[OrcaFat]

I have been supporting us religiously for 35 years and I can't think of many worse players to play for us. Take away his pace and he'd be working in co op.

Yes without his pace he is nothing. But with his pace he is a decent option when in form. Trouble is his form never lasts. He had some promising moments today but cocked them up pretty badly.

Ole sensibly took him off very early. Was a selection that didn’t pan out, it happens. I doubt he has a long term future here but it’s still possible things will click for him, as long as he has his pace...

 

[Idxomer]

When's the last time he went past a player using his pace?

 

[arnie_ni]

Rating:
Speed and Dribbling - 9 out of 10.
Everything else - 3 out of 10
Decision making ability - 1 out of 10

Nowhere close to Premier League quality. He will struggle to get into the Leeds XI.

His dribbling is certainly not 9. He can't beat a man with skill to save his life.

 

[lex talionis]

Put in a good ball that led to the Rashford goal, but otherwise was disappointing today. We all agree that RW is need of an upgrade.

James could carve out a decent career with a midtable club, but he’s not MUQ.

 

[NJM78]

His dribbling is certainly not 9. He can't beat a man with skill to save his life.

Speed 9/10

Everything else a footballer needs 2/10.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

He looked petrified every time he touched the ball.

 

[Holocene]

Speed 9/10

Everything else a footballer needs 2/10.

More like speed 7/10.

But we're splitting hairs here.

 

[arnie_ni]

Put in a good ball that led to the Rashford goal, but otherwise was disappointing today. We all agree that RW is need of an upgrade.

James could carve out a decent career with a midtable club, but he’s not MUQ.

How was it a good ball? It was a simple 5 yard pass that he misplaced that Bruno just about got a toe to

 

[Dancfc]

By the looks of it Ole has done (by selecting James today) what Lampard often does.

Brings in a player/system to furfill a tactical role for a certain game, it works and as a reward he/the system gets picked again in the next game despite the fact the opponents doesn't suit him/it.

 

[Idxomer]

By the looks of it Ole has done (by selecting James today) what Lampard often does.

Brings in a player/system to furfill a tactical role for a certain game, it works and as a reward he/the system gets picked again in the next game despite the fact the opponents doesn't suit him/it.

Yes, Ole does this a lot and he seems to generally like him, so he sometimes finds any excuse to play him.

 

[lex talionis]

How was it a good ball? It was a simple 5 yard pass that he misplaced that Bruno just about got a toe to

I wrote a good, not great, ball. Only wanted to point out that James made a contribution to the Rashford goal, not that it was a moment of Messiesque genius.

James is in over his head in this squad, no doubt about it, but we don’t need to abuse him here. Not that you are (a fair post) but others are going over the top with their condemnation of him.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

By the looks of it Ole has done (by selecting James today) what Lampard often does.

Brings in a player/system to furfill a tactical role for a certain game, it works and as a reward he/the system gets picked again in the next game despite the fact the opponents doesn't suit him/it.

Well put.

 

[DWelbz19]

I mean this as nicely as possible, but starting with him sort of just means you’re guaranteed to have one less sub to make.

 

[arnie_ni]

I wrote a good, not great, ball. Only wanted to point out that James made a contribution to the Rashford goal, not that it was a moment of Messiesque genius.

James is in over his head in this squad, no doubt about it, but we don’t need to abuse him here. Not that you are (a fair post) but others are going over the top with their condemnation of him.

It wasn't a good ball though.

He played his role against Leeds but he can't play against a team like that today when he will get the ball and have defenders in front of him.

 

[Andycoleno9]

When's the last time he went past a player using his pace?

Exactly. He is not even pace merchant

 

[MattofManchester]

but we don’t need to abuse him here

Abusing means going on a player's social media page and laying into them. That's abuse.

Comments on a forum that he will never read isn't abuse. There's nothing harmful about it.

Let's not get carried away.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

He is not good even at it. When he went past defender. That 2 on 1 chance he could run past Evans but he tried to "pass" the ball.

Only we can replace one dross with even bigger dross.

I was so pissed at that moment. Evans was very bad today, there is no reason to fear him. Just keep going.

 

[kouroux]

Rating:
Speed and Dribbling - 9 out of 10.
Everything else - 3 out of 10
Decision making ability - 1 out of 10

Nowhere close to Premier League quality. He will struggle to get into the Leeds XI.

Speed and dribbling 9/10 ? That's fecking nuts

 

[arnie_ni]

I was so pissed at that moment. Evans was very bad today, there is no reason to fear him. Just keep going.

It wasn't Evans it was fofana? I think that's his name.

But the defender wasn't scared of James beating him 1 v 1 so he knew all he had to do was block the passing lane.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

He increases the pressure on the other attackers to produce because he won’t

 

[Andycoleno9]

Rating:
Speed and Dribbling - 9 out of 10.
Everything else - 3 out of 10
Decision making ability - 1 out of 10

Nowhere close to Premier League quality. He will struggle to get into the Leeds XI.

Dribbling?? When did you saw that he dribbled someone in these 2 years?

 

[Hellboy]

Pub player

 

[dev1l]

Pub player

Pub comment

 

[Andycoleno9]

He increases the pressure on the other attackers to produce because he won’t

Reminds me on; "with his clever movement he opens the space for another players".

 

[Isotope]

He's like a wall. Every pass bounced of off him. Very poor.

