[RRCE]

There's very little about the kid that makes me believe he can be a first team player for United, let alone an elite one. He broke into the first team with a couple of good performances and nicely taken goals. From there, the hype was unbelievable. Also, because the sting of Pogba running down his contract and walking away was still fresh, people wanted to label him a world class young talent and celebrate when he signed a new deal. The performances speak for themselves. He flatters to deceive. He obviously has time to improve, but he better do it quickly. I'm not sure he has the attitude and work ethic to make it happen.

As for today's performance, it was obviously terrible. He gave away the free kick and then decided not to mark anybody when it was taken. He couldn't hit the target late on when he had a chance to tie it up (admittedly, not an easy shot). Simply not good enough at the moment.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

There's very little about the kid that makes me believe he can be a first team player for United, let alone an elite one. He broke into the first team with a couple of good performances and nicely taken goals. From there, the hype was unbelievable. Also, because the sting of Pogba running down his contract and walking away was still fresh, people wanted to label him a world class young talent and celebrate when he signed a new deal. The performances speak for themselves. He flatters to deceive. He obviously has time to improve, but he better do it quickly. I'm not sure he has the attitude and work ethic to make it happen.

As for today's performance, it was obviously terrible. He gave away the free kick and then decided not to mark anybody when it was taken. He couldn't hit the target late on when he had a chance to tie it up (admittedly, not an easy shot). Simply not good enough at the moment.

Brace yourself, the Adnan fan club won't like that post. I agree completely however.

 

[Sultan]

He was played in a defensive 5 the back. This when we needed a goal.

 

[In Rainbows]

Brace yourself, the Adnan fan club won't like that post. I agree completely however.

Because it's a strange post. Not sure how you can agree with it. The hype with Adnan was firstly due to his performances for the youth team where I thought he did even better than Pogba. He had a lot of impressive qualities like technique, passing, and decision making. The first team performances only further strengthened those opinions. The opinion at the time was "this isn't really surprising." He made the step up to the u21 and became the best player in the side and virtually every game he played in. He made the step up to the first team and quickly made himself one of the best players in pre season, which of course means nothing. So when he did the same for the first team in the actual season it was more of a sign that he was the real deal.

The only people that were hyping up Adnan after the Sunderland match and think only the Sunderland match was the reason for hyping him up were people that did not watch him at youth level and people that were the first to claim he was only hyped up due to the Sunderland match.

And today's performance was terrible? He played 5 minutes. Apart from the foul, what is there to judge badly? What is even the point of judging this performance? Just wait until he actually does terrible in a match where he's more involved. I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to say the same thing at that time.

 

[Ballache]

did he come on as a wingback
Good to have him back though, missed Adnan.

 

[pocco]

Myself and everyone else at the ground was happy to see him back.
6 minutes isn't enough to judge him on. Personally, I'm not judging any of our players whilst Van Gaal is still here. Every one of them is capable of better than they are showing and we won't see that until someone else is in charge.

 

[Amar__]

Redcafe is going nuts. Judging him for today's game is a new low.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Because it's a strange post. Not sure how you can agree with it. The hype with Adnan was firstly due to his performances for the youth team where I thought he did even better than Pogba. He had a lot of impressive qualities like technique, passing, and decision making. The first team performances only further strengthened those opinions. The opinion at the time was "this isn't really surprising." He made the step up to the u21 and became the best player in the side and virtually every game he played in. He made the step up to the first team and quickly made himself one of the best players in pre season, which of course means nothing. So when he did the same for the first team in the actual season it was more of a sign that he was the real deal.

The only people that were hyping up Adnan after the Sunderland match and think only the Sunderland match was the reason for hyping him up were people that did not watch him at youth level and people that were the first to claim he was only hyped up due to the Sunderland match.

And today's performance was terrible? He played 5 minutes. Apart from the foul, what is there to judge badly? What is even the point of judging this performance? Just wait until he actually does terrible in a match where he's more involved. I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to say the same thing at that time.

No, no, he committed a foul. Begone with the kid!

 

[Di Maria's angel]

0-0 at home, 85 minutes, desperately in need of a positive change, our, absolute, dip shit of a manager takes off our left back and replaces him with a winger... Only at Manchester United. We truly are unique.

 

[RRCE]

No, no, he committed a foul. Begone with the kid!

Don't get me wrong, the boy didn't have much time to do anything. It was a short substitute appearance. Unfortunately, it was an extremely poor one nonetheless. Perhaps it's fair to question why LVG didn't bring him on earlier. Personally, I think it's because Van Gaal doesn't trust him defensively. There's no doubt Lindgard works harder in that regard. He only wanted to bring Januzaj on late with a view of trying to snatch a win. It didn't work and, I suspect, Van Gaal's concerns were confirmed.

