Didn't initially want him to start but he was decent today. Had a couple of nice through balls, some better finishing from Robin would've given him two assists. Wouldn't start him vs City though considering how lethal they have been against us. Valencia should take his place if fit.
15
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Surprise surprise, play him in his best position and he reminds us of his massive potential. Like I said in Di Maria's thread though you can't play the pair of them in the same side without one of them playing out of position and looking crap.
Also highlights the massive need for a right sided winger
Also highlights the massive need for a right sided winger
Valencia out wide ? Or a shift back to a Diamond ?
Di Maria's best position is central of some sort.
Thought he did really well. He needs to develop a better understanding of when to cross/shoot, taking flatfooted crosses and shots when he's losing his balance just leads to poor efforts
I agree so to play both of them in their best positions would need to be something like
---------------GK---------------
RB-------CB-------CB-------LB
---------------DM---------------
-----------CM-----Di Maria-----------
RW------------CF------------Januzaj
Not sure how that works when all of Rooney, RVP and Falcao are fit though, you can probably get away keeping the latter on the bench as he's only here on loan, you can't bench the captain week in week out and we won't bench RVP either
Valencia isn't the answer. Valencia did well in Herrera's role as he could focus on supporting the attack and not having the burden of being a main creator on the wing. He was able to carry the ball forward without having to beat defenders. He also had defensive work rate that Herrera has. That is why he did well in that role. If you play him on the wing he's going to just drill crosses at the first defender.
Even though he turned in a solid performance with many positivies, that was my take as well. I felt that when the ball came to him, he kept it and kept and kept it. Sometimes for too long, missing opportunities for passes and plays. It's also predictable for defenders, if they know that when you get the ball you are going to downshift the attack and hold it and dribble.
I thought Di Maria did much better in the first half than the second, and he was playing on the right then.
Yep, the standing on the ball is an unfortunate tendency he seems to have developed this season. It's his directness and speed of thought which has always made him dangerous, he needs to get that back. The stunning through-ball for RVP today was a sign of what he can do when he just goes for it without thinking too much.
Im the complete opposite, I thought Di Maria's end product was much better late on once the switch had been made
It was definitely noticeable, and it's odd because that wasn't how he played last season. I just kept willing him to take on the full back and he never did, even though he's shown plenty of times that he's capable of beating players one on one
I do think delivery wise he is better from the left, but he got into more dangerous positions in the first half. The second half for me (either side) he generally struggled
I thought he played v well. Do agree he's been a little hesitant but it's early days in his season and we were playing Chelsea so I guess that may have made him a little cautious too. I think he had the beating of Ivanovic.
To be fair, it was chelsea today. They always get numbers back to frustrate attackers.
Much better than against West Brom, after that performance I was worried when I saw him in the starting line-up but he did well.
Great to see him closer to what should be his level today. Probably our main attacking outlet in the first half, and that was up against arguably the best full back in the league. Did very well to play RvP through, and to get Ivanovic to foul him in a very tight position.
Faded in the second half, especially after switching sides with Di Maria, but overall a very acceptable performance from him.
Faded in the second half, especially after switching sides with Di Maria, but overall a very acceptable performance from him.
I thought he played some nice intricate passes at times that got us in good positions, and his skill in tight areas is evident, but he seems slower than last season and too often stops when the ball comes to him. I can certainly see why many think he'll end up as a #10.
I've seen nothing to suggest he's a no10, looks an obvious wide player to me. Does need to stop with the whole stop/start thing though but he's only 19 so I'm sure he'll soon realise what works and what doesn't
I think this stopping with the ball is caused by lack of passing options, today it was only Shaw who was willing to make runs and this isn't the strongest part of his game too. I do think that with Roo behind Falcao and Di Maria and Herrera in the middle he will do better. We played almost like a flat 4-4-2 today.
Agreed. Better today. That through ball to RvP showed why his long term posiition will be as a 10. Weight on the pass was immaculate.
I'm glad he's getting some game time.
Not sure if it was where legs were tiring but when he switched to the right side, he got more joy in the second half and same with the switch for Di Maria. Put in some decent crosses but does need to improve that. Like others, glad to see him getting some game time. Will only improve him.
I think it's quite apparent that he's a #10. He'll still be a good player out wide but his lack of pace will hold him back from hitting the world class level in that position.
Why is this myth still floating around?
I agree about Adnan's best positon but the thing is that he and ADM might get into each others way as ADM likes to move out once we have the ball. Interesting how LVG will play once all our players are fit
Get him on the same steroids as Bale then watch out.
It's not a myth.
He's by no means a slow player of course but he's not exactly very quick either. His vision and creativity is best utilized in a central role.
It is. Plenty of times he outsprinted players. Especially last season it was evident.