 

[MonkeysMagic]

I just do not understand the thought process of Utd keeping hold of player when Leeds clearly wanted him and we could've got a decent fees. Now the rest of the league has seen how limited he is and would not be willing to pay more than £8-10m for him. I'd play Mata all dayong in his place, offer nothing hoing forward and has zero defensive awareness.

 

[United in sin]

With respect, Bebe would be up there with James.

Bebe is a much better footballer with actual talent. He just wasn't good enough for united and the fact James has played so much for us just goes to show how low our standards have become. Players of James ilk shouldn't be starting for top clubs

 

[kundalini]

Seemed like a defensive selection, designed to help protect Lindelof at right-back. Didn't work on that level, or from an attacking perspective either, though he did one super crossfield pass, only for Martial's pass to get cut-out. Wasted one promising counter-attack situation when his pass was cut-out, should have done better. 63% pass completion, dispossessed 3 times, 0 interceptions, 0 successful tackles.

His contribution to Rashford's goal was amusing; a poor pass that Fernandes just about got a toe to, that ended up wrong-footing the Leicester defence.

Without space to run into, Dan doesn't appear to know what to do when in possession.

5 PL starts 1 goal, 0 assists. 9 shots 4 key passes. His last assist in the PL came at Burnley in late December 2019. 7 low value, key passes since then. Total expected assists value 0.34 in 13 starts. A spell of 6 PL assists in 11 starts before that. 6 assists in 18 PL starts overall in 2019.

 

[Mcking]

He wasn't terrible against Leeds, because their players are horrible physically. Their defenders'are weak and slow, which made it much easier for him.

Thought it was a smart decision by Solskjaer to start him in that game, but he's undone all the good work by starting him against Leicester. Not so smart after all.

 

[United in sin]

I wrote a good, not great, ball. Only wanted to point out that James made a contribution to the Rashford goal, not that it was a moment of Messiesque genius.

James is in over his head in this squad, no doubt about it, but we don’t need to abuse him here. Not that you are (a fair post) but others are going over the top with their condemnation of him.

Every form of condemnation that doesn't break the rules is fair game on the CAF. James is deserving of a lot of criticism considering how much he's played in his time here

 

[Dec9003]

He did alright in the first half, better involvements than Rashford and Martial except for Rashfords goal. He was poor for the short time he was on in the second half though. He’s not good enough, but he’s definitely a bit of a scapegoat when he plays and we don’t win. We didn’t exactly improve massively for the 40 minutes he wasn’t on the pitch.

 

[Gary_Walsh_Nou_Camp_Hell]

He wouldn't get game time at City, Liverpool etc. And he shouldn't for United. A decent game against a newly promoted side doesn't change that.

Very disappointed to see him starting today.

 

[Murder on Zidanes Floor]

The bolded part. When did he not become fast or an intense presser? He may not be a tactically good presser, but against Leeds he pressed very well. In the first 20 or so today, he also pressed well.

If he is not fast, Rashford must have the pace of a snail.

He wasn’t good today, but he can have his uses. He was also part of the first goal

I for one have never seen him outpace a full back. With the ball he is average pace for a top level player.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He’s just not good enough in tight spaces or when pressed. A slight breeze and he falls over and can’t control the ball.

he isn’t even as fast as people think either. He was 2v1 running through on goal but instead of blitzing the defender ended up passing way too early.

he needs to play for a team that doesn’t want possession, or at least not on the right side.

 

[macheda14]

I for one have never seen him outpace a full back. With the ball he is average pace for a top level player.

Then you must have not watched him at all last season when he was getting hacked down constantly.

 

[lex talionis]

Abusing means going on a player's social media page and laying into them. That's abuse.

Comments on a forum that he will never read isn't abuse. There's nothing harmful about it.

Let's not get carried away.

Fair enough, but an internet forum isn’t that much different than social media. I doubt James reads social media sites like Twitter either. Some players like Lingard are all about social media. But at least James works hard and doesn’t moan, which is admirable. Knowing what we know now I’m confident United would take a pass on James. And although he was poor overall today, he did have an important role in the Rashford goal, claims here (above) to the contrary notwithstanding. But he’s nowhere good enough to be starting against clubs like Leicester. The likes of Fulham, fine, but not top half table clubs.

 

[Handré1990]

Clearly not good enough, seems a nice lad, but we’ve seen the effects replacing a dud with quality can bring.

 

[calodo2003]

Buttner, Bebe, Bellion, Oberton, Tosic, Roy Caroll, Periera, Valera, Powell are of similar level.

That’s a fair assessment. Might quibble with Caroll, but not too much.

 

[RRCE]

The boy simply lacks the quality needed to play at this level. He’s pacy and will always have the odd moment of decent play, but he doesn’t think the game at a high enough level, and his basic skills are unbelievably inconsistent. Taking or making a simple pass too often seems completely beyond him. He hasn’t improved at all since he arrived, and don’t think there’s anything at present to suggest that he will. I have no idea what he shows in training, but he definitely shouldn’t be starting games.

 

[dev1l]

Buttner, Bebe, Bellion, Oberton, Tosic, Roy Caroll, Periera, Valera, Powell are of similar level.

William Prunier
It happens all the time. You buy a player hoping that he develops into a better player. Sometimes it works (like in the case of Ole himself as a player, at times it won't).