[VanDeBank]

I hope he's shit so my username stays relevant

 

[BrilliantOrange]

To be fair, he came on at the weekend and showed more creativity than any of our midfielders.

I think its a 433. He will be playing with McT and Fred in the middle. Might work quite nicely.

Yeah our biggest problem is getting the ball past the defence and double pivot, transitioning from defence to attack quickly. VDB's biggest asset is exactly this, one touch quick penetrating passes from deep into an attacking player. I feel like that will be wasted with him playing the no.10 role, where he'll be making aggressive runs into the box expecting to be found by the likes of Fred and McTominay. We'll have to see though, Carrick may have implemented a new system.

We have to see.. Im very curious and hope he does incredibly well obviously.. However I thikn this midfield overall laks creativity to get the ball further up the pitch and Donny will be the one everyone lookt at to do so (they wont be looking at McFred) and Donny just isnt thát type of player..

 

[romufc]

We have to see.. Im very curious and hope he does incredibly well obviously.. However I thikn this midfield overall laks creativity to get the ball further up the pitch and Donny will be the one everyone lookt at to do so (they wont be looking at McFred) and Donny just isnt thát type of player..

Donny isn't the attacking type player, but that's where Telles and Sancho can excel, they have creative ability, what Donny does which we haven't done this season is help control the midfield.

I am hoping to see a much more dominant performance today.

 

[11101]

We have to see.. Im very curious and hope he does incredibly well obviously.. However I thikn this midfield overall laks creativity to get the ball further up the pitch and Donny will be the one everyone lookt at to do so (they wont be looking at McFred) and Donny just isnt thát type of player..

When Fred is played further up for Brazil he is pretty good at moving the ball through midfield. Put him next to DVB and they could link up well, leaving McT to screen the defence. Nobody in midfield needs to be creating much if the ball is getting to the feet of our attackers quickly.

I said in another thread we have quick passing players and players who like to get the ball and run, and we always mix them in together which doesnt work. We finally have a team where everybody forward of McT is technically good and plays in the same style.

 

[Ekeke]

Hoping it doesnt play out like his other performances in the AM position, where he's making runs but we have nobody to play the passes to set him and others free... This is what Donny himself did very well off the bench as a DM last time out. Now Fred or McTominay has to do it...

 

[lex talionis]

Bruno hasn't been run into the ground. He's been rested during all 3 international breaks.

He looks clueless on the pitch and just needs some guidance.

Bruno surely has played every PL and CL match for us so far. Apologies, but I’d have to verify that he hasn’t played in any of Portugal’s recent WC qualifying matches. I’m sure I’ve read reports that Bruno and Ronaldo have not worked together well in those matches, but I admit I haven’t watched those matches. Either way, Bruno has definitely looked a step or two slower for us in recent United matches.

 

[Abraxas]

Not sure about him in this position. Never been convinced he can be a 10 for us. Plays too many backwards layoffs, no burst to get away from anyone. Struggles to get any space because of our buildup and then when he does he's under instant pressure.

Seems more effective seeing the space ahead of him and getting on the ball more often a bit deeper.

Really I think his ideal role is third man in a 4-3-3 but I'm not against trying him in the 2 either.

 

[Giant Midget]

Not a 10 in a side like ours. Needs to play as a 6 or 8

 

[spiriticon]

Agreed. he's too invisible as a 10.

He affects the game more for us as a 6.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Not a 10 in a side like ours. Needs to play as a 6 or 8

Yup, The difference between vdb and Bruno in that ten slot is night and day. I’m all for donny getting a chance but there’s no way he can play as a number ten in this team. It’s not set up for him, play him in the two behind where he has less creative responsibly and can keep things ticking and pick up good positions. He’s a smart and hard working player so I don’t think there’ll be massive issues with the defensive side.

 

[Bobski]

He struggles to get on the ball in that role, you can blame the players around him, but it is a consistent pattern, runs a lot, but often into areas where he can not be found, completed the fewest passes of anyone used tonight outside of Mata.

 

[Mcking]

Nowhere for him to hide now with Ole gone. He will be exposed, and Ole's departure will do him more harm than good.

 

[Name Changed]

I'd prefer him deeper. I know everyone says he is a 10. For us, I believe he would be better as an 8.

 

[bosnian_red]

He's not a #10, always been the case. Whether he's good enough as a #8 remains to be seen, but that's his best hope.

 

[BluesJr]

It absolutely amazes me that he isn’t played in a deeper role. It’s mind blowing levels of incompetence to play him as a 10.

 

[DON’T PANIC ™]

I’d like to see him paired with Fred. (The good Fred who turned up in the second half not the other Fred who’s rubbish)

 

[VanDeBank]

Yeah he's always invisible as a 10 for us. Doesn't work with the other players. Still want to see him as an 8 alongside Bruno or in McTom's position because the latter has shite positioning and can't pass.

 

[Ekeke]

Hoping it doesnt play out like his other performances in the AM position, where he's making runs but we have nobody to play the passes to set him and others free... This is what Donny himself did very well off the bench as a DM last time out. Now Fred or McTominay has to do it...

