Let's hope so mate. He's quality and should play more, especially now that Pogba is off the radar.
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Let's hope so mate. He's quality and should play more, especially now that Pogba is off the radar.
Just drop a forward and play two up and 4 midfield players in tough games.
One thing Scholes does well is mixing it up. He had that long range passing in his repertoire that he used to good effect. Scholes also had that pass forward on the turn thing he used often that got the forwards into the game. This was what Herrera (and Fred) lacked. I don't know if VDB has that.
One touch passing also makes him a perfect player for Pochettino.
Ironically, he's pretty good defensively. His ability to get into the right positions and take the right touches is what we have needed in our build up play for years. He's not Pogba in terms of the sheer amount he can bring, but he will do the job we need him to do perfectly, no matter what formation we play; keep the ball moving ( with or without pressure) and defend when necessary.
Scholes long range passing VDB doesn’t have, wow what a player Scholes was but one two touch is so important for building attacks and VDB has that.
Whoa!!! That's some 90's football back.
Not a bad idea, except none of our midfielders are Giggs or Beckham. We have zero wide midfielders. Maybe Mata, but he's to slow.
Maybe 4-2-2-2, with Bruno and VDB below Cavani and Rashford. And Fred - Mctominay as holders.
The front 4 are mobile enough to make it work. And they can all score.
They were, but we've had games like that with all our midfields getting countered.
And its not a case of him not being able to play the role, but he obviously needs someone more solid than Fred next to him if he is going to be the passing midfielder. A genuine DM
What a delicious player. A beautiful technician of football. Everything that you dream of as a coach.
Bang. On.
Is it me or does he feel like a player who would just fit nicely into any top club in Europe. Has that elite IQ which we rarely see in a United midfielder post Scholes.
Such a classy player, positioning, one and two touch passing, sees the game with that 360 vision, shame he'll be back on the bench against Southampton.
Fred as usual was our second best player ahead of VDB imo but he was 3rd and very good too.
Fantastic today. Bruno may have scored twice but VdB was my MOTM. He is so calm with the ball. I hope Ole took not of today's performance and sticks with this similar line up from now on....
Overrating against a shit team?
Come on guys, it's a good overall performance yes. One thing for sure, he improved our attacking performances a lot.
Still it's against a shit team. Easy with the praises.
He wasn't that good in previous game against the same team. This time is with far better teammates so maybe that's why...
Strengths and Weaknesses
That said, I'll just say it early, people will see it more and more anyway as he play more games.
--> His defensive performances are so inconsistent, but definitely talented and can more consistently defend better than Pogba (not a difficult thing to do). He has defensive lapses and for some reason can have a lazy arse refusing to follow runners. The heck is that. If he can't do it against a shit team at a consistent basis, then for sure we'll have that problems of defensive leak from midfield in PL and top teams. Seriously just watch the first 30 minutes (so you won't get bored watching the game) today and pay attention to VDB's defensive work. Fred had to cover a lot of grounds and thankfully AWB is there to mop things up whenever the players VDB suppose to follow back are freely up in dangerous positions. And my gahd, he's so shit lazy that he only willing to jog back when our defenses are under attack. The hell is that. No wonder Ole is reluctant to put him in deeper positions, he must've seen this plenty in trainings.
--> On attacking, he has strong vision, but tunnel visions so this helps a lot of one-twos and quick short passes in closed spaces. It's also interesting he almost always do one type of passes which is simple short ground passes. Almost never will we see him play other variety of passes. He just don't have wide visions that's why he rarely switch play to the other sides nor attempting long high passes because he can't see his teammates to put that in. It's also why he tend to back pass when the options in his limited tunnel visions are block. Because he can't see. He don't have bird-eye views and have one style of play which is play safe. LVG's ideal player this one. Looking forward to people criticising and labelling him as crabs and all. Well research teams should only mark everyone up front and block every passes then he'll pass the ball back. Easy way to play against him.
