Ten times zero is still zero though so that's harsh on Donny.
34
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 14
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 1
- Status
Pleased for him God forbid he be given a run of games to get even better and develop more understanding with his team mates
I just watched the game again and honestly some of his play was brilliant. There was a pass to Ronaldo I missed yesterday where he recieves the ball is holding it waiting for a runner, asking for someone and then eventually Ronaldo obliges and unfortunately wasn’t his usual composed self when it comes to finishing.
Linked up really well with Sancho and more so he came on with purpose and played with intensity. In the build up to his goal he was back defending and the team actually played out from the back pretty well which he was involved in then a bit of possesion in midfield, then scores. That whole passage of play was decent and what the team should be about. He really needs to be a part of the squad going forward.
Linked up really well with Sancho and more so he came on with purpose and played with intensity. In the build up to his goal he was back defending and the team actually played out from the back pretty well which he was involved in then a bit of possesion in midfield, then scores. That whole passage of play was decent and what the team should be about. He really needs to be a part of the squad going forward.
That is the way Ajax plays. He does not have to waive his arms about asking for a runner. They know that he is going to attempt that pass always. It may not always come off but he is going to make an attempt.
I think players like him and Sancho, maybe also Lingard or Martial might get a lot more game time under the next manager as they are all able to keep the ball moving and use the spaces, something absolutely mandatory in today‘s football.
If anyone had placed a bet that he scored the final goal under Ole he would have been a rich man.
If anyone had placed a bet that he scored the final goal under Ole he would have been a rich man.
He’s not a bad player, and he hasn’t been given many opportunities, but the clamour for him to play and subsequent overreaction to a few good passes is a bit much.
He played like a complete fanny in most games he got onto the field last season, so he’s as much to blame for his plight as anyone. Some of you won’t like this but it’s true. I know it’s true because I used to try and convince myself about the value of Mkhitaryan and Kagawa in the same way. The truth is that they were fannies who weren’t up to the job. Van de Beek is more or less the same.
He played like a complete fanny in most games he got onto the field last season, so he’s as much to blame for his plight as anyone. Some of you won’t like this but it’s true. I know it’s true because I used to try and convince myself about the value of Mkhitaryan and Kagawa in the same way. The truth is that they were fannies who weren’t up to the job. Van de Beek is more or less the same.
He has put in big crunching tackles against West Ham and yesterday against Watford in basically his only 2 appearances. It can take time to settle in to a new league which you cant do from the bench.
I'd be surprised if the next manager rates McTominay/Fred as highly as Ole. For that reason I can see Donny getting a fair bit of game time in the second half of the season, at least until the summer when presumably strengthening the midfield will be the focus.
He’s an absolute beast. Becoming a great tackler, very strong on the ball and has a killer pass on him more often than not. He’s a great link up player in midfield.
Let this man play football for us
Let this man play football for us
But we’re praising him for putting in a couple of tackles. It’s a bit flimsy.
Fernandes, who is actually a proper player, is coming in for all sorts of pelters and this is after eighteen months in which he’s scored or assisted in more or less every single game. What standards are we setting for Van de Beek then?
He has played about 90 minutes in total and we're nearly in December. Highlighting a few new passes and tackles in 90 minutes I dont think is holding him to less standards than Bruno!
I agree, had pointed out that he played as many creative passes in that half yesterday as he did in the whole of last season in the league. Yes, he had a lot of short cameos with the odd start but he was not making much of any impact as a sub, it was all short safe passes back to the player he got it from and then moving into a spot that was hard to find.
Yesterday and against Atalanta he came on and looked as if he could make something happen, last year he was a wasted sub, now if he doesn't get an opportunity there are grounds for complaint.
I’d agree that he’s done more in cameos this season. Let’s see what happens.
If anything, I liked him more than De Jong when they played together at Ajax.
I don't know, I would've agreed with you last season but his mentality seems different from theirs. His showings this season since the pre-season game against Everton indicate he really wants to make it here and is trying to improve and change his game.
Don’t agree with this at all. I remember coming on here after a Liverpool game thinking he had a good game but the CAF was outraged at his performance . When most of it was due to a lack of players finding him in the fantastic positions he was taking up or the options he was giving them.. He does not hide. Simply we just don’t play in a manner that got the best out of him. Yesterday for a brief spell we did, hence you see what he used to do for the likes of Ajax and the Netherlands.
As for passing it back to where it came from there is nothing wrong with that if there is nothing on and attempting something when your team being out of position puts you at greater risk.
Players need time to adjust, could perhaps understand more last season when Fred/McTom weren't a complete liability as a partnership. This season with them, Pogba and at times Matic putting in utter stinkers and Beek gets the odd 5mins here and there if that.
He's played 60minutes in the Prem this season, 198 minutes total. Mctominay has 911 minutes, 668 in the prem.
Which is pretty shocking considering in the vast majority of those games he's been poor.
Ole's squad management has been awful, Van Gaal had an obsession with Rooney but atleast Rooney had the pedigree.
