Who decided to sign Van De Beek?

RedorDead21

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Him being a CM is pure fantasy. It's people on the cafe hoping he'll turn into a CM to solve our midfield problem.

He's a #10 and always has been. He can't play CM.
a 10 who I’ve never seen play a through ball? Wow I honestly didn’t know that. Yeah Ole couldn’t really afford 40m wasted like that. Odd as we waited a year for Sancho to save less than that apparently. At the end of the day he now must sell players to buy so these decisions hurt him long term. Lesson learnt I’m sure.
 

DWelbz19

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He’s been shite, no denying that, but the player fundamentally is just one who doesn’t fit. He’s playing exactly how he did at Ajax. He was a midfielder who was at his best without the ball, relying on better players (De Jong; Ziyech) to do the creative lifting for him. He’s not one who can pass; can screen a defence; or will tackle and intercept like crazy.

It would be like being angry at Fernandes for not being able to play slow possession play; or that Rashford can’t play as a no.9 target man.

He should be moved on, and fault lay at his desk as his general performances have been underwhelming, but the biggest fault lay with the scouting team and whoever approved this signing.
Not that I’m trying to toot my own horn or anything, but I think this is still pretty accurate. He just doesn’t fit. He won’t really ever fit. I don’t know why he’s still here.
 

amolbhatia50k

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He's probably coming to training surrounded by super models with a Marijuana cigarette on one hand and with a huge kebab on the other hand. Else how on earth he's behind Matic and Lingard in the pecking order?

Seriously the Molde guy is ruining one of the most promising midfielders career
He isn't that promising. Been crap when given chances. Maybe he'd do better in another system/league but he should be at least putting decent levels of peformances with us.
 

ROFLUTION

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Could have used that money on renewing Pogba. Bad business.

Every player we buy that is not miles better than what our academy has to offer is a bad investment. Developing youth and buying big/quality players is the only way we can compete with extreme spending like City and Chelsea.
 

VP89

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We bought him for 40m or something is not like he came here for free. Something is not right with this one it stinks of Ole not asking for this guy.
The easiest explanation is not always the correct one.
 

PaulRich

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Should be given a run of games - worst case is he cant possibly be as bad as the shite those 2 served up yesterday. Best case, well we might just have a player.
 

Jericho

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We are two games in guys... Chill the feck out. The kid will get his time this season. It's not really weird Ole preferred to give Jesse some minutes over him, he was literally the hottest thing in the league last spring.
What makes you say that? He got next to no game time last season. And the little he got did nothing for him.
 

Matthew84!

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I think at best he'll play cup games and maybe the last 20 mins if we're comfortable winning.
I'm really not sure where he fits in though, Ole won't bench Pogba or Bruno so that leaves only the CM option as he isn't quick enough to be a winger.
 

MattofManchester

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He needs to play. I honestly could not care anymore, even if we need to put Pogba back in a 2.

I want our fecking midfielders to be able to pass the fecking ball.

Nothing more infuriating.
 

devilish

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He isn't that promising. Been crap when given chances. Maybe he'd do better in another system/league but he should be at least putting decent levels of peformances with us.
TBF he was barely ever given a chance. Someone with his talent should have been treated better.
 

Pexbo

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He’s another one of those players that gets the “well he’s never had chances” treatment.

Manager’s have a far greater opportunity to assess a player’s abilities than fans do. They watch them train every day and watch them in training matches.

If Donny is behind Fred, McTominay and Matic, it’s because he’s not shown as much as them in training.

Donny’s performances in matches will be reinforcing what the coaches already felt about him rather than changing their minds and that’s not how you earn more chances.

You don’t just give any player 10 straight matches “because that’s the only way to assess them”. Players have to earn every minute.
 

Bebestation

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The thing about Van De Beek is that one of his biggest talents was being a player that could make a run from midfield and score a goal through his intelligent movements.

It's disappointing that we don't get to see it even when we are need of such a goal.
 

KiD MoYeS

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I don’t even know what type of player he is. I actually know less about him as a player than before he joined. :lol:
 

Bebestation

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He’s another one of those players that gets the “well he’s never had chances” treatment.

Manager’s have a far greater opportunity to assess a player’s abilities than fans do. They watch them train every day and watch them in training matches.

If Donny is behind Fred, McTominay and Matic, it’s because he’s not shown as much as them in training.

Donny’s performances in matches will be reinforcing what the coaches already felt about him rather than changing their minds and that’s not how you earn more chances.

You don’t just give any player 10 straight matches “because that’s the only way to assess them”. Players have to earn every minute.
What did Martial earn over Greenwood after Greenwood showed a nice CF performance?
 

RedDevilzFox

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DVDB has been such a strange buy. Its clear he is a misfit in this united play, he is a pass and move player, sort of keeps the team ticking. We don't play that way, more often than not our ball forward thru the wide positions.

