That was a lot closer to how he has played for Wales of late and at that level he is certainly worthy of a squad place even if he is not a regular starter.
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 26
- Goals
- 5
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
Nice finish.
I don’t like the idea of him to cut inside try to beat men in tight spot, he’s not capable to do it. Just go wide beat one player with pace in there since there is lot of space and cross. Cut inside only with purpose to hold the ball until the full back overlaps or striker makes run.
I don’t like the idea of him to cut inside try to beat men in tight spot, he’s not capable to do it. Just go wide beat one player with pace in there since there is lot of space and cross. Cut inside only with purpose to hold the ball until the full back overlaps or striker makes run.
Was it? He was noticeably brighter tonight aside from the goal.
I knew somebody would've implied it was just a goal.
He was good tonight, period. There was an one-two that didn't come off but apart from that was buzzing around.
Really happy for him. Would do wonders for his confidence.
Nice finish. Nice cameo
He really needed that goal. Had a couple of other bright moments.
At the level of being a nuisance in the last 10 minutes to a Championship-standard side who are 3-1 down?
Really sad to see most of the posters here shitting on him. He was a punt for a squad player and that's what he pretty much is. It's really unfair to call him a flop. In fact. I'd be willing to argue his first couple of months justified his fee in full. But then again, most of the people crying on here and pretending to know something about football probably have never even been to Old Trafford, so why do I bother...
Deserved his goal and he is clearly a good player
He cost £16m.
£16m.
That's peanuts in the current climate. It's the same that Matteo Darmian cost 5 years ago. It's less than what Rojo cost 6 years ago. It's even £3m less than what Dalot cost 2 years ago. It's half what Schneiderlin cost 5 years ago. It's less than half what Bailly cost 4 years ago.
James was never bought to be first choice. He's a young squad player brought into United as a project. It's mental to judge him against the standards of a superstar purchase. Anything he contributes is a bonus. And to that end, he got 3 goals and 6 assists last season. That's a good return given his status at the club and the fact he'd never played in the PL before.
For comparison, Depay cost almost twice as much and scored only 5 goals and 0 assists in two seasons at United. And now he's on the verge of a move to Barcelona.
Give the guy a break. He's delivering more pound-for-pound than a lot of his teammates.
£16m.
That's peanuts in the current climate. It's the same that Matteo Darmian cost 5 years ago. It's less than what Rojo cost 6 years ago. It's even £3m less than what Dalot cost 2 years ago. It's half what Schneiderlin cost 5 years ago. It's less than half what Bailly cost 4 years ago.
James was never bought to be first choice. He's a young squad player brought into United as a project. It's mental to judge him against the standards of a superstar purchase. Anything he contributes is a bonus. And to that end, he got 3 goals and 6 assists last season. That's a good return given his status at the club and the fact he'd never played in the PL before.
For comparison, Depay cost almost twice as much and scored only 5 goals and 0 assists in two seasons at United. And now he's on the verge of a move to Barcelona.
Give the guy a break. He's delivering more pound-for-pound than a lot of his teammates.
He did well tonight, he gets shit on a lot on here, some of it justified, some of it over the top. He’s been in poor form and looked like he’s lacked confidence for a while, but he carried on his form for Wales tonight thankfully. I don’t know if he’ll end up being good enough, but it’s hard to fault him for tonight.
Good to see him get a goal and also had a good moment where he dropped the shoulder beat his man and put a decent cross in, good cameo.
Yeah I know it was against average opposition but maybe it will give him that boost
Andrew Robertson went to Liverpool for £8m and became the best LB in the world. James came to United for double that price and has people constantly defending his mediocre performances. Feels like a lot of our fanbase accept mediocrity as the norm now. How the mighty has fallen...
I am not expecting him to offer the same quality as Robertson but just show he can beat a man and get in a cross like we saw tonight
I’ve been to OT just to clarify, so I’m not defending myself, but why do you have to have been there to know something about football? That is an extremely simplistic view. Fans in Nigeria, Indonesia etc who let’s be honest, cannot afford to go to OT all know a shitload about United and football too.
Anyway, about Dan, I’m so happy for him. Don’t really rate him as a player but he works so hard and is clearly a good lad. Hope he kicks on and changes my opinion of him as a footballer.
Not really his fault that Pool’s recruitment team is far better than ours is it? James didn’t ask to be bought for double Robertson’s price.
That's an incredibly stupid way of looking at it.
I've been harsh on him but I'd say he has been better than Pepe which is crazy when you think about it.
