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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
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So rare to see a player of ours taking 1 touch and making the right passing choice pretty much every time.

No coincidence our attacking play looks so fluid when he plays. Our 2 best performances have come against RBL and Istanbul and both had Donny at the reigns.
 
Bobcat said:
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.
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Exactly.

The difference between Fred controlling the pass and then looking to turn, and then Donny who positions his body to do both at the same time with one less touch is huge.

Pogba has tried what Donny does but his touch is heavier and, naturally, his turn is wider so he also gets in trouble.
 
The ones comparing him to Scholes, there will only ever be one Scholes. What is the obsession with comparisons. Maybe he cannot do the Hollywood passes, but it is nice to have someone who does not dwell on the ball, but can make a decisive intelligent pass and not put the team at risk.
 
kouroux said:
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.
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Agreed.

With his last performance imo he'd be given a chance soon in the PL. Then we'll see how he'd do there I think. I really like him, hope he can reproduce what he did last match in the PL. But defensively I still worry a bit, the PL is just brutal.
 
UmbroDays said:
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!
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He moved to the #10 in place of Martial.
 
Really enjoyed his performance last night. They way he receives the ball is a breathe of fresh air from our CMs. He always makes space for himself and protects it. Pogba, Fred and Mctom are guilty of being caught in possession all the time on this aspect, but Donny makes it look really effortless.
 
He made us tic last night. Never ever loses the ball and really loved seeing some pure link up play. One touch passes and always looking forward. He worked really hard and made some decent tackles too. I hope he starts on the weekend! Will need that against Southampton
 
He's a player that thinks two turns in advance and hence can get out of tight spots. kept us ticking yesterday. Hist pre assist to Greenwood was class.
 
What a game from Donny, the way he just kept the ball moving. This is what we have been lacking in our midfield for a long time.

Pogba, Matic, McTominay all take 4/5 touches on the ball allowing teams to be set.

Donny instead doesnt even want to take the touch, always looking to keep the ball moving, even if he passes it back to the player who passed him the ball then moves.

He can start attacks, beat the press and create chances.
 
McTominay
VDB Fred
Bruno

Vs PSG
 
UmbroDays said:
His natural position is further forward and where he’s played for club and country.
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No it's not. He's always been a CM for Ajax or the Dutch national team. An attacking minded CM sure, but not a true CAM. For Ajax he might've been the forward most CM, but he was never the real CAM. Either Tadic dropped back or Ziyech was roaming around and filled that role. Which in turn created room voor DVB to make the runs into the box.
 
I like how he kept things ticking over, playing little 1-2s then when the chance came to split the defence it was a thing of beauty. I also like how he and cavani work together, 2 smart players
 
He was fantastic last night. You could see from the first minute the team had balance. If VDB can perform on the same level in the Premiership where it's much more physical then it could resolve the teams' issue of not playing with 2 defensive minded midfielders against weaker opposition who generally sit back.
 
Good performance and I agree that with him on the pitch we look a lot quicker and our passing and movement improves a lot. In my opinion he should be starting games from now on.
I am not saying that he played perfect though, some of his passing was a bit pointless. That last one to Greenwood before the 4:1 was absolutely wonderful, another player might have taken another touch, but he took it perfectly.
 
Terranova said:
No it's not. He's always been a CM for Ajax or the Dutch national team. An attacking minded CM sure, but not a true CAM. For Ajax he might've been the forward most CM, but he was never the real CAM. Either Tadic dropped back or Ziyech was roaming around and filled that role. Which in turn created room voor DVB to make the runs into the box.
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I don't mean by name e.g. CAM, but in nature and positioning. I appreciate you have seen more Ajsx games that I have though.

But the position he played along side Fred was definitely deeper than he regularly plays. Compared to having De Jong and Schone in the team, would he not have played further forward than he did last night? Again, not by named position, but actual position?

If Tadic up front and Ziyech floating, in comparison to yesterday that would be Bruno and Rash. You still had Cavani, Martial playing further in front of him, pushing him deeper and not warranting his forward movement. I don't think he got into the box offensively once yesterday.

Edit* Look at the heat map in this post:
Raees said:
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I think Donny played very well in his role and contributed to the team with his selfless play, one touch passing, and wanting to pass forward... At the same time I saw him play very safe, staying behind the ball basically always, even when there were moment for him to get in a space forward... I think Ole wanted this of him today and he executed it very very well..

However, I think once Donny get more settled in the team and his place in the team will be more stable, thén he will also play his own strengts more, chosing his moments to get in the box when possible and giving goals.. As he is a very intelligent player, this will not go at cost of his defensive duties I expect as he has the capabilities to chose the right moments..

Mind you.. Last year Donny played in a midfield with Ziyech and Martinez (with Neres Tadic and Promes upfront) which also absolutely hammered Chelsea in London, where he got into the box a lot and scored a goal..

Great performance, MUCH MORE TO COME!
 
ChaddyP said:
He was great to watch when we had the ball. Out of possession though was squeaky bum time. Probably the reason he doesn't start in Premier league games especially that deep
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Yep anyone that claimed he could play CDM was talking out of their arse... as a DLP perhaps in a very tough rugged midfield diamond ala Milan back in the day but hard to see how we cater for that at United. Personally I think its worth taking the risk to play him at CM alongside Fred or Scott just to see some good football and bank on him improving his defensive output.
 
I remember about 6-8 weeks ago. There were some angry people on this thread.

People arguing till they were blue in the face that Ole didn't like VDB, didn't want to play him, that he was never going to give him chances to play.

I took these people on, i told them that he's signed for a new club in a new country, and Ole is the person that sees him in training everyday, he's the one that coaches him, not a load of internet posters. Yet they feel they know better.