The boy has talent, but he's overrated. I obviously want him to succeed, but just don't see it with him yet.

 

[Sylar]

0-0 at home, 85 minutes, desperately in need of a positive change, our, absolute, dip shit of a manager takes off our left back and replaces him with a winger... Only at Manchester United. We truly are unique.

Especially when he really should have been brought on with at least 15 minutes left. It was insane that he came on so late when we should be looking for a winner, and is played deep. Madness.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

No one should blame him for anything... I'm happy with people passing the blame to LVG for being a massive fecking idiot.

 

[Leftback99]

So is he ahead of Depay in the pecking order now after being deemed not good enough to be part of the squad at the start of the season? More great management from LVG.

 

[Acole9]

I know he was playing in a position he probably shouldn't have been but to give away a free kick in that area of the pitch was just careless on his part.

 

[facund]

Blind was the one fouling/pushing Austin and Januzaj didn't even appear to make any contact with him (if he did it was negligible).
At worst you could call it a little naive on Adnan's part but the reality is that a wily striker bought a foul/free-kick in a dead-end situation. If he had hung back and Austin managed to turn Blind then he would have been lamented as well, if they hadn't scored from the resulting free-kick then we never talk about it again. The amount of silly/needless fouls the team gives away and we are focusing on one that wasn't really a foul.

Nice to see him back, no time to make a real impact on the flow of the game but managed to get himself a chance to shoot. Hopefully he gets a run on Friday and we can see how the Dortmund experience has effected him.

 

[drdoityourself]

The foul was 1 yard from the corner flag, if he'd got the ball not the player it would probably have been a corner. It was a clumsy foul but not in a position where you can blame him for the goal.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Up to that point, Southampton were playing for a draw. They'd got the ball in the corner and they were going to keep it there or play for a corner, free kick. They were just as terrible as we were and had no interest in going for it.

Blame Schneiderlin for losing his man, giving that Championship clogger a free header from point blank. Decent delivery, but it fell in to an area where it should have been easily cleared away.


He was only on the pitch for about 6 minutes, and he at least managed to take a shot at goal in that time, which barely anybody else managed.

 

[SoCross]

Great to have him back. Hopefully he'll add some much needed positivity and directness to our game.

 

[Minimalist]

He'll probably be sold to the likes of Swansea in the next year for £4million.

Looking a bit like a Macheda scenario these days.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

A talented player who is still very young indeed. He needs game time along with a few others like Depay and Perreria.

 

[KikiDaKats]

Redcafe is going nuts. Judging him for today's game is a new low.

Is it strange for me to say I really liked what I saw in that short period. I personally don't like him(overhyped) but something about his application made me feel he looks a fine player.
Maybe it's because I judge players on their individual progression and don't put everyone in the same box.

 

[AltiUn]

Had a really good game for the U21s in case anyone was wondering.

 

[In Rainbows]

Had a really good game for the U21s in case anyone was wondering.

Personally, I was disappointed. Then again, I've hated the idea of him transforming into a winger so I'm most likely biased. I was originally impressed by his passing, vision, technique, and decision making.

Just look at this. Not even close to the same playstyle.

 

[AltiUn]

Personally, I was disappointed. Then again, I've hated the idea of him transforming into a winger so I'm most likely biased. I was originally impressed by his passing, vision, technique, and decision making.

Just look at this. Not even close to the same playstyle.

He's not his old self that's for sure but he's getting there, he was showing intent and was looking to actually to take his man on which was what excited me. And I agree with the notion of him becoming a winger, I hated that too.

 

[Invictus]

Personally, I was disappointed. Then again, I've hated the idea of him transforming into a winger so I'm most likely biased. I was originally impressed by his passing, vision, technique, and decision making.

Just look at this. Not even close to the same playstyle.

Yep, we should have ideally developed Januzaj as a #10, or maybe a false 9. Looked a bit lost in those roles, but he was very young. Adnan's best attributes for the reserves were his vision, balance, smoothness, touch of pass, decision-making and eye for threading balls. We should have taken those qualities, and polished them over time to make him more consistent (it's no coincidence that his favorite players - Riquelme and Zidane are more elegant attacking midfielders either). Good #10s take time to develop, and they benefit from consistency and being on the same wavelength as others.

