He's trash, but no doubt will spend at least 8 years here before being shipped to Watford, as is tradition
Unpopular opinion - Daniel James is not very good
- Thread starter Josep Dowling
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Trash. Wow. What fans Man Utd have.
Hes been very poor for months now. The opponent can read what he’s going to do. I don’t know if it’s because of a lack of options or fatigue but I’m surprised how he is still a regular starter after being very poor for such a while now.
New winger (hopefully Sancho) needed in the summer. James is a decent squad player to have but a regular starter, no thanks.
New winger (hopefully Sancho) needed in the summer. James is a decent squad player to have but a regular starter, no thanks.
Man, it's painful to watch him play. He's a good kid by all accounts, but not what we need as a starter.
New to the league. Father passed away less than 10 months ago. This is what we have to deal with.
He's got the raw tools to be a successful player here, sadly his decision making in the final third is pretty shocking. I think that will improve with age and experience.
Only eight players have more assists than Daniel James this season. They are;
Kevin De Bruyne
TAA
Riyad Mahrez
Roberto Firminho
Buendia
David Silva
Son
Adama Traore
Not bad really when you consider most of those player are (or where in the case of Silva) £50m+ players easily
Kevin De Bruyne
TAA
Riyad Mahrez
Roberto Firminho
Buendia
David Silva
Son
Adama Traore
Not bad really when you consider most of those player are (or where in the case of Silva) £50m+ players easily
I agree with some of the comments on his decision making but it is fair to say he is a winger and his first thought most of the time is to whip a cross into the box and sadly we don't have the type of attackers who will attack the 6 yard box. I do fault Dan for not recognizing this and maybe looking to cut the ball back to the edge of the area more but I think it is also fair to say that if we had signed Haaland or someone in that mold then Dan would be a regular assist machine. Just looking at the Watford game he played 3 crosses that had the keeper in all sorts of trouble but every time we didn't have anyone attacking them.
"Young player bought to help first team as a squad choice in inconsistent form shocker.!
The lad is doing fine. If hasn't developed in 2 years then start moaning.
Plenty more to come.
The lad is doing fine. If hasn't developed in 2 years then start moaning.
Plenty more to come.
Most caf posters find moaning easier than breathing.
He is not trash. He has good potential, but his game is a bit underdeveloped atm. He will be a very good squad player for years to come.
He is not a starter though, I doubt he will be.
He is not a starter though, I doubt he will be.
And he should have had twice as many of players had converted the chances he creates, that Fred chance against Watford should have been another.
We have problems in our club right now and I'd say he's very much the least of our worries, we have Lingard and Pereira stinking up the place for 2 and 1 years respectively.
Being fair we have literally no right winger on the team, we have some players that can adapt to the position such as Mata, Greenwood, or waste of time like Pereira and Lingard but no real RW, not even James is a RW.
Thats why I think he keeps playing, because he has shown that he is below the quality required, the right side is our weak side by far on attack.
Agree. Hard to belive he is a fan. He is probably not ; )
Dan James is in the same boat as Victor Moses. He has plenty of pace and great work-rate, but he does not have the close control, end product or unpredictability to be a great winger.
His future at Manchester United is either:
1. Squad player
2. Wingback
His future at Manchester United is either:
1. Squad player
2. Wingback
Thank you.
He’s had a great second professional season ever in football. People forget that.
It's madness.
Some people never tire of writing off young inexperienced players.
Give him a chance for jaysus sake.
Some of the posts on here. Just incredible.
They'd have long shipped Gareth Bale off from Tottenham before he had the chance to develop
Or even Ronaldo!.
They'd have long shipped Gareth Bale off from Tottenham before he had the chance to develop
Or even Ronaldo!.
I am of the belief that Daniel James is giving us absolutely what the coaching staff is asking of him. His speed alone is such a weapon against opponents, we can go from defense to offense in such a flash. If you think goal and assist tally are the only way to judge a player, please rethink.
Most of his starts this season seemed to me as the not-ideal decision from the coaching stuff. Dan hasn't yet hit the starting XI level and as such I think United should be looking for ways to understand his impact as a sub, something that didnt came up much in his time at United yet. I dont fancy his football, I think he lacks technique qith the ball on his feet and wisdom with the runs and the desicion making. But that doesnt mean he isn't a very usefull tool to take advantage of. Sadly, imo, his place in the squad and his performances hasn't been very satisfying to me, but I hope the manager make the most out of him.
He's basically rashford's back up on the left who's had to play alot because of injuries and lack of a genuine right side option (Greenwood for now is the backup on the right).
The real question is, is he good enough to back up rashy? I think we need that player to be 15 percent better than his current level so no but maybe he can develop quickly. Either way, sorting the right and rashford staying fit will buy him time.
The real question is, is he good enough to back up rashy? I think we need that player to be 15 percent better than his current level so no but maybe he can develop quickly. Either way, sorting the right and rashford staying fit will buy him time.
The majority of opponents play the low block so of what use is speed alone?
Will every young player turn out to be Gareth Bale? If that were the case, clubs would never release players from the academy or from the reserves.
I think Daniel James would be better suited to a full back role. His work rate is fantastic and his defensive qualities are second to none. He is also very quick which will help. I think James in a full back role will suit Ole’s counter attacking philosophy.
