Donny van de Beek

Tapori · May 23, 2021

A man seemingly transformed.
I think he can play advanced 2 of 2 or advanced 2 of 3 in the middle but you need a young Matic to really make it work.

With a solid DM you could go full mental and play DM, Donny Fernandes Pogba + 2 up top either stretched or 1 up top and one wide.

klayton88 · May 23, 2021

Was it a good performance? Really? Or was it just much less shit than usual? I might be making my own narrative here but I'm convinced our players avoid passing to him. He'll be in good positions but people ignore him, like they don't trust him on the ball.

Bebestation · May 23, 2021

Tapori said:
A man seemingly transformed.
I think he can play advanced 2 of 2 or advanced 2 of 3 in the middle but you need a young Matic to really make it work.

With a solid DM you could go full mental and play DM, Donny Fernandes Pogba + 2 up top either stretched or 1 up top and one wide.

Please dont turn me on.

This is why I think Ole is targeting Rice; to hold Pogba and Bruno Fernandes and VDB together; with VDB making runs and small taps and passes near the edge off the box off Pogba's and Bruno's initial creative passes.

lysglimt · May 23, 2021

Saddy said:
Wow - are you taking the pi55 ?

He was ok but a long way off the standard we need to challenge for titles and trophies every season - 6 out of 10 and one of his better performances

Did you even watch the game - he had a lot of nice one-twos. He hardly misplaced a pass and completely dominated Neves and Moutinho

sincher · May 23, 2021

lysglimt said:
Did you even watch the game - he had a lot of nice one-twos. He hardly misplaced a pass and completely dominated Neves and Moutinho

Did you watch the second half?

sincher · May 23, 2021

Maybe he just lacks match sharpness but he was very good for 55 mins and not good after that.

elmo · May 23, 2021

Harry190 said:
Where's that guy been all season?

On the bench

TrustInOle · May 23, 2021

Best performance in a United shirt for me, helped move he ball forward very well from deep and as per usual he is always on the move finding space and played some nice quick football at times. Promising signs!

Dominos · May 23, 2021

Better today but probably too little too late. We should have given him more game time in the double pivot this season to see whether he's up to it in that position.

Sultan · May 23, 2021

Very likely the players he played with today suited his game more than playing with Fred, McT, Bruno and Pogba who doesn't suit his short pass and move style. I've always maintained he is better suited to teams that like to retain possession.

Pogue Mahone · May 23, 2021

Better today because that’s the position he should play. Controversial opinion but I think we’d have had a better season if he’d been fast-tracked into starting games ahead of McT.

Pogue Mahone · May 23, 2021

sincher said:
Maybe he just lacks match sharpness but he was very good for 55 mins and not good after that.

He looked knackered.

OrcaFat · May 23, 2021

If he can build on this, perhaps no. 8 is where he’ll settle. Balance was good alongside Matic.

Him and Rice could make a good 8-6 pair. Maybe.

Saddy · May 23, 2021

lysglimt said:
Did you even watch the game - he had a lot of nice one-twos. He hardly misplaced a pass and completely dominated Neves and Moutinho

Yes thanks and it was one of his better games but not "outstanding" which is what I was commenting on and he didn't completely dominate the midfield - we've got more talented youngsters coming through to take his passive performances up a level.

bosnian_red · May 23, 2021

Yeah easily his best position. He isnt a #10 in a United side. He isn't a DM either, needs to be the #8 with a true defensive midfielder and he might actually have a future as a starter here. Never going to be anything as a 10 though.

adkb · May 23, 2021

Coxy said:
Really?

Yes. I know you could argue with stats, but simply speaking of the impact a player has had on a team, Bruno does hold a heavy hand, don't you think? He single handed transformed to team for me.

Andersons Dietician · May 23, 2021

I was really impressed with that. Actually think some of the stuff the team did today in moving the ball about through midfield was some of the best stuff we’ve done all season. Donny played his part in that. Was just great to see them exchanging passes and moving immediately to give options. Something we rarely do and I’ve said all season do that and we’ll see a proper Donny. Thought his link up with Mata and Amad was very good at times.

He was beating people creating space for himself and moving the ball on well. Later in the 2nd half I think he started to really tire. Seemed to become a bit of a struggle for him but, looked promising.

Tapori · May 23, 2021

Bebestation said:
Please dont turn me on.

This is why I think Ole is targeting Rice; to hold Pogba and Bruno Fernandes and VDB together; with VDB making runs and small taps and passes near the edge off the box off Pogba's and Bruno's initial creative passes.

I have neither the stamina or levelz of cringe-resistance to do an Artful Dodger re-write to Clifford's track of the same name complete with united first 11 references.

FrankDrebin · May 23, 2021

He was ok but we were still largely dominated by Wolves midfield in the 2nd half.

I think the only real positives that came from today were the result, obviously, and the performances from Amad, Elanga and Mejbri.

Foxbatt · May 23, 2021

Bebestation said:
I'm just hoping that Ole is using him as a CM to almost get him used to being a versatile player and to feel the tempo of the game before he gives him the shadow striker role after a pre-season; as Ole has used him a bit versatile.

I'd love to see VDB's runs - they consistently have beaten someone and hit gets through following press with a quick pass back or forth, or simply a flick or a turn to skip the opposition. The deeper that is - it can look like he does nothing; the further up the pitch - this can completely trick an opposition.

