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Micky Targaryen

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I agree! Although personally would rather give the minutes to Greenwood whom I believe will show far more creativity and productivity than James does at this stage
It doesn't have to be an either/or kind of thing. I would love to see our promising youngsters get equal opportunities in the PL.

And I sincerely hope there won't be a James vs Greenwood thread popping up any time soon, just like that tiresome Rashford vs Martial thread.
 

Adnan

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Lots of talk about his speed. He is using it very good on tracking back or in counters( Chelsea goal) but during the game he is not using it much. Traore is limited player but he destroyed Shaw who is good defensive player.
James is not using it like that. I would love to see from him that he attacks his player. Trying to run past him and cross or pass.
Traore is also physically built like a tank which helps him in a one v one tbh.
 

roonster09

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Traore is also physically built like a tank which helps him in a one v one tbh.
Yeah, James was on the floor when someone touched him, whereas people bounced off Traore when they tried to win the ball.
 

Adnan

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Yeah, James was on the floor when someone touched him, whereas people bounced off Traore when they tried to win the ball.
I'm actually not surprised Traore troubled shaw tbh. He's faster and physically stronger than Shaw and most other fullbacks. The only way to contain him would be to double up on him. But in that little spell for Wolves he had Shaw one v one with space in behind to attack which ultimately cost us. But I wouldn't blame Shaw at all.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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I gave him MOTM, I'm sure hastily given he was a young lad who put himself about on his first start, while Martial and arguably Rashford were the more effective of our attackers. However I'm surprised to see some of the negative comments about his Wolves display. I'm encouraged personally.
 

berbasloth4

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might be an unpopular opinion or go either but i believe Daniel James is a perfect impact sub for a while.

his pace late in games will be an awesome plan b. even when we are leading and under the cosh bringing him one will automatically force the opposition backline a bit
 

Yagami

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We've added another attacker who's better off the ball than on it. His pressing and tracking back helped a lot due to his speed, but offered nothing when we had the ball.a

it'd be nice to have some more players who actually do stuff with the ball. He, Lingard, McTominay, Pereira just make it difficult in possession.
 

Dec9003

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We've added another attacker who's better off the ball than on it. His pressing and tracking back helped a lot due to his speed, but offered nothing when we had the ball.a

it'd be nice to have some more players who actually do stuff with the ball. He, Lingard, McTominay, Pereira just make it difficult in possession.
This isn't true, James is very good going forward. Please don't write him off after one match, away at one of the most difficult grounds in the league, whilst playing on his weaker side.
 

SaintMuppet

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This isn't true, James is very good going forward. Please don't write him off after one match, away at one of the most difficult grounds in the league, whilst playing on his weaker side.
Well if he is a left winger we should never have bought him. We don’t need one as we have enough players who can play there.For the life of me I don’t know what the club thinks it is doing in regards of right sided attackers.

He needs to drop that diving lark right away, it’s not a reputation I want to see associated with our players.

Personally I’d play Greenwood out there a bit and have James come on for him later. Greenwood is a cooler, calmer and more intelligent player despite his tender age. James is fast and works hard but definitely shows he has grown up in a lower standard of football. He has a lot of developing to do and to survive and make a mark at OT needs to do it pretty quickly.
 

WireMUFC

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Can we please stop casting doubts on a 21 year old that’s made one full appearance, give him at least a few seasons before you start judging him. He’s already scored for us on his debut, some people are so spoilt and so quick to criticise young players it’s a joke.

We’ve seen it time and time again with the likes of Rashford and Martial lets not do it with James, I bet Greenwood can’t wait for the criticism he’s got coming when he doesn’t score 20 goals a game. People are too quick to judge, constantly saying they’re not good enough.

James was 15 million from Swansea, let’s see he how he gets on, I think he’s done phenomenal dealing with all the pressure of joining the biggest club in the world while dealing with his dad passing away. Give the kid a chance. If it doesn’t work out fair play to him, we move on it’s not the end of the world he didn’t cost us 200 mil. I think he will be quality personally.
 

Yagami

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This isn't true, James is very good going forward. Please don't write him off after one match, away at one of the most difficult grounds in the league, whilst playing on his weaker side.
I saw him a couple of times for Swansea and wasn't impressed then either.

