Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

Frenkie to United?

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UNITED ACADEMY

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Swedish_Plumber said:
No idea tbh. It’s just evident that we need fighters out there and not more shrinking violets.
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I watched what Ajax fans said about us (08:35) and he made a good point about despite of the leadership problem but another biggest problem of our squad is that we are not comfortable on the ball. This is something ETH requires. De Jong might not be a leader but starting De Jong as the pivot in front of the defenders to distribute the ball is one of the initial step trying to solve one of the current big problems.

 

Forevergiggs1

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Swedish_Plumber said:
No idea tbh. It’s just evident that we need fighters out there and not more shrinking violets.
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He may not be a leader but he's nothing close to a shrinking violet. Hard worker, great engine and doesn't mind getting stuck in. Definitely a player we could use.
 

Swedish_Plumber

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Forevergiggs1 said:
He may not be a leader but he's nothing close to a shrinking violet. Hard worker, great engine and doesn't mind getting stuck in. Definitely a player we could use.
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That’s good then! The only thing concerning is him not wanting to leave, but I’d be hopeful ETH can get performances from him regardless.
 

Swedish_Plumber

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UNITED ACADEMY said:
I watched what Ajax fans said about us (08:35) and he made a good point about despite of the leadership problem but another biggest problem of our squad is that we are not comfortable on the ball. This is something ETH requires. De Jong might not be a leader but starting De Jong as the pivot in front of the defenders to distribute the ball is one of the initial step trying to solve one of the current big problems.

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Good points mate! Thanks for filling me in with some information from Ajax fans themselves, too!
 

USREDEVIL

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diarm said:
How many players are they expecting to let play on the pitch?

If they play 24 60 minute games back to back on both dates, at €300 a head, that is what - a littler over €600k?

Hardly enough to help them out the hole they're in. They'd need to hold these fan games all summer long.
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We should watch them as we might find a few prospects
 

Yagami

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Red the Bear said:
Did his grandfather die while he was 21?
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At first I thought it was what @Luffy said, but, after reading an interview he did after joining Barcelona, it seems his grandfather did die when he was 21, too.

Funnily enough, in the same interview he was talking about Arsenal. How he liked them and expected to go there from Ajax and then to Barca. He called it the Overmars route.
unplayable said:
Plus he can do a RVP and take #21 to help us win title #21.
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:drool:
 

dinostar77

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BrilliantOrange said:
I read a column here in NL which described my thoughts on Frenkie de Jong perfectly. Its protected, but I will translate for you guys.. (sometimes roughly as he uses some dutch saying for which there is no direct translation)

Ronald Koeman started it and also Xavi stubbornly tries to find a player who is not there. Frenkie de Jong is not a midfielder who goes deep without ball and plays with the spaces without ball in front of the goal. He lack the dynamics and the feeling there. He is a player who is on his best when he gets heavily involved in the first phase of possession.

De Jong can break pressing machines and confuse plans of opponent managers, when he is played in his right position. Just ask Santiago Solari, Massimiliano Allegri, Roberto Mancini or Didier Deschamps. Or Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marco Verratti or Ngolo Kanté. Frenkie de Jong drove them crazy because he kept floating away from them like a weightless butterfly.

When he has the freedom to dictate play from the back with his passing and dribbling he creates spaces. When - like at Barcelona - he plays on the half of the opponent part of his talents will dissapear. De Jong needs to have the major of the game of play in front of him. Now everything happens in his back. No one would ever think of playing Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappé from midfield. How crazy would you be.. But in some way there are mulitple managers who try to push De Jong in to a frame in which he clearly not fits.

At Barcelona he is trapped in a web of false expectations. He is being told he needs to score more. The real problem is rarely talked about. As long as Busquets is the compass of the team, the team can't be formed in a way that there is place for the real talent of Frenkie De Jong. Busquets is not comfortable in a 4231, meaning in the past three season not much has really changed.

Ten Hag has said something about this after De Jongs departure to Barcelona. That he functions best in a double 6 role and has a large degree of freedom to get involved in the game. In the year where he was voted amongst the best midfielders in the Champions League - as an Eredivisie player - he rarely scored goal. He did however have incredible impact on the build up of play.

In Catelonia there has not been a positive development since Xavi took over. His game became more unnotable and signs that Xavi is planning to move the game more De Jongs way arent there. The opposite sounds more true, that De Jong is being told in a very friendly way on the pitch that he is being kindly requested to play football somewhere else. If Pedri wouldnt have gotten injured, de Jong would have spent the final part of the season on the bench next to Memphis Depay. Now in stead he tagged along on the pitch on a place where he doesnt belong.