Low and behold, Pogba is not in the team, and VDB is slowly being bedded in, playing well.

I said it then, and I say it now, VDB is Pogba's replacement.
 
Raees said:
Yep anyone that claimed he could play CDM was talking out of their arse... as a DLP perhaps in a very tough rugged midfield diamond ala Milan back in the day but hard to see how we cater for that at United. Personally I think its worth taking the risk to play him at CM alongside Fred or Scott just to see some good football and bank on him improving his defensive output.
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Well defensive side of the ball often comes down to attitude. Its why Pogba's never improved it. Even today if you listen to his interviews he just says defensive side of things isnt his strong suit and thats okay.

VDB is different and I do think you will see rapid improvements from him defensively.
He plays with a lot of energy and remember, Herrera started out as an AM too. I do see a lot of similarities between VDB and Hererra.
 
I think he’ll be one of the first names on the team sheet by the end of the season. Looked very tidy last night amd you can see that there’s much more to come from him.
 
For now I think he is our best option to play in the midfield against teams we are supppsed to beat, teams we need to break down.
Stick with Fred and McT against the likes of City and PSG.
That will give us a nice rotation and plenty games for everyone to play.
Then next season who knows, lets see how much Donny improves.
 
I think he had a good game. But with him in the midfield we were way more exposed at the back which is why they had so many chances. A better team would have got 2-3 against us.

I can see why Ole is using two defensive midfielders when you see how poor our defending is. Maguire is a shambles at the moment. I feel like him and Tuanzebe have bumped into each other in a few games now, which shows a lack of communication.

All the above isn’t VDB’s fault but explains why he isn’t starting. He’s not going to drop Bruno after all.
 
ChaddyP said:
He was great to watch when we had the ball. Out of possession though was squeaky bum time. Probably the reason he doesn't start in Premier league games especially that deep
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He may not be the answer against say City or Barcelona, but it's the West Brom and Burnley that we usually struggle against. I think him and Fred as a midfield pairing should be good enough for those matches, and would offer more going forward.
 
BrilliantOrange said:
I think Donny played very well in his role and contributed to the team with his selfless play, one touch passing, and wanting to pass forward... At the same time I saw him play very safe, staying behind the ball basically always, even when there were moment for him to get in a space forward... I think Ole wanted this of him today and he executed it very very well..

However, I think once Donny get more settled in the team and his place in the team will be more stable, thén he will also play his own strengts more, chosing his moments to get in the box when possible and giving goals.. As he is a very intelligent player, this will not go at cost of his defensive duties I expect as he has the capabilities to chose the right moments..

Mind you.. Last year Donny played in a midfield with Ziyech and Martinez (with Neres Tadic and Promes upfront) which also absolutely hammered Chelsea in London, where he got into the box a lot and scored a goal..

Great performance, MUCH MORE TO COME!
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Think you may be right. In the away fixture he got caught a little too high a number of times, leaving Matic alone in midfield, so I think once he gets that part of his game down we will see him regularly in the XI.
 
I thought he was good last night and no more than that. He's certainly got attributes that this team are in clear need of, what with his quick transitions and general offensive mindset.

Unlike Bruno, and when he can be bothered Pogba, he's still yet to stamp his authority over the whole course of the match, though he's still very much in the learning phase here.

Istanbul had way too much control over us in the 2nd half. It was generally silly how much freedom they were getting centrally and Fred and Beek allowed them to have that by not pushing up high enough. That's where the authority and ownership of ones position comes into play.
 
Strelok said:
Agreed.

With his last performance imo he'd be given a chance soon in the PL. Then we'll see how he'd do there I think. I really like him, hope he can reproduce what he did last match in the PL. But defensively I still worry a bit, the PL is just brutal.
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It can be depending on the opponent but I wanna believe that he can make it as we have seen many technically gifters who aren't physical monsters, do very well in the PL. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it just doesn't but it wouldn't be for a lack of talent or technique.
 
I really liked his performance. He was energetic, moved the ball quickly and seemingly all over the place. I wouldn‘t mind seeing him in Fernandes‘ role and believe he‘s probably more of a natural distributor than Fernandes is.
 
kouroux said:
It can be depending on the opponent but I wanna believe that he can make it as we have seen many technically gifters who aren't physical monsters, do very well in the PL. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it just doesn't but it wouldn't be for a lack of talent or technique.
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Yeah I really hope so too.

I still have a feeling he's quite similar to Blind. Blind was a good/decent passer, tidy, calm and very intelligent. But he's too slow and weak for the PL. After leaving us he did really well in the CL with Ajax I think. PL for its nature is just too physical and fast paced. I really hope I'm wrong this time though.
 
UmbroDays said:
I don't mean by name e.g. CAM, but in nature and positioning. I appreciate you have seen more Ajsx games that I have though.

But the position he played along side Fred was definitely deeper than he regularly plays. Compared to having De Jong and Schone in the team, would he not have played further forward than he did last night? Again, not by named position, but actual position?

If Tadic up front and Ziyech floating, in comparison to yesterday that would be Bruno and Rash. You still had Cavani, Martial playing further in front of him, pushing him deeper and not warranting his forward movement. I don't think he got into the box offensively once yesterday.

Edit* Look at the heat map in this post:
Click to expand...
With De Jong and Schone he was the most attacking CM. With Schone and later De Jong dropping back between the defenders(which is kinda funny because Schone started out as a winger) but Donny wasn't super far up the field. More than yesterday ofcourse, especially with his runs into the box.

After De Jong and Schone left he played a bit deeper though because Neres/Ziyech/Promes/Tadic would play at CAM. So his last season at Ajax was a bit more like last night's game. But was attacking a bit more at Ajax, last night it look like he had instructions to stay back most of the time.
 
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