For what it's worth, I'm not writing him off. His posture/demeanour on the ball actually reminds me of Ribery! I'm just commenting on what I'm seeing now.

Imo, in our first two games, we've only had 3 players consistently look to impact the game in Pogba, Rashford and Martial. McTominay, Pereira, Mata, Lingard and James all either hide in possession, seem nervous playing for the 1st team, or just aren't good enough. Then you have both of our full backs who are in the more conservative side, and I say this as a big Shaw fan and someone who's loving what he's seeing from AWB.

So, basically, nothing against James. I think we need more players on the pitch who will look to impact the game when we're in possession (like Gomes, Chong and Greenwood did in preseason) because we can't rely on Pogba, Martial and Rashford for everything. Especially when none of them are consistent themselves.
 

He'sRaldo

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Can we please stop casting doubts on a 21 year old that’s made one full appearance, give him at least a few seasons before you start judging him. He’s already scored for us on his debut, some people are so spoilt and so quick to criticise young players it’s a joke.

We’ve seen it time and time again with the likes of Rashford and Martial lets not do it with James, I bet Greenwood can’t wait for the criticism he’s got coming when he doesn’t score 20 goals a game. People are too quick to judge, constantly saying they’re not good enough.

James was 15 million from Swansea, let’s see he how he gets on, I think he’s done phenomenal dealing with all the pressure of joining the biggest club in the world while dealing with his dad passing away. Give the kid a chance. If it doesn’t work out fair play to him, we move on it’s not the end of the world he didn’t cost us 200 mil. I think he will be quality personally.
I agree with you in principle, but the problem is he's actually one of the senior players now due to poor squad planning. As such, unfortunately he's being judged by those standards until a better player is able to replace him at RW and bear the brunt of the criticism.

That's what I feel is a bit unfair with our youngsters, they shouldn't be having to deal with that pressure just yet; but we have very few senior players good enough and experienced enough to protect them.
 

He'sRaldo

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Utter nonsense.
No one's really better than him on the RW, we failed to buy a proper right winger. So unfortunately, it seems to be the case, at least for now.

Yes, he's a youngster, but he seems the most senior player for the RW. Either him or Greenwood; unless we want to see Mata, Lingard, or Pereira there once again?
 
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C'est Moi Cantona

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I gave him MOTM, I'm sure hastily given he was a young lad who put himself about on his first start, while Martial and arguably Rashford were the more effective of our attackers. However I'm surprised to see some of the negative comments about his Wolves display. I'm encouraged personally.
I agree, he showed real moments of promises, and I'm not sure what more can expected from a player that is bound to take time, it's not his fault we have virtually no quality backup, so he is going to be judged as a first team player straight away by some.
 

Andycoleno9

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Honest question, why do most people who are negative about James want to start a lesser experienced and 17 year old Greewnwood instead?
Why is pointing at something or simply giving your opinion is immediately interpreted as negative? Even if it is negative opinion, why fans can't say what they really think about some player?
Here on CAF( and i guess on other forums) every new player is getting praise for everything in first few games and is labelled as "great signing"( i admit, i did that also many times for many players). Look at beggining of player performances threads of our new signings. Alexis, Fred, Dalot, AWB, Bailly.....it is praise after praise for everything. When some posters point at things which later become reality, they are labelled as moaners and being negative. Last year after first (Leicester) game Fred was "excellent" signing already for most of us( including me). And look what happened with him? Same goes for Mikhi, Alexis, Jones....well with nearly every player who we signed.

Same is with James. People see only positive things and are in love in his pace which is something what all fans like to see. But there is huge denial about negative stuff. Now if we talk about Man Utd standard of quality and imo we should, James lacks in many things and is not good enough. What will be in future, who knows? But so far he is not good for first 11 and Greenwood or Chong should get his minutes. Lets see finally what they can do in real games
 

LuisNaniencia

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Why is pointing at something or simply giving your opinion is immediately interpreted as negative? Even if it is negative opinion, why fans can't say what they really think about some player?
Here on CAF( and i guess on other forums) every new player is getting praise for everything in first few games and is labelled as "great signing"( i admit, i did that also many times for many players). Look at beggining of player performances threads of our new signings. Alexis, Fred, Dalot, AWB, Bailly.....it is praise after praise for everything. When some posters point at things which later become reality, they are labelled as moaners and being negative. Last year after first (Leicester) game Fred was "excellent" signing already for most of us( including me). And look what happened with him? Same goes for Mikhi, Alexis, Jones....well with nearly every player who we signed.

