[Andersons Dietician]

Did have one moment when play broke down up field and Shaw was up there, and when watching Bruges attack develop it was obvious where they were heading. They had a free man over and he didn’t notice it straight away and I was thinking if he didn’t get over there quick we were in danger. He was maybe a little slow on the uptake but he realised the danger and got in just in time to stop it.

The rest of it was a bit meh. Thought he looked better on the right but nothing seemed to be going for him today.

 

[Kazi]

He is awful, not like he’s super young either

 

[pratyush_utd]

Had one of those days but seriously needs to get his head down and focus. He always had a fantastic attitude in reserves and academy, but i fear being in first team might have gone into his head.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Not his best game, seemed to be a bit low on confidence. I think he needs to start turning and facing forwards a bit more often. He seems to be facing sideways a bit too much and ends up passing backwards.

Not sure the LWB role suits him as much as a normal fullback.

 

[kundalini]

Terrible first half. Kept making basic errors, a poor pass out of play wasted an early chance to counter, then failed to control the ball several times. Needs to do better on their goal, even though Romero at fault for inviting the lob. Wasted decent chance from Pereira's cross, should have got his shot on target. One moment where he got back well to provide cover, their player failed to control the ball, allowing Romero to claim.

Better 2nd half though could have done better with opportunities to cross late on. A bit unlucky with one from the left earlier in the half that was slightly too high; that was decent play from him.

 

[yamo123x]

Like young Brandon, he looked lost tonight though, made so many errors, positional mistakes and he has had a few games like this now. amongst several very good performances

 

[r3idy]

Not good enough.

Get a grip. Lad is still learning his trade. Come back when he's been in and around the team for a few seasons instead of knee jerk reaction.

 

[Rozay]

He is awful, not like he’s super young either

That’s strong. He’s decent. I wouldn’t say he’s in the elite tier of young full-backs, but he’s decent. I see him as a talent who could probably have a good career as a PL regular for Villa, West Ham or Burnley, which is probably also good enough to be a squad player at a better club if you have other qualities like good attitude, versatility and importantly - a reliable fitness record.

And he’s plenty young enough, he’s only 19.

 

[edcunited1878]

He played against Chelsea, now played a few days later away to Europe. These up and downs will happen, but he's got to play through it if he's out there. Did well to get into the box for his chance but had zero composure to put it on target or drag it back to the center.

 

[Geekie]

He was bad but I can't be the only one who thinks he looked knackered today?

 

[Rozay]

Get a grip. Lad is still learning his trade. Come back when he's been in and around the team for a few seasons instead of knee jerk reaction.

Is there any circumstance at all where Redcafe can see an academy player and be allowed to think he’s not a future United player before watching him get his supposed birthright entitlement of a few seasons in the first team first? I’m genuinely curious of this, as the reaction is always the same to anyone who dares. Do you have any sort of standard for Manchester United that players are required to meet? 9 times out of 10 these players end up mid table or below, but the reaction to anyone saying they don’t see a United player in them will forever be the same.

Perhaps you should get a grip. I don’t need a few seasons to form an opinion. If my opinion is different in a few seasons, I’ll say it is at the time. What happens is the likes of yourselves declares everyone a future first teamer, draw up your silly formations and make your ‘we could have a first XI with a,b,c,d,e and f in three years’ threads and in three years are giving them far more vitriolic abuse than I am giving now, while moving on to the next tough-tackling braveheart you saw in the FA Youth Cup. You only have to look at how majority of grads who are somehow still here after the age of 23 are discussed over recent years. Perhaps you should learn something from those experiences. This is not surprising anyway in a nation that raises kids on participation prizes.

 

[Bastian]

Wow. I see some people are writing him off already

Had a poor game tonight. By and large the team looked pretty average.

 

[WR10]

His usual craftiness with keeping possession underpressure failed him multiple times today. Could be fatigue or could be growing pains as he tries to balance staying fit and keep skills up as a youngster. Either way, bad day at the office for him. Doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that will get too bogged down though. Will know he needs to do better

 

[OleGunnar20]

Bad game today, but by and large I think he should be delighted with his season so far, more ups than downs. I can't understand people writing him off at 19.