He should be sold IMO. Pogba or no pogba, DVDB doesn't fit in this team.
 

Pexbo

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What did Martial earn over Greenwood after Greenwood showed a nice CF performance?
Greenwood started. Martial came in for James who was universally derided in the match day thread.


Its also completely missing my point about matches being only one variable, for all we know Martial had been red hot in training that week and earned his spot.
 
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Bizarre signing that Ole & Phelan should’ve vetoed, neither of them knew enough about him. Trusting the other people in the recruitment team is one thing but for that kind of money, Ole & Phelan have to at least have an idea of how they’d use him.
So far a monumentally shite transfer for club and player.
 

El Zoido

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I really do believe he’ll find a place this season. It was well reported that he was working hard in the off-season to be ready for this one, but he’s not just going to walk straight in. We’re only two games in to the new season, when the fixtures start piling up, then he’ll get a chance. He’s going to have to work his way in to the team though.
 

RedDevilzFox

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I really do believe he’ll find a place this season. It was well reported that he was working hard in the off-season to be ready for this one, but he’s not just going to walk straight in. We’re only two games in to the new season, when the fixtures start piling up, then he’ll get a chance. He’s going to have to work his way in to the team though.
I just don't think its a issue of work ethic. No one has ever suggested that. He is just not a fit to the way this united team play.
 

OleTheGreat

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I think we are getting carried away too quickly. The season is long and we'll probably play around 55-60 games. DVDB will definitely get his chance. The problem I have is Ole making stupid substitutions by bringing in Mctominay and Lingard instead of DVDB but I understand his position. He will blamed regardless of who he picks or subs. I hope VDB makes a great impact when he plays and changes things around for himself.
 

DoomSlayer

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The thing about Van De Beek is that one of his biggest talents was being a player that could make a run from midfield and score a goal through his intelligent movements.

It's disappointing that we don't get to see it even when we are need of such a goal.
So he is another AM, of which we have 4 (Pogba, Bruno, Lingard and Mata)? Of course he won't play much as he will never displace Bruno or Pogba.
 

Denis Irwinning

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He isn't that promising. Been crap when given chances. Maybe he'd do better in another system/league but he should be at least putting decent levels of peformances with us.
How many chances did he actually get, in a team that wasn't just backups? Answer me that.
 

El Zoido

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I just don't think its a issue of work ethic. No one has ever suggested that. He is just not a fit to the way this united team play.
He’s a CM, I don’t see why he couldn’t directly replace Fred in some games, we we want to play more advanced and forgo the disruption tactic Fred offers. The season is young, he’ll be looking at it in terms of a fresh start. So we’ll see.
 

Bebestation

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He’s a CM, I don’t see why he couldn’t directly replace Fred in some games. The season is young, he’ll be looking at it in terms of a fresh start. So we’ll see.
This is why I'm wanting more a ball winning midfielder rather than a deep lying playmaking one right now.

We can't bring a deep lying playmaker like Neves and then stick him next to Pogba or VDB - there won't be defensive stability in that type of double pivot.

If we get a ball winning CDM/anchor man type then we can start using players like Pogba, VDB and Bruno together as our CM's.
 

VinzentFTW

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Him being a CM is pure fantasy. It's people on the cafe hoping he'll turn into a CM to solve our midfield problem.

He's a #10 and always has been. He can't play CM.
I wont call him a pure 10 either.. He was playing mostly as an 8 in a double pivot closer to the goal in a 433 formation at Ajax. He wont fit optimaly in a 4231 further away from the goal with more defensive tasks. United need to buy a pure DM so we can change the formation to a 433 if we want VDB to work in our system in a more advanced position.

Then we can play either this

------------DM-------------
----VDB---Bruno------

Or this
----------DM--------
---VDB--Pogba----
 

Oranges038

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Whatever about who made the decision to sign him. He was a very good player for Ajax, he has shown there that he can play at a high level and hold his own against the best teams in the Champions League.

He's never been given a proper go. By that, I mean a decent run of games where he's started or played more than 3 minutes at the end and been given the opportunity to work himself into a place in the team. Yet he's looking at James, Lingard, Matic, Martial and Bailly been given chance after chance after chance to disappoint.

He's also looking at Fred passing the ball out of touch every game and McT who just can't pass the ball at all. Personally I think he's technically far superior to both of those. Obviously, we don't see what happens in training or what Ole sees or doesn't see.

It's a strange situation he is in, with the world cup coming up next year. I wouldn't blame him for looking to leave.
 

RedDevilzFox

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He’s a CM, I don’t see why he couldn’t directly replace Fred in some games, we we want to play more advanced and forgo the disruption tactic Fred offers. The season is young, he’ll be looking at it in terms of a fresh start. So we’ll see.
I don't see him as a classic CM. He is more of a ball recycler, we simply do not play that way. Maybe in a LVG system he could have been a fit, but right now he sticks out like a sore thumb.
 

