[Ludens the Red]

He's a system player, and he doesn't suit our system. He's a number 10 in the same way Ali was at spurs. Good movement, works hard to find pace, good one touch passing and a good finisher. But has no creativity and doesn't like having the ball, not skilful, doesn't take shots on from outside the area.

Just like at spurs where Ali had eriksen, dembele doing the creating. Van de beek had it at Ajax with ziyech tadic and de jong. He'd do well in a more fluid set up. We don't have that at United so I think he'll massively struggle here unless we change .

At this point he looks like a pointless signing. If we wanted a back up for bruno we should have gone for a similar type of player . What I hope though at least is when he next plays we stop experimenting him in this role unless he plays ahead of A midfield of pogba /Bruno/mata which isn't happening. Either play him in the two roles behind the ten or play him as a striker.

I don't know who authorised this transfer but that person might need to sit the next summer window out.
We have far more pressing needs at centre half, right wing and central midfield and here we are flunking 45 mill on the position in the squad we're most strongest and where he doesn't even fit in because of our style of play. Madness.

 

[dogwithabone]

I feel for him but also think he could do more to get involved. He needs to be more demanding to get the ball, more vocal. You can’t turn him into a Roy Keane but I think a few subtle changes can up his involvement in a game.

 

[Stacks]

He's a system player, and he doesn't suit our system. He's a number 10 in the same way Ali was at spurs. Good movement, works hard to find pace, good one touch passing and a good finisher. But has no creativity and doesn't like having the ball, not skilful, doesn't take shots on from outside the area.

Just like at spurs where Ali had eriksen, dembele doing the creating. Van de beek had it at Ajax with ziyech tadic and de jong. He'd do well in a more fluid set up. We don't have that at United so I think he'll massively struggle here unless we change .

At this point he looks like a pointless signing. If we wanted a back up for bruno we should have gone for a similar type of player . What I hope though at least is when he next plays we stop experimenting him in this role unless he plays ahead of A midfield of pogba /Bruno/mata which isn't happening. Either play him in the two roles behind the ten or play him as a striker.

I don't know who authorised this transfer but that person might need to sit the next summer window out.
We have far more pressing needs at centre half, right wing and central midfield and here we are flunking 45 mill on the position in the squad we're most strongest and where he doesn't even fit in because of our style of play. Madness.

I agree completely. so far I don't see how his attributes suit us. If he is basically a limited 10 or second striker then why was this a priority? Seems a weird signing and again I question our scouting department, not for the first time. We wanted to play out from the back and signed AWB but hey

 

[Ludens the Red]

I agree completely. so far I don't see how his attributes suit us. If he is basically a limited 10 or second striker then why was this a priority? Seems a weird signing and again I question our scouting department, not for the first time. We wanted to play out from the back and signed AWB but hey

Honestly it’s just a clusterfeck. There was this notion that our transfer behaviour has been much better post Mourinho but actually apart from Bruno Id say it’s been average at best. Some of our signings just don’t match up with our style of play.

 

[hungrywing]

At Ajax he was never involved in the build up.. He was a very clean and neat player in the final phase of the field, where he was very aggressive and clinical (also in the small spaces) towards the goal. However the build up was fully handled by Frenkie, Daley (Lasse Schone to a lesser extent) and Ziyech higher up the field.

I dont get why anyone here claims he is or should be a playmaker? Thats not who you bought?

That would be like asking Poga to manmark Mbappe for 90 minutes

Then - jokes about paying 40m to buy Chicharito and play him as a trequartista aside - it looks like it really will take a long time for him to adjust to a new role.

I wonder why we can't or don't try to replicate that system for him when he's on the pitch, though. Obviously no FDJ, I guess.

 

[bosnian_red]

Honestly it’s just a clusterfeck. There was this notion that our transfer behaviour has been much better post Mourinho but actually apart from Bruno Id say it’s been average at best. Some of our signings just don’t match up with our style of play.

It's been fine.