Far too soon to say whether he'll make the grade long term if course, but the potentials there to be a decent squad player for sure, and his mentality is by all accounts on point.

 

[Mickson]

He isn't good as a wing-back, that's why people think he's shite. He's much better when he can come from behind and make runs through the defense. An overlapping full-back. He isn't going to be very creative. I think this system is just making him confused. He's neither a defender or an attacker and that doesn't suit him at all.

 

[r3idy]

Is there any circumstance at all where Redcafe can see an academy player and be allowed to think he’s not a future United player before watching him get his supposed birthright entitlement of a few seasons in the first team first? I’m genuinely curious of this, as the reaction is always the same to anyone who dares. Do you have any sort of standard for Manchester United that players are required to meet? 9 times out of 10 these players end up mid table or below, but the reaction to anyone saying they don’t see a United player in them will forever be the same.

Perhaps you should get a grip. I don’t need a few seasons to form an opinion. If my opinion is different in a few seasons, I’ll say it is at the time. What happens is the likes of yourselves declares everyone a future first teamer, draw up your silly formations and make your ‘we could have a first XI with a,b,c,d,e and f in three years’ threads and in three years are giving them far more vitriolic abuse than I am giving now, while moving on to the next tough-tackling braveheart you saw in the FA Youth Cup. You only have to look at how majority of grads who are somehow still here after the age of 23 are discussed over recent years. Perhaps you should learn something from those experiences. This is not surprising anyway in a nation that raises kids on participation prizes.

Thanks for the reply but considerably wide of the mark. I don't declare every single U23 as a dead cert for the first team. So good assumption but completely inaccurate.

See this is the issue with the modern fan or maybe in a Microcosm, the Caf. A player has a few good games and he is heralded as the next Roberto Carlos. He has a stinker and he is 'Not Good Enough, NEXT !!'

With Williams, he had a poor game tonight, absolutely without a shadow of a doubt. Does that mean he is not good enough? No, Does that mean he won't learn from it? well, I bloody well hope not. Setbacks, three or four bad games and time on the bench is a good thing at that age. That's part of being a young footballer, learning from individual mistakes, different positional play, different formations, learning from defeat and taking each game as an experience.

He reads the game well for his age, and in most cases, he takes up good positions both defensively and offensively. He can play in a back 4 but is found lacking in a back 3 playing as a Wing Back rather than a modern or orthodox full-back.

But hey what do I know. I guess a couple of FA coaching badges and ten years plus years on the sidelines with Junior, Under 18 and Under 23 amateur football taught me nothing about how Juniors develop into adult footballers.

Have I won my 'Participation Prize'

 

[Godfather]

He's a bit useless in that stupid formation isn't he

 

[Rozay]

Thanks for the reply but considerably wide of the mark. I don't declare every single U23 as a dead cert for the first team. So good assumption but completely inaccurate.

See this is the issue with the modern fan or maybe in a Microcosm, the Caf. A player has a few good games and he is heralded as the next Roberto Carlos. He has a stinker and he is 'Not Good Enough, NEXT !!'

With Williams, he had a poor game tonight, absolutely without a shadow of a doubt. Does that mean he is not good enough? No, Does that mean he won't learn from it? well, I bloody well hope not. Setbacks, three or four bad games and time on the bench is a good thing at that age. That's part of being a young footballer, learning from individual mistakes, different positional play, different formations, learning from defeat and taking each game as an experience.

He reads the game well for his age, and in most cases, he takes up good positions both defensively and offensively. He can play in a back 4 but is found lacking in a back 3 playing as a Wing Back rather than a modern or orthodox full-back.

But hey what do I know. I guess a couple of FA coaching badges and ten years plus years on the sidelines with Junior, Under 18 and Under 23 amateur football taught me nothing about how Juniors develop into adult footballers.

Have I won my 'Participation Prize'

Do you think tonight is the first time I’ve seen him play or something? You‘re rant would make some sense if I had previously implied he was some sort of Roberto Carlos and now saying he’s not good enough because he had (what you believe to be) ‘only one’ poor game. I have spoken of Williams long before his debut. And I’ve said many times on here over the last few years that Laird and Greenwood are the only two hopefuls I see as good enough to be United players. That’s without considering the 16 year olds or whatever.