Predictably this happened. McTominay did play a few nice passes over the entirety of the match, fired one in for Ronaldo when he should have got a foul, a nice switch from one side to the other of the pitch and on the 2nd goal he played a nice ball in the buildup. But none of these were to a DVB run. Nobody was finding him in an attacking area

 

[Name Changed]

Nowhere for him to hide now with Ole gone. He will be exposed, and Ole's departure will do him more harm than good.

Nowhere to hide? What are you talking about? He wasn't playing. He will play more now. He will only improve with more games.

 

[Godfather]

He's not a #10, always been the case. Whether he's good enough as a #8 remains to be seen, but that's his best hope.

Agreed

 

[united for life]

He's not a #10, always been the case. Whether he's good enough as a #8 remains to be seen, but that's his best hope.

since paul is out, this is the perfect time to play him in midfield next to fred with bruno in front of them. I think donny will be much better there. We need someone in midfield who knows how to pass the ball. McFred clearly dont.

 

[Borys]

Whatever he was supposed to be doing, hard to judge him as we couldn't get the ball back until they backed off a bit.
As mentioned already multiple times, I don't see a no10 in him. Looks more natural midfielder than McTominay though.

 

[Raven]

I’d like to see him paired with Fred. (The good Fred who turned up in the second half not the other Fred who’s rubbish)

I've been saying this for a while.

 

[MattofManchester]

Seems better as a CM, with the game ahead of him. Poor as a 10.

 

[L1nk]

Hard to argue it considering we won but he has played his best for us in the centre of the park, not at 10, should have been moved to play alongside Fred with McTominay going off and Bruno taking the 10

 

[NZT-One]

Curious if this game will be added to the list of his "impressive cameos this season". I agree though, we should try a midfield of Fred, him and Bruno with Bruno being instructed to play as a midfielder. That seems to be the most competent on the ball. McTom is mighty unimpressive this year.

 

[sullydnl]

He's not a #10, always been the case. Whether he's good enough as a #8 remains to be seen, but that's his best hope.

Yep.

 

[Stobzilla]

It absolutely amazes me that he isn’t played in a deeper role. It’s mind blowing levels of incompetence to play him as a 10.

Takes Ten Hag off of the list of managers we should be looking at then.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He did ok tonight, worked very hard and had some nice touches with sancho.

let’s be honest though the tactics didn’t suit him tonight at all. he can’t play that high up in a counter attacking formation.

he isn’t a fast runner, expecting him to do runs into channels is just not going to get the best out of him.

He needs to be played in the CM role, absolutely no reason he can’t be played there instead of the woeful mctominay.

 

[bosnian_red]

Takes Ten Hag off of the list of managers we should be looking at then.

Tbf a 10 for Ajax plays in a much different way than a 10 for United. Saw some Ajax fan on here say it when we first signed him but a 10 for them is most suited as an 8 for us, while we need our 10 to kinda do everything on their own.

 

[Stobzilla]

Tbf a 10 for Ajax plays in a much different way than a 10 for United. Saw some Ajax fan on here say it when we first signed him but a 10 for them is most suited as an 8 for us, while we need our 10 to kinda do everything on their own.

I know, I was just being a twat.

 

[BluesJr]

Takes Ten Hag off of the list of managers we should be looking at then.

Different system/team. In our team, he needs to play in Scott’s position.

 

[rimaldo]

needs a run of a few games to get going before he can be judged at all. especially after the last 18 months here.

 

[stefan92]

Takes Ten Hag off of the list of managers we should be looking at then.

Depends on the other options in the squad. For United's squad now this might be true, for Ajax' not necessarily.

 

[UtdAgain08]

I don't think he even played as a 10 like others are saying in this thread, when we had the ball we played 4-3-3 and McT as DM with Fred going to the left of the 3 to cover Ronaldo on the left. He just wasn't very good again a lot like he's been for us when he's started.

 

[InspiRED]

Arguments he's not a no.10 are fair. He was nothing more than OK in the game and Bruno was much better.

Not a bad player, i just don't see how he fits into this team but he does combine well with Sancho in particular. Are his strengths worth reshaping the team for? Not sure.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

1st half the whole team backed off!!! Villarreal had around 70% possession, not much he can do... CR7 and Martial were as invisible as VdB, Sancho at least tried a bit by taking his marker on..

The moment Bruno & Rashford came on Villarreal decided to drop off which allowed us to play a bit more.

5-6/10 for me.. not good not bad.. average..

 

[KirkDuyt]

Thought he was a bit cack honestly.

 

[Mcking]

Nowhere to hide? What are you talking about? He wasn't playing. He will play more now. He will only improve with more games.

He has been able to hide behind Fred, McTominay and Ole who was not picking him because he was trying to win games. Carrick fell for the clamour to get him on the pitch that he benched Bruno Fernandes of all people, and 66 minutes later, he had to go back to the bench to win the game.

He wasn't playing because he wasn't good enough when he played. He's played today and wasn't good enough either. The more he plays, the more many will realize that he is no good. I doubt he will play much more than he did under Ole anyway. I expect him to be on the bench next game.

 

[RepardReece]

needs a run of a few games to get going before he can be judged at all. especially after the last 18 months here.

This, wasn't fantastic tonight, wasn't poor either imo, but can see he's trying to link up with Sancho and needs to get a run of games.

This is only the fourth game this season he's been on the pitch for more than 10 minutes...