Donny van de Beek image 34

Donny van de Beek Netherlands flag

2023-24 Performances


View full 2023-24 profile

5.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Yellow cards
0
Status
Not open for further replies.
Bringing in Sabitzer, a player very similar to Donny, suggested to me that Ten Hag wants that type of player in his squad. Would not be at all surprised if he gets a final chance.
Nah, Sabitzer was just a mistake. ETH tried him as a #6 first, before realizing he's really another #10 in the collection. It was all done in one day so wouldn't blame Ten Hag anyway.
A bit like Sancho though, needs to show some fire and aggression in his game. Don't mean physically either (though it would help) too often he has just been existing out on the pitch, a peripheral passenger with a sad face. Hopefully the serious injury has changed his mindset and he stops playing with so much fear.
Spot on.

Interesting case of Donny van de Beek. He clearly has some nice skills (first touch, short to mid passing has the right weight, good instincts around the box) but it never came together for him. IMO we should not be playing second striker role at all, it's difficult to pull off as in our case it's just one player making random runs (random from the other players perspective). This can work if you make this first setup and train this often, but if we use it every now and then it'll never be effective.

I admit I had high hopes for him. I remember some games (in the cups) that he really played very well in midfield two. If I remember correctly he was also highly praised after first few games for Everton. He suffered some injuries so definitely an element of bad luck.
 
In 60 games he played for us he has had 28 appearances off the bench. He has scored 2 goals both from the bench. Both goals came in a Manutd loss 3-1 vs Crystal Palace and Watford 4-1. He has been a failure at United and has had no real impact in his loan at Everton. Its the deluded fans who expect under performing players for many seasons to magically turn into stars overnight.

Including him in squad will potentially take away chances from youngsters like Amad, Hannibal and Mainoo. We should just accept it was a bad transfer and move on.
You see the same with Sancho.
 
He has made two assists apparently and MotM on SofaScore, yet no comments here?
 
He has made two assists apparently and MotM on SofaScore, yet no comments here?
Attacking players will be getting those numbers in. He did well yesterday from what I've seen, running the channels, setting people up etc. It's just the physicality isn't there and we don't really need a second striker, therefore I think people are not getting excited.
 
I was going to say - well done on 2 assists. Considering ten hag knows his strengths & weaknesses - i think he can be quite useful this year.
 
Most productive player so far this pre season. Kinda why he got so many goals and assists for Ajax and made us buy him in the first place.
 
He has made two assists apparently and MotM on SofaScore, yet no comments here?

I've only seen brief highlights so can't comment on overall performance but the first assist is a five yard square pass that dalot banged in from 20 yards and the second was a bit of a scramble in the box that he controled only for Antony to nip in and hit it before he took a second touch

Loathe to put him down given how his career here has been but neither assist was really anything to mention
 
He has made two assists apparently and MotM on SofaScore, yet no comments here?

Despite the two 'assists', he has this amazing ability to ghost through a match. You just don't notice him during a match. It's like this is his superpower.

Speaking of power, not sure why but it seems quite easy to get the ball off him.
 
Ajax should bring him back. They re on the ropes and I'm guessing he can do well again over there.

I think he s shown a lot more promise this pre season than some give him credit for, but he won't be given many minutes if he stays.
 
Despite the two 'assists', he has this amazing ability to ghost through a match. You just don't notice him during a match. It's like this is his superpower.

Speaking of power, not sure why but it seems quite easy to get the ball off him.

He did that at Ajax too. He can score or assist but he isnt a playmaker. Its a very good quality if you keep assisting or scoring because those decide a game. However not much to fall back onto when he isnt scoring or assisting.
 
With Mount out for the Forest game, is this match the last chance for Donny to restart his career here.

Home match against weaker opposition , we should have a lot of the ball and he can takeover the more advanced role that Mount was playing.
 
With Mount out for the Forest game, is this match the last chance for Donny to restart his career here.

Home match against weaker opposition , we should have a lot of the ball and he can takeover the more advanced role that Mount was playing.

If Ten Hag is insistent on sticking with his system of two 8's (which I don't like at all) then yes Donny can't be any worse than Mounts been in the first two games and deserves a shot.
 
With Mount out for the Forest game, is this match the last chance for Donny to restart his career here.

Home match against weaker opposition , we should have a lot of the ball and he can takeover the more advanced role that Mount was playing.
Would much prefer Hannibal.
 
Surely close to Galatasary if not in the Champions League squad? Might accept that £1m loan fee after all?
 
Hasn't been included in the Champions League squad.

That's a big sign he must be close to leaving.

Thought he might be able to rekindle some sort of form when his old manager got the job but I guess he's another that's just not fit for it.
 
Where is this clown that he can't even make a match day squad for the bench when we're naming 3 keepers?
 
Looked alright to be honest. Surprised at his pace at a couple of points.
 