• Maguire - overly expensive, but undoubtedly a big improvement and important player for us. We needed someone who stays fit and is good on the ball and a physical presence. He has leadership attributes too.
• Wan Bissaka - excellent defensive right back developing loads going forward, always stays fit, plays almost every minute, very young
• Dan James - cheap price for a young squad player, had a decent role last year, not good enough but it's not a failed transfer as we'll likely make a profit anyway. We had no winger depth so it made sense
• Bruno - we had a team built on individual moments that needs risk takers but without any attacking mid who would take risks. Enter Bruno.
• Cavani - Needed a senior striker. Cavani available on a free. Young forward line so we needed the experience, and his impact has been telling.
• Diallo - young talented right winger (arguably our biggest hole). Probably 1st choice was Sancho, but since that didn't happen this did. Might work out better
• Telles - Shaw struggles when overplayed and inevitably gets injured with too many games. He also wasn't reaching his potential, and Williams wasn't good enough nor was he really a left back. Telles the perfect foil to Shaw to rotate him and keep him fresh and push him on.

Van de Beek is the only strange one so far. It's early days still, but if we bought him to compete with Bruno as a #10, then it's a waste of money as he's not a #10, certainly not for us. He looks lost there and doesn't fit the role. If bought as a deep lying midfielder to partner McTominay or the #8 to partner someone like Fred or Matic... I can see it, but why don't we play him there? Those are the only 2 positions he fits for us. He has loads of talent, and can be a very good midfielder. Pogba is leaving this summer, so maybe he was brought in to be the eventual replacement (very different types of players though). We'll see I guess. I hope he starts rotating with Fred and McTominay exclusively and I think he'll do much better there. He's young anyway, and stylistically Ajax and his style is polar opposite to United and Ole where we pretty much just have chaos every game and make it work.

 

[AshRK]

One encouraging aspect was I could see him making those intelligent runs and our players especially fred just not seeing it. He and Bruno should play together. Hopefully the europa ties help him build confidence. There is a good player in him, how good only time will tell.

 

[Erictheking7]

One encouraging aspect was I could see him making those intelligent runs and our players especially fred just not seeing it. He and Bruno should play together. Hopefully the europa ties help him build confidence. There is a good player in him, how good only time will tell.

You could be right. His best performances have been with Mata alongside him, who still has the football intelligence just not the legs these days.

 

[BrilliantOrange]

Then - jokes about paying 40m to buy Chicharito and play him as a trequartista aside - it looks like it really will take a long time for him to adjust to a new role.

I wonder why we can't or don't try to replicate that system for him when he's on the pitch, though. Obviously no FDJ, I guess.

I think it could perfectly work as well with a higher playmaker like Bruno in stead of someone like Frenkie who is always behind the ball (allthough I do think you need someone creative to bring the ball forward from the back, but this coud also be a ball playing defender (God I love Daley Blind))... Just dont expect him te be the creative guy.. He's not that guy...

Below is something I wrote in an earlier post when he just joined United:

1) Donny is a very good in combinations in tight spaces. In this he is a typical Ajax youth product, who is comfortable receiving the ball with little room, finding a close open man with one touch and moving immediately away again to receive the ball somewhere else and making room for other players. I read a couple times above that he was looking for 1-2's a lot and this is recognizable for me. His technique is not spectacular on the eye, but very effective and solid. Thats why I get the link with other technical gifted players close to him in the pitch, like Mata, and thats why I think he could play really well together with Bruno.

2) Donny finds spaces behind the opponents defense. When is isnt directly involved in the combination where the attack is being built up, he is a very good ball receiving midfielder. Somehow he is always 'there' and always 'open' in the final phase of an attack, whether to finish it of himself or to give the final pass to a teammate. Thats why with Ajax he worked extremely well with Tadic as a false number 9 who involved himself in the play and left spaces for Donny to dive into.

3) Donny gives you goals. He is not only good at finding spaces on the pitch and behind defenders, but when he receives it there he is very clinical. The goal against Palace was a good example of that. I think he has a very high conversion rate for changes in the box.

Donny is NOT a player who finds the creative solutions himself, with a pass between the lines (at Ajax that were Ziyech, Tadic, Promes, Neres) or by picking up the ball from defense and bringing it forward (at Ajax that were Frenkie, Blind, Schone). He is just not going to be that player for you.. You need other on your midfield to do so... So therefore seeing he was paired with Matic and Fred yesterday, I can understand is was very hard on the eyes, because you have no one to create creativity from midfield for you.. Ole should know this and not expect Donny to play like this..

