Frenkie De Jong | Performances

His career will be an interesting one. He is a highly specialised, anachronistic talent whose ability many managers can’t understand and utilise; fans/observers constantly misalign his attributes, too and I wouldn’t hesitate in saying it’ll need skilled journalists to analyse his game on top of that.

You feel no matter where he goes, he’ll need highly nuanced managers who are knowledgeable of the ‘old ways’ to get anything out of him as opposed to mis-using him time and again. Dutch and German schools of thought should understand, but outside of them, it’s very easy to foresee a path of really poor handling. The kind of player you need a ten Hag to remain in place for lest the next guy hasn’t a clue what the hell to do with him.

It’s not a surprise given that role is reserved for so few and has been seen so infrequently throughout the ages after the 70’s, but he’s definitely a player most clubs and coaches would and should steer clear of because they won’t entertain him and his game, instead trying to marginalise him and force him into a generic box he has no business being in. In terms of career handling, I do wonder what kind of journey he’ll go on and whether he’ll get to truly express himself outside of his national team if he doesn’t link back up with the manager that effectively made him a world renowned talent.
 
Ali Dia said:
I really don’t think we need FDJ half as much now that we have Casemiro playing deeper but I also think we saw over the weekend that our midfield is majorly missing craft once Eriksen is out. For someone so important he’s not exactly a long term solution either. I think now we need more creativity through the middle and possibly a backup DM who can also go box to box when we are attacking. As long as the players we bring in are press resistant we are going in the right direction
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But Szobozlai is never a CM as far as I am aware. More of a winger/wide playmaker or even AM but not a controlling CM. Open to correction
 
I actually think his abilities are best suited to a counter attacking team. He is good at picking the ball up from deep and driving forward with it in the transition.
 
FrankWhite said:
Is it a weak character to preserve against this level of adversity? Stubbornness maybe but I wouldn't call it weak. In the end, no one knows what the true story is. There's definitely a money issue but rest is all half truths I think.
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Absolutely this but no one cares because he rejected United, giving up under pressure supposedly shows strength of character now.
 
DWelbz19 said:
What the feck is going on on this website? Why are so many people unironically using words like “****” and “****”?
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Some topics give way to the worst in people. This is certainly one of it.
 
harms said:
Absolutely this but no one cares because he rejected United, giving up under pressure supposedly shows strength of character now.
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How do you rate him harms? How high is his potential in your opinion?
 
Red the Bear said:
How do you rate him harms? How high is his potential in your opinion?
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He’s certainly one of the most talented midfielders of his generation but he doesn’t really fit in in Xavi’s Barça as it has been said for many times (his performances for the national team have been much better).

Maybe they’ll reshuffle that midfield next season if Busquets loses the starting spot but they’ll need to do that instead of simply putting Frenkie in as an anchor.

In a right set up he is world-class and he has to be one of the most uniquely skilled midfielders of the past few decades.
 
harms said:
He’s certainly one of the most talented midfielders of his generation but he doesn’t really fit in in Xavi’s Barça as it has been said for many times (his performances for the national team have been much better).

Maybe they’ll reshuffle that midfield next season if Busquets loses the starting spot but they’ll need to do that instead of simply putting Frenkie in as an anchor.

In a right set up he is world-class and he has to be one of the most uniquely skilled midfielders of the past few decades.
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My thoughts as well, I think he'll need a ten hag or ten hag like manager to maximize his potential.

I still hope we land him even though it seems unlikely at this moment.
 
harms said:
He’s certainly one of the most talented midfielders of his generation but he doesn’t really fit in in Xavi’s Barça as it has been said for many times (his performances for the national team have been much better).

Maybe they’ll reshuffle that midfield next season if Busquets loses the starting spot but they’ll need to do that instead of simply putting Frenkie in as an anchor.

In a right set up he is world-class and he has to be one of the most uniquely skilled midfielders of the past few decades.
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Busquets is out of contract no so he is likely going anyway?
 
