[Dinghy]

Another one of those who needs everyone else to make it happen for him.

 

[Idxomer]

He needs a system where he knows exactly what he's supposed to do because he doesn't possess any individual brilliance that could help this team.

 

[Brwned]

Another one of those who needs everyone else to make it happen for him.

One of those "team" players, essentially. Quite a useful thing to have in a team sport

 

[Zoo]

He made a noticeable difference when he came on. Shame Ole doesn’t know what to do with him. At least we know that Poch is a big fan

 

[Godfather]

He made a noticeable difference when he came on. Shame Ole doesn’t know what to do with him. At least we know that Poch is a big fan

To be honest any additional midfielder would have made a difference after that shambolic system we played in the first half

 

[spiriticon]

He's giving me strong Kagawa/Mata/Mkhitaryan vibes

Really really good technical player, but ultimately missing 'something'

 

[Adamsk7]

He’s a really good player that works well in a functional team. We are a team of individuals that occasionally string something together but often rely on a piece of brilliance from one player out of nothing or a penalty.
mom sure some will say I’m making excuses for him and so be it - you can’t have a team of so called match winners. It sounds good on paper but all top teams are functional with players that do the job needed for their system.

 

[JB08]

He's giving me strong Kagawa/Mata/Mkhitaryan vibes

Really really good technical player, but ultimately missing 'something'

He’s far harder working, physical, and well-rounded than all of those players.

 

[Idxomer]

He's giving me strong Kagawa/Mata/Mkhitaryan vibes

Really really good technical player, but ultimately missing 'something'

Nowhere near Mata at his best.

 

[Dinghy]

One of those "team" players, essentially. Quite a useful thing to have in a team sport

I like him, but I don't see how he fits in this team and how we'll be able to get the best out of him.

 

[Mcking]

What does he actually do?

Nothing.

He is a weak athlete with little quality on the ball. He doesn't influence the game with his passing, his dribbling, or his athleticism.

Not particularly strong in the air, doesn't offer much defensively, doesn't create too many, doesn't try to take control, slow to get across the pitch, indisciplined. He is neither a a good forward, a good midfielder nor a good defender.

When he plays, he is......just there. He is quick to get rid of the ball everytime he gets on it. A nothing player if I ever saw one.

 

[James Peril]

He’s far harder working, physical, and well-rounded than all of those players.

VdB isn’t anywhere near what Mata used to be, and so far he hasn’t reached the levels of Kagawa or Mhiki either - especially not the versions for Dortmund, not even United (when they had a few good games). Saying that, he can develop, and if he played for Klopp he would probably look as good as Kagawa or Mhiki in five minutes.

We also need to stop thinking every player from Ajax is world-class, the league sucks and there is a reason why VdB was snapped up as last pick from that gold edition of two years ago. He has a lot, but he doesn’t have «it». Yet. Or ever.

 

[Sanchez7]

Looks like a nothing player so far. His best attribute seems to be his ability to find space around the oppostion's box.

 

[Maureen-yo]

He’s far harder working, physical, and well-rounded than all of those players.

Not even half the player that Mata was at his age.

 

[Matt851]

Not even half the player that Mata was at his age.

Appears to be a completely different player tbf

Would love to see him given more of chance in cm alongside fred

 

[marktan]

He looks pretty wank. Needs to learn to run with the ball, it's allowed you know. All he does is get the ball, pass it 5 yards away. It might work for Ajax in the dutch league when you dominate possession, but it does nothing at the top level when you're supposed to be an attacking midfielder.

Someone like Ndombele, you can excuse having a poor period, because you can see that technically he's excellent on the ball. With VDB, I've just seen nothing that suggests he's actually any good at anything.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Nothing.

He is a weak athlete with little quality on the ball. He doesn't influence the game with his passing, his dribbling, or his athleticism.

Not particularly strong in the air, doesn't offer much defensively, doesn't create too many, doesn't try to take control, slow to get across the pitch, indisciplined. He is neither a a good forward, a good midfielder nor a good defender.

When he plays, he is......just there. He is quick to get rid of the ball everytime he gets on it. A nothing player if I ever saw one.

Don't hold back, tell us what you really think.

 

[Idxomer]

He looks pretty wank. Needs to learn to run with the ball, it's allowed you know. All he does is get the ball, pass it 5 yards away. It might work for Ajax in the dutch league when you dominate possession, but it does nothing at the top level when you're supposed to be an attacking midfielder.

Someone like Ndombele, you can excuse having a poor period, because you can see that technically he's excellent on the ball. With VDB, I've just seen nothing that suggests he's actually any good at anything.

Happened at least twice in the game on the left and the right when he had space in front of him to run into but went back, passed the ball, and ruined the attack.

