I think Barca had already agreed to sell. It’s FDJ himself who refused to come…
Frenkie de Jong - Part 2 - Chase Harder.
- Thread starter Samid
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His calmness on the ball is amazing - would love to have him here
I still wouldn’t overpay for him if we are still interested. He can be very sloppy in his play at times too and Barcelona shouldn’t be fleecing anyone given their financial state.
That’s my worry with him. When he’s good he looks a stunning player but he has phases when I watch him at least where he’s sloppy and lacking precision. He’d obviously be a quality addition - but I’d be wary of the outlay. For 50/60 million obviously he’d be a terrific addition
Watched him over the last two games. You can see why ETH wants him so bad. He has the passing, physique and most of all he is very press resistant and can drive the ball up the field. He is a very good player and would be a perfect partner for Casemiro.
I’m just not sure how good his passing is. Dribbling, running and composure are all great. But if I’m not mistaken he’s a fairly one note passer? Ideally I’d like a true playmaker in this team as I’ve felt it’s what we’ve needed forever. But of course if we can’t find that someone expansive in that regard he’s the next best thing
That's a fecking handball la
Frenkie: I don't want to play Europa.
ETH: OK.
ETH: OK.
As I said in my previous posts, this current Utd team would be the perfect team for him to come into from a sporting POV. His press resistance ability, ball carrying and tidy passing is all that we need. Less is more sometimes and his 'role' in the squad is to offer defensive cover and positioning, break lines with his dribbling, beat the press and give the ball to feet to your Brunos, Rashfords, Antonys and Sanchos, with your Dalots and Shaws overlapping/tucked in to provide extra support. All things he is capable of doing at a good to really high level with the right team mates and environment.
He doesn't need to be expansive, he just needs to be able to supplement the other players in the team. More midfield control, whilst also giving the ball to the creative and attacking players.
Fair enough. There is a lot to like about his game. Doesn’t seem to care much for a move to United though.
So far we have Bellingham to be the alternative but he'll cost stupid money that can buy us 2 good players.
If this guy still doesn't want to join in the next window, maybe we can try Modric instead? his contract expires this year, Case and Rapha are here and we can rotate Eriksen + Modric making his age not a big issue.
If this guy still doesn't want to join in the next window, maybe we can try Modric instead? his contract expires this year, Case and Rapha are here and we can rotate Eriksen + Modric making his age not a big issue.
They are not going to like this one
He would an amazing piece for our system
He can pass very well. He created one of Barcelona best chance all game with his cross for Kounde. This is similar to the assist he got for Gakpo first goal in the World Cup.
He was also involved in Barcelona last big chance where Varane ended up clearing Lewandowski shot off the line. After the throw in/freekick Bruno earned by forcing Alonso handball the ball out of play; Barcelona regained possession, and FdJ carried the ball past McTominay. He lobbed it effortless past our blockers to Lewandowski who laid off the ball and running toward our goal. May not look Hollywood, but efficient enough to get the ball out of crowded area.
He has it in him, but feels like the way Barcelona plays doesn't let him express himself.
Yeah so true
He is brilliant. He is a lot better than Ericksen also. I think he is a must buy. Ericksen, Fred, Casemiro & De Jong is just what we need, tenacity and technique personified.
Let this one go. He doesn't want to come here and I hope we move on
Yeah it's his ball carrying ability that still puts him at the top of my list for midfield signing
I know what happened last summer but think Erik should give it one last go when window opens,however if he's not open this time then we should quickly move on to someone with different profile like Mac Allister/Barella
Exactly. If Fred and FDJ swapped teams for this tie we would be out and Barca would be though.
At most this man had a decent twenty minutes over 180
If these two were swapped we would have won the tie in barcelona.
Not a chance. Frenkie has been as good as Conte in Europe since his Ajax days.
Fred ran all over him and got an assist and goal over two legs while running off Frenkie himself for the goal last night.
If any of our midfielders played like De Jong in this tie, and we went out, we would be rightfully shitting all over the 800k a week midfielder
The trap you're falling into is assuming FdJ is deployed in the same role and in the same system.