Looked sharp today, hoping he can make a turnaround this season.
 
Just give that chapter an end... He should play somewhere on a regular basis and I don't want to be somewhat mad at him that he takes minutes away from the youngsters (even though thanks to ETH, this wasn't the case today)
 
I swear he’s far quicker than he used to be. Was actually a great little cameo
 
He is officially alive at least. But it’s understandable why he is so far down the pecking order
 
Think he touched the ball a couple of times, even did a backheel!
 
Doesn't reflect well on him rejecting a few loans, he would be useful in a different club and league.
 
I think that was the best I have seen him play for us... another player who has a narrow use, in the right setup and system he clearly has ability but has always been a square peg in a round hole
 
I have been a total hater, but credit where it's due he actually played quite well last night. Few sharp moves and good passes, that could have turned into something.
 
I have been a total hater, but credit where it's due he actually played quite well last night. Few sharp moves and good passes, that could have turned into something.

He seemed to have energy and purpose about him. Usually he just drifts along. Hopefully it's not about how bad Palace were but more like our players finding fitness and form.
 
Seeing him on the pitch just made me think what a knob Snacho is.

Lad clearly knows he's surplus to requirements, we tried desperately to oflfload him to anyone that would have him in the summer, and thus has barely featured because of this... and yet despite all this he can still be professional enough to actually make it onto the pitch.
 
I have been a total hater, but credit where it's due he actually played quite well last night. Few sharp moves and good passes, that could have turned into something.
He literally does that every time he comes off the bench, I don't know what you've been watching the entire time.
 
It's sad how low the bar/expectations are for Donnie the Enigma nowadays. A backheel's about the only thing of note!!!
 
Seeing him on the pitch just made me think what a knob Snacho is.

Lad clearly knows he's surplus to requirements, we tried desperately to oflfload him to anyone that would have him in the summer, and thus has barely featured because of this... and yet despite all this he can still be professional enough to actually make it onto the pitch.
Yeap, you either are a grownup and a professional or you are not. DvB has not worked out, but he is a professional
 
I have been a total hater, but credit where it's due he actually played quite well last night. Few sharp moves and good passes, that could have turned into something.

There were the same problems as usual though. In the short spell he was on, there were two reasonably good chances for him to play attacking (fairly straightforward) passes and he turned around and played a simple pass backwards. He either just doesn’t have the vision or is incredibly risk averse (bearing in mind that we were 3-0 up). He also seemed to take up positions that made it quite difficult to pick him out.

He’s always tidy when he gets on the ball and I think he’d be fine for a mid-table club but he just lacks the talent to be an 8/10 for a top club.
 
That backheel he did yesterday was one of the most significant moments of the game for me. That and another backheel/lay-off Mason Mount did in the first half, around the halfway line, that Casemiro ran onto.

In and of themselves they may seem insignificant, but those two moments immediately caught my eye as they are the EXACT sort of play I have seen our team to be lacking for years, and what holds us back from being a top team. What happened in those moments was a simple but beautiful usage of space to progress. Both passes were played first time, round an opponent, into space that was not presently occupied, but one of our players was moving into. Sounds so simple, but the main reason we struggle to break teams down is this poor movement and manipulation of space IMO. Players passing first time and constant moving into vacant space (ahead of you) to receive the ball. Our possession in midfield is usually slower, pass, stop, pass again and often to a static recipient. You can’t pull teams about by doing this.

The penetration we tend to seek are longer balls down the side/over top for speed of Rashford to try and catch, or for Rashford himself to physically carry the ball 20/30 yards.

For me, I think there are a lot of parallels in terms of breaking down opponents and using space between football and good rugby. The way rugby players have to pass backwards (sideways) and a teammate has to run on to the ball in order to advance. It requires constant motion from the players, and the constant moving into space. Every player receiving the ball was not in the place they received it one second before. All sounds so simple, but for me, the difference between the football we play and the football played by City, Arsenal, Brighton. The off the ball movement and utilisation of space is so many levels below, and we should be using 5 yards of space to beat a man/break a line more often. It’s the concept of a simple one-two in football I guess, with the second pass being picked up on the run.

Very long-winded I know, but it immediately caught my attention (like that Di Calprio pointing meme fro Wolf of Wall Street when he points and goes ‘there’). If we can do that more often, we’ll go up a level or two, and create many more chances.

On topic, I think this is why VDB excelled at Ajax and not here. They played that All Blacks type of football which he thrives in. With our football, we want 10s to have ‘vision’ and play killer passes splitting defences, and he doesn’t have that. But in a team that plays quick, one-touch short passes - he can be useful as he does those passes well, and he also moves into space brilliantly off the ball. Those are his biggest strengths - short, sharp passes, movement, and finishing. That has never been the football we play, and he lacks the tools to play a longer game. He’s a rondo sort of player.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.