If you start expecting Donny to be the creative brain in your team, United have completely wasted their money. However when used in his strenghts, I think he can be a very very good player for a world class team.

With Ajax this fit perfectly, because you had other players around him who did the things he's not world class in - finding the open spaces in creative manners - but he was used in his strenghts by Ajax playing combination football with other players comfortable on the ball and therewith creating spaces with quick combination football, ánd diving into the deep spaces left by Ziyech, Tadic and Neres in the attacking line.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

VdB just isn't a #10. He can fill in there and do better than Lingard and Periera did, but he is best as a #8 in my opinion. Personally, I think if VdB played for City most people would be talking about how great he is. Kind of reminds me of B Silva whenever I've seen him play. Problem is while he wants to play one touch and move football, most of our midfielders like to carry the ball a bit. I would love to see more of him, but playing with Bruno, not in place of him...

 

[Stacks]

VdB just isn't a #10. He can fill in there and do better than Lingard and Periera did, but he is best as a #8 in my opinion. Personally, I think if VdB played for City most people would be talking about how great he is. Kind of reminds me of B Silva whenever I've seen him play. Problem is while he wants to play one touch and move football, most of our midfielders like to carry the ball a bit. I would love to see more of him, but playing with Bruno, not in place of him...

Based off what? What talent has he shown to be considered great? People are not stupid. B Silva ran at people and drove past players scoring worldies. He did things to look great. VDB plays too safe. no thrills. his style of player is very boring. doesn't create, doesn't take players on, doesn't make accurate long balls, doesn't shoot from range, doesn't score, doesn't break up play. So why would he look great at City? Because he can do one touch passes......

 

[DoomSlayer]

I don't want to see this guy play 10 for us ever again. No better than Pereira or Lingard.

He either focuses on developing as a CM (8 or 6) or we should sell him in the summer. One of the most useless signings and we've wasted even more millions of pounds on unsuitable players.

 

[Ludens the Red]

It's been fine.

• Maguire - overly expensive, but undoubtedly a big improvement and important player for us. We needed someone who stays fit and is good on the ball and a physical presence. He has leadership attributes too.
• Wan Bissaka - excellent defensive right back developing loads going forward, always stays fit, plays almost every minute, very young
• Dan James - cheap price for a young squad player, had a decent role last year, not good enough but it's not a failed transfer as we'll likely make a profit anyway. We had no winger depth so it made sense
• Bruno - we had a team built on individual moments that needs risk takers but without any attacking mid who would take risks. Enter Bruno.
• Cavani - Needed a senior striker. Cavani available on a free. Young forward line so we needed the experience, and his impact has been telling.
• Diallo - young talented right winger (arguably our biggest hole). Probably 1st choice was Sancho, but since that didn't happen this did. Might work out better
• Telles - Shaw struggles when overplayed and inevitably gets injured with too many games. He also wasn't reaching his potential, and Williams wasn't good enough nor was he really a left back. Telles the perfect foil to Shaw to rotate him and keep him fresh and push him on.

Van de Beek is the only strange one so far. It's early days still, but if we bought him to compete with Bruno as a #10, then it's a waste of money as he's not a #10, certainly not for us. He looks lost there and doesn't fit the role. If bought as a deep lying midfielder to partner McTominay or the #8 to partner someone like Fred or Matic... I can see it, but why don't we play him there? Those are the only 2 positions he fits for us. He has loads of talent, and can be a very good midfielder. Pogba is leaving this summer, so maybe he was brought in to be the eventual replacement (very different types of players though). We'll see I guess. I hope he starts rotating with Fred and McTominay exclusively and I think he'll do much better there. He's young anyway, and stylistically Ajax and his style is polar opposite to United and Ole where we pretty much just have chaos every game and make it work.

Yeah I wouldn’t say they’ve been bad just really average. I think for over 200 million you want a bit more and you want the signings to all fit into a style which I’m not sure they do. It just isn’t at the level it needs to be.