Transfer
We're the only team that is interested in him? Heard even rumours that Ajax offered him to us? Assuming all those are true - now I see why. His ex-Ajax teammates are far more sought after for obvious reasons. I don't remember seeing him did anything good nor key roles when Ajax played against us in EL final nor their impressive CL run to the semi was it(?), did he even play in those games?
Come on guys, it's a good overall performance yes. One thing for sure, he improved our attacking performances a lot.Still it's against a shit team. Easy with the praises.
He wasn't that good in previous game against the same team. This time is with far better teammates so maybe that's why...
Strengths and Weaknesses
That said, I'll just say it early, people will see it more and more anyway as he play more games.
--> His defensive performances are so inconsistent, but definitely talented and can more consistently defend better than Pogba (not a difficult thing to do). He has defensive lapses and for some reason can have a lazy arse refusing to follow runners. The heck is that. If he can't do it against a shit team at a consistent basis, then for sure we'll have that problems of defensive leak from midfield in PL and top teams. Seriously just watch the first 30 minutes (so you won't get bored watching the game) today and pay attention to VDB's defensive work. Fred had to cover a lot of grounds and thankfully AWB is there to mop things up whenever the players VDB suppose to follow back are freely up in dangerous positions. And my gahd, he's so shit lazy that he only willing to jog back when our defenses are under attack. The hell is that. No wonder Ole is reluctant to put him in deeper positions, he must've seen this plenty in trainings.
--> On attacking, he has strong vision, but tunnel visions so this helps a lot of one-twos and quick short passes in closed spaces. It's also interesting he almost always do one type of passes which is simple short ground passes. Almost never will we see him play other variety of passes. He just don't have wide visions that's why he rarely switch play to the other sides nor attempting long high passes because he can't see his teammates to put that in. It's also why he tend to back pass when the options in his limited tunnel visions are block. Because he can't see. He don't have bird-eye views and have one style of play which is play safe. LVG's ideal player this one. Looking forward to people criticising and labelling him as crabs and all. Well research teams should only mark everyone up front and block every passes then he'll pass the ball back. Easy way to play against him.
Transfer
We're the only team that is interested in him? Heard even rumours that Ajax offered him to us? Assuming all those are true - now I see why. His ex-Ajax teammates are far more sought after for obvious reasons. I don't remember seeing him did anything good nor key roles when Ajax played against us in EL final nor their impressive CL run to the semi was it(?), did he even play in those games?
We have one. Paul Pogba.
He needs to play, all the time. He looks a class above most of them. His first touch and one touch passes are excellent. He sees passes before anyone else. It's a pity most of the players are not on his wavelength.
1) It’s a shit team that still beat us and had the likes of McGuire struggling today
2) Why don’t you go and look back on that 18/19 run Ajax had for yourself and then come back more knowledgable? Makes more sense than asking loaded questions
Anyway, today was hopefully an advertisement to Ole to start him again on Sunday and hopefully in a more advanced position.
I’d like to see him at the right of a 3 midfield, or front 3. Or even better in Bruno’s position as we can rest Bruno and play Pogba and VdB. Ole won’t though, but there’s always a little hope
How anyone can come to the conclusion they're a shit team is beyond me, they're well-drilled and have far more quality than you'd ever expect. In a weaker group they'd be pushing for a 2nd place, unforunately they were just drawn into the hardest group in the tournament.Overrating against a shit team?
Still it's against a shit team. Easy with the praises.
He wasn't that good in previous game against the same team. This time is with far better teammates so maybe that's why...
Strengths and Weaknesses
That said, I'll just say it early, people will see it more and more anyway as he play more games.
