Nice to see Donny back. I will always like him.
Decent little cameo, a great pass over the top for Rashford and lots of nice movement.
Decent little cameo, a great pass over the top for Rashford and lots of nice movement.
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Yeah, same. He does seem to have a knack of making things happen in the final third. A decent player to have in the squad. Surely ETH will use him more in the weeks ahead.
Just like how Malacia performance fueled Shaw to up his game, hope VDB in the mix can push Bruno to cut his antics and become more effective
No one has said that. Why bother making something up, there’s like 10 replies it takes 2 seconds to see you’re lying.
Which posters, which thread? Surely not here.
I think it's nice to have a player with a different profile to Bruno, who operates at the edge of the box and looks for a pass. I still don't think his future lies in that advanced position (he won't be playing that regularly as you said), IMO he has some attributes for Eriksen type of a CM, but let's see what the future brings. He looked bright so should get more chances soon.
That was his best moment and one he has to repeat if he is to be a proper option deeper. His passing has been insanely limited at Utd, if he starts to show some courage and range in his passing then maybe he could be an alternative for Eriksen, always tapping 5 yard passes back to the guy who gave it to you isn't going to it done.
I agree he could do with being a little riskier, but at the same time he has always taken the long option IF a run is made.
Unfortunately in our static teams of the past there's not been a lot of running, so he chooses to keep the ball rolling and move on.
I'm interested to see what he's like in the team under ETH. I know he won't be first choice but he can certainly give us a scoring option off the bench or work well against deep teams like Sheriff.
I think that is an extremely generous reading of his time here, all too often I have seen him in space, with time, and look incredibly uncomfortable, literally run towards the closest player so he can drop off a short pass and then move forward into a high traffic area with little chance to receive the ball. He is not an aggressive passer, you can say if the movement is there he will play it but it is a chicken and egg with Donny, the players don't make the runs because they know he will rarely play an ambitious pass.
I would hold that judgement before we see him deployed in midfield. He was clearly instructed to play that second striker role yesterday. We have seen more incisive passing already from McTominay and Fred, van de Beek can do something similiar if told to I'm sure.
I've seen him having good games in deeper midfield (in space, with time). Remains to be seen what role ETH sees for him, wouldn't read much from yesterday.
That's just your memory telling you how it was. There was plenty of games he made creative passes - but yes he often edges to the safer side than say Fernandes who always went killer
Good to see him back. I think he might become useful as an option in time. Obviously Ten Hag hasn’t seen the need for rushing him (before the injury), yet I believe like Lindelöf he might become a good rotation option because he understands the ideas of Ten Hag and is adaptive in his mindset.
He does that often, even if he's just 10 minutes on the pitch.Why ofcourse? What context did I miss
No one says he better than Bruno. Different.
Against minnows digging in, I think VDB could be very useful. Drags defenders all over the pitch.
He has shown enough to give him more opportunities.
I'm happy to see him back and hopefully he can turn things around. I don't think he can fight it for the nr. 10 with Bruno in our usual setup, but he might be a good option as one of the 3 as the player that makes runs rather then the creator. So a team with Eriksen on a right (or Bruno) as a play maker and DVB as a second striker could work. Gives us options in terms of both players and tactics.
Hopefully he can ge some game time. He qas at his best at ajax as a shadow striker behind tadic. Would like to see him get given 90 mins in that role in europa league/cup games. Give him a chance to prove himself, give bruno a rest and make sure bruno doesnt get complacent.
Just really want him to stay fit and perform as he did with Ajax. That won't be a starting player but what it will be is a great option off the bench and someone more than capable of allowing us to rotate and play in cup games without losing too much. His enthusiasm for runs last night and his contributions looked very good. Want to see him as the de facto back up to Bruno as 10 if he can continue like that. Like it or not but him and Martial being in a position to contribute is a massive thing for us this season with how the squad is.
He's a shadow striker alright.. every time he's played there for us, he's been a shadow of himself.
Exactly what I was thinking. We've seen Bruno on the right so he can play too, with DVB in the centre. Something like Rashford/ Ronaldo at CF, Rashford/Sancho at left wing, Bruno/Eriksen on the right and DVB in the 10/ second striker. He is a bit of a different type of player Donny and I think the make up of the team needs to fit, but ETH knows this better then anyone.
Said it pre season but can see him being more useful against teams who sit back and we need movement and one touch stuff to open up spaces.
He's always had good movement. Now that we look like a functional team, maybe he can start to have some impact.
Good cameo yesterday.
Good cameo yesterday.
He has no chance here, he's behind the pecking order of Eriksen, Casemiro, Fred and McTominay in midfield. For the number 10 position it's obviously Bruno, and as a back up I think both Eriksen and Sancho are ahead than VdB.
He'll eventually be moved on, I get people are happy about the minutes he got yesterday but I seriously doubt he'll manage to get meaningful minutes during the season.
He'll eventually be moved on, I get people are happy about the minutes he got yesterday but I seriously doubt he'll manage to get meaningful minutes during the season.
It’s against bus parking clubs like Sheriff that Donny should be getting more starts. He’s very effective in exploiting small pockets of space. Bruno is more effective in exploiting large pockets of space.
His one seemingly credible skill is that movement in and around the opponents box - therefore he will surely be a useful option off the bench against teams parking the bus.
Shame the rest of his play appears pretty average (would love to be proven wrong)
Shame the rest of his play appears pretty average (would love to be proven wrong)
I would say that with Casemiro in midfield he would probably play better. The player who has possession should know when and whom to pass. Our team is still learning the Dutch way of playing.
Going by Whoscored, he has made 6 key passes in the PL in his time at Utd and 3 of them were in one half away to Watford in the game that got Ole sacked.
2 for Everton.
A key pass is a pass that leads to getting a shot away as far as I believe, that doesn't mean he didn't make good/creative passes.
Obviously it's been a while since he last played regularly but I can remember quite a few nice passes he made from the RCM position when he did play.
Anyway - looks like he will be a backup 10 from now on.
It's going to be very funny if he does well under a manager who knows what he's doing and half the posters on the Caf get super upset about it.
He’ll get minutes when Bruno moves wide. Anyone who thinks he’ll get minutes in Eriksen’s position will be in for a shock. I’m still not sure what he is, but he isn’t capable of doing Eriksen’s job, that’s for sure. Hopefully when he gets minutes behind the striker he can prove useful.
I think he'll struggle to get many meaningful minutes. I don't really see where he comes into the side at the moment. Must be far down the deeper midfield pecking order given most of them have performed, and he's never a threat to Bruno. I expect he'll play a sub role at best until injuries or fixture congestion really kick in. But you never know, this manager sometimes makes big decisions.
I'll start him in the league cup.
With Bruno out for Sunday maybe he'll start.
Nice one Erik
You're welcome donny.
Donny one goal and two assists, 5-0 United.
HE STARTS
He's made a mistake with the team sheet
What is it he's supposed to be good at again? I forgot.
What a game for the manager to throw him in 
Nick Powell all over againWhat a game for the manager to throw him in
I’m still hopefull that he can get a good understanding with Eriksen cause Eriksen is one of the few players who have played with similar types of players in his career. Eriksen played with Siem de Jong in Ajax and Dele Alli in Spurs and both players are very similar to Van de Beek.
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