It is ofcourse no coincidence that Julian Nagelsmann jokes about wanting to bring Kylian Mbappé and Frenkie de Jong to Bayern more than anyone else. The German manager would be able to explain clearly why De Jong would be the ultimate player next to Joshua Kimmich. The last thing that would be expected of him there would be goals. De Jong needs a coach who plays him to his qualities.

The past three years we have been looking at a lesser version of what could be a inredible football player. The Spanish and Catelonian media are right when they conclude that for 86 million euros he has been a failure. Sporadically there was applause when the was decisive with a goal or assits. Never did Nou Camp see the playfull footballer who thought it was a good idea to trick Benzema in his own box. The cheerful midfielder who played with a smile on his face and had a smashing impact on the build up and attacking play. Thát Frenkie de Jong we will only see again when he has been freed from Barcelona.
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QUOTE="Bastian, post: 28951070, member: 97858"]
Thanks for posting that. I guess the next question is who will be the other #6?
[/QUOTE]

Interesting post, my thoughts exactly, who would be 6 alongside him? Mcfred for a season and next summer a new no6? Also if we got FDJ, then i can see a role for DVB or Bruno in front of the double pivot and contributing to play in the final third of the pitch. Regardless of who would be infront of the double pivot its cslling out for a high class, high energy, strapping midfield to do the dirty work alongside FDJ.
 

Red the Bear

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Yagami said:
At first I thought it was what @Luffy said, but, after reading an interview he did after joining Barcelona, it seems his grandfather did die when he was 21, too.

Funnily enough, in the same interview he was talking about Arsenal. How he liked them and expected to go there from Ajax and then to Barca. He called it the Overmars route.

:drool:
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Luffy said:
Yup, you're right. Thanks for correcting me, Yagami-senpai. And sorry for feeding you lies, @Red the Bear.
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Oh , that makes me feel bad actually as I just said it to be flippant, hope he's moved on from his death.

Also luffy how can you go around spreading disinformation like that :nono:
 

reddevilchennai

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unplayable said:
Plus he can do a RVP and take #21 to help us win title #21.
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For that the little boy within him should scream Manchester United and it hasn't till now.

I hope this deal goes through and he starts performing well. He would be a very good addition to start this new project.
 

Wezzaldo

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I’m newish so just want to clarify, if a poor source says the deal is off or player doesn’t want to come it’s 100% believed, but if it’s positive it’s not to believed because it’s a ‘crap source’?
 

sewey89

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Wezzaldo said:
I’m newish so just want to clarify, if a poor source says the deal is off or player doesn’t want to come it’s 100% believed, but if it’s positive it’s not to believed because it’s a ‘crap source’?
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Correct. Welcome to the caf
 

Luffy

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Red the Bear said:
Oh , that makes me feel bad actually as I just said it to be flippant, hope he's moved on from his death.

Also luffy how can you go around spreading disinformation like that :nono:
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But, wiki said so and they even linked to a Sport.es interview where he stated that he did so because of his grandfather's birth date. But there was also another article where he stated that it was also a tribute to his grandfather who died on his 21st birthday. I swear I meant no harm. :(
 

elnorte

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Wezzaldo said:
I’m newish so just want to clarify, if a poor source says the deal is off or player doesn’t want to come it’s 100% believed, but if it’s positive it’s not to believed because it’s a ‘crap source’?
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True to some extent. Similarly credible news sources are disproportionately discounted when delivering positive reports. Although in my opinion being optimistic about anything these days is both futile and self-defeating.
 

Nero

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Wezzaldo said:
I’m newish so just want to clarify, if a poor source says the deal is off or player doesn’t want to come it’s 100% believed, but if it’s positive it’s not to believed because it’s a ‘crap source’?
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Also, any tweet linking a rival club with signing a player (however weak the source) is treated as an official confirmation, and must be met with rants about how said club are not messing about and getting their business done early.

For bonus points throw in a few comments about how you can't believe we're not in for him and how we'll regret it.
 

Red the Bear

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Tiber

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Wezzaldo said:
I’m newish so just want to clarify, if a poor source says the deal is off or player doesn’t want to come it’s 100% believed, but if it’s positive it’s not to believed because it’s a ‘crap source’?
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Don't overthink it yet. This thread is a mere 154 pages, a proper United saga will be much longer than this pamphlet.
 
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