All that stuff you’ve said about van de Beek sort of epitomises what looks like a lack of due diligence when we do our transfers.
But yeah it’s time to play him in a different role . Felt sorry for him yesterday, that look towards the touch line knowing he was getting subbed but it isn’t his fault.

I think it could perfectly work as well with a higher playmaker like Bruno in stead of someone like Frenkie who is always behind the ball (allthough I do think you need someone creative to bring the ball forward from the back, but this coud also be a ball playing defender (God I love Daley Blind))... Just dont expect him te be the creative guy.. He's not that guy...

Below is something I wrote in an earlier post when he just joined United:

1) Donny is a very good in combinations in tight spaces. In this he is a typical Ajax youth product, who is comfortable receiving the ball with little room, finding a close open man with one touch and moving immediately away again to receive the ball somewhere else and making room for other players. I read a couple times above that he was looking for 1-2's a lot and this is recognizable for me. His technique is not spectacular on the eye, but very effective and solid. Thats why I get the link with other technical gifted players close to him in the pitch, like Mata, and thats why I think he could play really well together with Bruno.

2) Donny finds spaces behind the opponents defense. When is isnt directly involved in the combination where the attack is being built up, he is a very good ball receiving midfielder. Somehow he is always 'there' and always 'open' in the final phase of an attack, whether to finish it of himself or to give the final pass to a teammate. Thats why with Ajax he worked extremely well with Tadic as a false number 9 who involved himself in the play and left spaces for Donny to dive into.

3) Donny gives you goals. He is not only good at finding spaces on the pitch and behind defenders, but when he receives it there he is very clinical. The goal against Palace was a good example of that. I think he has a very high conversion rate for changes in the box.

Donny is NOT a player who finds the creative solutions himself, with a pass between the lines (at Ajax that were Ziyech, Tadic, Promes, Neres) or by picking up the ball from defense and bringing it forward (at Ajax that were Frenkie, Blind, Schone). He is just not going to be that player for you.. You need other on your midfield to do so... So therefore seeing he was paired with Matic and Fred yesterday, I can understand is was very hard on the eyes, because you have no one to create creativity from midfield for you.. Ole should know this and not expect Donny to play like this..

If you start expecting Donny to be the creative brain in your team, United have completely wasted their money. However when used in his strenghts, I think he can be a very very good player for a world class team.

With Ajax this fit perfectly, because you had other players around him who did the things he's not world class in - finding the open spaces in creative manners - but he was used in his strenghts by Ajax playing combination football with other players comfortable on the ball and therewith creating spaces with quick combination football, ánd diving into the deep spaces left by Ziyech, Tadic and Neres in the attacking line.

Makes total sense, touched on it in my earlier post but a lot more detail with your post here. All I had to do was watch some highlights/line ups/formation of your CL games from 2019 to get a rough idea. I’d have assumed our scouting team would have watched him for quite a while so it’s a bit concerning that this transfer and the role he’s been given in our team is not a good match at all.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

Based off what? What talent has he shown to be considered great? People are not stupid. B Silva ran at people and drove past players scoring worldies. He did things to look great. VDB plays too safe. no thrills. his style of player is very boring. doesn't create, doesn't take players on, doesn't make accurate long balls, doesn't shoot from range, doesn't score, doesn't break up play. So why would he look great at City? Because he can do one touch passes......

His style of play is to play quick. One touch, pass and move. In the #10 he looks for the one-two and rarely looks for the killer pass like Bruno does. He's more of a tiki-taka player. We are talking about a guy who was in the 30 man short list for the Ballon d'Or a couple years ago. Sorry if you don't agree. But that's what I've seen. If you haven't seen it then I don't know what to say. I also don't understand why someone would have an agenda against him. He hasn't done anything wrong in a United shirt other than be played out of position. He isn't a Bruno replacement. He is a player who should be playing with Bruno...

 

[dinostar77]

I don't want to see this guy play 10 for us ever again. No better than Pereira or Lingard.

He either focuses on developing as a CM (8 or 6) or we should sell him in the summer. One of the most useless signings and we've wasted even more millions of pounds on unsuitable players.