Of course he may get nowhere near Bale's peak.
But it's ludicrous to write him off now.
Let's see how he is when he's an impact player when we have a strong team. Rather than burning him out playing him too often.
He's first pick when it comes to playing against City/Liverpool.
with his lack of experience esp at highest level he should have been eased into the 1st team. He was thrown in at the deep end due to our situation. Played way much too football, get kicked from pillar to post in games he played. Of course he was drained at the end of the season, the step up in quality alone, would cause that. We get a more settled side and he plays more in a squad like role, he will show his worth. Imagine any full back 70 odd mins into a tough game and we bring on James for last 20, don't care who you are that's going to a tough last 20 with his pace and directness
You know the slightest bump has him almost flying out of the stadium. He's no defender/full back
What other option do we have anyway? We signed him because he has potential, promising, good fees & offer something good. This is why we need another option and Sancho is our main target which indicates that the manager wants different option for different type of winger.
Beside, James actually did perform very well in many of our games against the low block team, so his speed isn't as useless as what you think. The amount of fouls he drew and won us set pieces are incredible as well as gave the opposition yellow card.
His technique isn't as bad as what people suggested. His end product is slightly problem but for his first season, the numbers don't reflect the title of this thread. I think it's about consistency, James had period when he hit his form and contributed to our goals but at the same time there was period when he was off form which is common for young players especially jumped from Championship to big club, fatigue can also be in the consideration.
He is a good sub. Not a default starter. Good squad option though.
is that true though? the modern game now has moved to a system where full backs/wing backs are the source of many teams attacking threat down the wings. Having a pacey winger to counter that and also track is a useful option to have. Certainly v the big teams that isn't an issue. One of our main problems earlier in season in breaking down teams defending deep was our lack of creativity from central mid and lack of a central striker. We've seen the changes made recently that have started to address that. You will always get certain teams who will defend deep, but to suggest most teams do that I don't see that.
He is very good.
Pair him with the kind of centre forward that knows how to beat his marker, and he'd have had a shit load more assists last season. That being said, an assist every 362 minutes puts him behind only Son, Mane, Buendia, Robertson, Traore, Mahrez, TAA and De Bruyne out of the players who played 2000+ minutes in the league. And that's without a top class poacher up front.
James' style is direct and pacey. That means he gets behind the opposition defence quickly and needs somebody in the box to be able keep up with him mentally: a centre forward who take risks to make near post runs. It's no mystery why the Rashford-James link yielded 4 goals (the most of any partnership per minute in the league), but the Martial-James link only led to 1 goal.
Martial is a very good player in his own right, but he doesn't know how to make the most of the players around him. As an extreme example, if Welbeck played up front with De Bruyne, you'd also get a drop in output from the latter through no fault of his own. Martial is certainly better than Welbeck and De Bruyne better than James, but the partnership dynamics would share many of the same dysfunctions.
Pair him with the kind of centre forward that knows how to beat his marker, and he'd have had a shit load more assists last season. That being said, an assist every 362 minutes puts him behind only Son, Mane, Buendia, Robertson, Traore, Mahrez, TAA and De Bruyne out of the players who played 2000+ minutes in the league. And that's without a top class poacher up front.
James' style is direct and pacey. That means he gets behind the opposition defence quickly and needs somebody in the box to be able keep up with him mentally: a centre forward who take risks to make near post runs. It's no mystery why the Rashford-James link yielded 4 goals (the most of any partnership per minute in the league), but the Martial-James link only led to 1 goal.
Martial is a very good player in his own right, but he doesn't know how to make the most of the players around him. As an extreme example, if Welbeck played up front with De Bruyne, you'd also get a drop in output from the latter through no fault of his own. Martial is certainly better than Welbeck and De Bruyne better than James, but the partnership dynamics would share many of the same dysfunctions.
And this why people defended Martial because of James as much as it is possibly to defend James due to martial.
James doesnt get the best out Martial because Martial isnt a poacher whilst Martial doesnt get the best out of James because James isnt a inside forward like Rashford or Greenwood is - atleast the majority of that first season where he played RW.
I think half way through the damage had been done to Daniel James having spent most of the time as a touchline hugging RW that he seemed to have kind of forgotten how to play as a inside cutting LW whenever he got that chance again.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka wonders if he's a joke to you?
We missed his energy when he was out. Seems like the new James milner
12 million signing, only turned 22 in November , first season in the premier league, our highest assisting player, not on huge wages, all the pace in the world.
Yea lets right him off already
. If we had a proper striker he would be one of the highest assisting players in the league.
Yea lets right him off already
. If we had a proper striker he would be one of the highest assisting players in the league.He is far from level of top class player, but he could be a Robbie Keane type of player for us.
Good post
It should be obvious that we rarely have players even attempting to get on the end of a cross and I think that is maybe why Shaw does not go to the byline to get a cross in.
James has put some beautiful crosses in this season but only the opposition are around the 6 yard box.
If he is going to be a Robbie Keane for us I would be elated.
Did you see him play?
He's not very bad either. He had a good start to the season then had a fall in form. Nothing new with a young player. Even Ronaldo wasn't great in his first season in 2003/04.We signed a 20 year old unproven winger not a 27 year old peak striker.