Who decided to sign Van De Beek?

Desert Eagle said:
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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See my first post on the subject. Matches are only a subset of what coaches see. If he’s not doing enough in training to earn his chances why should he be favoured over players who are?

He’s not been better than any of our other midfielders in matches so what message would that send if he’s also not better in training but being given an extended run?

It’s a results based industry and he’s not doing enough to warrant the risk.

He played 36 matches for us last season and averaged 40mins per appearance and he was average or worse in all but 1 or 2 when he was slightly above average.
 
DVB is becoming some type of gallion figure where posters feel he is the best player in the club outside of Pogba and Bruno and why he doens't get playingtime is a massive mystery
 
How many of that ajax side that moved on have done well for their new clubs?
 
Look, I will start by saying I am not sure how good DVB is. I also do not see practices, so again no idea.

That said, if he is not good enough in a game like yesterday to replace one of either Fred or Matic who definitively were not having good games... why is he not being offered up in the transfer window?

I mean like I said I do not know his capabilities other than many big clubs to include Real were looking at him last summer. So either play the kid or move on but watching us break down in midfield with him in our squad and gettiung no time makes no sense to me.

What am I missing?
 
SuperiorXI said:
He's 19 (only just turned 19 as well)
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Who has happened to cost the club an absolute fortune. Maybe he'll come good, he certainly looks the business. But between him and Donny, that's £75 million worth of talent that has not been giving an opportunity when we're crying out for funds to be able to improve our midfield.
 
Mentality Monsters said:
Who has happened to cost the club an absolute fortune. Maybe he'll come good, he certainly looks the business. But between him and Donny, that's £75 million worth of talent that has not been giving an opportunity when we're crying out for funds to be able to improve our midfield.
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Diallo is obviously a future prospect so no, the same question can't be asked of Diallo, he wasn't expected to come in and do anything. VDB fair enough.
 
Am I the only one that thinks Donny is average at best? Most of the time he recieves a pass he immediately passes back.
 
RedStarUnited said:
The same question can be placed on Amad to be honest.
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Behave. How is there any comparison?

Amad is a teenager and was purchased with an eye for the future. He had little exposure to top tier football, he had only played 37 minutes of Serie A football across 4 appearances for Atalanta (basically 4 x 10 minute cameos) when we bought him.
You expected a player that didn't have a single start for Atalanta, to come at Manchester United mid-season and start getting starts in a new league and country?

VDB came here at 23 after having won a title with Ajax and reaching a CL semi-final. All that as starter. It's silly to compare.
 
MiceOnMeth said:
How many of that ajax side that moved on have done well for their new clubs?
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How many did move on in the first place? De Jong and De Ligt have definitely been very successful.
 
yipthatman said:
Am I the only one that thinks Donny is average at best? Most of the time he recieves a pass he immediately passes back.
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I wouldn't agree with that. He used to play a lot as a 10 at Ajax, so he's an attack minded player. Whatever way you look at it, he's a much better ball player than Fred, McTominay or Matic. Don't understand why he's not playing - even as a sub.
 
Romano said on a Twitch stream (I think?) with United Stand to keep an eye on the DvB situation as he wants to ensure he's playing this season. May end up seeing him out the door if he's not given some sort of assurances.
 
SuperiorXI said:
Diallo is obviously a future prospect so no, the same question can't be asked of Diallo, he wasn't expected to come in and do anything. VDB fair enough.
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I wasn't questioning Diallo is regards to his ability, more the club and Ole for not prioritizing appropriately. We're not flush with cash to an extent where we can spend more than £30 million for a single young player and then send him out on loan. Not when we've got holes and priorities elsewhere in the team.
 
Nicoseth said:
I wouldn't agree with that. He used to play a lot as a 10 at Ajax, so he's an attack minded player. Whatever way you look at it, he's a much better ball player than Fred, McTominay or Matic. Don't understand why he's not playing - even as a sub.
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Would you say that he plays the same level at United that he played at Ajax? I never saw him playing there. I really hope he comes good but maybe he just isn't good enough, I mean is he Scholes quality? This should be what we look for at United.
 
