[Sylar]

He looked to be frustrated a few times when he got into space, and is pointing to get the ball to his feet, But instead the ball goes backwards or sideways. Its frustrating to watch as well.

You can see the difference he makes in terms of his movement and thinking to get into positions which will hurt the opposition. I do agree with the fact that he will benefit more when hes playing with Bruno, Martial, Mata. It wont always work but they will at least try

 

[kouroux]

He cannot be worse than Pogba right now. No fecking way

He looked to be frustrated a few times when he got into space, and is pointing to get the ball to his feet, But instead the ball goes backwards or sideways. Its frustrating to watch as well.

You can see the difference he makes in terms of his movement and thinking to get into positions which will hurt the opposition. I do agree with the fact that he will benefit more when hes playing with Bruno, Martial, Mata. It wont always work but they will at least try

This is so so important to create passing moves which could potentially lead to scoring chances.

 

[red_de_pologne]

play him instead of Pogba, obvious. But Ole will play Pogba to show his support.

 

[golden_blunder]

He played well again Leipzig. He plays well against the press, keeps the ball, finds space and moves the ball on. He was perfect for today's game against funny enough, another side who pressed.

Exactly, once it was obvious that arsenal were pressing so well, we should have swapped it up to get him in. He’s the most press resistant player we have

 

[RedNed77]

This isn’t going to be a popular viewpoint and we haven’t seen enough of him for me to form a solid opinion yet, but from what I have seen I’m not seeing this saviour of our season that you guys all seem to be seeing.

He looks ok and solid squad player, nothing more. I’m not sure whether I’m just being contrarian and being blind to his obvious brilliance or whether this is just another case of caf fever where one gets carried away and the rest of you follow.

Yes he’s better than Pogba, but that’s a pretty low bar at the moment. Based on form I’d rather we find a way to get Mata into the side than VdB.

 

[bosnian_red]

Starting next to Matic, behind Fernandes and Mata. Lovely to see. Hope he performs as I know he has the ability to do it and be an excellent central midfielder, prefer him there far more than as a 10.

 

[sullydnl]

Very interested to see how he performs in the deeper role tonight.

 

[acnumber9]

My bet is it will be Bruno playing deeper than Van de Beek. It’s been the same any other time they’ve been on the pitch together.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

My bet is it will be Bruno playing deeper than Van de Beek. It’s been the same any other time they’ve been on the pitch together.

Would be happy with this also.

 

[RussellWilson]

Really hope he is played deeper. He has the intelligence and one and two touch ability you need in there. Not Bruno's Hollywood ball or Pogba's need for 4 extra touches.

 

[arnie_ni]

No surprise we could hardly string 5 passes together after he came off

 

[Van Piorsing]

Sometimes looks like the only player who understands modern football in this medieval football club.

 

[Lewnited]

Our best player tonight, looked nothing like a football team after he came off.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

What the hell was that sub about. Only player who could complete a pass.

 

[BlahRules]

No surprise we could hardly string 5 passes together after he came off

OGS needs to get the sack after this, just shows the management of this team.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Taking Mata, but more importantly, VdB off when we did absolutely killed any chance we had.

 

[I_live_cement]

Why did he come off early despite being the only player to keep possession tonight?

If he doesn't start against Everton then the decision makes no sense and I fear that Ole has lost the plot.

 

[LJJT]

Baffling decision to take him off he looked good, I hope he plays on Saturday he can actually pass the ball 5+ yards

 

[criticalanalysis]

Sometimes looks like the only player who understands modern football in this medieval football club.

This. Didn't do anything spectacular but was all around classy and solid.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

No surprise we could hardly string 5 passes together after he came off

While I would agree with most of you that he should have been left on the pitch. It's time to stop this new signing hangover already. Yes Donny is a great young player but he alone can't really elevate us to a different level since he's not a type of that player. He's well drilled footballer who will be fantastic if we put up a well oiled team. Will be fantastic making runs, playing flicks and one touch football but currently we don't seem to have a system and players who would be on the same wavelength.

