What is Dan James good at?

Not at the level required here. Absolute baffoonery to reject 25mil for him in the summer. We won't get anywhere close to that again for him
 
Seems like his confidence is shot to smithereens too. Shame as he started so well. He has an annoying habit of not sticking to the flank and deliberately running into traffic where he is pathetically dispossessed.
 
He was brilliant the first 6 months or so, after moving to a massive club just after his dad died.. Ole obviously trusts him to be more disciplined than Greenwood in that position.. Greenwood’s only thought is to get in the box and he doesn’t track back.. I think people should give Dan James a break tbh. I think he’ll be a fine squad player.
“Brilliant” :lol:
 
I see a lot of people clinging to my Valencia comments. Just to set the record straight I always liked Valencia and what he brought to the table. He was an athletic beast with a great work ethic and really gave 100% for the shirt every time. I just think he was very limited technically and with the right mind set James can contribute to this team and he isn't still in the category to be written off
 
I do feel like it’s a bit of a pile on at the moment but the reality is that he just isn’t performing and he plays as if the shirt is too heavy for him. There were moments yesterday when he had the ball in attacking positions and basically just shit himself. Over-thinking what to do to a fault.

He’d do well just to get his head down, kick it past his defender and at least attempt to get a cross in or win a corner. Instead, he’s just slowing down, trying to cut inside and fannying about with it.

I’d look to sell him on next window and put the money towards a better forward. We’d make a profit.
 
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I rather start our 18 yo Uruguayan right winget. Saw the highlight of the under 23 game. He plays with his head up. Definitely more intelligent than Dan James. What so he is 18? No more James please. If James start another game in the Premier league, Ole should be sack for that alone. Yes we beat Newcastle but most of the scoring happens after James had left the field. So Ole, James deserved to start because we won game.
 
He's good at running and positioning himself for a pass, getting the ball forward quickly, supporting his teammates and making himself available for them. Unfortunately he's not good at getting past players, and his movement after having received the pass is also quite bad as are his passing decisions. For the sake of being positive, I'll say he's a good player to tire out the opposition defense, keeping sustained pressure and getting across quickly on the counter, and also I believe he'd make a decent impact-sub if the defense is already tired. But in all honesty, we have other players who can do all that too and also a whole lot of other things way better than him as well, so...

I like the kid, I've always wanted him to succeed, but he needs more tricks in his bag and also to play smarter. His feet are quicker than his mind, which that makes him quite mediocre, but his work rate and commitment at least are unquestionable.
 
I like the lad, and he’s had a hard time in his personal life, but even his stats in the championship weren’t great.
Adama Traore isn’t getting a game at wolves now. I would try to sell James for around 10m and offer 30m for Traore in January. He is so effective and wouldn’t mind being rotated.
 
I like the lad, and he’s had a hard time in his personal life, but even his stats in the championship weren’t great.
Adama Traore isn’t getting a game at wolves now. I would try to sell James for around 10m and offer 30m for Traore in January. He is so effective and wouldn’t mind being rotated.

I've not been a fan of traore.

Saying that I can only see James here working as a RWB because it simplifies what he has to do, dribbling, crossingz falling back and defending.

Selling him and buying Traore makes sense then because then we have Telles on knee side and Traore on the other able to provide crosses.

I dont think Traore is good enough as a winger for top clubs because his game is very unilateral but that unilateral game is very good especially when played in a certain position like RWB.
 
I hate to pile on this nice lad but there’s little doubt that James just isn’t good enough for a club which aspires to lifting the CL and PL, which I hope remain our ambitions.

Maybe a brilliant run on loan with a club in the Championship will help him regain his confidence. He’s not anywhere close to a PL right now.
 
I've not been a fan of traore.

Saying that I can only see James here working as a RWB because it simplifies what he has to do, dribbling, crossingz falling back and defending.

Selling him and buying Traore makes sense then because then we have Telles on knee side and Traore on the other able to provide crosses.

I dont think Traore is good enough as a winger for top clubs because his game is very unilateral but that unilateral game is very good especially when played in a certain position like RWB.
I disagree to be honest. I know Traore divides opinion a bit but for me it would mean we finally have a good right winger who beats defenders with ease, and it would be a huge upgrade on dan James.
Traore could do better with his goal scoring definitely, but every time I watch him he creates a lot of chances from that right side.
 
Ask that Ricky fella on United Stand who never ever criticises his performances but will happily slag off Bruno
 
He's got bags of pace but no real dribbling ability. I think dribbling really has to come naturally to you, so since he's right footed I'd put him on the right wing and make him work on his crossing and maybe he can be a traditional winger that gets down the line and puts the ball in the box.
 
