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Donny van de Beek Netherlands flag

2020-21 Performances


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5.7 Season Average Rating
Appearances
36
Goals
1
Assists
2
Yellow cards
1
Status
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would it be safe to assume that these "injuries" to Donny and Mata are simply covid related and not an actual "injury?"

It’s a possibility but not a safe assumption. If they did test positive the club would be ethically responsible for disclosing it. And possibly required to do so.
 
sure, but would the same apply to contact tracing?

I'm not sure what the contact tracing protocols are in the UK when a person tests positive. My sense is that it's more likely he does have a muscle injury problem than he's tested for positive for COVID. It just seems to me if any player tests positive that it's soon thereafter disclosed, which would be the responsible thing to do for everyone involved with the club, the league, his family and would be proper public relations. But I really have no idea if there's a privacy issue that comes into play in certain circumstances.
 
I'm fairly convinced he was bought solely for the squad depth at times like this, fecking annoying he's injured
 
I'm not sure what the contact tracing protocols are in the UK when a person tests positive. My sense is that it's more likely he does have a muscle injury problem than he's tested for positive for COVID. It just seems to me if any player tests positive that it's soon thereafter disclosed, which would be the responsible thing to do for everyone involved with the club, the league, his family and would be proper public relations. But I really have no idea if there's a privacy issue that comes into play in certain circumstances.
The Premier League’s own website says “ No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the League and results will be made public on a weekly basis.” There’s no real moral or legal reason to make the names public. As long as the league know and the player isolates.
 
The manager has said it's a muscle injury and he won't be expected back 'till after the international break in April. Knowing his luck, he won't even get one game before Paul is back :lol:

Next preseason it is :)
 
The manager has said it's a muscle injury and he won't be expected back 'till after the international break in April. Knowing his luck, he won't even get one game before Paul is back :lol:

Next preseason it is :)

Since your a feyenoord supporter- what do you think of VDB whilst some similar supporters say they never rated him?
 
VDB should be used as a midfielder high up the pitch instead we use Bruno week in, week out in that position without anyone beside him because we are lining up with two deeply defensive midfielders behind him.
We need to sign a midfielder who can play as a DM and get the ball forward with two of Pogba/ Bruno and VDB playing ahead of them.
Instead we have Fred or McT giving the ball away if they are asked to do more than make a two yard sideways pass - look at Keane and Carrick in that position, the ball was nearly always sent forward and with accuracy.
 
Obviously a slow start to his United career, but still here are some of the highlights so far


Some of those highlights are hilarious :lol:

I want to see more of him on the pitch regardless. Would like to see Ole try Mctominay sitting (which I know isn’t ideal but no one else par Matic who doesn’t have the legs can do the role) and VDB and Bruno with more attacking licence against defensive teams.
 
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Forgot he played for us.
Easy to Forget in Fairness. With our Current Formations and style even he was fit I dont really see where he fits . Good link up player and I would love to see him in a team with Bruno , Pogba and a good DM . But I dont think that is going to happen
 
Easy to Forget in Fairness. With our Current Formations and style even he was fit I dont really see where he fits . Good link up player and I would love to see him in a team with Bruno , Pogba and a good DM . But I dont think that is going to happen

One of the two DMs. His ball winning stats and pressing is fine and can pass the ball around, make nice turns and link play from midfield to attack from there

Fred is our best presser, although he averages just 2.6 more per match than Bruno and James in joint 2nd but that says more about them also being good at it.

DVB is our 2nd highest presses for our DMs, then Pogba and McTominay with Matic in last place

I'd like to see Pogba and DVB as the DMs in a few matches against weaker premier league opponents where we expect to have more of the ball and see how they do, with McTominay coming in for him in the rest of the matches. Maybe Fred coming off the bench after an hour for his energy to replace anyone who isnt playing well or to save legs.
 
Still boggles my mind that he was actually our main summer signing. And has essentially been frozen out by the manager.

I know he's been mostly crap, but his sidelining by Ole has been genuinely humiliating for an established player with champions league pedigree.

One of the few players we've got that actually can look after the ball. No surprise that many of his best 'highlights' in that video are with Pogba and Mata (the other two players we've got that can look after the ball intelligently).

Getting a tune out of him is essential. Either that or sell him immediately. We can't afford to have players of his quality hanging about the squad contributing nothing.
 
Can we shut this thread down until he actually makes a performance worth commenting on?
 
Since your a feyenoord supporter- what do you think of VDB whilst some similar supporters say they never rated him?

Think he's a class finisher and very good if he can get in or around the box. It's easy to compare him to Davy Klaassen, who flopped at Everton and transitioned into becoming a water carrier in a more central midfield position later on in his career. The difference is VDB has a better technique than Klaassen. You can see this quite clearly in their goal compilations. Donny has a lot of volleys and flicks without even needing to control very difficult balls. He's more refined than Klaassen, who just smashes it hard. They both have incredible workrate.