People seem to be looking at this as though Ole has some kind of issue with Donny and is ignoring a viable option. What would be the point in that? We've seen with his signings that if they are doing the job they play every week.
 
Tom Cato said:
DVB is becoming some type of gallion figure where posters feel he is the best player in the club outside of Pogba and Bruno and why he doens't get playingtime is a massive mystery
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Or he's a CM in a team that needs CM cover and still doesn't play...no one is saying he's some kind of superstar, they just would rather he start ahead of Matic against a team that will be fighting relegation this season. Hell, I'd have rather we started Pereira if he wasn't on loan...it's about how you want to play and Matic/Fred isn't it.
 
Pexbo said:
See my first post on the subject. Matches are only a subset of what coaches see. If he’s not doing enough in training to earn his chances why should he be favoured over players who are?

He’s not been better than any of our other midfielders in matches so what message would that send if he’s also not better in training but being given an extended run?

It’s a results based industry and he’s not doing enough to warrant the risk.

He played 36 matches for us last season and averaged 40mins per appearance and he was average or worse in all but 1 or 2 when he was slightly above average.
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You are assuming he is not doing enough in training. It could be the manager doesn't like him or he doesn't want to change his system to accommodate him, or he didn't want to sign him or any number of non performance related issues.

That is as misleading a stat as it gets. He was never given a run in the league and performed well in all the cup games bar a few. He only got 90 minutes in 7 games all of last season.
 
yipthatman said:
Would you say that he plays the same level at United that he played at Ajax? I never saw him playing there. I really hope he comes good but maybe he just isn't good enough, I mean is he Scholes quality? This should be what we look for at United.
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No doubt we'd all love a scholes-type but that's an impossibility. I think most fans aren't even looking for a player of that level. We're just looking for an upgrade on Fred, Matic and MCT. I think Donny is a better technical player that all of them and should at least be given a chance in the CM/CDM role. The fact he hasn't played a single minute in the opening two games is very frustrating.
 
MiceOnMeth said:
How many of that ajax side that moved on have done well for their new clubs?
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Onana - Still there
Mazraoui - Still there
De Ligt - Good
Blind - Still there
Tagliafico - Still there
Schone - Old
Frenkie - Awesome
Donny - Not good
Neres - Still there
Tadic - Still there
Ziyech - Jury is still out
 
tomaldinho1 said:
Or he's a CM in a team that needs CM cover and still doesn't play...no one is saying he's some kind of superstar, they just would rather he start ahead of Matic against a team that will be fighting relegation this season. Hell, I'd have rather we started Pereira if he wasn't on loan...it's about how you want to play and Matic/Fred isn't it.
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This is it. We're not saying Donny is Zidane. But he at least deserves a chance to show he can do a better job than Fred, Matic or MCT.. He's been totally overlooked and it's hard to understand when we have to suffer through our midfield being dominated by Romeu and JWP.
 
Vault Dweller said:
Romano said on a Twitch stream (I think?) with United Stand to keep an eye on the DvB situation as he wants to ensure he's playing this season. May end up seeing him out the door if he's not given some sort of assurances.
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I think games are afoot with Donny, Lingard and potentially James. If we get good offers we’ll sell. If we say we want to sell we won’t get good offers though so they’re all apparently in our plans. I still think we want Rice.
 
RedStarUnited said:
The same question can be placed on Amad to be honest.
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I disagree. Donny was bought as a first team player who could come in and contribute straight away. He's played in big games for Ajax. Amad played like 60 minutes of professional football before we bought him. One for the future and there's no need to rush him.
 
Honestly can’t understand why we didn’t sell him if Ole trusts jesse fkn lingard over him when a game’s tied? He is absolutely a better player than lingard, but the manager clearly doesn’t think so. Why not sell him then? Why ruin his career and cost the club money? Makes zero sense.
 
yipthatman said:
Am I the only one that thinks Donny is average at best? Most of the time he recieves a pass he immediately passes back.
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As opposed to our current centre halves and midfield who pass the ball to the opposition? He played well end of last season and a couple of weeks ago against Everton, we looked great moving the ball quickly.. It makes no sense
 
Mickeza said:
I think games are afoot with Donny, Lingard and potentially James. If we get good offers we’ll sell. If we say we want to sell we won’t get good offers though so they’re all apparently in our plans. I still think we want Rice.
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Yeah I think a couple might be sold before the window shuts. If Vdb just isn't going to play there is no point retaining him. It's a shame but players need to be moved.
 