--> His defensive performances are so inconsistent, but definitely talented and can more consistently defend better than Pogba (not a difficult thing to do). He has defensive lapses and for some reason can have a lazy arse refusing to follow runners. The heck is that. If he can't do it against a shit team at a consistent basis, then for sure we'll have that problems of defensive leak from midfield in PL and top teams. Seriously just watch the first 30 minutes (so you won't get bored watching the game) today and pay attention to VDB's defensive work. Fred had to cover a lot of grounds and thankfully AWB is there to mop things up whenever the players VDB suppose to follow back are freely up in dangerous positions. And my gahd, he's so shit lazy that he only willing to jog back when our defenses are under attack. The hell is that. No wonder Ole is reluctant to put him in deeper positions, he must've seen this plenty in trainings.
--> On attacking, he has strong vision, but tunnel visions so this helps a lot of one-twos and quick short passes in closed spaces. It's also interesting he almost always do one type of passes which is simple short ground passes. Almost never will we see him play other variety of passes. He just don't have wide visions that's why he rarely switch play to the other sides nor attempting long high passes because he can't see his teammates to put that in. It's also why he tend to back pass when the options in his limited tunnel visions are block. Because he can't see. He don't have bird-eye views and have one style of play which is play safe. LVG's ideal player this one. Looking forward to people criticising and labelling him as crabs and all. Well research teams should only mark everyone up front and block every passes then he'll pass the ball back. Easy way to play against him.
Transfer
We're the only team that is interested in him? Heard even rumours that Ajax offered him to us? Assuming all those are true - now I see why. His ex-Ajax teammates are far more sought after for obvious reasons. I don't remember seeing him did anything good nor key roles when Ajax played against us in EL final nor their impressive CL run to the semi was it(?), did he even play in those games?
I like what I see, he's a very clever player which a fast brain when it comes to 1 touch passing. These passes don't appear in any stats but they're important to move the ball fast and create openings for his teammates. I think once he gets a bit stronger and physical, Ole will start him regularly in the PL. It's pure speculation of course but I feel like Ole hasn't thrown him in the PL yet because he's still unsure of how he'd cope with the physical battles.
DvB and Bruno can be our Kroos and Modric, KdB snd Silva. They just need a competent manager to gel them together.
He literally had a transfer agreed to Real Madrid (for more than what we paid for him) which fell through because of Real's financial situation after Covid hit.
Absolutely yes, they have been very good yesterday and I believe they are much more dangerous than RB, both individuals and as a team.
They would be able to get out of most groups.
Loved his performance yesterday. His passing is excellent, I read above how he doesn’t bring what Pogba brings. Really? How many times does he lose the ball through rubbish passing, I see it all the time from Pogba. Those of us who’ve seen Man Utd all through the Fergie years are not in awe of Pogba. He’s an average player with an above average ego. VDB has been sitting on the bench watching and scrapping for game time. I really hope he stays in the team Sunday with Fernandes.
We now have 4 very enthusiastic hungry players, Rashford, VDB, Greenwood, Fernandes, we also have Pogba who needs to step up and match Fernandes and VDB in terms of effort and the talent of Martial, I think this team with the cool head of Cavani can click attacking wise.
We now have 4 very enthusiastic hungry players, Rashford, VDB, Greenwood, Fernandes, we also have Pogba who needs to step up and match Fernandes and VDB in terms of effort and the talent of Martial, I think this team with the cool head of Cavani can click attacking wise.
I hope not. He will be pivotal in helping us bypass their press, and as shown in our draw late last season, once you’re through their forward line and midfield, they are quite easy to score against.
Don’t get the calls for playing him further forward, some even suggesting in the forward line itself?
You’d just lose half of his passing ability and influence.
You’d just lose half of his passing ability and influence.
Donny was excellent imo, he faded at the end of the game, but in periods he was holding that midfield together.
If he doesn't start against Southampton then Solskjaer must be sacked.
Thought he was great, exactly what I hoped he would show given a proper chance alongside bruno.
This hopefully boots pogba up the arse and he starts to play like the player we know he can be more often because having those 3 as options will be important in what is going to be brutal season.
Want him to start again at the weekend.