If Greenwood was at Villa or Bournemouth in two years, it would disappoint me. If Williams ended up at Villa or Bournemouth in two years, I’d be surprised if anyone was really disappointed.

Williams doing well ‘for his age’ or for his own personal expectations means nothing for us. We’re not an U19 team. One of the most common traits I see on here is the removal of Manchester United standards for academy players, and instead replacing it with a standard that is basically ‘the best this kid can do’. Who gives a feck what the best you can do is? Other than your Mum and school teachers.

I don’t think Williams is shite or anything, but I don’t think he has top level talent. What he does with what he has is up to him, but usually, what he has will land him somewhere lower than Manchester United. Hence my ‘not good enough’ for Manchester United opinion. Laird and Greenwood have the talent for the top. Whether they make it or not isn’t guaranteed of course.

And I didn’t say you personally declare everyone a dead cert, and my post may or may not apply to you. It’s a theme on here. And given you taking such great offence to an opinion that suggests Brandon fecking Williams may not be good enough to be a United player long term, I would say it suggests a lot of my post applies to you.

 

[Canadianred17]

Do you think tonight is the first time I’ve seen him play or something? You‘re rant would make some sense if I had previously implied he was some sort of Roberto Carlos and now saying he’s not good enough because he had (what you believe to be) ‘only one’ poor game. I have spoken of Williams long before his debut. And I’ve said many times on here over the last few years that Laird and Greenwood are the only two hopefuls I see as good enough to be United players. That’s without considering the 16 year olds or whatever.

If Greenwood was at Villa or Bournemouth in two years, it would disappoint me. If Williams ended up at Villa or Bournemouth in two years, I’d be surprised if anyone was really disappointed.

Williams doing well ‘for his age’ or for his own personal expectations means nothing for us. We’re not an U19 team. One of the most common traits I see on here is the removal of Manchester United standards for academy players, and instead replacing it with a standard that is basically ‘the best this kid can do’. Who gives a feck what the best you can do is? Other than your Mum and school teachers.

I don’t think Williams is shite or anything, but I don’t think he has top level talent. What he does with what he has is up to him, but usually, what he has will land him somewhere lower than Manchester United. Hence my ‘not good enough’ for Manchester United opinion. Laird and Greenwood have the talent for the top. Whether they make it or not isn’t guaranteed of course.

And I didn’t say you personally declare everyone a dead cert, and my post may or may not apply to you. It’s a theme on here. And given you taking such great offence to an opinion that suggests Brandon fecking Williams may not be good enough to be a United player long term, I would say it suggests a lot of my post applies to you.

Agree with everything here. Our academy kids get overrated and when someone points it out, they get attacked.

 

[Okey]

So he clearly had a bad game today. But I think we all agree he's had a good first season in the first team. Not too much to analyse really, apart from the apparent fact he's better in a back 4 than a back 3, which is looking like the opposite of Luke Shaw. Bad games happen. Even the best have them. Brandon probably should get rested next game, but has done enough to deserve plaudits for the season so far. Will he ultimately make it here? Of course no one knows for sure. But I sure as hell hope he does...

 

[Snow]

He was bad but I can't be the only one who thinks he looked knackered today?

He was visibly knackered but I imagine Dalot isn't quite up for 90 minutes yet which is why he stayed on.

 

[Deleted 112447]

He's a bit useless in that stupid formation isn't he

Why is it a stupid formation? As a wing back he had the chance to put more of an attacking play in with less defensive responsibilities. He just had a terrible game being a very inexperienced player. It's natural.

 

[Bobcat]

Wow. I see some people are writing him off already

Had a poor game tonight. By and large the team looked pretty average.

Yeah, its strange. Was poor yesterday, but his season as a whole has been very good for a 19 year old

 

[Ali Dia]

I like the way he’s pushed shaw. He’s been poor in the last few games but has shown good qualities too and he’s easily worth another full season around the squad unless we sign a proper potential world class LB

 

[tenpoless]

He's 19.

