The [non] use of Van de Beek - Ole's player?

chb23

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This reminds me of football manager.

Couple games in and players complain about not enough game time, even though they get sub appearances.
 

Rolaholic

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Solid article, starting to come around to this opinion even thought I've been pushing for him to play more.

Seems the kind of signing that will really pay dividends for us later on in the business end of the season once fatigue and injuries begin to pile up
 
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RUCK4444

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Solid article, starting to come around to this opinion even thought I've been pushing for him to play more.

Seems the king of signing that will really pay dividends for us later on in the business end of the season once fatigue and injuries begin to pile up
Yeah exactly, it’s great depth to have.

You just need to look at how we played after the restart last season and how dramatically we faded towards the end of the season.

Even though I’ve always said I don’t think he gets in the team when at full strength (not at the moment at least), I’ve always said he’s a great option for rotation and there’s no saying he won’t retain his place eventually depending on form of others.

It’s the name of the game to have players pushing each other for positions.
 

El Zoido

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OH LOOK.

God this was the dumbest thing to complain about. The sheer idiocy of the complaints got me more irritated than they probably should, but honestly this club has a hot topic issue every week and it’s tiresome.
 

Volumiza

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OH LOOK.

God this was the dumbest thing to complain about. The sheer idiocy of the complaints got me more irritated than they probably should, but honestly this club has a hot topic issue every week and it’s tiresome.
Came to post pretty much the same.
 

horsechoker

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Solid article, starting to come around to this opinion even thought I've been pushing for him to play more.

Seems the kind of signing that will really pay dividends for us later on in the business end of the season once fatigue and injuries begin to pile up
"he's my winter coat, I love his warm embrace"

Ole on DVDB
 

horsechoker

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OH LOOK.

God this was the dumbest thing to complain about. The sheer idiocy of the complaints got me more irritated than they probably should, but honestly this club has a hot topic issue every week and it’s tiresome.
It was a slow news week as far as United were concerned so they had to bring this up. I imagine people will say that Ole was forced into playing him now.
 

Rajiztar

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I am baffled by the 'controversy' about Van de Beek. How many times has Hakim Ziyech started for Chelsea in the Premier League?

Two players who were starters for Ajax, one goes to Man Utd the other to Chelsea. Neither have started a league game for their new clubs. However, for Van de Beek its seen as a HUGE thing. Whereas for Ziyech its barely discussed.

That's the English media for you. Add the name of Man Utd to your story and the clicks will follow.
Ziyech got injured hence not fit to even sit on the bench during the start of the season. After he was fit he already started two league matches and scored once and assisted thrice for blues in his two starts. Ole may think vdb need bed in time but Frank definitely not think that way regarding ziyech.
 

Buffalo Bills

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Not sure about the need to wait longer or for "bedding in". When VDB plays he plays well and that should be enough when others are playing badly. No point in holding him back for the future when we are currently in the bottom half of the league.
 

Web of Bissaka

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Is VDB really playing well every little chances given?
Maybe that's why he doesn't play more games.

Or is this just sympathy votes?
Heard this before with Dalot, Andreas Pereira and Mkhitaryan until we realize they're actually shit. Fred took a full season to not play shit, and yes even under Ole in his first season, his performances are overall terrible (check back the thousands of posts in the caf back during those time if you forget).
 

Rightnr

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Playing McTominay while this guy sits on the bench is criminal. We're not Stoke, we're Man United.
 

Foxbatt

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I really don't understand how Mata gets to play instead of DVB.
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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Solid article, starting to come around to this opinion even thought I've been pushing for him to play more.

Seems the kind of signing that will really pay dividends for us later on in the business end of the season once fatigue and injuries begin to pile up
A rather expensive winter coat that. . .
 

reddevilz007

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Does Donny play on the RW?
He plays as a right sided #8, and still gets into the box.

Can’t say Mata is much more of RW as he tends to come inside and roam around the CAM area. Mata brings nothing defensively.
 
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archiebald

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He should be getting starts but honestly have no idea how we'd fit him into the starting XI with Bruno in it as well.

Double pivot would probably be ideal, he could play the Yaya Toure role but we don't have someone who can play the other pivot role that sits back and shields the backline effectively.

On the right of a diamond is possible but same issue with the CDM and we have no width down the right.

4-3-3? With Fred/Mctominay/Matic as third midfielder. Has Ole tried this yet?
 

DRM

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We can't get the best of Rashford, he's done nothing today
 

KD6-3.7

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I actually thought the signing was very smart but the way we are using him is definitely not. He hasn’t even started a single premier league match which is embarrassing when you consider we often line up with a combination of Fred/Matic/McTominay.

City have proven you can have quality in depth and keep everyone happy but you never see someone like Bernardo Silva or Mahrez go 7 games without starting a match like we’ve done with VDB.
 
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Hoof the ball

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Oh how they scoff when it's mentioned that he could play as an auxiliary wide man but say nothing when Mata has his 1,000th unflattering game playing as a RW. Ok then, bro....
 

arthurka

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Did we do better after he came on?
Who gives a shit, Mata is our right winger default. Hate this team under Ole.
 

FrankDrebin

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He's going to be Ole's Kagawa.

Very much a player who's been slowly moulded into a particular style and system over the years at Ajax and now he's been brought into, well, the exact opposite. We're fundamentally a very individualist team. We don't seem to have a particular philosophy and playing style in which every player is on the same wavelength and this has been the case since Jose.
Its one of the major reasons why we don't look cohesive at times.

United and VDB at the present have contrasting philosophies.

So, I'm not sure where this relationship is heading really.

I think if Beek adapts to our current way of playing then we'll be getting a lessor player because his strengths are generally possession based with sharp and short quick transitions in linkup play ,team movement while also having a strong offensive influence in the opposition box. Our tempo needs to quicken up too. Less touches on the ball. More movement and generally more freedom. We play at a slow pace and our players take far too many (selfish) touches on the ball.
And dont get me started on our non existent movement at times. Truth be told, we're terrible at making space.

But if we adapt to him then you could easily argue that our style needs a complete revamp and certain players may need to be let go because of it, good players at that.
Would United do that for Beek ? Hmm, Not sure.


Still, we'll see, as its a long season with many twists and turns on the horizon but If I'm going to be blunt then the signing of Beek looks like nothing other than a opportunistic punt.
 

Dan_F

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He could have easily played alongside Fred today. Would have given us more control in midfield.
Like against Istanbul? He’s not going to suddenly fix anything in that position any more than Pogba could.
 

el3mel

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Like against Istanbul? He’s not going to suddenly fix anything in that position any more than Pogba could.
Why did we invest in him then, if he's not better than any other option we have in midfield? Did we pay 45m for him to be a bench option for 10 minutes a game in the league, because if so it's a waste of money.
 

RedRonaldo

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He is just a backup, we bought him simply for squad depth, that's what we lacking end of last season.

Are we going to start him ahead of Bruno?
 

Bondi77

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If he can play anywhere in the midfield then he should be starting over Matic at least.
It definitely does not make much sense to me how we paid a chunk of money for him and yet he has not started league game and yet when we brought Bruno into the side I do not think he has not started a league game so it can not be a case of adapting to the league.
A strange one indeed.
 

el3mel

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He is just a backup, we bought him simply for squad depth, that's what we lacking end of last season.

Are we going to start him ahead of Bruno?
We paid +45m for a bench option? That's a little bit crazy when we needed the money to strengthen main positions in the squad like RW.