[dinostar77]

I agree with jermain jenas in the commentary. Hes playing with fear and within himself. Not expressing himself. He was making runs in the game but the ball wasnt coming to him. Whether its because the other players dont trust him yet or he isnt demanding it i dont know. He needs a run of games to get his confidence back up. Theres a good player in there.

Whether hes suited to Ole's Utd is another question. DVB strikes me a player who would do well for pass heavy teams like Barcelona or City or Madrid.

He needs to be able to express himself and take risks so we can actually see the player he is. Unfortunately he would need a run of 8-10 hames starting to get to that stage.

 

[MyDevil]

He seems lost in the game and so am I. I am not sure which position we need to play him. Need more game time? But I am sure he didn't grab it when given the rare opportunity. Seems a rush signing at the moment.

 

[Jezpeza]

Reminds me of klaasen who went to everton. Just cant get in the game. Permanently 2 yards off the pace. Looks a waste of time and money atm but will hopefully do a fred and come good

 

[Lennon7]

Reminds me of klaasen who went to everton. Just cant get in the game. Permanently 2 yards off the pace. Looks a waste of time and money atm but will hopefully do a fred and come good

He seems to have poor mentality at the moment too. Heads dropping and he’s making awful sloppy passes. Needs something to go right for him.

Not really any backing him after today but just got a feeling he’ll be fine.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

First half if you actually watched him he made a lot of great runs and options which were never found but he is really struggiling to get involved in games. In part because no one finds these runs, but 2nd half he I felt went off a Cliff when he started going looking for the ball in weird places.
Still feel like he is trying to mimic what Bruno does instead of playing his game.

 

[SER19]

I agree about not judging him. But I can’t see how OGS has mismanaged him, he’s our 6th best midfielder, and not shown anywhere near enough to get a run of games.

I might be being harsh on ole as like I said he's generally good at this. But van de beek came on and did well on a very short debut. We then went through a patch of fairly unimpressive displays from midfielders but he didn't get 90 minutes until the 10th game of the season. He was decent that day and we won, but he hadn't had a league start since. He was also good in 2 CL games v leipzig and Istanbul, both big wins. Its incredibly difficult to have any game tempo or rhythm and as the seasons gone on he's looked worse and worse as the players around and against him are in their stride.

 

[arthurka]

Donny Donny Donny where art thou?

 

[croadyman]

Was worrying how little he saw of the ball tonight and can't see him being able to replace Pogba for the next few weeks, having said that Bruno will start pretty much all the league games and that may well help him get more involved in the game

 

[Robbie Boy]

Reminds me of klaasen who went to everton. Just cant get in the game. Permanently 2 yards off the pace. Looks a waste of time and money atm but will hopefully do a fred and come good

Mentioned this before and the two situations look very similar.

 

[The Purley King]

Maybe I didn’t know who we were getting but he is underwhelming thus far.
Tonight given the big chance in his preferred position he was hiding .
I was expecting scholes (lite) get it pass it move 5 yards get it pass it etc. I watched him very closely tonight and I thought he was a bit lazy. not much energy displayed

Maybe he will prove me wrong but I’m just not seeing what he brings atm.

 

[Devil may care]

He needs to do more when he gets a start, at times he did take up good positions and didn't receive the ball but too often he was so timid when he had it.

 

[Silas]

Offering less than Pereira did.

 

[Ali Dia]

I agree with jermain jenas in the commentary. Hes playing with fear and within himself. Not expressing himself. He was making runs in the game but the ball wasnt coming to him. Whether its because the other players dont trust him yet or he isnt demanding it i dont know. He needs a run of games to get his confidence back up. Theres a good player in there.

Whether hes suited to Ole's Utd is another question. DVB strikes me a player who would do well for pass heavy teams like Barcelona or City or Madrid.

He needs to be able to express himself and take risks so we can actually see the player he is. Unfortunately he would need a run of 8-10 hames starting to get to that stage.

it’s because our forwards aren’t consistently good at passing or creating space and chances. They also ignore his runs a lot and chose the more selfish route. In lots of games this season they look just like 3 random strikers thrown on the pitch to nick a result without much thought for chemistry and balance. I don’t see the unity in the play. It also didn’t help that our best player is rarely on the pitch with him. We are always useless without Bruno these days VDB probably isn’t going to come in and thrive in a situation like that. He needs to start getting games as the season goes on but he’s not gelling well enough to get the minutes he needs. No panic from me. If he doesn’t gel better next season I’m sure he’ll move on.

 

[izec]

Whoever decided to buy him needs to be fired. Wtf was Ole thinking? He was never good enough and doesnt even suit him. I am not surprised, was easy to predict. Was flabbergasted in the summer when we bought him.