He really needed to be loaned out. Right now a combination of lack of confidence and genuine ability makes his inclusion as a starter or even an impact sub rather pointless. For a a while I used to think that you could throw him on as an impact sub, to really have a go at people but, he just doesn't have the ability to take people on and really threaten.

The concept of him is fine but, we'd be far better off playing a without his width and a player like say VDB or Pogba most days out there. At least they have a pass on them, a shot, ability to get into the box - something to actually trouble defenses.

Hopefully once Martial is off his suspension and now that Cavani and Greenwood are fit, will be a while before we see him - maybe even let him play in the U23s for a bit to get his confidence and development on track.
 
His decision making is woeful. He’s got the pace, desire and work ethic but I rarely see him make the correct decision. Lots of blind, naive runs into trouble.
 
He's still developing, and may not be good enough for us going forward, but his strengths are running off the ball. When he plays on the left, those runs from outside to inside can really hurt teams. He did quite a few of those runs yesterday, but not once was he found. That said, it's clear he needs to do a lot more if he wants to stamp down a position in our team.
 
Given his performances this season and Ole insisting on having a left winger, I would try Telles or better give Elenga a chance. He cant be any worse
 
He's got bags of pace but no real dribbling ability. I think dribbling really has to come naturally to you, so since he's right footed I'd put him on the right wing and make him work on his crossing and maybe he can be a traditional winger that gets down the line and puts the ball in the box.
Does he though? Honestly he doesn’t look that quick. He’s fast but nothing impressive. How often do you see him take a defender on 1v1 and blow them away?

the Issue is he’s so weak and has awful balance he can use his speed in a straight line or he just falls over.
 
Giggs had loads to do with Utd signing him. Probably showed Ole that goal he scored in the championship when he just ran the length of the pitch. Probably told Ole Leeds would snap him up etc
He helped is greatly last season when the likes of Lukaku left and especially all his assists against the top 6 but i think his usefullness is long gone with all the players we have signed. Dan James is where passes go to die.
 
Bit of a head scratcher.... he's nowhere near good enough to be starting games for Utd, particularly where he's facing 2 full backs like he was against Chelsea. mental decision, and not fair on him.

In terms of development, I'd say our best option would be a 2 year loan deal if we can find one, find out if he is actually capable of playing at this level, then, if not, cut him free.

He definitely shouldn't be starting games for Utd.
 
If I were Dan James I would practice my crossing as much as possible and work on my defensive game. I would then try and reinvent myself as a RB. Personally, I think he could be pretty good in that position. He doesn't have the dribbling skill to be a winger. He's too predictable. He always goes to his right. So instead, work on becoming a RB. It's the only way I see him being able to possibly have a future at Manchester United...
 
To be fair, his defending skills is underated, also has Park Ji sung's stamina.

Right Wing Back is the best position for him. He will boost the defense by only running and sprinting on the wide area to press the wingers.
 
Could be, I’m not really interested in this debate either way and we are detracting way too much from this thread. My point at the end of the day is Valencia had his best form for us for 18 months after his injury so it’s not a clear cut case of ‘injury did him in’. We can do naught but speculate about the true reason for his decline.
You Answered Mate. Your contradicting yourself. Calm down a bit.
 
He was brilliant the first 6 months or so, after moving to a massive club just after his dad died.. Ole obviously trusts him to be more disciplined than Greenwood in that position.. Greenwood’s only thought is to get in the box and he doesn’t track back.. I think people should give Dan James a break tbh. I think he’ll be a fine squad player.
Nani was a squad player. James should not be anywhere near the 18 players squad.
 
His decision making is woeful. He’s got the pace, desire and work ethic but I rarely see him make the correct decision. Lots of blind, naive runs into trouble.
Against Chelsea he had a chance in a counter attack and instead of playing the ball to two open players he chose to go in between 3 defenders.
 
Does he though? Honestly he doesn’t look that quick. He’s fast but nothing impressive. How often do you see him take a defender on 1v1 and blow them away?

the Issue is he’s so weak and has awful balance he can use his speed in a straight line or he just falls over.

When he first joined I remember watching from the stands and being amazed at how fast he was. Decent fullbacks like Ricardo Perreira couldn't get near him. He was rapid and players often brought him down - I also remember some penalties he won at Chelsea & Norwich.