I think when people say he lacks pace, it's more a case of lacking acceleration. The past few times I've seen him I've never really felt as though he has the burst of pace to beat a man from a standing start. But when he's chasing down the ball over a distance he's difficult to stop.
His decision making is diabolical. He's young, so I'm going to blame it on that.
And plenty of times he beats players with a bit of skill skill but hasn't got the pace to sprint past them so it all comes to nothing anyway.
Januzaj has a surprising burst of pace to start, but usually defenders catch up as he isn't that fast on full sprint. He just hasn't been using it apart from Swansea. He's been playing more of a patient role, waiting for players to make a run or slip in between defenders. He can still beat defenders if he tries due to that burst of pace, skill, and balance. He can find players with his passing, they just need to start slipping in between the defenders if they decide to double team Adnan and they need to make runs.
He had a great pass to Shaw in the 11th minute that would have created a goal scoring opportunity if Ivanovic didn't barely manage to get a touch on it.
Excuse the bad quality
Like I have said in the past, this game was more reminiscent of his time when he first came up for the u21s (which I prefer) than when he started to really emphasize dribbling at the start of the u21 season in 2013/14. He used to beat teams with his passing, not his dribbling. Cole, Lingard, Vermijl, etc... had more of an understanding with his playstyle though. He always had dribbling in his locker, but he never tried beating players all the time. Even if you take a look at solely his u21 performances you can see there is a big difference to his playing style for the u21s this season compared to 2013. How many times did he try to beat the Spurs u21 defenders compared to his match in the u21 finals vs Spurs in 2013? It's night and day difference.
Not sure if the other regulars of United youth team football will agree with me, but that's how I have seen him.
He had a great pass to Shaw in the 11th minute that would have created a goal scoring opportunity if Ivanovic didn't barely manage to get a touch on it.
Excuse the bad quality
Like I have said in the past, this game was more reminiscent of his time when he first came up for the u21s (which I prefer) than when he started to really emphasize dribbling at the start of the u21 season in 2013/14. He used to beat teams with his passing, not his dribbling. Cole, Lingard, Vermijl, etc... had more of an understanding with his playstyle though. He always had dribbling in his locker, but he never tried beating players all the time. Even if you take a look at solely his u21 performances you can see there is a big difference to his playing style for the u21s this season compared to 2013. How many times did he try to beat the Spurs u21 defenders compared to his match in the u21 finals vs Spurs in 2013? It's night and day difference.
Not sure if the other regulars of United youth team football will agree with me, but that's how I have seen him.
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Yeah, if he gets the steroids of Bale and the training regime of Ronaldo, he'll turn into a real beast. We sometimes forgot how young he is, and considering his slight physique, he's already pretty strong for his age.
Really good performance yesterday, was always trying to make things happen and force the issue. Looked composed against experienced defenders, too.
Did fear the worst when I saw him and Shaw line up on the left side, but fair play to them, that's where we held the most threat.
I felt he gave Ivanovic a hard game, that takes some doing on the form he is in at the moment.
I can see him evolving into a David Silva type left wing playmaker. Has good pace, not electric like Valencia. Its his turning circle, vision, passing, dribbling and close control.
he needs to improve his decision making and stop dawdling on the ball so much, but he's only 19. Im pleased with what i saw yesterday.
I can see him evolving into a David Silva type left wing playmaker. Has good pace, not electric like Valencia. Its his turning circle, vision, passing, dribbling and close control.
he needs to improve his decision making and stop dawdling on the ball so much, but he's only 19. Im pleased with what i saw yesterday.
He also gets away with it as he's faster than your average player. As I said, he proved that last season and he's certainly quick enough for a winger
He has decent pace but he would certainly be on the slower end of the spectrum if he becomes a winger.
A good performance from Adnan, particularly his through balls. We posed the most threat down the left hand side and there was a reason for that.
Valencia is a fast runner, but with the ball, he really is not all that fast. His touch and dribbling mean that he is not particularly stable, whereas Januzaj, I reckon, would be a quicker dribbler with the ball.
Ronaldo was always fast but he was very smart with defenders. You never knew which way he was going and his leg movements were very very quick. At times quicker then his brain could register. If Adnan could develop that then he'll be even trickier to predict. Adnan have different qualities and hopefully we can work on him so that the full back is always ill at ease
Januzaj is the second fastest player with the ball at his feet for us. Valencia is not that fast if he can't run in straight line, plus he really can't do much with it at top speed.
One of our better players yesterday, happy with him, he is still only 19 years old and we played the best team in the league yesterday and he looked more often than not really dangerous. It was his second real game after all this season, I really hope we don't loan him out, we don't have that many great attacking player on the bench (except one of our strikers), which can make an impact, we need him and he will be fine this season.
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