Instead, we tried to turn him into something he's not - a Giggs prototype who is expected to be fast, beat mean on the outside, make snap decisions which hinder his feel for the game, and challenge his marker consistently. Even though he is coming onto his stronger foot in central areas, playing him out wide is still not the best solution because there's not a lot of productive overlap to make him a threat, and a lot of times he ends up being isolated. Now, to be fair - some players can adapt to those situations; but it doesn't half look like Januzaj has, or can. Which is a pity because he has (or had) the tools to develop into an orchestrator for the attack from central areas.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

There's very little about the kid that makes me believe he can be a first team player for United, let alone an elite one. He broke into the first team with a couple of good performances and nicely taken goals. From there, the hype was unbelievable. Also, because the sting of Pogba running down his contract and walking away was still fresh, people wanted to label him a world class young talent and celebrate when he signed a new deal. The performances speak for themselves. He flatters to deceive. He obviously has time to improve, but he better do it quickly. I'm not sure he has the attitude and work ethic to make it happen.

As for today's performance, it was obviously terrible. He gave away the free kick and then decided not to mark anybody when it was taken. He couldn't hit the target late on when he had a chance to tie it up (admittedly, not an easy shot). Simply not good enough at the moment.

This is harsh. It wasn't just a couple of good performances in his breakthrough season, he was genuinely our best creative player for a good chunk of the season and was arguably the one shining light of the Moyes era. He created chances when others didn't, beat men when others didn't and was often a threat when others weren't. I don't disagree that he's been disappointing since then, and at the moment I agree that his attitude and work ethic may be questionable, but I feel like he showed enough in that season for us to persevere. He has also never had the benefit of playing in a team that actually knows what they're doing and are confident. If a player like Juan Mata has struggled to produce the goods in our team then it's not exactly surprising that an inexperienced player like Januzaj will too.

 

[RRCE]

This is harsh. It wasn't just a couple of good performances in his breakthrough season, he was genuinely our best creative player for a good chunk of the season and was arguably the one shining light of the Moyes era. He created chances when others didn't, beat men when others didn't and was often a threat when others weren't. I don't disagree that he's been disappointing since then, and at the moment I agree that his attitude and work ethic may be questionable, but I feel like he showed enough in that season for us to persevere. He has also never had the benefit of playing in a team that actually knows what they're doing and are confident. If a player like Juan Mata has struggled to produce the goods in our team then it's not exactly surprising that an inexperienced player like Januzaj will too.

I'm not at all suggesting that we give up on the kid. He clearly has some talent. I just think he's a long way off at the moment, and hasn't really done enough to justify the hype. Believe me, I hope he comes good!

 

[bosnian_red]

Personally, I was disappointed. Then again, I've hated the idea of him transforming into a winger so I'm most likely biased. I was originally impressed by his passing, vision, technique, and decision making.

Just look at this. Not even close to the same playstyle.

Yep, agree completely. Said it back in 2013 that he was definitely a #10. He's not a winger at all. He's not explosive or quick enough. But Moyes and others at the club were too into giving him the #11 and him being Giggs' replacement that they tried to make him a kick and run winger... As a result, he became more selfish, more of someone who tries to run with the ball and go past players and be a proper winger. That's not his game. Keep him as a #10 and let him play those cute passes into the forwards, do little give and go's, and then sometimes run with the ball. When he first broke through, he had really good decision making, looked a very intelligent player, and had excellent technical ability. The longer that season went on, the more he looked like he was being trained as a winger, and the worse he got really. Since Van Gaal came, he only ever played as a winger or left wing back or whatever the feck Van Gaal played him as, and he hardly had a good game.

One game always stuck in my head from that season when he first broke through. Think it was home against Norwich in the Capital one cup. He played as a classic #10 and completely destroyed Norwich. That's the type of player he should have been developed as.

 

[XdanielredX]

People being wayy too harsh..

Literally came on in the 85th Minute of a game where we were at a shite tempo and after having barely played football for the last few months.

Didn't even do THAT bad anyway, made a couple of runs, more than Lingard did all day.

I think he has to start next game along with Martial, Rooney and Mata/Depay.

 

[Fer]

Where do you think is Januzaj best position?

 

[soap]

Since Van Gaal came, he only ever played as a winger or left wing back or whatever the feck Van Gaal played him as, and he hardly had a good game.

He played DMF for like 10 minutes away at Sunderland

Would be nice if he started against. It's not like Mata, Memphis or Lingard are in fine form!

 

[Bwuk]

Where do you think is Januzaj best position?

#10

 

[pocco]

Where do you think is Januzaj best position?

Out wide or maybe no.10, with a bit more experience.