For whatever reason, I agree with you - he doesn't look that fast anymore. There's been no injury so it's strange. What made him so effective when he first joined was he picked up the ball and ran at defenders, and many couldn't handle him (even if the final pass was often a bit average). Seems to be overcomplicating his game at the moment.
 
When he first joined I remember watching from the stands and being amazed at how fast he was. Decent fullbacks like Ricardo Perreira couldn't get near him. He was rapid and players often brought him down - I also remember some penalties he won at Chelsea & Norwich.

For whatever reason, I agree with you - he doesn't look that fast anymore. There's been no injury so it's strange. What made him so effective when he first joined was he picked up the ball and ran at defenders, and many couldn't handle him (even if the final pass was often a bit average). Seems to be overcomplicating his game at the moment.
Yeah that's fair in the first 2 months or so he looks completely different. Maybe he's scared to use his full speed due to injury risks or something?

It just feels like the things we bought him for don't exist anymore. He or the coaches have somehow tricked him into thinking he's an inside forward :lol: it's just very strange seeing him play at the moment, he looks lost.
 
If I were Dan James I would practice my crossing as much as possible and work on my defensive game. I would then try and reinvent myself as a RB. Personally, I think he could be pretty good in that position. He doesn't have the dribbling skill to be a winger. He's too predictable. He always goes to his right. So instead, work on becoming a RB. It's the only way I see him being able to possibly have a future at Manchester United...

I was thinking about this yesterday, Bouna Sarr was a joke of a winger and turned his career around when he was moved to RB.
 
The issue Dan James has is that he is so limited (and therefore predictable) that just having raw speed doesn't really help at all. We all appreciate that you couldn't just have an Olympic sprinter on the wing and expect them to perform, there has to be some footballing ability as well!

If James really does want to make it as a PL player (let alone a Utd player) he needs to work on becoming less predictable because right now he reminds me of a poor man's Antonio Valencia.

I think he needs to work on his left foot, so that he has the option of going down the line when playing AML and I think he needs to work on developing at least one 'trick'...which could be something as simple as a standard feint or a stepover...anything to unbalance the defender. Currently when he plays AMR, a defender knows that all he has to do is stand him up and there's no trickery or ability to beat a player.
 
When he first joined I remember watching from the stands and being amazed at how fast he was. Decent fullbacks like Ricardo Perreira couldn't get near him. He was rapid and players often brought him down - I also remember some penalties he won at Chelsea & Norwich.

For whatever reason, I agree with you - he doesn't look that fast anymore. There's been no injury so it's strange. What made him so effective when he first joined was he picked up the ball and ran at defenders, and many couldn't handle him (even if the final pass was often a bit average). Seems to be overcomplicating his game at the moment.
Maybe he really thinks he is the new Gareth Bale, after the praise that he got from Giggs. It's like Deja vu of what happened to Adnan Januzaj, I don't know why our fan base keep comparing young players to the football legends.

I still remember when Bruno was shouting at him because too selfish against man. city, and he never learn anything from that moment. Three days later, he still didn't passed the ball to an open player but finally scored against LASK. I saw his reaction like he wants to prove a point to Bruno, "See! I can fecking score". Then, after the lockdown he was exposed as limited wingers by Norwich. Their fullbacks just let him dribbling to the final third without any end product, but this time it got worst for us.

He stopped tracking back the wingers, just run behind the defenders, and keep pushing for the goals and assist. He didn't play for the team, just wants to stat padding himself to the scoresheet, and fail. I don't like Lingard, but at this point he deserve to plays more minutes than Dan James, at least he is playing for the team.
Not to mention we still have VdB, Pogba, and Greenwood who shockingly play less minutes than James.
 
I think it's only a matter of time until his time here is up. I don't think he currently offers us anything that Anthony Elanga wouldn't. On top of that, Amad Diallo is considerably more talented than him and despite being a different type of player, Facundo Pellistri will be getting games from a wide position, at least initially. Although doubtful, Tahith Chong may feel as if he isn't done here just yet either. That's without even including Rashford and Greenwood.
 
I like the lad, and he’s had a hard time in his personal life, but even his stats in the championship weren’t great.
Adama Traore isn’t getting a game at wolves now. I would try to sell James for around 10m and offer 30m for Traore in January. He is so effective and wouldn’t mind being rotated.
We'd have to offer £50m plus James to Wolves, if we want Traore. Traore's market value is rightly around £70m and we'd be lucky to get £20m for James, based on the majority of his career with us.

But regardless of the money involved, I agree that cash plus James for either Traore or Saint-Maximin would massively improve us.