why you bought him.
He is not used correctly, he is not a playmaker like Bruno also not a spectaculair player with skill moves like past Pogba not a defensive midfielder like.
Het is a player who is brilliant in fast combination play and good in small spaces. He can come in the box and score a goal for you also. but not with a banger, mostly tap ins made because of his intelligent for good positioning.

But Man Utd doesn't play this kind of football, to be honest i do not know a name for the football Man Utd is playing now. but het definitly is not made for this.
The players don't understand him or can't make short passes in tight spaces and create room for the other players or themselfs. hopefully the system will be changed to one wich suits him more. but i also understand you won't make a system specially for van de Beek. Maybe he still have to adept the Premier League is another level compared to the Eredivisie

But i think he and Man Utd made the wrong choice.

Exactly my thoughts (see 2 posts above yours).

The thing is that we should not make a system for Donny or any other single player. However, such a kind of system is something we should go for anyway. I am sure that we would look much better if we told talented players like Bruno, Rashford, Pogba etc. to do those small and "easy" things like Donny. With time going by the movement off the ball and the quick moving of the ball will become a natural part of their DNA.

 

[Marcus]

We should pair him with a more mobile midfielder. Maybe Fred? And see how we go.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Thought he looked decent. I do wonder if he could be moulded into a Carrick style deeper midfielder. he's got all the qualities for that role and is very press resistant.

 

[Marcus]

Thought he looked decent. I do wonder if he could be moulded into a Carrick style deeper midfielder. he's got all the qualities for that role and is very press resistant.

True that. When De Gea gives those suicide balls to our DM, would you prefer Matic, Fred or VDB to be receiving it without losing possession to the pressing opposing striker? The choice is clear.

 

[Castia]

People laughed at me when I said he's not Ole's signing. Ole wanted Grealish who was too expensive so we contacted our old mate at Ajax and got Donny instead.

Crazy at this point, VdB did ok mid week and yet still cant start.

 

[arnie_ni]

Deserved a start. We've been an utter shambles in the PL and he still can't get a look in. If it was me id ask for a transfer in January

 

[Ralph1386]

What is happening to him is unfair. He was one of the best players on the pitch last Wednesday and yet he gets sabotaged, most probably because Ole didn’t get Grealish.

 

[elmo]

He should have been on rather than Pogba, the way Ole is handling him is embarrassing.

 

[Matt6677]

VDB constantly being put in his place by Ole..

 

[Devil may care]

Seems to be guilty of not being Jack Grealish and not costing £89M, put him where McTominay or Mata played today and we'd be a better side, especially against the bus parkers.

 

[horsechoker]

I'm worried he's going to become better the more he isn't played.

I think VDB could become a player not fancied under Ole but under the next manager should Ole.

The problem for VDB is that he isn't as flashy as Bruno, he's less likely to pop up with a goal or assist but rather he keeps it tidy to coin a cliché.

 

[Foxbatt]

He may not be as flashy as Bruno but surely he is better than Mata. Ole could have played him on the right side of midfield instead of Mata. He is a much player than Mata now for sure.

 

[LJJT]

There may be many reasons Ole isn’t playing him. Must say I’ve not been hugely impressed with him, he’s neat and tidy but he needs to get involved in the game far more when I’ve seen him play

 

[Borys]

I think people are overreacting on here. We've had very difficult start of the season, from no fitness to being overplayed in 1,5 month. He is a player who will be playing in attacking midfielder role or in midfield, there is a lot of possible combinations. But Ole is right not to throw him in from the start, considering how tough games we've had already.

West Brom, Southampton, Basaksehir, West Ham fixtures are coming. I'm sure Ole will be looking for some rotation options and that's where Donny comes handy.

He surprised me against Basaksehir midweek, I thought it was a difficult game and he did well in midfield. Would like to see him next to Fred or McTominay, but doubt he will cement his place in first XI this season, not until Pogba leaves.

 

[HowYouDoin]

We should try DVB at CM. He just isnt going to get many games at AM and I struggle to see him as an AM anyway. He isnt a playmaker by all indications, not the player to find crucial passes, his strength is getting on the end of things. That doesnt mean he's an AM. That and playing with energy, thats what I hear about him all the time.

We just havent seen enough of him to be sure but I really hope we try him at CM and see how it works out.

 

[Borys]

We should try DVB at CM. He just isnt going to get many games at AM and I struggle to see him as an AM anyway. He isnt a playmaker by all indications, not the player to find crucial passes, his strength is getting on the end of things. That doesnt mean he's an AM. That and playing with energy, thats what I hear about him all the time.

We just havent seen enough of him to be sure but I really hope we try him at CM and see how it works out.

I agree and that's why I don't think he make a good CM. Will be waste of time playing him in double pivot, but 3-5-2 could work if we have wingbacks holding width and cover in 3 strong defenders.