Same is with James. People see only positive things and are in love in his pace which is something what all fans like to see. But there is huge denial about negative stuff. Now if we talk about Man Utd standard of quality and imo we should, James lacks in many things and is not good enough. What will be in future, who knows? But so far he is not good for first 11 and Greenwood or Chong should get his minutes. Lets see finally what they can do in real games
How could that not be called negative?
 

Yagami

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I'm excited about Greenwood and hope he gets plenty of time to prove himself this season. I just don't really get why James has had one sub appearance and scored and one mediocre game and now people want him out for Greenwood.
Well, I can only speak for myself, but it's not based off those two games alone. Along with those two games, the preseason games, and the few times I saw him for Swansea, I've been less than impressed with James' general play.

On the flip side, watching Greenwood in the youth teams, against Cardiff last year, on preseason, and his small cameo against Chelsea, I just think he already looks like our best option on the right. I'm not saying he downright is, but I'm just personally more impressed by him than James.
 

Andycoleno9

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How could that not be called negative?
You can call it negative but it is my opinion about this player based on what i saw. The same as i have positive opinion about some other player. I never claim in these situations that i am right. We are not talking about De gea or Pogba here. Only way to talk about James, Chong, Greenwood, Gomes is mostly based on subjective opinion.
 

LuisNaniencia

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You can call it negative but it is my opinion about this player based on what i saw. The same as i have positive opinion about some other player. I never claim in these situations that i am right. We are not talking about De gea or Pogba here. Only way to talk about James, Chong, Greenwood, Gomes is mostly based on subjective opinion.
I'm not trying to deny your opinion and we are getting bogged down in semantics I think.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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I agree, he showed real moments of promises, and I'm not sure what more can expected from a player that is bound to take time, it's not his fault we have virtually no quality backup, so he is going to be judged as a first team player straight away by some.
Indeed, I'm encouraged. A young player with everything to prove by making the move here who has shown positivity and endeavour in his first couple of games is a nice sight at the start of what is likely to be a tough old season for us. However much of the first paragraph below also needs saying:

Why is pointing at something or simply giving your opinion is immediately interpreted as negative? Even if it is negative opinion, why fans can't say what they really think about some player?
Here on CAF( and i guess on other forums) every new player is getting praise for everything in first few games and is labelled as "great signing"( i admit, i did that also many times for many players). Look at beggining of player performances threads of our new signings. Alexis, Fred, Dalot, AWB, Bailly.....it is praise after praise for everything. When some posters point at things which later become reality, they are labelled as moaners and being negative. Last year after first (Leicester) game Fred was "excellent" signing already for most of us( including me). And look what happened with him? Same goes for Mikhi, Alexis, Jones....well with nearly every player who we signed.

Same is with James. People see only positive things and are in love in his pace which is something what all fans like to see. But there is huge denial about negative stuff. Now if we talk about Man Utd standard of quality and imo we should, James lacks in many things and is not good enough. What will be in future, who knows? But so far he is not good for first 11 and Greenwood or Chong should get his minutes. Lets see finally what they can do in real games
As well as some fans trapped in a death spiral of negativity there is a flip side where everything a new player (particularly a young one) does is lauded to the heavens. It's an understandable reaction, as we want to believe new signings will do well here and get us back on our feet, but there's a middle ground between praise and realism. To be clear I'm leaning far more towards the former for James at the moment, I think he's done well and I've enjoyed watching him, and I think that bolded judgement above is well over the top so early in any kid's United career.

In a rambling, annoyingly indecisive way what I'm saying is we need a balance between the two approaches. Relentless negativity destroys the entire point of following the team while overrating everything new players like James do is delusional and will make a player's setbacks and their ultimate failure at United (which is certainly possible in James's case, let's face it) that much more painful.
 

