I'm desperate for him to do well here but there's been times he's been thrown into our first XI and he's looked really average. There's a player in there but I don't think he's ever going to be a top class one, simply because he doesn't do anything out of the ordinary. Everything is simple and neat (wasn't always tonight) but nothing that stands out.
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I'm desperate for him to do well here but there's been times he's been thrown into our first XI and he's looked really average. There's a player in there but I don't think he's ever going to be a top class one, simply because he doesn't do anything out of the ordinary. Everything is simple and neat (wasn't always tonight) but nothing that stands out.
Almost all of his passes connected?
Paired with Mata and you're holding it against him for poor defensive positioning?
Come on, man. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeiit.Never going to be good enough to hold down a first-team spot for us. I'm not sure what his standout attributes are. Reminds me of Herrera in that sense. Sort of OK at everything, without being really great at anything. Also, too many backwards passes and horizontal passes tonight.
Seems to spend a lot of time dicking around with the ball or passing backwards.
I noticed a few but not too many. Then again RR doesn't like any!
He performs those tasks better than McTominay does and McTominay has been a starter here under Solskjaer
People can slate him as much they want but in worst case, he aint worse than McT/Fred in general play.
I agree with some of that, however this implies that McTominay is good sitting deep and covering for Fred or at least better which is debatable at best. Just 1-2 games is all I ask for.
So reading this thread Ole was right and wrong about him? Seems he was good, average and poor depending on the perspective of the poster.
Missed the game so will have a run through after work and see how he really got on
Missed the game so will have a run through after work and see how he really got on
Not as great as many say but definitely better than some think and deserves his fair shot.So reading this thread Ole was right and wrong about him? Seems he was good, average and poor depending on the perspective of the poster.
Missed the game so will have a run through after work and see how he really got on
I gave the former coaching staff a lot of flak when they seemingly said he isn't cut out for a top flight club... but I'm starting to think they were right and I owe them an apology. Had a few good tackles, average overall and then that mistake...
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Mistake was poor - still not quite sure what happened there - but I thought outside of that he was fine. Not great, but you try playing with Mata as a CMF and Lingard clearly working a disappearing act for his Insta.
Diallo and Elanga were both really bad at showing for the ball too, we had countless moments where our midfielders had no one to pass to.
He deserves a chance with the actual first team. And he'll get it. Then we can see.
Diallo and Elanga were both really bad at showing for the ball too, we had countless moments where our midfielders had no one to pass to.
He deserves a chance with the actual first team. And he'll get it. Then we can see.
He should just be one of the options for no 10. That's about it.
Although you might be able to play him deeper if we play on opponents half. Playing him deep will never be good enough for us in long term.
Just strange that people keep asking for it and managers keep trying it.
Although you might be able to play him deeper if we play on opponents half. Playing him deep will never be good enough for us in long term.
Just strange that people keep asking for it and managers keep trying it.
Donny is not a 6 or DMC.
He should be played further up the pitch. He cant dictate the game like a propper 6, but can open up defences with clever passes further up.
He should be played further up the pitch. He cant dictate the game like a propper 6, but can open up defences with clever passes further up.
The main point is that it's much better than the average McTominay performance. Like against Palace: McTom had 48 touches and attempted 37 passes with a completion rate of 76%. Compare that to Donny's stats.
It's not that Donny is a fantastic player - but again, he played much better tonight than McT usually does.
Rangnick clearly frustrated with his part in the goal there. I am not sure why people feel DvB is going to be favoured by Rangnick, too many pointless tippy-tappy passes
Not his best but playing in a dysfunctional team can be difficult. He needs more chances.
So reading this thread Ole was right and wrong about him? Seems he was good, average and poor depending on the perspective of the poster.
Missed the game so will have a run through after work and see how he really got on
He was ok first half although he did a classic Fred and gifted the ball to the opposition outside of our box who then scored a peach of a goal. Second half wasn't good.
I honestly think it's a bit tricky to assess him in this game though given the state of our midfield. Mata had a good 30mins in the first half but was bad in the 2nd, while Lingard was pretty non existent throughout. The conditions were also dreadful, in particular in the 2nd half. It's a game that provides more questions than answers for him imo.
I bask Ole for a lot of things but not VDB. If you can't get into the team for a year...there's a reason why regardless of coach. Not done yet as he's yet to be coached for 2-3 mths then we will tell.
Then why buy him in the first place, surely they saw him play for Ajax before electing to buy him? It was just god awful coaching and squad management from Ole, nothing more.