Give the guy a chance. He could be exactly what utd need to break down a low block or get that goal to win or comeback and draw a game. Ole needs to figure out how to use him.

As others have said, it would be interesting to see him and bruno together with cavani as the point man. Their link up play and 1-2's etc could really be something.

 

[No Spring Chicken]

Based off what? What talent has he shown to be considered great? People are not stupid. B Silva ran at people and drove past players scoring worldies. He did things to look great. VDB plays too safe. no thrills. his style of player is very boring. doesn't create, doesn't take players on, doesn't make accurate long balls, doesn't shoot from range, doesn't score, doesn't break up play. So why would he look great at City? Because he can do one touch passes......

The stuff we've seen at United is nothing like what he showed at Ajax. I think his confidence is just on the floor so he's playing it all safe for fear of a mistake, but it would be wrong to say he's a fundamentally boring player.

 

[Lassitude42]

I think people don't like VDB because he has shown too little in a Utd shirt

This is compounded by some fans, and people like Mark Goldbridge, banging on about what an awesome player he is despite him actually delivering nothing in a Utd shirt. The fanboying encourages the negative reaction.

He's clearly not a defensive midfielder and if he can't contribute in an attacking sense when essentially given a free no.10 role I'm not sure what the point of him is

He's a nothing player at the moment.

What's he good at? Passing 5 yards? His lauded off the ball movement hasn't seen much evidence - it's mostly him bizarrely playing as a striker.

Most worryingly he seems to lack the spirit and character to thrive here. Niche skills and small personalities that only work in very specific systems are no use to us. We need proper players who have the skills to be flexible and who step up when playing for us.

 

[evil_geko]

Based off what? What talent has he shown to be considered great? People are not stupid. B Silva ran at people and drove past players scoring worldies. He did things to look great. VDB plays too safe. no thrills. his style of player is very boring. doesn't create, doesn't take players on, doesn't make accurate long balls, doesn't shoot from range, doesn't score, doesn't break up play. So why would he look great at City? Because he can do one touch passes......

There are some people that actually watched him at Ajax and not forming opinion on handful of out of position games at United.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Give the guy a chance. He could be exactly what utd need to break down a low block or get that goal to win or comeback and draw a game. Ole needs to figure out how to use him.

As others have said, it would be interesting to see him and bruno together with cavani as the point man. Their link up play and 1-2's etc could really be something.

I'm not having this, the guy does nothing with a football at his feet. Needs to be tried as a CM in the future, it's the only way I see this being even close to a successful transfer.

 

[Stacks]

His style of play is to play quick. One touch, pass and move. In the #10 he looks for the one-two and rarely looks for the killer pass like Bruno does. He's more of a tiki-taka player. We are talking about a guy who was in the 30 man short list for the Ballon d'Or a couple years ago. Sorry if you don't agree. But that's what I've seen. If you haven't seen it then I don't know what to say. I also don't understand why someone would have an agenda against him. He hasn't done anything wrong in a United shirt other than be played out of position. He isn't a Bruno replacement. He is a player who should be playing with Bruno...

Who has an agenda? why is every critique an agenda? Making the Ballon D'or shortlist isn't the be all and end all especially when Ajax had a great CL run. Lloris, Tadic also made the list.
Anyways, one touch pass and move is a pretty limited skill set. Lingard can do this. tiki Taka players have to be able to pass well too hence why it only worked with Xavi, Iniesta, Silva, Cazorla, Busquets etc. and doesn't work now.

Also, how can he play with Bruno and where? If both are far better in the final third and Bruno actually impacts the final 3rd with the ball then how on Earth can they both play 10? What formation would you use?

 

[Stacks]

The stuff we've seen at United is nothing like what he showed at Ajax. I think his confidence is just on the floor so he's playing it all safe for fear of a mistake, but it would be wrong to say he's a fundamentally boring player.

I am willing to believe this as I don't think this is his top level. I asked if maybe he is a bit shy/scared at the moment?

 

[Stacks]

There are some people that actually watched him at Ajax and not forming opinion on handful of out of position games at United.