 

[Snafu17]

He is awful, not like he’s super young either

He's 19, what age are young players supposed to be?

 

[red_de_pologne]

he had a bad game like most of the team, he's been excellent for a 19 year old in most games so far ffs

 

[Joseunited]

He had a bad game last night but apart from Martial ,of those who started who didn't?

 

[Bondi77]

I suppose he was due a bad performance as he has surpassed all expectations since he has come into the side but he was not alone as I cannot name a decent performance from anyone.

 

[roonster09]

Wow. I see some people are writing him off already

Had a poor game tonight. By and large the team looked pretty average.

What do you expect? People want to look like some sort of expert scout who can judge player without much first team football.

There is a thread on Rashford that was started in September, OP tried to be positive and praise Rashford, the replies that thread got was awful, 2 months later he is our best player.

People have 0 patience even though there are so many players who were not completely developed players when they were 19.

 

[dirkey]

He is awful, not like he’s super young either

What a ridiculous comment. He's a good player, and looks very likely to secure the left back spot for himself long term.

He had a bad game yesterday, but ... Jesus, what a ridiculous comment.

 

[dirkey]

Is there any circumstance at all where Redcafe can see an academy player and be allowed to think he’s not a future United player before watching him get his supposed birthright entitlement of a few seasons in the first team first? I’m genuinely curious of this, as the reaction is always the same to anyone who dares. Do you have any sort of standard for Manchester United that players are required to meet? 9 times out of 10 these players end up mid table or below, but the reaction to anyone saying they don’t see a United player in them will forever be the same.

Perhaps you should get a grip. I don’t need a few seasons to form an opinion. If my opinion is different in a few seasons, I’ll say it is at the time. What happens is the likes of yourselves declares everyone a future first teamer, draw up your silly formations and make your ‘we could have a first XI with a,b,c,d,e and f in three years’ threads and in three years are giving them far more vitriolic abuse than I am giving now, while moving on to the next tough-tackling braveheart you saw in the FA Youth Cup. You only have to look at how majority of grads who are somehow still here after the age of 23 are discussed over recent years. Perhaps you should learn something from those experiences. This is not surprising anyway in a nation that raises kids on participation prizes.

I think the issue here is because he has looked pretty darn good in most of his performances before now. He's had 2 bad games in a row in my book, but other than that, he's been pretty good, one of our better performers this season.

It's fair enough to say it with other players who come into the side and never show anything worthwhile - Perreira etc. But it's not fair to say it about Williams I think.

 

[dirkey]

Do you think tonight is the first time I’ve seen him play or something? You‘re rant would make some sense if I had previously implied he was some sort of Roberto Carlos and now saying he’s not good enough because he had (what you believe to be) ‘only one’ poor game. I have spoken of Williams long before his debut. And I’ve said many times on here over the last few years that Laird and Greenwood are the only two hopefuls I see as good enough to be United players. That’s without considering the 16 year olds or whatever.

If Greenwood was at Villa or Bournemouth in two years, it would disappoint me. If Williams ended up at Villa or Bournemouth in two years, I’d be surprised if anyone was really disappointed.

Williams doing well ‘for his age’ or for his own personal expectations means nothing for us. We’re not an U19 team. One of the most common traits I see on here is the removal of Manchester United standards for academy players, and instead replacing it with a standard that is basically ‘the best this kid can do’. Who gives a feck what the best you can do is? Other than your Mum and school teachers.

I don’t think Williams is shite or anything, but I don’t think he has top level talent. What he does with what he has is up to him, but usually, what he has will land him somewhere lower than Manchester United. Hence my ‘not good enough’ for Manchester United opinion. Laird and Greenwood have the talent for the top. Whether they make it or not isn’t guaranteed of course.

And I didn’t say you personally declare everyone a dead cert, and my post may or may not apply to you. It’s a theme on here. And given you taking such great offence to an opinion that suggests Brandon fecking Williams may not be good enough to be a United player long term, I would say it suggests a lot of my post applies to you.

In my opinion so, you're going with confirmation bias. Because, in general throughout this season, Williams has been decent for the most part. He's had 2 bad games in a row, but he has looked good, and not out of place.