Jaxa

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I don’t even know what type of player he is. I actually know less about him as a player than before he joined. :lol:
I had the same thought and issue so went to go watch a few youtube videos of his time at Ajax and he seems to have played or at least be most effective as a #10 which is crazy considering we just signed Bruno who barring a serious injury was never getting dropped in that position plus we also had Mata for backup if needed.

Makes you wonder who on earth actioned this signing and why ! Very poor choice to spend so much cash on, now I am playing Devil's advocate here and would never defend the Glazers however if your job is to show them why x funds need to be spent you're not making it easier for yourself or the club if you have to tell them you paid 40m for a guy who has played a handful of games in over a year.
 

Godfather

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He’s another one of those players that gets the “well he’s never had chances” treatment.

Manager’s have a far greater opportunity to assess a player’s abilities than fans do. They watch them train every day and watch them in training matches.

If Donny is behind Fred, McTominay and Matic, it’s because he’s not shown as much as them in training.

Donny’s performances in matches will be reinforcing what the coaches already felt about him rather than changing their minds and that’s not how you earn more chances.

You don’t just give any player 10 straight matches “because that’s the only way to assess them”. Players have to earn every minute.
Should have done our homework before splashing a shit ton of money on him then.
 

#07

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Honestly starting to feel like we signed Van de Beek because we thought Pogba was going, we couldn't get Grealish, and we wanted an extra body as insurance. There seems to have been an idea that he would be an extra option late in games to grab goals. However, over time we seem to have lost faith in him as a #10. So now he's being remoulded as an #8. By that I mean an English style #8 not a Dutch give and go type #8.

Looks a waste of €40m. This thing of buying players without a clear role for them is our kryptonite.
 

HailtotheKing

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Should have done our homework before splashing a shit ton of money on him then.
This all works in theory. Until you have players that have routinely played crap for us and been given game after game to prove themselves. Versus a player that's shown bits and pieces when given the opportunity. And even better when given full matches surrounded by good players, not reserves. As for the coaches. I get what you're saying. But anyone could see last season how many similar goals we were conceding from corners and free kicks. Yet the coaches did nothing about it. Coaches have their own failings just as we do as fans. Sure, they're closer to the players than us, but it doesn't make them infallible. Donnie deserves a proper run before we decide he's surplus to needs. Or to put it another way, he deserves the same chance everyone else has been given. Donnie proved himself in the Champions League at Ajax. What has Pereira ever done? Yet he gets game time in front of Donnie. Lingard played well for a few months against West Ham but has done nothing in a Utd shirt for years. He's also a player that plays better with space in front of him to run into. Yet he gets the chances. Rinse and repeat. Donnie has actually helped goals in a low block via his runs and dummies. He deserves a chance. He's not getting one. Simple.
 

Pexbo

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Should have done our homework before splashing a shit ton of money on him then.
Fully agree with you but let’s not pretend that the odd poor purchase is a phenomenon unique to this current incarnation of Manchester United.

Plenty of clubs buy players that for whatever reason never work out and they never fit in.
 

Desert Eagle

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Fully agree with you but let’s not pretend that the odd poor purchase is a phenomenon unique to this current incarnation of Manchester United.

Plenty of clubs buy players that for whatever reason never work out and they never fit in.
Those players actually fail on the pitch though rather than just never get to play apart from 10 minutes at the end of games. DVB has not been given a fair chance to succeed or fail which is why it's such a weird transfer
 
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ThierryHenry14

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Could have used that money on renewing Pogba. Bad business.

Every player we buy that is not miles better than what our academy has to offer is a bad investment. Developing youth and buying big/quality players is the only way we can compete with extreme spending like City and Chelsea.
Do Chelsea and Man City has higher net spend in transfer than Man Utd this summer or even the last 5 years and 10 years? I am confused. Why people on this forum always believe Man Utd can't compete with City let alone Chelsea on transfer spending? I for one won't say Arsenal didn't spend money to improve the squad this summer.

This summer
https://www.transfermarkt.us/fc-chelsea/alletransfers/verein/631
https://www.transfermarkt.us/manchester-united/transfers/verein/985
https://www.transfermarkt.us/manchester-city/transfers/verein/281

For the last 5 years & 10 years
https://www.transfermarkt.us/premier-league/fuenfjahresvergleich/wettbewerb/GB1
 

thegregster

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Every manager make poor signings. It's just part of the game. TBF to Ole he has made good signings so far. (Of course we have to wait and see on Sancho and Varane). But this has proved to be a terrible signing and it doesn't reflect good on Ole or the club. It's one thing to make a poor signing but it's another to not have enough faith in him to give him a chance to prove himself in our weakest position in the team.