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2020-21 Performances


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Dec9003

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I think he's struggled this season, but maybe if he can adapt to the league a bit more he can still be useful. He looked good at Ajax, so I don't think we're seeing his true level yet.
 

dal

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I am his biggest critic and have said he is a nothing player a lot of the time.

However I thought most of his play on the ball today was tidy and with that little extra confidence and game time I think it could have turned for him a bit.

He’s obviously not an Ole player and the worst thing is Ole doesn’t want to lose Rhythm for the final so he probably won’t play every game now either.

That being said in the remaining games I’d like to see him play in the two with either Fred Or Mctominay.

I think there’s green shoots there and I’m clutching at them but looking positively with a bit more muscle he potentially could be tidy here, let’s see if he gets a chance.
 

KirkDuyt

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Where did I hear all these hate comments before. Ohhh yeah, Fred... for two years. And now, where is he. First name on team sheet

So trust the process. If Ole believes in him, I also believe in him
Different player different situation though. I remember the caf lauding Depay as the new worthy 7 after that brace against Brugge. Jaap Stam played at a ridiculously low level until he was 25 whereas Roysthon Drenthe went to real as a teenager.

It's all circumstantial and irrelevant to Vd Beek. It would be cool if he succeedes mind, but for now, it's hard to see how.

Unless of course you lot buy Ziyech, De Jong, Tadic and Neres.
 

Silas

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He's looked like a downgrade on Pereira so far. Did zilch as per.
 
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RooneyLegend

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Gravenbergh is quite an exciting talent, but nowhere near ready for a club like United.

It's hard to understate how easy it is to play for Ajax in the Dutch league.
He plays in the CL as well where you should really judge their players or in big Eredivisie ties. He's more than ready.
 

Trequarista10

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I don't normally engage in negative trashing of our players, but DVB is just not very good. Even with other flops you see flashes of quality, or how they might perform better in a different setup, or they make up for their shortcomings with drive, energy and willing, but DVB shows nothing.
 

My only Eric

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I still believe he'll turn things around.
Give him one more season before you write him off.
 

11101

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I wonder if a pre season might help him. He takes too long on the ball and is too slow to make a decision. Maybe the coaches can work on it with him because if not, he'll never last.

He needs to stop running towards the ball carrier too. He makes the pitch so much smaller.
 

KirkDuyt

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He plays in the CL as well where you should really judge their players or in big Eredivisie ties. He's more than ready.
Van de Beek and Ziyech were fantastic in the CL and against Psv, Feyenoord and AZ though. Gravenbergh isnt consistently good this season. He has high peaks but quite a few deep uhm valleys (that's not right).

Either way he's only 18, give him a bit of time.
 

Dve

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He does not add much to the team, does he. If we can use him in a swap deal to get Sancho, I´d fine with that.
 

Bebestation

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For me he wont be good enough as a CM because he is not very creative.

Even in his Ajax days he seemed to be the non creative player in the heart of a creative ajax team; in a good way he seemed to give them a sharp edge.

The Only way I really see him doing well here is playing with our most creative players to give us a sharper edge too. Ie he has to play with Pogba and Bruno but not be placed at LW.
 

SAFMUTD

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He has looked poor everytime he has played, but its only his first season here and with time he will get better once he is adapted to the league he'll start showing his ajax form. Hopefully thats what some manager is thinking about him and with a little bit of luck his board may be fool enough to actually pay us something relatively close to what we spend on him.

We need to move him this summer otherwise he'll become deadwood before the end of next season.
 

RooneyLegend

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Van de Beek and Ziyech were fantastic in the CL and against Psv, Feyenoord and AZ though. Gravenbergh isnt consistently good this season. He has high peaks but quite a few deep uhm valleys (that's not right).

Either way he's only 18, give him a bit of time.
Van de Beek was never fantastic in anything and it's quite clear Ziyech is good enough for Chelsea. Maybe you haven't taken a peak at our options in midfield in recent times, but we don't have the time to wait. Our options are consistently mediocre.
 

tidraKS

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If we could get something around 25 million for him, sell him. He's not going to do it here, really nothing special about him.
 