This hopefully boots pogba up the arse and he starts to play like the player we know he can be more often because having those 3 as options will be important in what is going to be brutal season.
Want him to start again at the weekend.
His natural position is further forward and where he’s played for club and country.
His performance last night says otherwise. Had about half the influence when he moved forward after Matic came on.
In reality, he should probably be somewhere in between but we need a proper defensive midfielder to allow him to do that against stronger opposition.
Im pretty sure we can operate with Fred Mct Donny and Bruno in Midfield. Telles gives us width on the left - then go with Rashford and (my preference) Greenwood up top. So De Gea, AWB, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles, Mct, Fred, Donny, Bruno, Rashford and Greenwood. Killer team that is. Matic, Pogba, Martial, Shaw on the bench. Great squad as well - dont see what the problem is - lets push on for fecks sake.
He's the wrong kind of wide midfielder we need.
He's also currently unplayable, as in completly shit at what he does for a living.
Hopefully he's done enough to play himself into the team at the weekend. As others have said his ability to quickly move the ball forward is really important as that's exactly what we've been struggling with and so important to break teams down.
We're not going to know how he can cope with that role in the PL unless we try him out but I didn't see anything to suggest he wasn't up to do the defensive work or would get bullied of the ball. The fact that he moves it so quick will help him anyway.
The other thing I'd say as well is that if we can get Bruno to be a more disciplined then he can help us make sure we have numbers in midfield to avoid being overrun and there's no reason why he and VDB can't occasionally switch e.g. if Bruno does drop deeper, VDB can push forward. It takes time to work on that but again I think they both seem to have right mentalities to do that. At the moment Bruno is a bit like a young Rooney who often found himself all over the pitch as he wanted the ball, but if he can try and find a better balance for that e.g. still drift to find space without coming so deep, I think it could help us have more control in midfield and mean he is in a better place to get in attacking positions and without having to work so hard.
We're not going to know how he can cope with that role in the PL unless we try him out but I didn't see anything to suggest he wasn't up to do the defensive work or would get bullied of the ball. The fact that he moves it so quick will help him anyway.
The other thing I'd say as well is that if we can get Bruno to be a more disciplined then he can help us make sure we have numbers in midfield to avoid being overrun and there's no reason why he and VDB can't occasionally switch e.g. if Bruno does drop deeper, VDB can push forward. It takes time to work on that but again I think they both seem to have right mentalities to do that. At the moment Bruno is a bit like a young Rooney who often found himself all over the pitch as he wanted the ball, but if he can try and find a better balance for that e.g. still drift to find space without coming so deep, I think it could help us have more control in midfield and mean he is in a better place to get in attacking positions and without having to work so hard.
Would be nice to see a midfield of Fred, VdB and Bruno get a run of games. Especially in those games where we often struggle to break teams down.
If Ole is worried about exposing the back 4 in those games, bring Tuanzebe in for some extra athleticism and pace.
If Ole is worried about exposing the back 4 in those games, bring Tuanzebe in for some extra athleticism and pace.
I've abstained from commenting on him since i was not really sure what to think about him, but based on last night performance he deserves to be starting regularly alongside Fred.
He might not be a highlight reel player like Pogba, but he does the simple things of passing, moving and fighting for the ball so, so much better.
Might get ahead of myself here, but i think he might be the solution to our biggest problem, which is dealing with high press. The #1 problem we have with high press is that the link between defense and midfield is not there and we do a whole lot of sideways passing which 90% of the time ends up with one of the fullbacks who then have to try and go forward themselves. Fred, McTomminay, Pogba et al sometimes try to drop deep to help out Lindelof and Maguire with transporting the ball forward in a decent manner, but more often than not they just recycle the ball too and Pogba tends to lose it in dangerous areas. I think the Chelsea and Arsenal games really highlighted this problem. Both played "deep" in the sense that they were always in balance defensively, but they also put pressure on our CB's, which meant that our game plan completely broke down.