Andycoleno9

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I'm not trying to deny your opinion and we are getting bogged down in semantics I think.
Yeah, maybe. I admit that i was against this signing from the start because with him we added only depth on position where we needed quality plus he takes minutes from our talented trio. For years we didn't had this many talented young players in first squad and we do what? We add raw winger from championship. Why? I just can't understand it. It was logical to buy either world class winger for instant impact or play kids and if that kids fail then go for James or something like that.
That is why i didn't fell in that "new signing" mood regarding James so i look at all his pros and cons. I think that i am not much wrong when i say that his technique is average, he is not goalscorer winger and he is not something special in crossing. Yes, he has speed, people rave about it but does he use it to create something special? No. He doesn't dribble past players using that speed. He is using his speed for clear counters and for tracking back( which both are good things, don't get me wrong). So does he for now deserve to get minutes from Chong, Gomes and Greenwood? I think not. Do i think that he is bad player who will fail? Of course not, he can be useful but honestly i don't think that he will ever reach first 11 player status.
 

Red00012

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Christ, after reading this thread I’m starting to think it was our fans booing him all night.

People need to relax a little.
They just love to cut everyone after a negative result. I wonder what are their feelings on someone like Lingard if they make out James isn’t good enough after 2 appearances and 1 goal ?:houllier:
 

SaintMuppet

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Have you seen how much they hit the guy??? If he doesn't dice he'll probably have his legs broken...
Ok you have convinced me. Nobody wants to see players get hurt. But I never want to hear our fans complain about other players doing it. The rules have to be the same for everyone don’t you think?

I know the above is a bit sarcastic but that’s the problem. Where to draw the line? Consistency etc

I am all for players evading flying tackles but some of the ‘flourishes’ that go with it are worthy of an Olympic diver. I suspect these are what get players noticed and also get them booked. Getting straight to their feet without first looking round to see who noticed would also help players case.

George Best and Maradona were two of the most fouled players in history. I beleive Maradona would actually take the .title in this respect and he did not dive to gain advantage as much as the average modern player. This took place in crapper pitches with albeit only slightly heavier boots but with the more dangerous screw in studs.

One of Dan James problems is he does not appear to even try to stay on his feet. Once a reputation is set it is fixed and we/he probably does not need that as he is up against it already to make the grade at OT
 

Varun

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I'm excited about Greenwood and hope he gets plenty of time to prove himself this season. I just don't really get why James has had one sub appearance and scored and one mediocre game and now people want him out for Greenwood.
We will have to rotate if we want to give greenwood games though which Ole said he will. Palace at home. Doesn't get easier.
 

LuisNaniencia

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Because Greenwood is potentially an elite level talent.
We will have to rotate if we want to give greenwood games though which Ole said he will. Palace at home. Doesn't get easier.
Would be great to see him against Palace, I'd prefer that than throwing him in at the deep end when we get an injury at a crucial time (which is bound to happen). That being said, I'd be just as happy to see James keep his place.
 

Bestietom

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I will give James one thing, He is a trier, and will run his heart out for the team. A little more skill on the ball and a little more thought on when to pass it and he would be much better.
 

romufc

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I gave him MOTM, I'm sure hastily given he was a young lad who put himself about on his first start, while Martial and arguably Rashford were the more effective of our attackers. However I'm surprised to see some of the negative comments about his Wolves display. I'm encouraged personally.
I was actually encouraged with his performance too. I think he pressed well, won the ball back few times and kept it well. He was a threat in behind. The only think he lacked was the final ball. But the negative comments are way over the top.

I am not sure what fans expect? We played well yet there is criticism on Pogba, James, Shaw in that game. Why can we not support the team?
 

Adnan

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Honest question, why do most people who are negative about James want to start a lesser experienced and 17 year old Greewnwood instead?
I'm fine with James starting over Mason. But we have to remember that Mason is part of the first team squad now and should be afforded the faith to start if Ole chooses to start him. Mason is regarded as good enough to be part of the squad and his age should be irrelevant or else what is the purpose of making him a part of the first team.
 

Hernandez - BFA

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I like him a lot, but I feel for now he should be coming off the bench to use his pace vs tired defence. I know he has more to his game than just pace, but he’s still finding his feet here I feel.
 
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