Sell him to Barca and Koeman, as long as he is the manager there

 

[UnitedSofa]

Whoever decided to buy him needs to be fired. Wtf was Ole thinking? He was never good enough and doesnt even suit him. I am not surprised, was easy to predict. Was flabbergasted in the summer when we bought him.

Sell him to Barca and Koeman, as long as he is the manager there

In one breath calls for whoever bought him to be sacked and in the next asks what was Ole thinking (one would assume in buying him) - so do you want Ole sacked because he simply bought a player?

 

[Adamsk7]

It’s like we are the first team to buy a good player and for it not to work out. Happens more times than players actually being good.

 

[Ibrahimorich]

The BBC pundits nailed it at half time. He spent far too much time out wide or trying to play as a striker instead of trying to get in pockets of space or coming deep to get the ball and pass from there. You're a playmaker. Get the ball, make some plays. Don't expect others to do it for you.

So many times the ball was with Fred or Matic and he wasn't even on the screen to be passed to.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

VDB isn't a playmaker at all, of any stripe. He seems he'd be a better box to box player, but I don't see how he fits into any system we are trying to play. I think he's a good player too and wish we could find a role for him.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

We all should judgehim after more matches in the next weeks.....but of course he must do more with his playing-time.

 

[croadyman]

We all should judgehim after more matches in the next weeks.....but of course he must do more with his playing-time.

Yeah he is certainly making Ole's mind up for him when it comes to whether he needs to buy a replacement for Pogba

 

[Ralph1386]

Still feel like he is trying to mimic what Bruno does instead of playing his game.

Feel like he’s being told to mimic Bruno which is not the kind of player he is. His best position is a right-footed number 8.

 

[Ali Dia]

Feel like he’s being told to mimic Bruno which is not the kind of player he is. His best position is a right-footed number 8.

hes not. it’s just our team is pretty clearly over reliant on Bruno.

 

[MadDogg]

Vidic and Evra's starts are exaggerated. There elements in both their games that suggested they were quality. Even the Kagawa comparison is unfair, he was present in games, just not as decisive as we would have liked. VDB is like playing with 10 men. Its not like this is only for United either, he's the same way nationally.

Vidic yes. I'm always surprised when people use him as an example of somebody struggling at first. Sure he wasn't the monster he became, but he was fine and did enough that most of us were hopeful of big things. Evra on the other hand struggled massively. Fred and Lindelof are other examples like that, both of whom improved significantly and got to at least a decent level. Hopefully VDB will be the same although I'll be honest I'm not very hopeful.

 

[MadDogg]

If also begs a question that I thought I'd never be asking. Is he genuinely an upgrade on Lingard?

Not sure about Lingard of last season, but he was certainly better before that than VDB has been so far this season. Like I said in another thread I'd also say Pereira was better in the #10 role last season than VDB has been so far (Pereira's terrible games were when he played deeper in central midfield).

 

[UnofficialDevil]

I'd play him instead of Fred next to mc sauce.

 

[MadDogg]

VDB's better games have tended to come in a deeper role, and the way West Ham were playing this might have been a game for him to do that again. Although I understand starting him #10 I wish we'd bought Bruno on a bit earlier for Matic and given VDB 10 minutes or so in central midfield, just see if that sparked him to life at all.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

Yeah he is certainly making Ole's mind up for him when it comes to whether he needs to buy a replacement for Pogba

Well we need definitely a replacement for Pogba but Van de Beek will define the area of the transfer fee for this player (I mean a new player for the starting line-up or a back-up for Van de Beek because he will start the most matches) with this performances in the next weeks.

It doesn't always work for various reasons but Ndombele was terrible for Tottenham last season and now he plays fantastic for them.......if Van de Beek is still on the same level in next 10-14 months then we should sell him but right now he must get more playing-time.

 

[croadyman]

Well we need definitely a replacement for Pogba but Van de Beek will define the area of the transfer fee for this player (I mean a new player for the starting line-up or a back-up for Van de Beek because he will start the most matches) with this performances in the next weeks.

It doesn't always work for various reasons but Ndombele was terrible for Tottenham last season and now he plays fantastic for them.......if Van de Beek is still on the same level in next 10-14 months then we should sell him but right now he must get more playing-time.

Not gonna lie I would be worried if he was Pogba's replacement

 

[groovyalbert]

Hope I'm wrong, but I just can't see how or where he plays for us. Absolutely stank the place out tonight, although he's severely lacking minutes/confidence.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

Not gonna lie I would be worried if he was Pogba's replacement

Right now yes but he needs more playing-time for the "magical click" (A start in every 7-8 matches and 10-20 minutes in some other matches will help no player).

Solskjaer has wanted him so much therefore he is responsible for this transfer.

