[Robbie Boy]

Not good enough, in fact he's nowhere good enough for a PL club full stop, let alone a club with aspirations to be the best once again.

Some have their heads well and truly buried in the sand about him and will continue to say he's going to come good. Bar his first few weeks here - when he had that new signing buzz - he's been absolutely horrible. No harm admitting we took a punt and it didn't work, happens all the time and there's no shame in it. Liverpool, for instance, got shot of Chstlie Adam after a season when it was abundantly clear he was a waste of space and a devourer of food.

 

[Jezpeza]

Some harsh comments here. He is in bad form though. I think the fact he was a guaranteed starter At start of season may have affected His mentality. Would have been better if he was viewing himself as looking towards Trying to get in the first team, cup games etc and working hard at developing. Hasnt kicked on, compared to greenwood for instance.

 

[Shark]

I still wouldn't totally write him off, if he adds even a few more strings to his bow he could still be an effective squad player. Definitely needs a loan though if Sancho comes in.

 

[red woppit]

Needs to improve his awareness on the pitch, and learn how to pick the time to pass, and the time to take a defender on. Think the jury is still out as far as James is concerned, but needs to significantly improve this coming season.

 

[YAMS49]

His confidence & thus decision making is totally shot to pieces. There's hope there though imo, he's making the runs still & at least trying. Expect him to return as an effective player next season.

 

[charlenefan]

Wasn't his final ball quite good for the first half of the season? I seem to recall him laying off a few decent ones to Rashford... What's happened to that?!

For a long time he was our leading assister, whether it was the bounce of signing for United who knows but he's fallen off of a cliff in 2020. Shouldn't forget what he's been through in these last 12 months though

 

[Adisa]

I blame Giggs.

 

[Alemar]

He had a stinker today, seriously. Both Lingard and even Chong were much better

 

[kundalini]

2019: PL: 3 goals and 6 assists in 18 starts 1 sub. Other competitions 1 assist (won penalty against Chelsea) in 2 starts 2 sub

2020: PL: 0 goals 0 assists in 8 starts 6 sub. Other competitions 1 goal 0 assists in 7 starts 1 sub

Looked promising in 2019, out of his depth in 2020 so far.

 

[Dr. McBeasty]

His decision making just isn’t there. hopefully it’s a fixable issue, as he got himself into a few decent positions, but just made the wrong choice or took too long. I do wonder if a loan move might help him out, get consistent game time and take some pressure off.

 

[arthurka]

I have defended him here but he isn't really worth defending anymore.. Did he get his cross past the defender once tonight?

 

[Freeney]

When you remember that this guy (along with our 2nd string midfielders and attackers) has started a lot of league games for us , you do comprehend how we only managed to get 66 points.

 

[Adnan]

I feel for him but he seems out of his depth for the level we aspire to be at.

 

[jesperjaap]

Not good enough, in fact he's nowhere good enough for a PL club full stop, let alone a club with aspirations to be the best once again.

Some have their heads well and truly buried in the sand about him and will continue to say he's going to come good. Bar his first few weeks here - when he had that new signing buzz - he's been absolutely horrible. No harm admitting we took a punt and it didn't work, happens all the time and there's no shame in it. Liverpool, for instance, got shot of Chstlie Adam after a season when it was abundantly clear he was a waste of space and a devourer of food.

Completely agree. Inexpensive gamble but I really wonder what the club saw in him in the first place. As you say, he isnt a premiership player, he is a quick player and a reasonable finisher, that is absolutely it

 

[jesperjaap]

He had a stinker today, seriously. Both Lingard and even Chong were much better

I thought Chong looked decent when he came on today. Has he changed boot sponsors or something as that the first time in the first team he hasnt looked like Bambi on ice to me, he looked a little stronger too

 

[RepardReece]

If Sancho comes, personally think James should be loaned to a lower premier league side where he could be a starter. Could aid his development immensely. Saw promise at the very start of the season and he deserved more assists than he got, but right now he is nowhere near the level to even come off the bench for us. Just dreadful today, and whenever I see him on the ball I am never confident he'll do something useful. His confidence is gone, and I think a loan would help.