Dve

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Van de Beek and Ziyech were fantastic in the CL and against Psv, Feyenoord and AZ though. Gravenbergh isnt consistently good this season. He has high peaks but quite a few deep uhm valleys (that's not right).

Either way he's only 18, give him a bit of time.
I think you can add De Ligt to that list of Ajax players not quite living up to the hype after their sensational run in the CL. I actually warned about it when we were linked to De Ligt. They had such momentum playing for Ajax that season and were over performing, just like Leicester when they won the league. And how many of the Leicester players went on to become world stars?
 

Eckers99

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Even in a team full of fringe players he managed to be one of the biggest disappointments. Offered next to nothing.
 

AjaxCunian

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I think you can add De Ligt to that list of Ajax players not quite living up to the hype after their sensational run in the CL. I actually warned about it when we were linked to De Ligt. They had such momentum playing for Ajax that season and were over performing, just like Leicester when they won the league. And how many of the Leicester players went on to become world stars?
De Ligt hasnt been revolutionary but still has been an always starter for Juventus, ahead the likes of Bonucci/Demiral/Chiellini at such a young age. He had very bad luck with handballs, but has been fine for Juventus.

Also, what makes you say they were over performing?

Mahrez, Kante, Vardy have been among the top players in the premier league, clearly their 3 best players.
 

AjaxCunian

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He has been woeful this season, a complete nothing-player and I couldnt blame United supporters for having no faith in him. Just like with Fred, I hope he can improve in his second season because there was genuinely some player there at Ajax, however he probably isnt as good as he made out to be or works only in certain roles/systems. At the Dutch NT, he has been bypassed as well so it isnt just United (some posters will fight me for saying this but it doesnt make it less true, Klaassen en Gravenberch seem to have bypassed him).
 

KennyBurner

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Can’t believe we spent 40 million on a specialist player. Even then I couldn’t tell you what he specializes in. I highly doubt Ole sanctioned this transfer. We should sell him for bissouma.
 

KennyBurner

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He has been woeful this season, a complete nothing-player and I couldnt blame United supporters for having no faith in him. Just like with Fred, I hope he can improve in his second season because there was genuinely some player there at Ajax, however he probably isnt as good as he made out to be or works only in certain roles/systems. At the Dutch NT, he has been bypassed as well so it isnt just United (some posters will fight me for saying this but it doesnt make it less true, Klaassen en Gravenberch seem to have bypassed him).
Fred was never this worthless when he played. This guy has no identity. He is literally just here to make up the numbers.
Play him as the 10 and he produces nothing. Play him in the middle and still nothing.
 

mu4c_20le

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We could be overthinking it. Could be a simple case of big fish small pond

 

Cathy Ferguson

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He is hardly an upgrade on Perreira who cost us nothing. Very disappointing season. Can he turn it around?
 

Bebestation

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I think his CAM performances are better than his CM performances.
 

Djemba-Djemba

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What is it he can do when he's playing well?

Like what are his strengths?

Because so far he looks the most bog standard mediocre midfielder you can ever get.
 

Dve

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De Ligt hasnt been revolutionary but still has been an always starter for Juventus, ahead the likes of Bonucci/Demiral/Chiellini at such a young age. He had very bad luck with handballs, but has been fine for Juventus.

Also, what makes you say they were over performing?

Mahrez, Kante, Vardy have been among the top players in the premier league, clearly their 3 best players.
Yes, I know De Ligt has been ok for a pretty average Juventus side, but he´s no longer the most sought after center back in the word, like he was that summer window.

My point back then, when we were linked to him, was the extraordinary of what Ajax did that season. In the 3 preceding seasons they reached one play-off for the CL, and twice they were knocked out in the 3rd round. When they managed a semi final just the year after, there´s a good chance their achievement not fully echoed the quality of their players.
 

theklr

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What is it he can do when he's playing well?

Like what are his strengths?

Because so far he looks the most bog standard mediocre midfielder you can ever get.
He is more or less a second striker, passing or running into the box.

But he is 100% out of sync with the rest of the team in that regard.
 