 

[Mcking]

Don't hold back, tell us what you really think.

I think he is going to leave with a reputation as good as that of Alexander Buttner, by the time him and the club are done.

He has done very well to get to this level with his limitations.

 

[Bwuk]

We keep playing him out wide.

Why did we sign him?

 

[Vidyoyo]

What? With the exception of today perhaps, he's been quite good whenever he's featured.

Do you think so? I don't but I hope I'm wrong and he eventually becomes a key part of the team.

So far, I agree with the consensus that he's a system player and unfortunately our team hasn't got a system. Being shunted out wide doesn't help either.

 

[Robaldo]

Annoyingly passive, but think he could still be good.

The praise he was getting after the Southampton game was so over the top.

 

[HowYouDoin]

Annoying how Ole sees him as an AM.
Personally would have started with Pogba but VDB would have been my 2nd choice at CM so if you insist not starting Pogba, then start VDB.

He is useless as an AM. Never in a million years does he have necessary qualities, talent and attributes to play an advanced role.

However there is absolutely a player there in the central midfield.

 

[BrilliantOrange]

Annoying how Ole sees him as an AM.
Personally would have started with Pogba but VDB would have been my 2nd choice at CM so if you insist not starting Pogba, then start VDB.

He is useless as an AM. Never in a million years does he have necessary qualities, talent and attributes to play an advanced role.

However there is absolutely a player there in the central midfield.

It depends.. At Ajax he was brilliant as AM... But it depends how the rest of the midfield set up. You seem to reason from the old-fashioned standpoint that the AM is the #10 and the creative brain in the team. That vd Beek certainly isnt no, absolutely correct. But at Ajax for example the creative brilliance came from the wings (Ziyech), the LCD (Blind) and the CDM (Frenkie). In that setup he excelled being the link between midfield and attack. However, at United there are no reall ball players with any creativity behind the ball at the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 position, so if you play Donny at AM in such a setup.. Yes he will be very mediocre and things will be expected of him he just doesnt have the capabilites for.

Below is what I wrote about him a couple months ago... I stilld hold for me..

1) Donny is a very good in combinations in tight spaces. In this he is a typical Ajax youth product, who is comfortable receiving the ball with little room, finding a close open man with one touch and moving immediately away again to receive the ball somewhere else and making room for other players. I read a couple times above that he was looking for 1-2's a lot and this is recognizable for me. His technique is not spectacular on the eye, but very effective and solid. Thats why I get the link with other technical gifted players close to him in the pitch, like Mata, and thats why I think he could play really well together with Bruno.

2) Donny finds spaces behind the opponents defense. When is isnt directly involved in the combination where the attack is being built up, he is a very good ball receiving midfielder. Somehow he is always 'there' and always 'open' in the final phase of an attack, whether to finish it of himself or to give the final pass to a teammate. Thats why with Ajax he worked extremely well with Tadic as a false number 9 who involved himself in the play and left spaces for Donny to dive into.

3) Donny gives you goals. He is not only good at finding spaces on the pitch and behind defenders, but when he receives it there he is very clinical. The goal against Palace was a good example of that. I think he has a very high conversion rate for changes in the box.

Donny is NOT a player who finds the creative solutions himself, with a pass between the lines (at Ajax that were Ziyech, Tadic, Promes, Neres) or by picking up the ball from defense and bringing it forward (at Ajax that were Frenkie, Blind, Schone). He is just not going to be that player for you.. You need other on your midfield to do so... So therefore seeing he was paired with Matic and Fred yesterday, I can understand is was very hard on the eyes, because you have no one to create creativity from midfield for you.. Ole should know this and not expect Donny to play like this..

If you start expecting Donny to be the creative brain in your team, United have completely wasted their money. However when used in his strenghts, I think he can be a very very good player for a world class team.

With Ajax this fit perfectly, because you had other players around him who did the things he's not world class in - finding the open spaces in creative manners - but he was used in his strenghts by Ajax playing combination football with other players comfortable on the ball and therewith creating spaces with quick combination football, ánd diving into the deep spaces left by Ziyech, Tadic and Neres in the attacking line.

 

[JB08]

Not even half the player that Mata was at his age.

Of course not in terms of technical or overall ability, but my point was that VdB is far more capable of performing traditional midfielder duties than Mata or others. He is not a pure number 10 like Mata is/was.

 

[Abhinav]

Honestly, I am not sure how he was recognized as an alternative to Grealish. Apart from the fact they can both play in the same position, stylistically they are poles apart. One can impose himself on the game, beat players, cross & pass, and has a good shooting technique and the other one is, well, Van de beek who can definitely pass & move.
The fact that we had these 2 as primary & alternate targets tells you how bad our scouting really is.

