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Donny van de Beek Netherlands flag

2021-22 Performances

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5.7 Season Average Rating
Appearances
14
Goals
1
Assists
0
Yellow cards
1
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11101 said:
I hope that he does play tonight. We need to start finding out if he's really good enough or not, put him in a strong side against weak opposition and let's find out. He's done little so far but it's always been shoehorned in to random sides. Matic should not play twice in a week so it leaves a spot open for him to fill.
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I was speaking with my friend about new players who get benched off the bat and struggle to break into the team whilst fans lament for them to play more. I very rarely see these players become reliable 1st team players over time. Sometimes people just aren't good enough. When I look at our key players they are rarely guys who were disrespected for long periods. Hopefully he breaks the trend
 
Stacks said:
I was speaking with my friend about new players who get benched off the bat and struggle to break into the team whilst fans lament for them to play more. I very rarely see these players become reliable 1st team players over time. Sometimes people just aren't good enough. When I look at our key players they are rarely guys who were disrespected for long periods. Hopefully he breaks the trend
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I agree but it has become a bit more common recently. Lindelof and Fred both had troubled starts though both are no more than decent players. Shaw too, and he is one of the first names on the team sheet now. Looking back at top class players, Evra and Vidic both struggled early doors.

I don't know what VDB is doing in training that's so bad but i think we do need to give him a real chance in the first team before we write off a 35m investment, so in his proper position, and not paired with kids or OAPs. Plenty of players train badly yet still turn up on matchday.
 
11101 said:
I agree but it has become a bit more common recently. Lindelof and Fred both had troubled starts though both are no more than decent players. Shaw too, and he is one of the first names on the team sheet now. Looking back at top class players, Evra and Vidic both struggled early doors.

I don't know what VDB is doing in training that's so bad but i think we do need to give him a real chance in the first team before we write off a 35m investment, so in his proper position, and not paired with kids or OAPs. Plenty of players train badly yet still turn up on matchday.
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Exactly correct regarding the bolded two. No more than "decent" players both whom I would replace in an instant. Shaw gets a bye since he was a wonderkid coming into the demanding LVG. Wonderkids usually up and down like Rashford for example. You can usually see a solid 1st teamer from the jump like Bruno, Zlatan, Pogba. I feel Evra and Vidic are the only 2 real examples and this was what 15 years ago??? Mikitaryan was woeful and everyone was clamoring for him.

EDIT: this is not a "we should give up on him post" this is a "it is doubtful he will become more than just a decent/useful player" post
 
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If McTominay is now fit, I see him replacing Matic and Ole going with his strongest XI, which does not include Donny. Fielding a weakened squad in the first CL match would be madness.

The hope has to be that we crush Young Boys in the first half so that we can sub off Bruno and/or Pogba and bring on Donny to start the second start or in the 60th minute.
 
Starting tonight!

Very strong team, weak opponent and 5th game of the season(so lack of fitness shouldn't be a big issue). Everything is set up for him to have a good game now. Let's hope that he takes this chance well.
 
Big moment for Donny. He’s usually played with the rest of the squad options and the fluency of the team in general suffers, exacerbating his lack of rhythm. No excuses tonight, it’s the perfect XI for him to link up with and help knit things together given the players who demand the ball are starting.
 
Football is a ruthless game but failure to play well today is not definitive on his level as a footballer. Even the best players need a run of games to perform, not.minutes here and there.
 
Adisa said:
Football is a ruthless game but failure to play well today is not definitive on his level as a footballer.
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Of course not.

But he wont exactly be doing himself any favors if he performs poorly even under ideal circumstances. Let's hope that tonight kick-starts a new beginning for him!
 
Just like the rest - expecting a perfect hattrick and atleast 5 assists. No excuses.
 
He looked a lost soul last season. Really hoping he can get his head together tonight and play the kind of football he knows he can. Huge night for the lad and though it seems a long road back, you never know, he has to start somewhere. Come on Donny!
 
Adisa said:
Football is a ruthless game but failure to play well today is not definitive on his level as a footballer. Even the best players need a run of games to perform, not.minutes here and there.
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Came here to say exactly this. Listen, I’ve played lacrosse and football all my life. You always need a consistent run of games (at least most athletes do) to find your rythm. If he does well, and I hope he does, then great. But if he has a poor game, I hope he doesn’t get slated here (he will) because sports don’t just work like that- there isn’t a magical on/off switch for the majority of players. It takes a decent run to find your groove and game.
 
Good to see him start with a strong 11, lets see how he does . not expecting a stormer or MoTM performance but a solid performance hopefully
 
Adisa said:
Football is a ruthless game but failure to play well today is not definitive on his level as a footballer. Even the best players need a run of games to perform, not.minutes here and there.
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It's not but it will go a long way to determining his career here. He trains daily with these guys, they are not strangers. If he can't have a good game in a team this strong, against a team this weak, there will be very few opportunities left for him.
 
Some of his CL moments in Ajax were amazing, but not even expecting that in the slightest.

Decent performance would be more than enough for such delayed start of his adventure here.
 
This is his chance. He's had a few of his more promising moments in the CL and Young Boys must be a fairly average side overall.

The problem is he's going to feel the pressure to play very well, and can he change Ole's thinking by just being neat and tidy? He probably needs to do a bit more.
 
I assume we have the sense to play him in the double pivot and use Pogba at LW, rather than some mad shit with Pogba and Fred in the middle and VDB off to one side in the three behind the striker.
 
sullydnl said:
I assume we have the sense to play him in the double pivot and use Pogba at LW, rather than some mad shit with Pogba and Fred in the middle and VDB off to one side in the three behind the striker.
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I was just pondering on this. I've a bad feeling he's going to be punted out wide where he has no ability to impact a game given his attributes.
 
Pleased to see him to start in what is pretty much a full strength team, time for him to prove he deserves a starting role.
 
He is not a 6 or even 8 though. His strength is always a bit further up.

Nice link up and pass up front. Nowhere to be seen for building the play up from the back usually.
 
Was gonna say he was unlucky but maybe he was better off not being involved in that second half.

Thought he was fine in the first half. Nothing spectacular but nothing suggesting he couldn't at least play that role against weaker PL sides too. But really it's impossible to judge of that quick cameo.
 
He is an attacking midfielder who is best at combination play around the box and good movement to get on the end of things. However there are dozens of players around Europe you would rather have in an attacking midfield role ahead of him, including a handful already at Utd.

So no future at Utd in his natural role, going to have show he can play in a deeper role to make an impact. He wasn't bad tonight, he has rarely been bad for Utd to be fair, but he is never really good either, just there, on the pitch, forgettable.
 
I thought he did well. I'm not sure what standards people are judging him by, but he played alongside Fred as part of the pivot. He was clean and precise with his passing and allowed the attacking players to get on the ball.
Defensively, he did his job as well.
All in all, he performed his role in that first 45.

Not sure what the is being expected of him.
 
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