How good was Adnan Januzaj in 2013/2014?

[Mr.Ridiculous__]

The Curious Case of Adnan

In 2013/2014, a new era started under David Moyes that can only be described as a shipwreck for the title winning Man Utd side. Still a side of title winners, nothing seemed to go right after an opening day thrashing of Swansea (iirc). The only shining light that season (until Mata arrived) was Adnan Januzaj who debuted with two splendid goals against Sunderland.

He had fabulous balance, an eye for a pass, and could finish. He was considered up there with the best Premier league teenagers at the time which included Raheem Sterling, Serge Gnabry, Barkley, Luke Shaw etc. There were rumours about Barcelona, PSG, Juventus monitoring him.

What happened? All the other so called best PL teenagers of the time flourished in big clubs, except Adnan. Did we misjudge him as a talent? Was he really that good or did being a shining light in a pathetic season, gaslight us into believing he was elite.

So, objectively how good was he that season in hindsight? Good enough to warrant that attention or was the footballing world hoodwinked.

 

[VorZakone]

He did well but the context of him being a young shining light in a terrible Moyes season did hype him up heavily.

 

[TsuWave]

He reminded me of Kaka a bit, with his balance, technique and dribbling. I thought he was going to make it. Shame.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Clearly, I'm biased if you look at my name but I stand by he was a supreme talent that was let down by a combination of poor management and a poor attitude. He also wasn't the most physically gifted but technically he was a fantastic player and that's still evident in his game today. His vision, ball control, dribbling, and passing weight were all superb for a young player and I recall Van Persie coming out and saying he was one of the best young talents he'd seen. Ultimately, it was a combination of factors but I don't think talent was his biggest obstacle.

 

[Rojofiam]

He was elite and had the ability to become one of the best in the world, but something obviously happened. I presume it was down to both himself and his managers (LVG, José). I don't think he scored and assisted that many (he was 18 years old bursting onto the scene in the PL after youth level football, mind you) but you could tell he was special. It's really a shame that he never realized his enormous potential. I thought we would have a world beater in the team for 10+ years.

 

[Gopher Brown]

I remember reading or hearing something about his attitude to training and self-improvement dipping once he felt he had ‘made it.’

Being played as a wingback under van Gaal probably didn’t help much either

 

[hasanejaz88]

Typical case of a very talented player who didn't have the work ethic to excel at the highest level.

Brandt in Germany is similar. Looked so much better than other 18 year olds when he made his Bundesliga debut, but then never really progressed in the years and was often accused of not working hard enough.

You can't get to the top just with being talented, there is a lot of work you need to put in to improve your game at the highest level and become consistent. We've seen stars drop massively as well when their will to work and maintain their level drops (Ronaldinho, Robinho, Ozil)

 

[K Stand Knut]

He was bang average. As he is now and as he always has been.

being the shining light in a Moyes team that he (Moyes) personally desecrated is nothing to be proud of.

Terrible player.

Similar to having DDG as player of the year for some seasons. Embarrassing for the club, manager and other players. No real indication of DDG being the best GK on the planet

 

[Vidyoyo]

As with all our youth players in their first and second seasons... take how good people made him out to be and half it. That's how good he was.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

He was an exciting talent, but in retrospect his performances weren't as exciting as I thought at the time. My memory is that he started really well and tailed off, it wasn't a consistently good season I don't think

 

[Rojofiam]

He was bang average. As he is now and as he always has been.

being the shining light in a Moyes team that he (Moyes) personally desecrated is nothing to be proud of.

Terrible player.

Similar to having DDG as player of the year for some seasons. Embarrassing for the club, manager and other players. No real indication of DDG being the best GK on the planet

Terrible take, but that's not surprising on this forum

 

[JPRouve]

I think that he wasn't that good and that context clouded people's opinion, including mine. Januzaj didn't actually do much, he didn't really dominate games regularly or at least played in a way that would actually make you believe that he was anything else than a skilled young player with a lot of necessary development in order to become an actual squad player for a top team.
He was overhyped due to the overall mess around the first team and looked like the only promising thing that year. @kouroux don't you have a Meriem/Boufal/Marvin Martin vibe where there is a bit of talent but people's desperation distorted their evaluations?

 

[TheReligion]

I remember him being technically good but not very fast or explosive. This hindered him in the PL given how the game is played.

Thought he'd always do well in Italy.

 

[caid]

He had about two good matches. He played great in them individual games but most of his appearances were what you'd expect today really. Solid midtable player and not much else.

 

[izec]

He was good, not as good as the hype, but talented enough to make it. His attitude and work ethic though wasnt good. This is well known. If you dont work for years, you have little chance to reach the top in a short business like football.