Van der Beek might be a revelation here, because hes adept at positioning and short passing so it makes it much easier to get the ball from defense into a good attacking area. If we regularly can beat the first line of press we are at a big advantage because A: The forwards of the other team will be gassed by 60 mins and B: We will stretch the other team and create more openings for Bruno/Rashford etc to create chances.
He might not be a highlight reel player like Pogba, but he does the simple things of passing, moving and fighting for the ball so, so much better.
Might get ahead of myself here, but i think he might be the solution to our biggest problem, which is dealing with high press. The #1 problem we have with high press is that the link between defense and midfield is not there and we do a whole lot of sideways passing which 90% of the time ends up with one of the fullbacks who then have to try and go forward themselves. Fred, McTomminay, Pogba et al sometimes try to drop deep to help out Lindelof and Maguire with transporting the ball forward in a decent manner, but more often than not they just recycle the ball too and Pogba tends to lose it in dangerous areas. I think the Chelsea and Arsenal games really highlighted this problem. Both played "deep" in the sense that they were always in balance defensively, but they also put pressure on our CB's, which meant that our game plan completely broke down.
Van der Beek might be a revelation here, because hes adept at positioning and short passing so it makes it much easier to get the ball from defense into a good attacking area. If we regularly can beat the first line of press we are at a big advantage because A: The forwards of the other team will be gassed by 60 mins and B: We will stretch the other team and create more openings for Bruno/Rashford etc to create chances.
MAGUIRE
Because they moved him to right wing. Not even the front of a right 3, but fully right winger.
His position he's always played is not he end of, or in the middle of a midfield 3
Yep, I've made this mistake way too often!
Overrating against a shit team?
Still it's against a shit team. Easy with the praises.
He wasn't that good in previous game against the same team. This time is with far better teammates so maybe that's why...
Strengths and Weaknesses
That said, I'll just say it early, people will see it more and more anyway as he play more games.
--> His defensive performances are so inconsistent, but definitely talented and can more consistently defend better than Pogba (not a difficult thing to do). He has defensive lapses and for some reason can have a lazy arse refusing to follow runners. The heck is that. If he can't do it against a shit team at a consistent basis, then for sure we'll have that problems of defensive leak from midfield in PL and top teams. Seriously just watch the first 30 minutes (so you won't get bored watching the game) today and pay attention to VDB's defensive work. Fred had to cover a lot of grounds and thankfully AWB is there to mop things up whenever the players VDB suppose to follow back are freely up in dangerous positions. And my gahd, he's so shit lazy that he only willing to jog back when our defenses are under attack. The hell is that. No wonder Ole is reluctant to put him in deeper positions, he must've seen this plenty in trainings.
--> On attacking, he has strong vision, but tunnel visions so this helps a lot of one-twos and quick short passes in closed spaces. It's also interesting he almost always do one type of passes which is simple short ground passes. Almost never will we see him play other variety of passes. He just don't have wide visions that's why he rarely switch play to the other sides nor attempting long high passes because he can't see his teammates to put that in. It's also why he tend to back pass when the options in his limited tunnel visions are block. Because he can't see. He don't have bird-eye views and have one style of play which is play safe. LVG's ideal player this one. Looking forward to people criticising and labelling him as crabs and all. Well research teams should only mark everyone up front and block every passes then he'll pass the ball back. Easy way to play against him.
Transfer
We're the only team that is interested in him? Heard even rumours that Ajax offered him to us? Assuming all those are true - now I see why. His ex-Ajax teammates are far more sought after for obvious reasons. I don't remember seeing him did anything good nor key roles when Ajax played against us in EL final nor their impressive CL run to the semi was it(?), did he even play in those games?
Awful post the fact you dont even know the likes of Real Madrid and Spurs were in for him before we signing him and he scored the only goal in Ajax's win at Spurs on route to the final says it all
Sorry i see it on forums way too often and it does my head in
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