It’s hilarious reading posts here ruefully acknowledging Donny was fantastic yesterday but that he was shit all last season. In all those 5 minute cameos last season Donny did put in the same kinds of passes we saw yesterday but it was usually when he was playing with other Plan B players in cup games who didn’t know what to do. When he did get the rare 45+ appearance, Donny shined.
This isn’t an Ole thread so I’ll keep this point brief but Donny has played with a squad of footballers who were given no tactics, no discernible passing attack whatsoever. We pulled rabbits out of the hat here and there, but there was never a single game under Ole when we played team football for 90 minutes.
This isn’t an Ole thread so I’ll keep this point brief but Donny has played with a squad of footballers who were given no tactics, no discernible passing attack whatsoever. We pulled rabbits out of the hat here and there, but there was never a single game under Ole when we played team football for 90 minutes.
Plenty of players failed to shine under Mourinho and his strict instructions, including maybe the best two players in the world right now. Ole may not have let him play the way he wanted. I won't be surprised if he looks like a new man.
"Few good passes" - you mean a goal, 3 key passes and good defensive work and build up play?
He played like a fanny after he was dropped and his confidence was shot last season. He was solid prior to that and he's been good every time he's played this season I don't understand how people can't make that distinction and connection. Fanny is the opposite of what I would describe last night's performance.
There was one simple moment in the game that stuck out and it's not what you'd think it is, but it underscores the nuance of what he can provide in the middle.
At 1:57 on this video, Sancho is a few yards away from him with two or three Watford players closing around. Now, if it were Fred or McTominay, they'd pass it short to Sancho and then drift back a couple of yards for the return ball, but in this instance, Donny delays the pass long enough for Sancho to run on the outside; Donny slips the ball angled on the inside of the Watford player right into Sancho's run.
It's the kind of pass where you say, "yeah, well all midfielders do that", but it's so rare that Fred or McTominay even have the composure, let alone the speed of thought to play through a press like that.
At 1:57 on this video, Sancho is a few yards away from him with two or three Watford players closing around. Now, if it were Fred or McTominay, they'd pass it short to Sancho and then drift back a couple of yards for the return ball, but in this instance, Donny delays the pass long enough for Sancho to run on the outside; Donny slips the ball angled on the inside of the Watford player right into Sancho's run.
It's the kind of pass where you say, "yeah, well all midfielders do that", but it's so rare that Fred or McTominay even have the composure, let alone the speed of thought to play through a press like that.
looked 10 times the player Fred is
I think we're all so desperate for a good midfielder that we jump on the first train that arrives.
I think his performance was great but let's see if he can be consistently good first before raving wildly about him.
He has a long way to go yet to prove himself worthy.
I think his performance was great but let's see if he can be consistently good first before raving wildly about him.
He has a long way to go yet to prove himself worthy.
Yeah but what's wrong with that? Even if he's a bang average premier league midfielder it's shocking he was getting no game time compared to what McFred has been serving us.
Watching this had made me so happy we've binned Ole. Criminal that he's persisted with McFred pretty much till the bitter end.
If people are expecting a goal and 3 key passes in each half of football they're gonna be very dissapointed. Like you said, he just doesn't warrant freezing out when his competition is McFred in shite form.
Agree. However he has never been given a consistent run of games. Who's to say he cannot be even better when he finds his rhythm
I think we're just excited to have a midfielder who has successfully played their for Ajax in the team and who know there's a potential he solves a bunch of our problems
Its just been frustrating to see a player be frozen out like that and I'm sure ole will regret his stubbornness regarding Donny
Ole had that "Let's have a look at what you could have won" Bullseye moment watching VdB turn into prime Zidane for his last game.
If VDB gets more starts then it will mean OGS had a seriously personal problem with him
The passes were great and something that is so badly needed but it was good to see him hold off multiple challenges too. The narrative (that I bought into too) that he's very lightweight looks false.
I don't think so. At the end of the Watford game, Donny and Ole shared a friendly moment as they went to clap the away supporters.
I don't think their relationship is as bad as the press makes it out to be, but I agree Ole has let Donny down in the last 2 years.
Why? God only knows. Its not like McFred were so good that Ole could not drop them.
Managers tend to agree on starting XI's but rarely 100%. It's not surprising if there are 1 or 2 changes. And VDB could very well be one of them.
My guess is that DDG, AWB, Varane, Shaw, Bruno and Ronaldo are all guaranteed to start. Maguire will also probably keep starting. Rashford, Sancho and Greenwood will take most of the playtime on the two wide positions.
That leaves the two midfield positions, which Fred, McT, Matic and DVB fight over. Perhaps we'll see 4-3-3, which definitely would suit DVB more.
I think carrick will play him
I seem to recall Ole saying he spent a lot of time on the weights over the summer.
Carrick would have enjoyed those through balls yesterday. I predict he plays the next game!
Will carrick actually be taking calls on who starts ?
From who?
It's exactly what we're missing.
He is not a bad player, just that our other options, McFred is fecking piece of total shite, while Pogba is biggest lazy wanker around. So it’s easily better to play him ahead of those clowns.
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