Ajax don't play in the premier league. He suggested he would look great at City. Based off Eredivisie performances?? Remember Depay

 

[Borys]

He looked exhausted when coming off.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Bit of milk toast. Kind of seems like just another body in the midfield. He's good on the ball but doesn't seem to do a heck of a lot. Doesn't create much and doesn't seem to break up play either. I imagine it's because he's not being used properly as some say, but so far not sure that he brings much to the side.

 

[Idxomer]

I haven't seen any good comparison made about him and any other player here.

The best one so far is the one calling him a low-budget Thomas Muller except he doesn't have any of the real qualities that made Muller such a great player.

 

[Putting all banter aside]

I think it could perfectly work as well with a higher playmaker like Bruno in stead of someone like Frenkie who is always behind the ball (allthough I do think you need someone creative to bring the ball forward from the back, but this coud also be a ball playing defender (God I love Daley Blind))... Just dont expect him te be the creative guy.. He's not that guy...

Below is something I wrote in an earlier post when he just joined United:

1) Donny is a very good in combinations in tight spaces. In this he is a typical Ajax youth product, who is comfortable receiving the ball with little room, finding a close open man with one touch and moving immediately away again to receive the ball somewhere else and making room for other players. I read a couple times above that he was looking for 1-2's a lot and this is recognizable for me. His technique is not spectacular on the eye, but very effective and solid. Thats why I get the link with other technical gifted players close to him in the pitch, like Mata, and thats why I think he could play really well together with Bruno.

2) Donny finds spaces behind the opponents defense. When is isnt directly involved in the combination where the attack is being built up, he is a very good ball receiving midfielder. Somehow he is always 'there' and always 'open' in the final phase of an attack, whether to finish it of himself or to give the final pass to a teammate. Thats why with Ajax he worked extremely well with Tadic as a false number 9 who involved himself in the play and left spaces for Donny to dive into.

3) Donny gives you goals. He is not only good at finding spaces on the pitch and behind defenders, but when he receives it there he is very clinical. The goal against Palace was a good example of that. I think he has a very high conversion rate for changes in the box.

I get where you're coming from regarding playing style but aren't we exaggerating his qualities a bit? Since half of my family is Dutch I asked some nephews around and they warned me, the bloke in 2019/20 was nowhere near the quality he was in the CL 2018/19 year. Last year he was already quite anonymous in many games and couldn't be as decisive in a minor league like the Eredivisie. When they heard we paid 40 million quid for him they were absolutely shocked.

 

[Bebestation]

Ajax don't play in the premier league. He suggested he would look great at City. Based off Eredivisie performances?? Remember Depay

Depay was arguably wrongly used as a LW when he was a CF/ False 9 player aswell.

I personally think he would have been better centrally for United than the games he played as a LW because he found it very hard to beat his man in front of him. He seemed slow and readable as a LW.

 

[IAmAWinner]

I just don't see it with him. Reminds me of Cleverley, just vibing on the pitch, doing feck all.

 

[ThemanGiggsy]

I would like to see him on the right side of a diamond midfield. think he could excel there. If you put donny and pogba behind Bruno and Fred or Matic at the base i think there would be a lot of creativity and very good ball retention.

although, given current form, no way he would get into a diamond set up with the way McT is playing.

 

[Stacks]

Depay was arguably wrongly used as a LW when he was a CF/ False 9 player aswell.

I personally think he would have been better centrally for United than the games he played as a LW because he found it very hard to beat his man in front of him. He seemed slow and readable as a LW.

Yeah. That became apparent.

 

[Adam-Utd]

People expecting him to boss the game against a parked bus

It was clear Ole told him to stay up high and help Martial in the box, he made plenty of nice runs but got ignored 90% of the time.

The few times Matic did attempt a pass he did it too late and was offside.

The ONE time we got in behind their defence in the 1st half Donny was available for the cutback and nearly scored.

I don't really see what people are expecting? they want him to be identical to Bruno Fernandes and have the same effect as him on the team, that just isn't possible. He's completely different in style and lets be honest ability, but that's not to say he is a bad player himself.

He obviously can't rely on physical attributes like Bruno can, so he needs a quick passing game with pass and movement, that is something we struggle at.