Some people expect him to play like prime Paul Scholes in midfield with an old nursing home nominee Mata who gets bullied off the ball by a slight wind breeze directed at him as his partner.So reading this thread Ole was right and wrong about him? Seems he was good, average and poor depending on the perspective of the poster.
Missed the game so will have a run through after work and see how he really got on
You gotta be kidding me with this. Fred and McTominay both make these kinds of mistakes numerous times in every match and have been called on it after every game. Fred, in particular, has taken a lot of flak, especially compared to McTominay. All right, I'll give you that at least Fred has some uses in other departments, but McTominay is generally anonymous. Even in the last game against Crystal Palace he made the least amount of passes from anyone. That's a midfielder, not a striker. Donny was an unfortunate that his mistake led to a wondergoal. Okay, fine, he did bad, but overall it was a much better performance than the standard McTominay ones. We also have to account the players Donny is playing with here. He's playing with Mata in the middle, Matic in CB and a bunch of youngters in attack. Certainly I do no see McTominay doing any better in that situation. He'd probably hide all game near the touchline out of fear someone of his teammates having the idea to pass to him.
I think he had a very good performance against West Ham in the Carabao, in the first game against Young Boys, couple of sub-appearances here and there and I might be missing something. Generally, he has earned a starting place over McTominay. Whether he can hold it is another matter entirely, but even his performance today was better than anything McTominay has given us this season apart from the Tottenham game where he was, shockingly, very good
Most? Did we do a poll on Fred on specifically?
If someone really thought that Fred was more of a weak link than AWB/McTominay/Maguire/DDG, I'd question if they know offside.
Some vital match fitness tonight.
He was alright. Mistake aside he didn't anything of note in either direction and that about sums him up so far. Tidy player but unable to impact a game. He's giving us absolutely no reason to be starting him right now.
If McTominay had put in that exact same performance the knives would be out.
Why are people saying this? McTominay has put these kinds of performances every game and he's not taken even the least amount of criticism for it. Fred is the one that generally gets the stick even though he is far more useful than McTominay.
I thought he was actually criticising matic for passing it into him with a man on him instead of playing a longer ball through the lines.
If you watch it again, matic could actually pass it through to amad and start a counter attack
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Against a dreadful team, and he gave a goal away, much like his hyped "good" performance against West Ham's reserves.
Donny is never going to look as aesthetically awful as McT does at times, but, especially in that position, there is little impactful in his game. Where he can be useful is as an attacking sub, making runs into the box, he has an instinct for where to be in those areas. He can't play as a creative 10, but if others around him can create he can finish and provide quick return passes to continue moves.
I just don't see Donny as a viable option in deep midfield, regardless of McT.
VDB is usually doesn't hide from receiving the ball, I'll give him that
Is 18 months still knee jerk? When does an opinion stop being knee jerk? 20 months?
If he ever did, he would be praised to the high heavens. When was the last time McT had 90+ touches in a game? Did it ever happen?
Mct hasn't been anywhere near involved in a game this season except Leeds. He had 30 odd touches the other day ffs
I really don’t see what a lot of people do with him. He must be close to 50 apps for us now and he’s played well about 3 times
So now we can’t blame ole will the internets favourite player finally be judged correctly? He’s not good enough for us, by a long shot. He’s got some nice points about his play but there’s obvious reasons he doesn’t play
Clay Davis.... sheeeeeeeeeeeyyyyiiiitAlmost all of his passes connected?
Paired with Mata and you're holding it against him for poor defensive positioning?
Late contender for football professor of the year
But you can't say 'regardless of McT' when it's him who plays in that position and regularly has very little impact with very little involvement.
I'm all for signing top class CMs to make the problem moot but until then saying Donny isn't viable but McTominay is continues tobe baffling.
How many real chances has he gotten? I mean that honestly. Tonight he played in a beyond second team. How many chances would you say he has gotten in our 'first' 11? If we were happy with our midfield then I would say he deserves what he has gotten (like Veron did), but the fact that we aren't means he deserves as many chances as Fred and McTominay have had with the first team. Do you think he has had that?
Ahem, Sexiest protagonist virtuoso all knowing match day poster of the year.
Edit Alas I'm a fraud, the real candidates are those that now that Amad and Elanga are shit. I can only wish I had their power of football knowledge. I'm the Howe to their Benetez.
He is really not the guy who seizes the opportunities.
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