Treated like shit. Lucky to get £20m for him at this rate.
Remember the letter from van der Sar telling us to treat him well?
Remember the letter from van der Sar telling us to treat him well?
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 14
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 1
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Definitely gone. God help us if he tears it up wherever he goes. He'll be brought up for years.
I hope he spills the beans though.
I hope he spills the beans though.
You're overthinking. Ole used him as a Bruno stand in.
He's not starting because he wants to leave. Dito Marital.
VDB doesn't fit the horrible Ragnick system and well Ole was ole. I really hope he leaves soon, because his career almost has been ruined by United.
It's not just 2 Managers, it's 2 sets of different coaching staff that all think that Donny isn't cut to be a starter. That's a pretty damning tell.
What a waste of time and money. Good player being utterly wasted.
Yeah could have used that £35m on a CDM or controlling CM instead
What a waste of everyone’s time, He needs to move asap.
Ffs the hyperbole. He was a good Ajax player, nothing more. Shouldn't have signed for United if he wanted a guaranteed start. He's been paid well.
That said he shouldn't have been lied to by Ole.
Nevermind the fact he looked pretty average more often than not when playing.
He's dropped from the Dutch squad and 2 years of development time have been wasted not playing games. I'm pretty sure that's not good for a career.
Thats pretty much him finished here. If he can't get into the team with Bruno suspended and Fred dropped he has no hope.
But we see our midfield get outplayed on a weekly basis that’s the strange thing. McFred are constantly terrible yet start 40 games a season and Donny is lucky to get 10 minutes every 3 weeks. Mind boggling transfer all around I’d understand if the midfield was solid and he couldn’t force his way in but we’re stuck with the fecking chuckle brothers week in week out.
Pushed out by a 33-year-old Matic. Yeah, Van de Beek is finished here. What a shame to see it end this way.
Now more than ever this looks like a Woodward-signing/footballing-people-being-forced-into-a-compromising-position situation.
Perhaps he has downed tools in training and angling for a move elsewhere in January. Can’t blame him for that though
DvdB is very reliant on playmakers around him. Many at/fans of Utd seem to think he can be that player himself, but he's more one of the gears in a machine than the central piece. They might both be Hole Players on PES, but Donny and Bruno are very different players, since Bruno is more of the playmaker who just tries whatever, while Donny is looking for triangles and other system features that simply aren't there. If you want a working Donny, you need two or three playmakers near him. At Ajax he had Frenkie, Schøne and Ziyech all around him and he pretty much just did some 1-2s and finishes, while working harder in midfield/defense after Frenkie left and his holes he left behind him weren't covered as much. If you can get Pogba to be more defensively sound and sharper about his markers, Fred to be more consistently composed on the ball and push Bruno into a free-ish role on the wings (or play Mata), you'd have a system wherein Donny can shine as a #10. But do you want to change your entire system for one guy? Perhaps when Sancho is a more solid piece and Pogba gels with the Rangnick system (and stays), he'd still have a chance, but I don't think you should hope for that too much.
When he was signed I thought he'd be a great Bruno back-up, but I (and I think the Utd scouts with me) didn't realise how reliant he is on the systems and players around him. Perhaps that's a downside of the Ajax school, since players who were raised elsewhere (Frenkie, Ziyech, Eriksen) instead of went through the entire system, performed better in recent years than players like Donny and Klaassen, no matter how technically capable they might be. Now you just see a player walking around feeling misunderstood in his runs and passes. I did like how he started out against YB and thought maybe there's still hope there, but looks like it wasn't enough. Hope he gets better at adapting while at his next club if he is really entering his final Utd days.
When he was signed I thought he'd be a great Bruno back-up, but I (and I think the Utd scouts with me) didn't realise how reliant he is on the systems and players around him. Perhaps that's a downside of the Ajax school, since players who were raised elsewhere (Frenkie, Ziyech, Eriksen) instead of went through the entire system, performed better in recent years than players like Donny and Klaassen, no matter how technically capable they might be. Now you just see a player walking around feeling misunderstood in his runs and passes. I did like how he started out against YB and thought maybe there's still hope there, but looks like it wasn't enough. Hope he gets better at adapting while at his next club if he is really entering his final Utd days.
I've wanted to see Donny play in CM ahead of McSauce. But he will never ever be good enough as a starter in that role. It would only have been temporary until a DM is signed. He's an attacking midfielder.
Clueless transfer. We bought a CAM that makes runs as a backup for a creative CAM, because "goals".
I think that pretty much it, if he won't get a chance now he won't ever get it , thats him gone in jan
Wow this is very surprising, I really expected him to start. Seems RR doesn't fancy him, maybe due to his error in the CL game.
Treated like shit, I wish I was in his position
This sums it up perfectly.
Maybe he isn’t good enough, maybe he is. But we shouldn’t have bought him if we’re barely going to use him. Waste of our money, his and our time, and his career.
I don't care about him not playing, he's not good enough. But surely we have to let him go in January if possible and replace him with someone useful at CM.