 

[jesperjaap]

I feel for him but he seems out of his depth for the level we aspire to be at.

Yes, he just doesnt seem to have the ability physically or mental intelligence to play at this level at all. People talking about squad player, early days, development etc etc.....I actually feel because of his lack of abilities he is just going to get worse if anything as his confidence dwindles.

Never going to happen and he obviously deserves more of a chance.....but for me he would be one of the first out of the door as he simply doesnt have it in him to be good enough for us I feel whether its in 3months or 3years of development

 

[Beachryan]

His pace will always be a weapon, but hes clearly having huge confidence issues. Ole has always struck me as a fairly positive manager, so I fear James has to sort it out himself.

He does get in great positions and situations, but then fails.

Hes like the opposite of Mata.

 

[peridigm]

Completely agree. Inexpensive gamble but I really wonder what the club saw in him in the first place. As you say, he isnt a premiership player, he is a quick player and a reasonable finisher, that is absolutely it

The club didn’t see him at all. It was all down to Giggs giving him a glowing endorsement and the rest is history.

 

[Shane88]

He regularly gets into great positions. His final ball is awful but that can be improved. He's only 22 afterall.

 

[Obiorahking_]

Man its his first start in a long time. He'll get himself together and when he does he'll be a good pretty useful squad option which is what we need right now. Not a fan of how he dosen't get his head up before playing a cross even when he is in space.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Worried that by persisting with the likes of James, Lingard and Periera were going to ensure our backups are of a really low standard.

 

[Tony247]

Only if he can choose when to slow down with the ball and when to run with it. Only if...

 

[United58]

Wasn't his final ball quite good for the first half of the season? I seem to recall him laying off a few decent ones to Rashford... What's happened to that?!

He was genuinely good at the start of the season, not sure what's gone wrong for him

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

Wasn't his final ball quite good for the first half of the season? I seem to recall him laying off a few decent ones to Rashford... What's happened to that?!

His crossing was his biggest strength in 2019 I’d say. 6 assists before January and a few more he should’ve had like that Rashford chance that was an open goal against Brighton.

I think it’s just a loss of confidence alongside maybe the death of his father catching up on him. When it happened last year the adrenaline rush of being a Man Utd player probably carried him through as the season started so suddenly after.

I’m sure Ole will get him back to that first half of the season form, he’s a very good man manager it seems like. Look at Jesse, he’s slowly brought him back into the squad and he’s looked better than he has in the last 18 months.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

He could do with a loan.

 

[youngrell]

Confidence is quite clearly rock bottom, he looks completely detached from the rest of the team at the moment, and I'm not convinced it is down to ability alone because he put in some solid performances at the start of the season, against good teams too.

He looks like he's questioning his own ability to the point where he's even stopped doing the basic things he was good at previously. I'm not sure what the answer is, he clearly needs game time to improve but each game seems to be crushing him even further. A loan may be the best option, I don't think he should be binned so quickly.

 

[yamo123x]

Why are people lauding his crossing? He cant cross the ball. 1 in 20 is not good enough, he cannot shoot, his decision making is poor, cant fault his effort but the harsh realities are that he is not good enough for man utd.

Ive watched some of these guys for a while now and if we are serious about getting back to the top we need a strong squad, and there needs to be a cull starting with the likes of james, mata, pereira and jones.

 

[Adisa]

Remember James vs Pepe? Those were the days.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

His final ball has never been good. He got in to positions and was able to put something across so someone can get on something but the amount of times he would be in the position and pick the wrong pass was ridiculous.

I think he’s had two really good crosses that I can remember off hand. Both to Rashford. It’s something that needs to vastly improve. His decision making in general is what needs to improve.

 

[Craig Ward]

He needs time and more development behind the scenes.

He's young, learning, adapting to life at a big club.

He's done well in his first season and people are over criticising him to the extreme.