I think Ten Hag has a particular role for every player in his system and that's likely why when they move on to different clubs and managers they don't quite look the same.
If he returned under Ten Hag, I have little doubt he'd be maximised more than at Barca.
He was very good in the first half last night but over the 180 minutes he really failed to impose himself on the tie. Fred for instance had two great second halves. Casemiro looked like the rolls Royce he is throughout. Arujo looked good for Barca across both games. I just thought FDJ went missing whenever United raised the intensity.
First half showed why we need that kind of player.
As well as we played in the second half, the first half was a different kind of game and one that we’ll encounter a lot and we had no answer to.
The high intensity, quick turnovers and bypassing of the midfield in the second half suited Fred but in the first half when it was controlled and at a slow tempo Fred was nowhere and De jong exceptional. As @VP89 said as well, different team, different role, different system. Kessie and Busquets for all their quality in the first half could barely run in the second half. You know with us, Casemiro, Fred and Bruno will run all day.
As well as we played in the second half, the first half was a different kind of game and one that we’ll encounter a lot and we had no answer to.
The high intensity, quick turnovers and bypassing of the midfield in the second half suited Fred but in the first half when it was controlled and at a slow tempo Fred was nowhere and De jong exceptional. As @VP89 said as well, different team, different role, different system. Kessie and Busquets for all their quality in the first half could barely run in the second half. You know with us, Casemiro, Fred and Bruno will run all day.
I'm hoping that the emergence of Mainoo will mean that we don't splash out ridiculous amounts of money on DeJong and Bellingham, very good players as they are I think that Mainoo could be something very special, and I also think that Hannibal will stake a claim next season and eventually will force his way into the team.
But they played similar roles yesterday. De Jong beside Busquets and Fred beside Casemiro with license to get about the pitch. I’d argue Frenkie had even more licence to roam since he had Kessié covering for him as well and didn’t do anything with it.
Last night was Frenkie career since his Ajax days. Underwhelming.
I understand players need time to adapt to the pressing and intensity of English football. We saw it with the best midfielder in the world this year so maybe you can excuse Frenkie getting run over but there’s no guarantee he would adapt either.
It's adorable how many people actually believe there's a chance he'd join united like his missus would actually swap Barcelona for England 
Well playedThe role being similar is immaterial. The system Xavi deployed was nuanced in a different manner to Ten Hag, which is a big deal.
Also FdJ was nullified because Ten Hag had a specific plan to make sure he's closed down quickly (he said this in the press conference). Special plans aren't made for average players, he's obviously very fecking good and being on the losing side doesn't change that.
But we did have an answer, and we did answer quite convincingly with the subs, and playing players in their actual roles?
The first half was the kind of game it was because of us not being up to scratch more than anything else.
Bruno on the right can work in some games, same as Sancho as a 10, but they're best in their roles
Hannibal hasn't impressed much on loan so he still has some way to go and while Mainoo is very promising he's still just 17. We need someone to make us challenge NOW like De Jong not in 2/3yrs
Plus Frenkie is the perfect player Mainoo can learn from and be a long term successor
Let's not blame the missus here. The player wanted to remain at Barca - he's a fan himself.It's adorable how many people actually believe there's a chance he'd join united like his missus would actually swap Barcelona for England
There’s a video of him admiring the stadium. Hope we can convince him to come.
FDJ was man marked by Fred within 90mins, even Pirlo cannot be survived under this tactics agains Park. Also, he needed to cover aged Busquets area in 2nd half.
He would be better than Eriksen who sit next with Case.
I still haven't watched Frenkie enough to have a firm opinion on him, and I won't pretend to, but if carrying the ball and dribbling past players in the middle is his major strength, Hannibal and Iqbal are definitely those sorts of players, so I'm intrigued on what EtH has in store for them in future. I suspect Mainoo may end up as a 6 personally.
To your point, can't say they're ready yet though, even if I'm intrigued to see Hannibal with a year of rough and tumble men's football under his belt.
Yes, price it's a huge factor for it.
Jesus wept....have some pride!
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