If they wanted to build around De Jong they would have done it already. No, it's Pedri and Gavi they want to build around, so Frenkie has to go
 
Gavinb33 said:
Busquets is out of contract no so he is likely going anyway?
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Oh, just the age. But it doesn't seem like that shift is planned anyway.

giorno said:
If they wanted to build around De Jong they would have done it already. No, it's Pedri and Gavi they want to build around, so Frenkie has to go
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Yeah, that is most likely.
 
Xavi too inexperience, not another Pep, can't balance the team properly or tactically.

Not going to see the best of de Jong until a new manager comes in.

Need Pep to go there or Tuchel could probably do a job.

Barcelona have been poor against decent opposition all season.
 
The only real reason Frenkie should leave Barca was plain against Real. They still play him in a Donny vd Beek role. Seeing him play in a double pivot for our national team (which is not nearly as good as Barca) and then watching him play in that silly role at Barca hurts me.
 
KirkDuyt said:
The only real reason Frenkie should leave Barca was plain against Real. They still play him in a Donny vd Beek role. Seeing him play in a double pivot for our national team (which is not nearly as good as Barca) and then watching him play in that silly role at Barca hurts me.
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Frenkie started though.
 
He’s such an average player when asked to perform the role of a B2B midfielder. In the rare occasions where he has played as a DLP at Barca he has been nothing special, constantly missing the runs of Pedri or his wingers. Even at Ajax, he had only 4 league assists (31 games) in his final season, playing for a team who's like the Manchester City of their league. Even at Barca he has a similar number of annual assists (although he is being played out of position).

Just for comparison: Peak Andrea Pirlo averaged 7 league assists a season at AC Milan and the same number at Juve (barring one Juve season where he had 14 assists!).

He's not worth the 80m transfer fee and 300k/w wages.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Aw, the caf hates him now? Still my dream signing for United.
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De Jong knows Barcelona are shite and they owe him millions.

The reason he is there is his fiance, who is an instagram "influencer", has him by the balls and wants to stay there. Good weather, good food, crap beaches. What more could you want.
 
RedRonaldo said:
I actually respect that. But he shouldn’t complain when he spent most of his time sitting on Barca bench, that’s all down to his own choice really.
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Agreed, I think for his own sake he made the wrong decision, but it was refreshing to see at least one person/club/governing body/etc stand up to Barcelona's ridiculous behavior this summer.
 
ilrm said:
He’s such an average player when asked to perform the role of a B2B midfielder. In the rare occasions where he has played as a DLP at Barca he has been nothing special, constantly missing the runs of Pedri or his wingers. Even at Ajax, he had only 4 league assists (31 games) in his final season, playing for a team who's like the Manchester City of their league. Even at Barca he has a similar number of annual assists (although he is being played out of position).

Just for comparison: Peak Andrea Pirlo averaged 7 league assists a season at AC Milan and the same number at Juve (barring one Juve season where he had 14 assists!).

He's not worth the 80m transfer fee and 300k/w wages.
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He is neither a b2b or DLP, so it isn’t particularly relevant, is it?
 
He's not a Busquets replacement, so I can't see it working long term. Will be fun to watch though
 
Think this ship has sailed - different player to Busquets, but a cracking replacement for the pivot position.
Real shame for us. It will be interesting to see who we target for the ‘8’ position now
 
shame he had no intention to join us, otherwise FDJ - Casemiro - Eriksen would be a class and very balanced midfield.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Gotta applaud de Jong here really, obviously backed himself big time to make it at his dream club & change Xavi’s opinion of him.
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To be fair, Busquets forced Xavi to change his opinion of him. Xavi got destroyed by the media for his results in the CL and his obsession with Busquets, he had no other choice.
 
Oly Francis said:
To be fair, Busquets forced Xavi to change his opinion of him. Xavi got destroyed by the media for his results in the CL and his obsession with Busquets, he had no other choice.
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I'd say the media pressure and recent results more than Busquets himself - that too though - but pretty much this. He was really good against an opponent that played really poorly. I don't see Xavi changing anything to accomodate him, they'll be trying to sell him at the first opportunity
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Gotta applaud de Jong here really, obviously backed himself big time to make it at his dream club & change Xavi’s opinion of him.
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I'm the same, a lot thought he was deluded (myself included) and maybe they were right but even if he hasn't been the first name on the teamsheet, he's had plenty of chances this season.
 
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