VDB played in a deeper midfield position for almost entire season after F. De Jong was sold. He did okay defensively, but he lacks creativity and a good long ball to be a playmaker. At Ajax, the build up starts with the CB (Blind) rather than in midfield (Pogba for us).

If he's a 10 and doesn't play with creative players (Pogba/Bruno/Mata) his limited skill set becomes rather obvious.
I could see him improve defensively like Klaassen did and become a water carrier with better passing, but that will take time.

Ole's comments that he was bought for his goals seems to indicate he wants to use him in that advanced midfield position.
I don't know what the plan is with him. 40 million is quite the price for a squad player and he's not a one on one replacement for Bruno either. It would be really bad scouting if that was the intention.

I think Donny can play with both Pogba or Bruno as an 8 in easier games. The problem is United doesn't have a quality 6. Playing Donny with Bruno as a false 9 and/or with Pogba on the left also seems logical.

I still expect him to come good. He's done well consistently vs high level opposition in Ajax's international compaigns for him not to. I honestly don't know how one can look at any of his goal/assists compilations, not see class and write him off as a nothing player.

 
I think this signing is a big part of our struggles this season. We knew we needed a CM and we bought one but he has had absolutely no impact whatsoever all season.
I don't necessarily blame VDB though. Its a mix of him not getting game time, time to bed in and injuries.
The difference we would see had we got a ball playing midfielder that actually contributed this season would be night and day.
Especially against the teams that sit deep where we have dropped silly points.
 
Kagawa scored a hat-trick against Norwich and had that game against Leverkusen.

Donny hasn't come close to Kagawa yet

Obviously meant to be sarcastic, left out the white words.

I mean in the way that Kagawa got dumped by a new manager and left us without playing as many games as he should have (IMO).

So far VdB seems to have clicked with Mata only, but he hasn’t gotten much playing time with our key players. Similar to Kagawa.

I doubt he’s Ole’s signing, since Ole doesn’t seem to know what to do with him both off and on the pitch. Feckin joke of a transfer.
 
I think this signing is a big part of our struggles this season. We knew we needed a CM and we bought one but he has had absolutely no impact whatsoever all season.
I don't necessarily blame VDB though. Its a mix of him not getting game time, time to bed in and injuries.
The difference we would see had we got a ball playing midfielder that actually contributed this season would be night and day.
Especially against the teams that sit deep where we have dropped silly points.

Yeah definitely feels like Ole hasn't got the right system to get the best out of him
 
Is he a player worth building a system around though?

I would like to see him in a system where we aren't playing 2 holding mids (god knows when) and if he still cannot flourish at all then there is clearly an issue and a decision has to be made on his future at the club.
 
I would like to see him in a system where we aren't playing 2 holding mids (god knows when) and if he still cannot flourish at all then there is clearly an issue and a decision has to be made
I think we could try other systems but not just because of Donny. I mean for Bruno and Pogba it's worth it, or even Rashford or Martial
 
I would like to see him in a system where we aren't playing 2 holding mids (god knows when) and if he still cannot flourish at all then there is clearly an issue and a decision has to be made on his future at the club.

If we play a three man midfield, that means we can’t play Bruno as #10.
 
I just want to see more creativity and less work in there wherever Bruno is playing
I understand— do you move Bruno to the right wing then? It just seems to go against better judgement to move our best player from his best position to accommodate someone who really hasn’t performed yet.
 
I really thought we would see more of him when Pogba went down injured, yes I know he has been unavailable himself since the Chelsea game but there was a few weeks before that we could have given him an opportunity
 
I have been surprised by just how little he's played, for whatever reason. But always amazed to see people wondering 'why we even signed him'. Look what happened to Liverpool this season. Didn't replace Lovren because they seemed to have lots of strong options at CB. Then they all got injured.

We have just one Bruno. Our cover for him last season was Mata or Lingard. We're so much thinner in that position than Liverpool are at CB. One bad injury to Bruno would have sunk us. So yes, VdB fans, he is 'too good to just sit on the bench'. He needs to be. He's second choice, with no other competition, behind our most important player. If we want to be a top team we need to be backing up such an important player with someone really good.

It would have been mental to go into this season with no serious cover for Bruno at all.
 
According to the Mirror he’s wanting to leave and Ole didn want to sign him.
 
According to the Mirror he’s wanting to leave and Ole didn want to sign him.

They literally invent their football stuff out of thin air most of the time. It could theoretically be true, but the Mirror saying it adds no credence at all.

By all accounts Ole has a veto on any transfer. If he genuinely doesn't want someone, we don't buy them.
 
According to the Mirror he’s wanting to leave and Ole didn want to sign him.

Shit source but I really wouldn’t mind if we got rid and recouped most of the money. Don’t see much changing next season. Complete mismatch in this setup. Use the money on a proper DM and try out Mejbri as Bruno’s backup.
 
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