DDG
AWB-McTominay-Maguire-Shaw-Telles
van de Beek----Fred
Bruno
Rashford +1​

Can't decide on +1. On paper it would be Martial, or Greenwood. But former is out of form, and latter is sidelined for non football reasons so tough call. Cavani would be handful if we can cross the ball looking for him.

 

[Bestietom]

As I remember lost the ball only once.

VdB is not a risky passer. That is not his game. He however moves the ball around the pitch in lightening speed without losing possession. He can be good against high press, he can be good in and around the box.

It really looks to me like he was a Woodward buy. Just my opinion. I think Ole wanted a DM.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

He should have been on rather than Pogba, the way Ole is handling him is embarrassing.

Next season will be better because Pogba is likely going to be sold.

 

[Sandikan]

Next season will be better because Pogba is likely going to be sold.

This is the only sensible conclusion. That he's been brought in for when Pog has gone.
And for now will be eased in

 

[Mr PG]

I agree, he would fit it in more in a team like City or Barcelona that have a lot of possession. We struggle with possession, our best play comes from counter attacking. Spending £40m On VDB just seems pointless as he basically plays the same as Mata, but then it adds to a long list of poor spending under Woodward.

That's the kind of team we're currently building with Amad Diallo, Pellistri, Jurado, Gonzalez purchases. Ole always said he wants a team that dominates the ball but we're currently short of those types of players.

 

[Foxbatt]

People laughed at me when I said he's not Ole's signing. Ole wanted Grealish who was too expensive so we contacted our old mate at Ajax and got Donny instead.

Crazy at this point, VdB did ok mid week and yet still cant start.

Let me comment on this. If we have a DOF as most of you claim we should have then there is no point in the manager deciding which players we are going to buy. It's the DOF who is going to decide.
Otherwise every time we change the manager then it's a merry-go-round of players from Moyes to LVG to Jose to Ole.
It's up to Ole to make the best use of him. He is a much better player than Mata. Much better.

 

[dinostar77]

I dont see why for the home games where we struggle to breakdown teams that we cant have DVB alongside Fred/McT or Matic. Hes a better passer of the ball than them and more creative. Away games where you need to keep it tight, go with Fred and McT as the double pivot.

If we need to rest Bruno then DVB can fill that role as well. Hopefully he gets a proper run in the team soon as hes far too good a footballer to be wasted on the bench.

 

[Borys]

I dont see why for the home games where we struggle to breakdown teams that we cant have DVB alongside Fred/McT or Matic. Hes a better passer of the ball than them and more creative. Away games where you need to keep it tight, go with Fred and McT as the double pivot.

If we need to rest Bruno then DVB can fill that role as well. Hopefully he gets a proper run in the team soon as hes far too good a footballer to be wasted on the bench.

We will. But so far we’ve played only one game like that when we struggled to break down opposition (last week in Turkey). Donny played that game from the start.
So firstly, Ole sees that. Secondly, it seems van de Beek is not able to finish games so there might be fitness issues.
He will get his chance.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

This thread continues in the kagawa fashion - Donny is a genius but other players aren't good enough to help him play well

 

[tjb]

We will. But so far we’ve played only one game like that when we struggled to break down opposition (last week in Turkey). Donny played that game from the start.
So firstly, Ole sees that. Secondly, it seems van de Beek is not able to finish games so there might be fitness issues.
He will get his chance.

Truth is our season hand t had the chance to get going. We lacked fitness for the opening 3 games and haven't won the big games so far. Our new signings haven't been properly integrated due to this.

In addition we have had to scrap the progress we made at the end of last season as Pogba and Matic have come back worse this season, which has created an unstable first six. I actually blame Ole and our coaching staff for the matters related to the fitness and the match plans were also unprepared in those first 3 games

 

[tjb]

This thread continues in the kagawa fashion - Donny is a genius but other players aren't good enough to help him play well

I see what you are saying, but we haven't even had the chance to see his impact get

 

[Foxbatt]

He surely was a lot better than Mata in most of the games he has played. He does not have to be an Ole player for Ole to play him. The club bought him and I am sure if Ole refused they would not have bought him. What is we had a DOF and he bought DVB and Ole refuses to play him?

 

[Borys]

This thread continues in the kagawa fashion - Donny is a genius but other players aren't good enough to help him play well

It's Kagawa and Pogba mix.

Truth is our season hand t had the chance to get going. We lacked fitness for the opening 3 games and haven't won the big games so far. Our new signings haven't been properly integrated due to this.

In addition we have had to scrap the progress we made at the end of last season as Pogba and Matic have come back worse this season, which has created an unstable first six. I actually blame Ole and our coaching staff for the matters related to the fitness and the match plans were also unprepared in those first 3 games

I don't know much about fitness issues to give an opinion. But regarding Matic and Pogba, I think we've already struggled with them as midfield combo last season when opposition teams found way to shut down Pogba with aggressive pressing.

Anyway we don't seem to have many fitness issues now apart from two left backs out...