 

[GazTheLegend]

He was elite and had the ability to become one of the best in the world, but something obviously happened. I presume it was down to both himself and his managers (LVG, José). I don't think he scored and assisted that many (he was 18 years old bursting onto the scene in the PL after youth level football, mind you) but you could tell he was special. It's really a shame that he never realized his enormous potential. I thought we would have a world beater in the team for 10+ years.

He wasn't that good. The problems he had were obvious

• He was really slow (especially for his body type i.e. not strong)
• He didn't score enough from the many shots he took on himself
• He didn't work hard off the ball

His obvious talents were his close control and passing weight but if you aren't fast enough to get away with the ball when you beat a player then it's not that useful to you.

 

[K Stand Knut]

Terrible take, but that's not surprising on this forum

Why is it a terrible take. He’s not a very good player. He just stood out in a the worst season I have seen from a United team in my lifetime

 

[El Jefe]

He wasn't that good aside from the first 10 games or so and at the end when Giggs took over. I never really rated him, he was a bright spark in the worst period of the club in 25 years so a lot of the praise was OTT.

He was a much better player in the U18 where he was actually a playmaker. Once he came through, he thought he could be a Salah type of player. He certainly had the selfish trait of Salah but was way off in terms of pace, finishing and strength. All in all, he was an average player and his career since has proved that.

 

[siw2007]

A very talented young boy who didn’t have the hunger and desire to make it at the club, mixed in with the fact that the management at the club was unstable, LVG never took to him.

I do believe he had the talent to make it at the club, he was technically very good, had great balance, speed over the first few yards, weight of passing and a good creative brain. Some elements of his game needed polishing which was to be expected of an 18 year old but I think he believes the hype too soon and didn’t work hard enough to develop as a player.

 

[Maticmaker]

Towards the end of that season he became Moyes 'get out of jail free card' he threw Januzaj on to help win matches. It got that way that the kid seemed to think every time he went on the pitch what was expected of him was to get the ball, beat three men and score... well not really, but far too much was expected of him and he was credited with far too much 'potential' at that age.

Later off the pitch he got into scrapes, hung about with the wrong crowd as they say, when he went out on loan, got a reputation for laziness and eventually left.

A great pity he may have had what it takes, but it all came too fast for him and his then manager.

 

[Abraxas]

Supremely talented with the ball at his feet but there is probably some truth in the work ethic argument, various murmurings have left the club to that effect.

I also think he was probably a footballer more suited to a previous era. High pressing wasn't really in his makeup, he wasn't an athletic specimen, he was probably somebody you would have drifting around in a free role in a lower tempo style of football. Not necessarily playing off the wing.

 

[Rojofiam]

• He was really slow (especially for his body type i.e. not strong)

"Slow" players can excel in the Premier League, and it's not like he was "really slow", I don't think it ever hindered him in that 13/14 season.

• He didn't score enough from the many shots he took on himself

He scored 4 and assisted 6 in his first ever season in the PL in a disjointed team, under a manager that is widely regarded as clueless (although I disagree). Sterling scored 10 and assisted 9, which is outrageous for an 18 year old. But bear in mind, he was playing for a title challenging team.

Anyways, you're talking about his apparent weaknesses like he was a 27-28 year old player

For an 18 year old he was great (not generational like a Rooney or exceptional like a Greenwood, but great nonetheless). If the club managed him properly and his attitude was right, he would've been a monster by 21-22. Obviously that never happened.

 

[united_99]

He was always overrated. People see a young player doing some dribbling and skills in a couple of low pressure games where the opposition doesn’t know much about the player yet and they somehow think that this player is all of a sudden the most talented player in the squad.

Him being linked with Juve shortly after Pogba joined them for free made him somehow look better than he actually was and it made us hand him a big contract.

 

[pacifictheme]

This post

He reminded me of Kaka a bit, with his balance, technique and dribbling. I thought he was going to make it. Shame.

Sums up this one perfectly.

He did well but the context of him being a young shining light in a terrible Moyes season did hype him up heavily.

Kaka.

 

[arnie_ni]

He was bang average. As he is now and as he always has been.

being the shining light in a Moyes team that he (Moyes) personally desecrated is nothing to be proud of.

Terrible player.

Similar to having DDG as player of the year for some seasons. Embarrassing for the club, manager and other players. No real indication of DDG being the best GK on the planet

Except Ddg was one of, if not the best keeper on the planet for a period.

 

[TsuWave]

This post



Sums up this one perfectly.




Kaka.

Don’t know what you’re trying to say here. I was not equating him to Kaka. I said his dribbling reminded me of him a bit because they’re both relatively tall and slim players with similar balance and good technique. Much like many people are reminded of RvP when they see Greenwood due to their gait. Me saying “I thought he would make it” emphasises the fact he was simply a “prospect”. Reading is important, understanding more so.

 

[littleman]

As Manchester United declined from the peaks of SAF, I think the deep dark tunnel made our fans desperate. Used to glory, there were many of us that just simply overrated what we had.

