[3vra]

This is what you get when sometimes you just keep the ball and look around instead of treating It like hot potato and trying to play first touch football all the time but…..
Was It really that good game ? Or we are just used to his subpar performances and did not expect anything from him.

i have no idea but if he change his poor games to at least level from Wolves we could need him next season but still far far away from the level required for first 11 I am hoping for.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

That was more like it from Donny. Hopefully will feature a lot more next season in the CM position.

 

[RuudtheRed]

I think he's a better CM than AM. He's a better short passer than either Fred or McTominay and better in tight spaces, but I haven't seen enough long passes or long shots from him to come to a conclusion about his abilities there. However, his tackling and physicality aren't lacking either.

I wouldn't write him off on the basis of 1 hugely disrupted season for him yet, as I think he offers something different from the CM role. He's almost an anti-thesis of Bruno - he makes the low risk high percentage pass most of the time, keeps the ball well, but lacks that desire to score goals which Bruno has in spades.

He played well yesterday, and won a crucial penalty so credit where it's due. Doubt he'll play more than 10 mins in the Europa League final, so look forward to seeing him improve next season

 

[Adam-Utd]

This is what you get when sometimes you just keep the ball and look around instead of treating It like hot potato and trying to play first touch football all the time but…..
Was It really that good game ? Or we are just used to his subpar performances and did not expect anything from him.

i have no idea but if he change his poor games to at least level from Wolves we could need him next season but still far far away from the level required for first 11 I am hoping for.

You don't sound very sure yourself? what is it you look for to deem it a good performance?

He linked play really well between defence and midfield, he got the ball forward whenever possible, and when in a position to get forward he did that.

He ended up winning the game for us with a driving run into the box and winning the penalty.

I really don't see what was to dislike about it? if you're expecting him to score 3 goals a game and make 5 assists then sure, but it was a solid performance. If he plays like that regularly nobody would be complaining.

I think the only way he can play like that though is surrounded by bodies, he works better in a tight knit unit rather than in space with no help, hence why deeper in midfield suits him so much more.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Pathetic dive for the pen.

 

[CG1010]

Pathetic dive for the pen.

If he doesn't go down then he doesn't get the penalty because the ref would have missed the defender's kick. While the kick wasn't enough to bring VDB down it was still a penalty and IMO given how refereeing is based on declaring fouls only when players go down, VDB is fully in his rights to go down feeling the kick.

 

[Mickeza]

I think the reason he hasn’t played CM is because physically he’s not there yet. You wouldn’t know it on here but our press off the ball is good - we’re a very physically demanding side - and I could hear the bench screaming at him second half to push up. Technically he’s clearly a very good footballer - he seems to have added muscle too. If he can get some more dynamism in those legs he may be a player. It’s been obvious from the start the only chance he has of making it here is in the pivot - yesterday was encouraging.

 

[M Bison]

Pathetic dive for the pen.

Yes, we'd be furious if it was given against us

 

[amolbhatia50k]

This is what you get when sometimes you just keep the ball and look around instead of treating It like hot potato and trying to play first touch football all the time but…..
Was It really that good game ? Or we are just used to his subpar performances and did not expect anything from him.

i have no idea but if he change his poor games to at least level from Wolves we could need him next season but still far far away from the level required for first 11 I am hoping for.

He wasn't that good. He had a few neat moments but they mostly didn't lead to anything or ended up with him giving the ball away. Much better than previous performances but that's a low bar to clear anyway. He has a lot of proving to do.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

You can see all he wants is people he can give the ball to and get it back from

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

I think the reason he hasn’t played CM is because physically he’s not there yet. You wouldn’t know it on here but our press off the ball is good - we’re a very physically demanding side - and I could hear the bench screaming at him second half to push up. Technically he’s clearly a very good footballer - he seems to have added muscle too. If he can get some more dynamism in those legs he may be a player. It’s been obvious from the start the only chance he has of making it here is in the pivot - yesterday was encouraging.

VdB is a bit bigger than players like Bruno, Fred, Wan Bissaka, Mason, Rashford and so on, he played plenty of UCL and International games, I think it's as you say, he needs to be more dynamic with his playing style, hustle & bustle, quicker forward passing, pressing, tackling, carrying the ball, etc... today he showed some of that

 

[Devil81]

I hope he's still here next season and he can improve on what we've seen this season, for me though it's make or break next season, if he offers up much the same as he has this season it's the door.