Hopefully this will prove to be the case. But it seems to me like you're coming in with preconceived notions and you're not willing to give him time. You'll throw out the number of decent games he had in favour of the 2 more recent bad ones so you can say you're right, he's average, not good enough etc etc.

 

[Bondi77]

What a ridiculous comment. He's a good player, and looks very likely to secure the left back spot for himself long term.

He had a bad game yesterday, but ... Jesus, what a ridiculous comment.

I think the comment was made in jest.
The not super young is a bit of a giveaway, the guy is a teenager

 

[elánius]

I think the comment was made in jest.
The not super young is a bit of a giveaway, the guy is a teenager

Saka is also a teenager, he is actually younger than Williams and every single game he plays, he shows his talent, he shows that he is something special, does he makes mistakes? Yes, of course, but you will give him chance because he deserved it and he will pay that back. Williams is the complete oppossite of him.

He is a classic example of our academy graduate. He runs a lot, he tries a lot, he dives a lot, he had one or two good moments (f. e. goal against Sheffeild), but he is no good enough and probably never will be. But he comes from academy so people will call for another chance and another one and another one, because he is so good and if you ask them why, they wont answer. Some people actually said that he is better than Shaw and he should play instead of him because Shaw never performed (Shaw as our POTY from last season ; even though Pogba should have won it).
With normal manager he will be gone in two years like Donald Love, with bad manager like Ole he will be next Pereira and in 3-4 years most of the fans will hate him and the same people will praise some new big talent after not even an average perforamnce. It is actually very similar to Mctominay case, but he is much older.

 

[dirkey]

I think the comment was made in jest.
The not super young is a bit of a giveaway, the guy is a teenager

Maybe it was? But there are people who seem to believe it. Just look at the awful post that follows yours!

People like to make instant, knee-jerk reactions around here.

 

[roonster09]

It's weird that people "hate" young players because they are from academy.

For a young player who was thrown into deep end because of injury crisis, he has done well. He had good games and few poor ones. Just because some other young player is doing better than him means nothing, not all young players perform same at their ages.

Last couple of games he was poor, maybe he will be dropped for Shaw as LB and that would be good move too.

 

[DanNistelrooy]

His touch seemed off and agree with others he looked leggy. Does also look uncomfortable in that LWB slot.

However, I really don't understand those saying he is nowhere near good enough. He's been good to very good in pretty much every match he's played in this year - and that includes City and Liverpool away (with the exception last night and City at Home where the whole defence was horrific) . His touch, decision making and dribbling is outstanding for a fullback - very surprised to see so many don't see the same.

 

[roonster09]

Saka is also a teenager, he is actually younger than Williams and every single game he plays, he shows his talent, he shows that he is something special, does he makes mistakes? Yes, of course, but you will give him chance because he deserved it and he will pay that back. Williams is the complete oppossite of him.

Saka has played as attacking winger too, comparing their numbers as fullbacks and per 90 mins stats. Stats will be different if we consider all positions but that would be unfair comparison.

In PL this season

	Saka	Williams
Mins	586	682
Tackles	2.5	2
Interceptions	0.8	1.2
Clearance	1.2	1.3
Blocks	0.8	1.7
Shots	0.3	0.7
Goals	0	0.1
Assists	0.2	0
Dribbles	1.5	1.5
Unsuccessful Dribbles	0.9	0,7
Possession loss	2.3	2.8
Headers won	0.3	1.2
Passes	42	48
Chances Created	0.3	1.2
Penalties Won	0	1

In Europa Saka has completely outperformed Williams but in PL it's lot closer.

 

[dirkey]

His touch seemed off and agree with others he looked leggy. Does also look uncomfortable in that LWB slot.

However, I really don't understand those saying he is nowhere near good enough. He's been good to very good in pretty much every match he's played in this year - and that includes City and Liverpool away (with the exception last night and City at Home where the whole defence was horrific) . His touch, decision making and dribbling is outstanding for a fullback - very surprised to see so many don't see the same.

People prefer to be "right". So, they play the percentages and the minute someone has a bad game, label him not good enough. They know that more often than not, academy prospects don't work out.