 

[Fer]

Out wide or maybe no.10, with a bit more experience.

I think he could do a good job in a front of 3 as a wide forward/winger. However, I prefer to see him as No.10.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Yep, we should have ideally developed Januzaj as a #10, or maybe a false 9. Looked a bit lost in those roles, but he was very young. Adnan's best attributes for the reserves were his vision, balance, smoothness, touch of pass, decision-making and eye for threading balls. We should have taken those qualities, and polished them over time to make him more consistent (it's no coincidence that his favorite players - Riquelme and Zidane are more elegant attacking midfielders either). Good #10s take time to develop, and they benefit from consistency and being on the same wavelength as others.

Instead, we tried to turn him into something he's not - a Giggs prototype who is expected to be fast, beat mean on the outside, make snap decisions which hinder his feel for the game, and challenge his marker consistently. Even though he is coming onto his stronger foot in central areas, playing him out wide is still not the best solution because there's not a lot of productive overlap to make him a threat, and a lot of times he ends up being isolated. Now, to be fair - some players can adapt to those situations; but it doesn't half look like Januzaj has, or can. Which is a pity because he has (or had) the tools to develop into an orchestrator for the attack from central areas.

I agree. For me, he's a playmaker/creative midfielder, and not a winger/forward. But we're obsessed with turning him into Giggs or Ronaldo for some reason, seeing an overemphasis on his wide play/trying to beat a man, and bulking him up to play as a number 9. It seems we're trying to manufacture him into a certain kind of player when the natural footballer he is, is actually potentially a brilliant one as it is.

 

[Fer]

Yep, agree completely. Said it back in 2013 that he was definitely a #10. He's not a winger at all. He's not explosive or quick enough. But Moyes and others at the club were too into giving him the #11 and him being Giggs' replacement that they tried to make him a kick and run winger... As a result, he became more selfish, more of someone who tries to run with the ball and go past players and be a proper winger. That's not his game. Keep him as a #10 and let him play those cute passes into the forwards, do little give and go's, and then sometimes run with the ball. When he first broke through, he had really good decision making, looked a very intelligent player, and had excellent technical ability. The longer that season went on, the more he looked like he was being trained as a winger, and the worse he got really. Since Van Gaal came, he only ever played as a winger or left wing back or whatever the feck Van Gaal played him as, and he hardly had a good game.

One game always stuck in my head from that season when he first broke through. Think it was home against Norwich in the Capital one cup. He played as a classic #10 and completely destroyed Norwich. That's the type of player he should have been developed as.

I agree. For me, he's a playmaker/creative midfielder, and not a winger/forward. But we're obsessed with turning him into Giggs or Ronaldo for some reason, seeing an overemphasis on his wide play/trying to beat a man, and bulking him up to play as a number 9. It seems we're trying to manufacture him into a certain kind of player when the natural footballer he is, is actually potentially a brilliant one as it is.

Totally agree. We should develop his potential as an attacking midfielder (also with Pereira). I think they have a good vision and they are smart players with a good technique plus the ability of a final pass.
If we play in the future with a 433 formation. Do you think he would be able to play in a midfield of 3? Or what would be his best position in that formation?

 

[wiz4231]

#9 (could do a RVP)

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Totally agree. We should develop his potential as an attacking midfielder (also with Pereira). I think they have a good vision and they are smart players with a good technique plus the ability of a final pass.
If we play in the future with a 433 formation. Do you think he would be able to play in a midfield of 3? Or what would be his best position in that formation?

I think playing in a midfield three would probably be too dangerous given his lack of defensive abilities.

I see him as more of an Ozil/Silva type player who will play either as a pure number 10, or a wide playmaker. Whereas last season, in particular, whenever he played out wide, he seemed to try to play more like a Ryan Giggs than those players, with an overemphasis on pace and dribbling. One could argue that he was did dribble a lot in the season under Moyes, and that would be true, but ultimately he's not naturally blessed with excessive pace, and I think he was trying to hard to play like a rapid winger would, and it must have been on instruction.

 

[pascell]

He desperately need a run of games. I actually feel that, if we played him for 90% of games until the end of the season, he'd make our attacks more aggressive and we'd create a whole lot more. Over the past 8 months he's barely played and I'm not even sure if he's played 3 consecutive games. Writing off a youngster after 5 minutes is incredibly harsh.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Wouldn't mind seeing him as a leading line striker against Derby, seemed to be playing that role in pre season and actually looked pretty good - remember the Barca game?.

Him and Pereira have a good chemistry and have played plenty together, would love to see a front 4 of Mata, Pereira, Memphis and Januzaj