Pexbo said:
See my first post on the subject. Matches are only a subset of what coaches see. If he’s not doing enough in training to earn his chances why should he be favoured over players who are?

He’s not been better than any of our other midfielders in matches so what message would that send if he’s also not better in training but being given an extended run?

It’s a results based industry and he’s not doing enough to warrant the risk.

He played 36 matches for us last season and averaged 40mins per appearance and he was average or worse in all but 1 or 2 when he was slightly above average.
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This merit-based team selection thing sounds like a nice concept in theory but no matter how shit hot Matic might be in training, his last really good performance was some time around 2019. Does he warrant the risk? He's not even a gamble at this point: we know he'll be shite more often than not.

There are zillions of reasons why a manager might not trust a player and many of them have nothing to do with performances. Anyone who lived through the Mourinho era here should know that.
 
Pexbo said:
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.
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10? He hasn't even had two consecutive starts. Can you name me any other player that was mostly fit, cost €40m and hadn't received 2 consecutive starts a year later?

How can he be the second highest rated player on the pitch in Italy vs Holland and be garbage in training for United at the same time?
yipthatman said:
Would you say that he plays the same level at United that he played at Ajax? I never saw him playing there. I really hope he comes good but maybe he just isn't good enough, I mean is he Scholes quality? This should be what we look for at United.
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He doesn't have to be Scholes quality, just better than a past it Matic, an underperforming Fred or an injured McTominay.

We don't know if he is, because he doesn't play, but a comfortable lead against Leeds was the perfect opportunity to give him significant minutes, while his recent performances (Wolves & Everton) indicate he couldn't be any worse than whatever Matic was doing against Southampton (meaning VDB might as well have come on for Matic in the second half).
 
VDB looks like a punt when Pogba was throwing his toys out of his pram as insurance. We should sell him though and get 30M maybe.
 
ROFLUTION said:
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.
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Yeah or you know buying an actual DM
 
This remains one of our stranger signings in recent history. I could be wrong of course but I’ve convinced myself he was bought in the understanding Pogba was leaving last summer. Then the impact of covid struck and plans changed. How he couldn’t get on the pitch yesterday means he is either a poor trainer or Ole and the coaching staff simply think he isn’t good enough to make any sort of difference.
 
A bit like Dalot, I've never really been that impressed when I have seen him play for us but maybe he's a player that needs a consistent run of games. It's a no brainer though if you've got options like Pogba and Bruno for the attacking midfield spots so unless he plays in the dm position there's not really a place for him in the team.

Weird signing. Fred was 100% not a Jose purchase and I get the feeling Ole didn't want VDB either.
 
It’s becoming one of the most enigmatic signings we’ve made next to Zoran Tosic or the non-signing of Adem Ljajic.

Its even more weirder if he stays and the same thing as last season happens. I would have thought it would have been an easy sale at the start of the window as someone who didnt quite fit.
 
I wonder if he’s seriously now regretting the move here when he could be playing week in week out with Ajax if he had stayed there. I also wonder what promises Ole had made and sold to him prior to his move here. Yes he’s now at a bigger club and probably earning thrice the wages but it’s not looking good for his playing career right now and then losing his spot in the national team as a result
 
Yagami said:
What makes his transfer even worse for me is that, if we decided to fork out an extra £20m (Diallo and Pellistri ended up costing us over £20m together so we had the money), we probably could've had Grealish before his asking price skyrocketed.
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Honest question: did Graelish want to join us, or was he always holding out for when City would buy him? Because, if Graelish was OK joining us and we passed on him for DvB, we are the dumbest club that ever existed, at least our recruiting is.
 
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