Fingers crossed he improves.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Pathetic dive for the pen.

Eh? the guy studs him in the ankle it's a clear penalty all day long.

 

[Hughes35]

Thought he was average today which is a big improvement for him.

Hope he can turn it around next season (Would still be pleasantly surprised if he does though).

 

[Bondi77]

He was a lot better than he has been and he seemed to be more physical.
Fred was borderline useless when he came to our club and Lindelof was not much better but they were given a lot of game time while making mistakes along the way to get to the level they are at now so I think it will be harsh if Donny does not at least get a good crack in preseason.

 

[Red Royal]

Such a shame that this one acceptable performance came in last game of season rather than his 1st.

 

[elmo]

Such a shame that this one acceptable performance came in last game of season rather than his 1st.

He came off the bench and scored on his first game.

It went downhill from there onwards.

 

[Polar]

Pathetic dive for the pen.

Did you see how his ankle was hit in slow motion? The tackle was pretty ugly.

 

[crossy1686]

Big fat waste of money. Half of Grealish down the drain. We'd have been better off promoting a youth player or forcing Lingard to play through his malaise

 

[crossy1686]

Such a shame that this one acceptable performance came in last game of season rather than his 1st.

It's desperate that it takes a game where the opposition are on the beach and we've got nothing to play for, for him to show up and put a decent performance in.

 

[Ali Dia]

I reckon he’ll do a Fred next year in McTs place. I mean he’ll do a Fred as in he’ll play a lot and divide the hell out of everyone just because he doesn’t score goals and get assists. I think posters pointing out that he isn’t quite there physically are probably right but I think he has the football brain and basic skill set to be useful for us if he can get up and down the pitch for 90 mins and start to get a bit more feisty for lack of a better word.

 

[Foxbatt]

You can see all he wants is people he can give the ball to and get it back from

That's how they are taught at Ajax. It's the Cruijff way of playing. Right players in the right space at the right time. He would pass and move into space and the ball won't come. Our players take extra touches and delay the pass. Mata and Amad were guilty of not passing to him when he was in better positions.
I personally think he is at the wrong club and for his career he should move.

 

[VP89]

Pathetic dive for the pen.

Pathetic post

 

[Adam-Utd]

Big fat waste of money. Half of Grealish down the drain. We'd have been better off promoting a youth player or forcing Lingard to play through his malaise

Tell us how you really feel?!

 

[Yagami]

If we're serious about challenging for the title next season, we need to be ruthless and sell him asap whilst he still has some stock. There's still people who don't see he's awful and think we're wasting his talent. We need to play off that delusion.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Such a shame that this one acceptable performance came in last game of season rather than his 1st.

Acceptable performance. That's exactly what it was. The pen dive thing. Hard to say how hard the cleats got on his foot so i won't judge.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Acceptable performance. That's exactly what it was. The pen dive thing. Hard to say how hard the cleats got on his foot so i won't judge.

It 100% wasn't a dive. The guy studs him above his ankle and pushes his ankle in, you can see it twist on the replays. He was perfectly correct to go down in that situation and won us a penalty.

If that was Bruno in the same situation they'd all say well done.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Eh? the guy studs him in the ankle it's a clear penalty all day long.

Man he barely tapped him and didn't even break his stride. The delayed fall is why VAR was required and why it wasn't obvious at first

 

[USREDEVIL]

It 100% wasn't a dive. The guy studs him above his ankle and pushes his ankle in, you can see it twist on the replays. He was perfectly correct to go down in that situation and won us a penalty.

If that was Bruno in the same situation they'd all say well done.

I'm not saying it was a dive. I'm saying i can't call it because if studs really got on his foot hard, then he was in the right. Should have said "Pen dive".

 

[Adam-Utd]

Man he barely tapped him and didn't even break his stride. The delayed fall is why VAR was required and why it wasn't obvious at first

Watch it again. I feel like you've probably never had somebody stud you on the ankle bone before? the defender lunges in, misses the ball and catches his ankle.

It's a penalty all day long and a foul outside of the box every time, i'm amazed people are even debating it.