How about any kind of consistant starts? If McTominay et al can kee serving up shite every week and still play I refuse to believe that one crappy match from VDB gets hum the sub treatment for months on end then, something else is going on.
regardless of all that and no matter what anyone thinks of VDB’s skills at this point, its baffling to me that our managers are seemingly intent on refusing to sell him, but at the same time will not play him either, we should have got rid in the summer and used the money to buy a midfielder we’ll actually use. There is genuinely no point in him wasting away here when we can buy someone who will actually play it’s completely baffling
He was never under contention for a 6 role under Ole or now Rangnick.
Rangnick is looking to develop Mason over VDB, at least within this 4222 system. He should be selected off the bench today. Seems like he has the least flexibility in terms of actual position across attacking or forward positions.
He was never an orthodox central midfielder a la Matic or Fred. Still think a 433 would do wonders for him and the team, but not for today or the immediate near future.
Rangnick is looking to develop Mason over VDB, at least within this 4222 system. He should be selected off the bench today. Seems like he has the least flexibility in terms of actual position across attacking or forward positions.
He was never an orthodox central midfielder a la Matic or Fred. Still think a 433 would do wonders for him and the team, but not for today or the immediate near future.
I would agree. The initial news on RR is that he is more likely to be selling than buying in January as he thinks the squad is too big so based on that and the comments from his agent I think the decision on DVB has already been made and it is just a question of where he goes and how much we can get.
He should go back to Ajax. He would smash it over there with that team.
Fernandes suspended and Fred rested and he still can't get in the team. 
If he was played as the left sitting centre mid he would have Shaw to the side of him, Sancho in front and Maguire behind, all gifted passers good enough to play that style of football. We have the players it's just we never see them playing all at once because the likes of Fred, Rashford and Bruno get picked every game no matter how badly they play.
Wow. That was unexpected.
Was never going to fit under Ralk, he wants direct players who take risks.
Get him out in January so we can get someone else in. Hugely overrated player.
Get him out in January so we can get someone else in. Hugely overrated player.
Should be knocking down the managers door to be sold in January, I expect he already has and it’s been agreed he can leave if a decent offer comes in, otherwise why we aren’t trying him with no natural no 10’s available is crazy.
I get the argument that he’s not a 6 but even then our 6’s have been so inconsistent I don’t see how trying him there would be any worse tbh. It’s just another shocking transfer with zero idea on how we are going to use him.
I get the argument that he’s not a 6 but even then our 6’s have been so inconsistent I don’t see how trying him there would be any worse tbh. It’s just another shocking transfer with zero idea on how we are going to use him.
Not one of those three is playing today and two of them are the managers decision so safe to say Ralf is not a Donny fan.
Clearly Ralf sees whatever Ole did, there’s obviously an issue for the management, Ralfs playing a winger and striker in his preferred position ahead of him, could see him leaving in Jan if an adequate replacement can be found.
I’d have started him tonight in one of those no 10 spots tbf.
I’d have started him tonight in one of those no 10 spots tbf.
He’s definitely got something lined up for Jan
Someone predicted it earlier on
I do feel bad for the guy but if Ralf isn't picking him either then something clearly isn't working.
Not a surprise to still see Ole getting blamed though, if Donny has 'downed tools' as mentioned above and can't be bothered to try and win his place under a brand new manager and system then that's on him I'm afraid.
Not a surprise to still see Ole getting blamed though, if Donny has 'downed tools' as mentioned above and can't be bothered to try and win his place under a brand new manager and system then that's on him I'm afraid.
I meant generally, the likes of Fred, Bruno and Rashford start 9 times out of 10 when available and they aren't the tidiest passers, they can give the ball away a lot and create the impression our team's incapable of playing quick clean football appleman is referring to. When in truth utd has the players to play that style of football, they just hardly ever get picked all at once and set up that way.
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So people blamed Ole for not playing him, yet the next manager that comes in leaves him out also.
Surely it's time to realise that he probably just isn't good enough?
Surely it's time to realise that he probably just isn't good enough?
Hope for his sake he can be let go unless he can somehow show something with good sub appearances, maybe tonight if he can get 20-30 mins. It's been a very embarrassing situation for the club and I feel sorry for him to get so little game time for two seasons. He's a decent player that should be playing at another club
There was a game recently I think it was Atalanta away, he came on and put through so many good passes to the attackers. There was nothing happening before.
One sticking point is how much of the 35-40 million do we see back, it's another loss and wages paid for warming a seat in the stands. Ole talked about sorting out the signings but this must be one of the worst in appearance to the football world and damage our reputation even more as a place not to come to as we never seem to know what we're doing.
There was a game recently I think it was Atalanta away, he came on and put through so many good passes to the attackers. There was nothing happening before.
One sticking point is how much of the 35-40 million do we see back, it's another loss and wages paid for warming a seat in the stands. Ole talked about sorting out the signings but this must be one of the worst in appearance to the football world and damage our reputation even more as a place not to come to as we never seem to know what we're doing.
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