It just doesn't happen in the deadly area here at United because he doesnt play there with the creative players able to pick him out,

I wrote on the match day thread that he was getting frustrated. People who are not used to Dutch and Ajax football may not notice it but he did move into space a lot, especially in the first half and the pass would not come. Amad and Mata were the guilty parties most of the time. DVB, was actually showing where to pass but they take that extra touch and that extra few seconds. Can he play as a DM? I do not think so. Can he play in a diamond? For sure. But we do not play like that. For him, its a bad move, especially if Pogba stays. He doesn't fit our style of play and better for him, if he leaves.

Bobcat · May 23, 2021

Harry190 said:
Where's that guy been all season?

simmee said:
Thought he was really good today. His turns took out their whole midfield a few times.

Agreed, much better from him today and he seemed to play with a lot more confidence and authority then he has done in the past

Haddock · May 23, 2021

He looked like he's finally adapted to the robustness of the league. Fought for everything. Long may it continue.

lost7 · May 23, 2021

Some brilliant turns, a couple of great runs, won the pen, more forward passing...

Who knows, maybe playing 2 games in a week helped his match sharpness. He had a really solid performance, let's hope he can build on it for next season

Cast5 · May 23, 2021

Much better today, made up for him.

MDFC Manager · May 23, 2021

His best performance of the season. I think we'll see a better player next season.

#07 · May 23, 2021

We have all had questions about Van de Beek in a double pivot. Today against Moutinho, Dendoncker and Neves I think he answered some of these. There seemed to be much more purpose to his play and he wasn't easily bullied out of the match. Not going to pretend that he was dominant, in any way. He stuck with it though and influenced the game at important points. I was starting to lose hope. After today I'm more open to him eventually coming good.

ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg · May 23, 2021

#07 said:
We have all had questions about Van de Beek in a double pivot. Today against Moutinho, Dendoncker and Neves I think he answered some of these. There seemed to be much more purpose to his play and he wasn't easily bullied out of the match. Not going to pretend that he was dominant, in any way. He stuck with it though and influenced the game at important points. I was starting to lose hope. After today I'm more open to him eventually coming good.

agreed. Finally we saw the potential in him.

Now this is not meant as a criticism, but today he reminded me of the Cleverely performances at the start of the season he played with Anderson. That was actually quite exciting - hopefully he uses this as a launch pad for next season.

Augustus Gloop · May 23, 2021

Pogue Mahone said:
Better today because that’s the position he should play. Controversial opinion but I think we’d have had a better season if he’d been fast-tracked into starting games ahead of McT.

I honestly don’t think he’s been decent once this season. Even his performance today would fall in to the low-end of what Scott and Fred have produced this season. Just a plain 5/10. I don’t know why you’d rush to get him into the side.

SATA · May 23, 2021

That turn he did in the first half and took a couple of Wolves players out of the game was pleasing to see

Bwuk · May 23, 2021

He did well today but lets not get carried away, it was a dead rubber.

If he's still here next season he needs to impose himself a lot more when given the opportunity. Hopefully he has a good euros and kicks on from there.

Desperado · May 23, 2021

Best performance for us so far; hid from the ball less and he seemed more in sync with the team. He's shown bits of his skill all throughout the season, to me it's always seemed like his issues stemmed from not being acclimated to neither the league nor his teammates as well as confidence and lack of match sharpness. It's good to see him showing more of what he's about now that he's getting more playing time - I think he'll have a Fred-like improvement next season.

Dve · May 23, 2021

Good game today and a lot braver on the ball that normally. He can actually run with the ball, I think I have never seen it before. Maybe he can other stuff too that he´s been too shy to show. Maybe he can dribble. Or shoot. Does he have a long pass? Who´d know. He already had me on short passes, often backwards.

He has the technical abilities to play in the midfield and can help us become more stabile in possession. And he needs to be brave, like today.

PTSTSL · May 23, 2021

I think having players in front of him moving towards the opposition goals instead of standing still or coming towards him helped him a lot. The front 3's movement was very good in parts of the game today, as was his performance.

A nice surprise.

TheReligion · May 23, 2021

Does he always play well when Mata is alongside him?

Rake · May 24, 2021

Just can't see more than a backup player with him. Yeah, he had a better game but only because his previous ones were terrible. Don't know how Ole plans to use him but I`d rather have Mejbri being ushered into the first team than VDB.

Bebestation · May 24, 2021

I may totally be making this up - but did Ole play Fred in some weird positions in the start of Ole’s tenure to possibly build his ability up?

I can’t remember if it’s true - but I felt like I did remember something like that.

Bwuk · May 24, 2021

TheReligion said:
Does he always play well when Mata is alongside him?

Think a lot of our players look better when Mata plays.

11101 · May 24, 2021

Much better but still miles off what he needs to be. It was a game played at half speed but he still made a few sloppy passes and weird decisions. Pre season will be hugely important for him to get up to the levels of sharpness and physicality required.

bsCallout · May 24, 2021

Played very well in the first half. Definitely isn't fit enough though, seemed to completely run out of steam in the second.

romufc · May 24, 2021

Played well today, he has always been really good on the ball.

What the game yesterday showed, the importance of signing a DM in the summer.

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