A loan wont do his confidence any good, or help him develop. He's better off here.

Football is a funny game, a goal will lift him and when he is confident he will improve. He's trying too hard at the moment, thats very evident.

It will come for him he just needs to keep at it and the coaches need to stick with him

 

[Coops73]

As I’ve said in other threads, I feel for the kid he’s had a rough year what with his old man passing away and there’s still time on his side, I’m just not sure United is the level for him. Hope he proves me wrong but he was very poor last night.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Having an opinion on whether a player is good enough or not is fine. We all do that and on James I think he looks out of his depth at this level too. However the amount of abuse I saw on twitter last night at Half Time was so so bad. What the hell is wrong with the world? Why are people just so horrible and disgusting?

He's a young lad who has come from the championship for 15m which is peanuts these days. Why are people expecting him to be amazing? The clue was there that he probably wasn't going to be Ronaldo mark II. We took a gamble and so far it looks like a mistake. However we don't abuse our own players. Ever.

 

[IAmAWinner]

He will be playing at Watford in 2 years time.

 

[Water Melon]

Having top speed is a very good quality, but having decent ball control skills is an absolute must. Unfortunately, so far Dan looks more of a speed merchant than Andrei Kanchelskis.

 

[youngrell]

Having an opinion on whether a player is good enough or not is fine. We all do that and on James I think he looks out of his depth at this level too. However the amount of abuse I saw on twitter last night at Half Time was so so bad. What the hell is wrong with the world? Why are people just so horrible and disgusting?

He's a young lad who has come from the championship for 15m which is peanuts these days. Why are people expecting him to be amazing? The clue was there that he probably wasn't going to be Ronaldo mark II. We took a gamble and so far it looks like a mistake. However we don't abuse our own players. Ever.

Sadly, that concept seems to have gone out of the window in recent times. It's quite ridiculous how riled up people get.

 

[In Rainbows]

Having an opinion on whether a player is good enough or not is fine. We all do that and on James I think he looks out of his depth at this level too. However the amount of abuse I saw on twitter last night at Half Time was so so bad. What the hell is wrong with the world? Why are people just so horrible and disgusting?

He's a young lad who has come from the championship for 15m which is peanuts these days. Why are people expecting him to be amazing? The clue was there that he probably wasn't going to be Ronaldo mark II. We took a gamble and so far it looks like a mistake. However we don't abuse our own players. Ever.

People are horrible. No point in trying to reason with some.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Sadly, that concept seems to have gone out of the window in recent times. It's quite ridiculous how riled up people get.

If anything clubs seem to abuse their own players more than opposition now.

It's not just us either, Arsenal and Chelsea are particularly bad for it too.

 

[romufc]

Having an opinion on whether a player is good enough or not is fine. We all do that and on James I think he looks out of his depth at this level too. However the amount of abuse I saw on twitter last night at Half Time was so so bad. What the hell is wrong with the world? Why are people just so horrible and disgusting?

He's a young lad who has come from the championship for 15m which is peanuts these days. Why are people expecting him to be amazing? The clue was there that he probably wasn't going to be Ronaldo mark II. We took a gamble and so far it looks like a mistake. However we don't abuse our own players. Ever.

I think what people need to remember, he was never bought to be CR7. He was never bought to be our RW. He was bought to give us options. He does that really well.

Yes, he had a bad game yesterday, but he is trying, you can see the effort is there. It is easy to throw abuse at him, he has hardly played since lockdown.

I still think he will be a valuable member to the squad. He is not someone that we will use when we play at home against teams to start, he will be used like a Park Ji Sung, big games where we need counter attack.

He will improve his final ball and awareness. You cannot have 23 players of top top quality.

 

[Raw]

Seems like he's trying too hard and is overthinking things. I feel that he'd be a fine option off the bench but right now his form is in the mud. I hope Ole can get his confidence back up.

Our shift in playing style doesn't help him either. When we were counterattacking he gave himself a lot of space to run to. Now we play further up field, he's got less space and that's where his technical deficiencies really show up.