 

[Adam-Utd]

@USREDEVIL @mu4c_20le Stop the video at 1.56 and you can see the contact clearly.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Watch it again. I feel like you've probably never had somebody stud you on the ankle bone before? the defender lunges in, misses the ball and catches his ankle.

It's a penalty all day long and a foul outside of the box every time, i'm amazed people are even debating it.

I'm not saying it wasn't a pen, but it was probably clever play from him. I've been lunged at when i'm running and usually momentum carries me forward without even breaking stride, like Donny here. Fortunately he knew enough to go down and draw the foul, otherwise the other guy would've gotten away with it.

 

[Raveneye]

If someone is sprinting and they get clipped in the ankle from the side like that on their load-bearing leg, most people are going down. Harder and Donny could have had a twisted ankle. Agree with anyone saying that whether Donny could have managed to keep going, it's a penalty and he was right to go down.

 

[Bebestation]

@Foxbatt

The player I wanted to see him used like to most is Thomas Muller.

On the occasions we needed a last minute goal - Ole does bring him on, so I feel he does understand the quality of his movement to help us get a goal.


However, it just sucks we have not really seen it yet and seeing this deeper version of him which is just not his style even though he maybe capable.

Considering Muller is 31, I wonder if he would one day potentially replace him at Bayern once he catches back on to his feet because I dont think he has failed here; he is a specialist player that has just not been used.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Pathetic dive for the pen.

As opposed to an acceptable dive
It was a foul and he fell over .. penalty. This self righteous indignation is wearing a bit thin tbh. If people expect our players to be paragons of virtue then they’re going to be disappointed

 

[Mr Smith]

If he doesn't go down then he doesn't get the penalty because the ref would have missed the defender's kick. While the kick wasn't enough to bring VDB down it was still a penalty and IMO given how refereeing is based on declaring fouls only when players go down, VDB is fully in his rights to go down feeling the kick.

I actually have no problem with VDB going down, but it's definitely not a pen for me, because he takes an extra step with the same foot that the contact was made without breaking stride, so clearly the contact doesn't make any difference. But that's on the ref and VAR, who just seem to give pens for the slightest contact these days. It may have gone for us this time, but I'd be apoplectic if that kind of a pen was given against us.

 

[Craig Ward]

Really hope he has a good season next year.

He's technically better than anyone we have in the CM area and has been criminally underused this year.

I'm a massive Ole fan, but one thing I would pick up on is his reluctance to shift from the Fred/McTominey pairing. He's played it way too safe for way too long with these two as a pair, and Donny hasn't got a sniff bar odd minutes here and there.

I really feel for Donny, a tough first year. He's gone from an assured starter at a title challenging team who always have a decent champions league run to watching from the stands. Yes, utd is a big step up but he's got to be kicking himself after a frustrating year.

When he has played - he's been used in different positions and not had a run of games to establish himself. When he's used like this, how can he ever find any form?

Hoping he plays more with Fred as a CM. While he can play the #10 role - I dont think the counter style we prefer overly suits him - he's come from a very technical possession based Ajax team. He has to play deeper in more of an #8 role for me - where his passing/vision/technical ability will stand out. He's streets ahead of both Fred and certainly Mctominey when it comes to using the ball. McTominey spends half his life moving OUT of space to avoid getting the ball. Donny is a much better footballer than both combined.

He needs to play - end of.

 

[b82REZ]

It was 100% a pen.

There seems to be a few agenda driven posts against him in here and bizarrely are using that pen as a reason to bash him.

Overall a poor season, adequate game on Sunday. I expect his long term position for us will be as an 8. I expect he will start more there next season.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I actually have no problem with VDB going down, but it's definitely not a pen for me, because he takes an extra step with the same foot that the contact was made without breaking stride, so clearly the contact doesn't make any difference. But that's on the ref and VAR, who just seem to give pens for the slightest contact these days. It may have gone for us this time, but I'd be apoplectic if that kind of a pen was given against us.

He got studs with a fair bit of force planted onto his ankle/upper foot. That fecking hurts. The contact might not have tripped him up but you can see why he went down the moment he put had to put weight on that foot.

 

[Marcus]

He got studs with a fair bit of force planted onto his ankle/upper foot. That fecking hurts. The contact might not have tripped him up but you can see why he went down the moment he put had to put weight on that foot.

This all day long. There was painful contact. What is wrong with the posters who disagree?