That goal will do him a ton of good. Nice little cameo.
Yes, the run past the defender was more pleasing for me than the goal because that had been missing from his game for a long time, and shows he’s been playing on such little confidence.
The goal is probably the boost he needed personally, though.
I was sure he would miss it 
I was sure he would miss it
Must admit, I thought he was going on his left initially then changed his mind, was worried he would get caught between the two and hit it straight at the keeper! Nice finish in the end though and a very clever run into the space. Poor old Rafael huffing in his wake was quite funny.
They can buy me for a fiver.....hey nobody judge me though, it's only a fiver.
Really don't get judging a player on how much they cost. Surely you judge on performance
This is what he can do for us. Against shite opposition that leaves lots of gaps, he can use his pace to pin them back and let us give a bit more rest to the guys who do the business every week. He ran around lots, he was often wasteful, but he gave them a headache and it was great he finally got a goal.
There you go! Are we judging/assessing both because of their fee or performance, both?
Pepe gets a lot of flak due to the fee I believe, and he wasn't bought as a squad player
Really hope this gives him the confidence boost he needed and kicks on from here. He can be a useful impact sub
He's a specialist player, and he can have uses in certain situations for United, but I don't think he's got enough in his game to even be a rotational player long term.
I think it's important for him to accept what his strengths and weaknesses are.
Because for him to be useful for us, he needs to thrust his speed and be confident enough to take defenders on when he gets chances.
As he won't be getting regular playing time, he can't be dependent on it to play with confidence.
I think it's important for him to accept what his strengths and weaknesses are.
Because for him to be useful for us, he needs to thrust his speed and be confident enough to take defenders on when he gets chances.
As he won't be getting regular playing time, he can't be dependent on it to play with confidence.
Agreed, I personally thought he was the better of our subs tonight.
Good outing but I believe when January comes around ,and he's still likely on the fringes, then he should consider options elsewhere.
He's 23 years old and he's still relatively inexperienced. He needs to go to a team that will consistently play him because he does have some good attributes to become a solid and exciting player, I just dont think he'll reach that level here while playing sub role minutes and likely against average opposition in early Cup games.
He's 23 years old and he's still relatively inexperienced. He needs to go to a team that will consistently play him because he does have some good attributes to become a solid and exciting player, I just dont think he'll reach that level here while playing sub role minutes and likely against average opposition in early Cup games.
Nothing new, I have no doubts he's a decent winger and if he was remotely controlled, he could hit decent numbers. I rate his ball control while running actually quite high.
His head is his biggest issue. He doesn't think what to do, he is programmed to run with the ball at the goal. So if you don't mind him running with head down, not passing to players in better position and losing a ball every few attempts, then fine. For me he has a long way to prove he can play at this level.
His head is his biggest issue. He doesn't think what to do, he is programmed to run with the ball at the goal. So if you don't mind him running with head down, not passing to players in better position and losing a ball every few attempts, then fine. For me he has a long way to prove he can play at this level.
The new Gareth Bale
Are you trying to defend the guy or lambast him by comparing his price to Darmian, Rojo and Schneiderlin.
remember Robertson started the season he was bought as reserve for Moreno, only got games when he got injured in Dec. He had a good 4 months to settle in, we didn't do that with James, he was thrown right in at the deep end, we overplayed him. James was never bought to be a starter due to his ability/age/inexperience, he should have been eased into 1st team. Not saying he will ever be as good as Roberston, but we've seen this season certainly for Wales anyway that not being run into the ground has benefitted him. Hopefully we can benefit from that as well, and we did a little last night
Went past his man and put in a dangerous cross, felt like years since I've seen him do that. Took his goal really well to be fair.
Happy for him. Glad he got his goal and hopefully its a nice boost to him which makes him effective as a sub when we need pace / open things up / counter?
To be honest, I don’t think anyone cares one bit if you bother or not. But if you think DJ has justified his price already then I suggest you too need to get to OT and enhance your footballing knowledge.
He has justified his price by playing several decent games, providing a squad option with very good work rate, scoring the odd goal and, when in form, providing competition in the front three. He may be raw and rather slow to develop his game but in today’s money he was cheap. And he will get better.
I doubt anyone would argue there are no better players who cost less but the greater truth is that there are far more worse players who cost more.
I doubt anyone would argue there are no better players who cost less but the greater truth is that there are far more worse players who cost more.
I really liked him when we first signed him. Not sure what happened. I felt it was a confidence thing. Yesterday was the Dan James when he first arrived at united.
- Status