So please stop thinking of him as some sort of messiah and overrate him from the off like many new signings before and let him settle in first. He will come good but it might be the case that only another manager with clear ability to play progressive football can use him well. So I am not worried about him longterm..

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Why did he come off early despite being the only player to keep possession tonight?

If he doesn't start against Everton then the decision makes no sense and I fear that Ole has lost the plot.

Yeah, he played well. Harsh to sub him off. Refreshing to see a CM who moves the ball on quickly and immediately finds space to receive it again. Basic stuff but the rest of them are amazingly shit at it.

Dunno about losing the plot but Ole lost my belief in him a while ago. He’s out of his depth. Poor fella. I just want this to end now. Before it gets any more toxic.

 

[yfoFC]

He started brightly and was looking like prime Herrera with his quick passing and touch... Unfortunately, he tailed off to mask what would have been a competent to good performance

Will still give him opportunities though as there's a talent in there

 

[Ludens the Red]

Why did he come off early despite being the only player to keep possession tonight?

If he doesn't start against Everton then the decision makes no sense and I fear that Ole has lost the plot.

Because our coaches decide before the game what subs will be made. What transpires during the game is irrelevant.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

Not saying that he set the world on fire but together with maybe Shaw and partially Martial our only good player. Shocking decision.

 

[el3mel]

Starting to think it wasn't really Ole's choice in the market. He has no clue how to use him, actually. Just trying him everywhere and then subbing him off first.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Zero idea why he came off.

 

[RedIan]

Thought he was our best player before we committed defensive suicide. Good passer, always find space, never looses possession. The best is yet to come. I’d play him over pogba

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Because our coaches decide before the game what subs will be made. What transpires during the game is irrelevant.

I am beginning to think in some games that it's the case. I bet he thought we would be winning and then he could makes changes. Except we weren't. Oh I'll just make the changes anyway.

 

[Renegade]

Zero idea why he came off.

It was pre planned before the game. Ole doesn’t want to upset his favourites. So Greenwood & DVB will always be the first subs.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Should not have come off.

 

[FootyGirl88]

I thought he played well, Bruno should of come off tbh

 

[MadDogg]

Zero idea why he came off.

Ole didn't want to take off our attacking players while we were looking for goals, but he also didn't want to take off any defensive players at that stage and leave ourselves too open. VDB basically being the man in the middle not strongly contributing to either aspect was the odd man out. Of course it does kind of help when you have someone in midfield actually knitting the play together and passing it to your other players, but we seemed to decide we didn't need that...

 

[WR10]

He has tremendous potential to be coached into a formidable midfielder. The only thing he is missing is more adventure with mid range passing. He’s got the positioning, first touch, dribbling, vision and decision making down. It’s a shame we plucked him from the Ajax coaching team. I would have loved to see him fulfil his potential

 

[Idxomer]

I have no idea how to assess him in this team.

 

[-Supreme-]

It almost feels that Ole is making a statement here where he didn’t get his first choice player and decide to ignore VdB regardless of how well he’s performed.

 

[RussellWilson]

No one is playing on his wave length, they all want 4 touches against a set defence before moving the ball.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

He has tremendous potential to be coached into a formidable midfielder. The only thing he is missing is more adventure with mid range passing. He’s got the positioning, first touch, dribbling, vision and decision making down. It’s a shame we plucked him from the Ajax coaching team. I would have loved to see him fulfil his potential

Should have transferred in their coaching team, DOF and VDS as well.

 

[tjb]

For me long term, it proved he can play in a two if needed.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

It almost feels that Ole is making a statement here where he didn’t get his first choice player and decide to ignore VdB regardless of how well he’s performed.

Bully for him, you make the best of what you have and he will just get himself the sack and wreck our season in the process.

 

[Bobski]

He is a nice, tidy player who in a good team singing from the same sheet would be valuable. However Utd are all about individual quality and individual moments and he doesn't seem to be that type of player, needs to expand his passing range and look for more incisive options to stay in the team.