 

[ManUArfa]

It's v. difficult for him at the moment. Bruno has that swagger and seeks to boss the game whereas VDB looks lost/short on confidence right now. I hope he gets a run in the Europa and starts to impose himself and live up to the potential we saw before he came.

 

[SAFMUTD]

He seems like 40M wasted to be honest, we are either really misusing him or that Ajax system really made him shine.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Half the 'good' runs he made would have had to be inch perfect hollywood balls i.e he was never going to get them.

I've said this many times but his positioning is so off. He's inbetween the lines, right up next to a player or shoulder to shoulder against a centre back.

It's almost a false nine position, except we usually have three of them crowding those spaces in Rashford/Martial and Greenwood and on top of that he has doesn't have any turn of pace or individual threat. It's such a mismatch.

I really like his technical one-touch passing and there's definitely quality there but Ole or himself really needs to find his place in the team, which should be 10 yards back facing the goal.

 

[Lay]

I have zero idea what he’s meant to be doing. Every game he plays he’s just a body

 

[ThemanGiggsy]

I would like to see him sit behind Bruno with mct or matic. Would also be interested in seeing on the right side of diamond when Pogba comes back with matic at the base. Agree he is not a good replacement for Bruno.

 

[tjb]

For the love of god, stop playing VDB as a #10. He doesn't suit that position in our team, he's never going to be a regular starter in that position in our team, so move on.

It's not like Fred, Matic and McTominay are outstanding midfielders, it's not like VDB hasn't regularly played in a deeper role in the past and it's not like it isn't a more obvious position in which he could have a positive impact for us. That's where he should be played.

Stop acting like that's not the role he's played for his entire career. He was a no.10 at Ajax until last season where he performed worse when he played deeper. Passing back and taking no responsibility in a game has little to do with positioning.

 

[tjb]

People jumping the gun here as they did with fred, mctominay and endless others. They may be proven right but to be making definitive statements at the moment is a pointless exercise. I think solskjaers man management is generally excellent but seems to have mismanaged vdb so far. Very difficult to come in and out, often coming into already disjointed teams.

Mctominay was breaking in to the first team, we all actually knew what Fred was good at ( we just thought he would be better at it than he is). With VDB, he literally offers nothing. I actually think playing him is worse than us using Lingard there at the moment, both ran away from the ball, but at least with Jesse, you had spurts where he could drive into the box. He's like playing with 10 men at the moment. Still better than Pereira though, Pereira actively destroyed attacks.

 

[SAFMUTD]

Take the loss and sell him for 20M in the summer if we wait to long he will end as deadwood.

 

[tjb]

it’s because our forwards aren’t consistently good at passing or creating space and chances. They also ignore his runs a lot and chose the more selfish route. In lots of games this season they look just like 3 random strikers thrown on the pitch to nick a result without much thought for chemistry and balance. I don’t see the unity in the play. It also didn’t help that our best player is rarely on the pitch with him. We are always useless without Bruno these days VDB probably isn’t going to come in and thrive in a situation like that. He needs to start getting games as the season goes on but he’s not gelling well enough to get the minutes he needs. No panic from me. If he doesn’t gel better next season I’m sure he’ll move on.

a no.10 at United has to get himself involved. The team is too worried about scoring and creating chances to try and feed him the ball. It's his job to get himself in possession and actually do something when he has it. If you were his teammate, would you risk passing into a risky crowded position for a player who's just going to pass off the creative responsibility anyway? Additionally, he makes it impossible for his teammates to find him, most of the time, he heads into crowded areas where passing there may be too dangerous. Even if you call him a second striker, the second strikers I know of used to drop deep, hold the ball and find the right pass( yorke and sheringham). You also had guys like rooney who were everywhere, using pace, power and aggression to get themselves involved ( also regularly dropping deep). You also have the Cantona's that could create and link play for others. The key point being that they all were responsible for linking the midfield to the attack and getting their teammates involved, not hiding and playing hide and seek with the ball.

Another issue I have with some posters is their highlighting of him at Ajax. The Eredivisie is not the Premier League. There are talented players, but the opposition they face is significantly lower than what the top teams in the Premier League face. Is it not possible that he actually looked better in Holland due to the standard, rather than simply not fitting our system?

 

[Dante]

He's struggling to adapt to the English game. The guy simply doesn't know when and where to run.

Time and space is at a premium at this level. VdB keeps making decision that might have been right in the Netherlands but quite obviously are not so here.

It's going to take time for him to unlearn his Ajax training and relearn how to move about a football pitch against a better quality of opponent. But if it's any consolation for him, Havertz is going through the same growing pains over at Chelsea. They'll both get better eventually. It's only a question of how much better and how quickly.