I never rated Januzaj and never thought he was an MUFC starter. There have been many other young MUFC footballers that we've raved about that amounted to nothing.

In the end, if you look back, Januzaj's stats are comparable to David Bellion, with less goals and more assists in 50% more matches:

https://www.transfermarkt.us/adnan-januzaj/leistungsdatenverein/spieler/177847
https://www.transfermarkt.us/david-bellion/leistungsdatenverein/spieler/3115

Couple that with all the excuses our desperate, sorry fans made up for Januzaj's shit attitude (and continue to make for players like Martial), we just ended up with a turd that most of these desperate fans now choose to pretend never existed, so they don't need to remember how pathetic they were and still are.

 

[Rojow]

Typical young United player hyped by our fanbase. We never learn.

 

[tjb]

Why is it a terrible take. He’s not a very good player. He just stood out in a the worst season I have seen from a United team in my lifetime

Your DDG take...not Januzaj

 

[11101]

He was a technically good player but he lacked the aggression and directness to make an impact. Always looked a bit like one of those players who would be happier if there were no goals on the pitch, and he could enjoy himself with tricks instead of worrying about winning games. He just never gave the impression he had the hunger for it the way somebody like Bruno does.

He was the only bright spark in a horrible season so we all clung onto him.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Hindsight he was not good, back then he was hyped as next best thing here. People comparing him with young Giggs and Ronaldo.

 

[Based Adnan]

I remember a game vs Norwich where played at 10 and absolutely ran the show with far more established players on the pitch

Genuinely thought he was the next big thing. IIRC we also turned down £40M from PSG.

 

[JPRouve]

I remember a game vs Norwich where played at 10 and absolutely ran the show with far more established players on the pitch

Genuinely thought he was the next big thing. IIRC we also turned down £40M from PSG.

One shouldn't judge a book on its title but...

 

[Ace]

I have to feel his United career would have been longer and more successful under a real manager. Maybe not as a player who’s first on the team sheet each week, but as a depth guy who could readily contribute across the front line in multiple positions.

LvG is still one of the worst things to happen to this club. Only now are we starting to emerge from those two years of bad management, poor transfers, and a horrible horrible playing style.

 

[Judas]

Massively overhyped. Our standards were low, many of us were desperate to have something positive to cling onto, that ended up being this lad.

 

[GazTheLegend]

"Slow" players can excel in the Premier League, and it's not like he was "really slow", I don't think it ever hindered him in that 13/14 season.

It absolutely hindered him. It worried me at the time

He scored 4 and assisted 6 in his first ever season in the PL in a disjointed team, under a manager that is widely regarded as clueless (although I disagree). Sterling scored 10 and assisted 9, which is outrageous for an 18 year old. But bear in mind, he was playing for a title challenging team.

Anyways, you're talking about his apparent weaknesses like he was a 27-28 year old player

For an 18 year old he was great (not generational like a Rooney or exceptional like a Greenwood, but great nonetheless). If the club managed him properly and his attitude was right, he would've been a monster by 21-22. Obviously that never happened.

Its a bit desperate to blame Manchester United for his failure to make it at the club, or at any of the other many clubs he tried to make it big at. You can overcome lack of pace if you have something else to offer as a player, but what exactly did he offer even in that season you're talking about? Few nice passes, a few nice dribbles, that was it.

 

[El Zoido]

He never felt like anything special, he was just overhyped because we were having a rough season. It was a good purple patch for him, I think a lot of fans were desperate for the next big thing.

 

[Pavl3n]

Massively overhyped. Our standards were low, many of us were desperate to have something positive to cling onto, that ended up being this lad.

Pretty much this.
Ageing squad, a lot of players on the end of their decline Rio, Vidic, Giggs, Evra, RVP, Anderson, Fletcher. Low form for Nani, Welbeck, Buttner, Kagawa.
And all of a sudden a breath of fresh air. But apart from running at players there was nothing else to his game.


I remember our game plan was 'pass it Januzjaj and he'll unsuccessfully cross'.

 

[georgipep]

It absolutely hindered him. It worried me at the time


Its a bit desperate to blame Manchester United for his failure to make it at the club, or at any of the other many clubs he tried to make it big at. You can overcome lack of pace if you have something else to offer as a player, but what exactly did he offer even in that season you're talking about? Few nice passes, a few nice dribbles, that was it.

Why would you say he has failed? He is a starter for a good La Liga team. There is only one league in the world better than La Liga so I would say in terms of professional/career stage, he is doing very well for himself.

 

[bosnian_red]

Mentally he failed to make the step up and thought of himself a star too soon, plus Moyes went ahead and developed him as a winger when he should've been developed as a Kaka type of player. Such a shame. Had bags of talent and played with intelligence, but was trained to be a kick and run winger which was a travesty.