 

[Bobcat]

Way, way to early to write him off. Hes had a couple of decent performances and some average ones. No doubt he should have started last night because despite not being a world beater he offers more than Matic who moves like a snail, and more than McTomminay who says all the right things and "gets stuck in", but cant pass for shit which is pretty critical for a midfielder

 

[Nytram Shakes]

Doesn't seem to know where he is meant to be playing or what he is meant to be doing.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

His style of play doesn't suit us. We are a direct team and he thinks we are Ajax

 

[Adam-Utd]

Worked very hard, always showed for the ball and his movement helped create space for Bruno and the other forwards.

Just like how Lingard used to get praised for doing similar, his off the ball work clearly goes unnoticed by the masses.

It's no coincidence that we played a lot better the minute he was on the pitch. He was stuck on the left wing too which didn't really help him, but I thought he had a good half.

People are being very unfair if they describe that as a bad performance.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

It depends.. At Ajax he was brilliant as AM... But it depends how the rest of the midfield set up. You seem to reason from the old-fashioned standpoint that the AM is the #10 and the creative brain in the team. That vd Beek certainly isnt no, absolutely correct. But at Ajax for example the creative brilliance came from the wings (Ziyech), the LCD (Blind) and the CDM (Frenkie). In that setup he excelled being the link between midfield and attack. However, at United there are no reall ball players with any creativity behind the ball at the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 position, so if you play Donny at AM in such a setup.. Yes he will be very mediocre and things will be expected of him he just doesnt have the capabilites for.

Below is what I wrote about him a couple months ago... I stilld hold for me..

This is correct. Donny isn't playmaker. I've said it when we signed him, people cannot expect him to be like Bruno or Pogba, different player. Creating & finding spaces for himself & others and his simplicity to play quick passes & tight space to keep the team fluid are his assets.

Against West Ham he was so ineffective because he has no creative player to find him. Pogba was too slow to release the ball. He needed Bruno & Mata in the team. Someone who can play quick and release the ball quickly.

He doesn't suit to play in AM with how we set up for him against West Ham. Bruno is more suitable. He worked well in the double pivot against Istanbul but don't expect him to dictate, his role will only be playing simple & quick passes just for purpose to keep the team moving fluid. Although, that's better than having midfielder like Pogba, McT & Matic who tend to slow down in build up play.

 

[Volumiza]

Worked very hard, always showed for the ball and his movement helped create space for Bruno and the other forwards.

Just like how Lingard used to get praised for doing similar, his off the ball work clearly goes unnoticed by the masses.

It's no coincidence that we played a lot better the minute he was on the pitch. He was stuck on the left wing too which didn't really help him, but I thought he had a good half.

People are being very unfair if they describe that as a bad performance.

Well said dude. As soon as he came on we had more about us and makes you wonder if he should have started ahead of Matic or McT, it's not like there should be any doubts about his ability in European competition.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Doesn't seem to know where he is meant to be playing or what he is meant to be doing.

I wonder who's at fault for that...

 

[Gary_Walsh_Nou_Camp_Hell]

Donny was very good when he came on. Needs to be a starter for me

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

Donny would have been a good choice to start yesterday instead of either McTominay or Matic, to link the defense with Bruno, Rashford and Greenwood. That seems to be his best role. He is neither a creative player offering killer passes like Bruno, and also no traditional CDM.
With Pogba's future being not clear and Fred out he would have been the obvious choice.

 

[L1nk]

We only actually looked like we'd do something once he came on, regardless of how bad we were or how we set up

 

[Borys]

Always a problem if Attacking Mid can't run with the ball. Such a strange signing. We should just play him in midfield, and up front only if we're winning already.

 

[Matt851]

Doesn't seem to know where he is meant to be playing or what he is meant to be doing.

You could say that about thr whole team.

To be fair there was basically no formation by the time he came on

 

[Bebestation]

Personally I still think this is Pochettino's sIgning- playing behind a striker like Delle Alli did, a goal scorer and not a creator.

 

[BrilliantOrange]

VdB isn’t anywhere near what Mata used to be, and so far he hasn’t reached the levels of Kagawa or Mhiki either - especially not the versions for Dortmund, not even United (when they had a few good games). Saying that, he can develop, and if he played for Klopp he would probably look as good as Kagawa or Mhiki in five minutes.

We also need to stop thinking every player from Ajax is world-class, the league sucks and there is a reason why VdB was snapped up as last pick from that gold edition of two years ago. He has a lot, but he doesn’t have «it». Yet. Or ever.

Last pick haha?

From the regular starters that year Onana Mazraoui Blind Tagliafico Tadic and Neres are still there, where Ziyech left at the same moment as Donny..