I'd like to see him play in a 3 with Fred and Bruno more often, they like to play with speed and when he did play with them he had his best performance against the turkish side.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Depay was arguably wrongly used as a LW when he was a CF/ False 9 player aswell.

Meh, LVG coached him in the NT and used him there for both club and country. Against some small teams he looked decent, but most of the time he was still slow and laboured and struggled to beat defenders. Just don't think he was suited for PL football, and now with the Klaassen comparison being brought up again, it certainly is worrying.

 

[DoomSlayer]

The ONE time we got in behind their defence in the 1st half Donny was available for the cutback and nearly scored.

That was such a bad attempt by VDB, you can't say "nearly scored". If he was so good in the box and in finishing, he should have hit the target at least.

 

[Bebestation]

I don't want to see this guy play 10 for us ever again. No better than Pereira or Lingard.

He either focuses on developing as a CM (8 or 6) or we should sell him in the summer. One of the most useless signings and we've wasted even more millions of pounds on unsuitable players.

You'd be fun in a party.

 

[tjb]

The stuff we've seen at United is nothing like what he showed at Ajax. I think his confidence is just on the floor so he's playing it all safe for fear of a mistake, but it would be wrong to say he's a fundamentally boring player.

I'm sorry but that's nonsense. If you actually watch City games and other top teams, you would know that simply moving well off ball isn't enough to get you in the team. He is a poor passer, struggles to keep possession, lack any real technical or physical element in his game. Do you really think Pep would be fine with a player simply just moving around? Either you don't know what you are looking at with David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Gundogan and KDB or you are vastly overrating VDB. He would be the end of this season by any top team.

 

[Mindhunter]

He's a system player, and he doesn't suit our system. He's a number 10 in the same way Ali was at spurs. Good movement, works hard to find pace, good one touch passing and a good finisher. But has no creativity and doesn't like having the ball, not skilful, doesn't take shots on from outside the area.

Just like at spurs where Ali had eriksen, dembele doing the creating. Van de beek had it at Ajax with ziyech tadic and de jong. He'd do well in a more fluid set up. We don't have that at United so I think he'll massively struggle here unless we change .

At this point he looks like a pointless signing. If we wanted a back up for bruno we should have gone for a similar type of player . What I hope though at least is when he next plays we stop experimenting him in this role unless he plays ahead of A midfield of pogba /Bruno/mata which isn't happening. Either play him in the two roles behind the ten or play him as a striker.

I don't know who authorised this transfer but that person might need to sit the next summer window out.
We have far more pressing needs at centre half, right wing and central midfield and here we are flunking 45 mill on the position in the squad we're most strongest and where he doesn't even fit in because of our style of play. Madness.

Good post. This is surely one of those board recommended "value" signings where people decided there is "nothing to lose" if we buy a player of his profile at the quoted price. Goes on to show how recruitment should be based on our footballing philosophy and not the other way round. We need more football men in decision making positions at the club.

He is most definitely a system player (read limited player) who needs quick runners around him and a fast tempo to be effective. He isn't going to get it here. I also haven't seen enough from him in terms of threatening the goal or shooting from within the box or from a distance. Just "pass and move" won't cut it in my opinion. If he can't change his game then this is another Lingard in the making.

 

[Ace]

I think he’s best suited, as some have stated before, in a midfield three. The problem (for VDB) is that we’re built around Bruno playing the #10, which means we only play with two midfielders behind him.

Either Donny will have to adapt his game to be effective playing in the double pivot (currently behind Pogba, McTomminay, Matic, and Fred), or he will have to continue playing second fiddle to Bruno as #10.

 

[DoomSlayer]

You'd be fun in a party.

You can't go to a party during a global pandemic.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

There was a point yesterday where he completely unnecessarily did a piece of skill/Maradona turn with no one around him and it actually made me... Kind of sad.

 

[Adam-Utd]

That was such a bad attempt by VDB, you can't say "nearly scored". If he was so good in the box and in finishing, he should have hit the target at least.

it was blocked on the way to goal? anyway, at least he was in the right position and got in some nice space to find the cut back.

People like yourself just want to criticise him without even giving him a chance to settle. 1 game every month isn't enough for anybody to play to their full potential.