Bondi77

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I think you can add De Ligt to that list of Ajax players not quite living up to the hype after their sensational run in the CL. I actually warned about it when we were linked to De Ligt. They had such momentum playing for Ajax that season and were over performing, just like Leicester when they won the league. And how many of the Leicester players went on to become world stars?
Kante has done alright and Vardy is not bad.
 

Dve

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Can’t believe we spent 40 million on a specialist player. Even then I couldn’t tell you what he specializes in. I highly doubt Ole sanctioned this transfer. We should sell him for bissouma.
Ole signed him as a back-up nr. 10 (replacement or Pereira). However, Fernandes is never injured, so then it makes the signing look a bit silly. But of course, Fernandes could have gotten injured and been out for several months. You´d never know, so in that perspective it made sense to add some depth to the squad. It turned out though, that vdB is doing nothing that Pereira couldn´t have done. So far, at least.
 

Bebestation

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He is more or less a second striker, passing or running into the box.

But he is 100% out of sync with the rest of the team in that regard.
This is how I see him as well.

A shadow striker.

If Ole doesnt see him that way then I dont think he is going to be that good for us.


I was hoping that Ole is waiting for some summer training to get everyone to train a plan B to our Plan A which maybe Cavani up front -

Rashford - Greenwood
VDB
Pogba- Bruno
Rice

However, Im starting to not be so sure if he is Ole's player like many doubted he wasnt.
 

Tomuś

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He has been woeful this season, a complete nothing-player and I couldnt blame United supporters for having no faith in him. Just like with Fred, I hope he can improve in his second season because there was genuinely some player there at Ajax, however he probably isnt as good as he made out to be or works only in certain roles/systems. At the Dutch NT, he has been bypassed as well so it isnt just United (some posters will fight me for saying this but it doesnt make it less true, Klaassen en Gravenberch seem to have bypassed him).
Good points there, agree.
 

KirkDuyt

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Van de Beek was never fantastic in anything and it's quite clear Ziyech is good enough for Chelsea. Maybe you haven't taken a peak at our options in midfield in recent times, but we don't have the time to wait. Our options are consistently mediocre.
Which games in your opinion has Gravenbergh shown a level above what Vd Beek did against Bayern, Real, Juve and Spurs in that CL campaign?

I agree Ziyech is good enough for Chelsea, mind. And the buying all those midfielders thing was in jest :)
 

AjaxCunian

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Yes, I know De Ligt has been ok for a pretty average Juventus side, but he´s no longer the most sought after center back in the word, like he was that summer window.

My point back then, when we were linked to him, was the extraordinary of what Ajax did that season. In the 3 preceding seasons they reached one play-off for the CL, and twice they were knocked out in the 3rd round. When they managed a semi final just the year after, there´s a good chance their achievement not fully echoed the quality of their players.
You could wonder if that's because the more sought after defender are much better or because they are available/play at lesser teams/want to move. De Ligt would probably cost over 100 million to price away, he doesn't want to leave and no one is paying that in this market.

The likes of Pau Torres/Jules Kounde/Konate/Upamecano play at smaller clubs, I wouldnt necessarily say they have been any better. Varane/Alaba are much more established but actually want to leave.

Frenkie de Jong was seriously injured before, they didn't have Daley Blind, Tadic, Mazraoui in the seasons before. I don't think they were overperforming at all. With Onana, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Blind, Tagliafico, Frenkie, Donny, Ziyech, Neres/Schone, Tadic, Dolberg, very early in the season Ajax fans could envision this was a special team as there were footballing players on literally every position. Donny and Dolberg might have been the least players on the ball but even they contribute a lot to the game. I think they underperformed if anything because they were much better than that Spurs side (bar Alderweireld who was immense), and bar Lucas.
 

Dve

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Kante has done alright and Vardy is not bad.
Still, you cannot compare the winning Leicester squad with the likes of Man City and Liverpool. The following season kind of proved their real quality, or lack of it. But belief (or momentum) can move mountains, as they say, but it´s never sustainable in the long run. I think Ajax in the CL is a fair comparison.
 
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