Donny van de Beek has struggled to make his mark at Manchester United since his arrival in August of 2020 for around 35 million pounds. The dutchman has made 39 appearances for the club, with his only goal coming in his debut. While he arguably hasn’t seen enough of the pitch overall, the young midfielder has done little to warrant otherwise. Manchester United fans have been calling to see more of Van de Beek, specifically in the 6 role. Many believe he has the ability to play there and that his success with Eredivisie side Ajax means he should be a regular starter for Manchester United. But, where is this idea really coming from? For me I see no reason why we should believe Donny to be a better player than what we’ve seen thus far at United.
Success with Ajax does not necessarily correlate to success in the world’s biggest and most competitive league. Donny was an incredible player for the Dutch side and had some stellar performances in their famous champions league run. Although, there have been plenty of promising young players over the years that haven’t panned out for one reason or the other. It just confuses me that United fans believe this man to be any better than what he’s shown thus far. Donny van de Beek is a sub par midfielder.
Lack of Match Time an Issue?
One of the most common defenses of Donny van de Beek is his lack of gametime. While I agree playing more matches is always a benefit to maintaining form, I don’t believe it should be an excuse for not seeing the best of a player. Manchester United is a massive club and you don’t get a ton of time to make your mark. Over the last decade one could say the club has given plenty of time to undeserving players, but that’s more on a specific manager. Ole gunnar Solskjaer does not seem the man to hold anything personally against a specific player. I don’t believe Ole is giving Donny less game time simply because he doesn’t like him. Ole is leaving Donny out of the side because he simply doesn’t believe the Dutchman is good enough.
When you play more games you’ll be sharper and develop more chemistry with your team. But, even when out of farm your true class should still show. I don’t see that with Donny and he’s shown absolutely nothing in any match to earn the right to play more.
The West Ham Match Proved Donny isn’t Good Enough
The match this past Wednesday in the Caribou cup against West Ham United did not go well for Donny or the team. Of course, the loss was due to much more than Donny’s performance, but he wasn’t very good. Donny was responsible for the lone goal of the match and did little to impact the game. Former Manchester United woman’s manager Casey Stoney blasted Donny’s performance after the match and blamed him for the goal from Lanzini. “It’s poor defending, he’s got him in his eyesight, I don’t know why he thinks he’s got to go affect the ball, he just needs to stay with his player,” said Casey Stoney. Perhaps, one could blame the lack of awareness on Donny’s lack of matches but it’s also just the type of mistake you can’t make at this level.
Donny only had one incisive past against West Ham, which was his chip over the top to Greenwood late on. The majority of Donny’s passing was from side to side or to get the ball further up in the midfield. That wouldn’t be bad for a number 6 if they were protecting the back 4 successfully, but Donny was responsible for not closing down on the matches only goal. Donny was also presented with 2 excellent opportunities to get a shot off and completely botched both of them. He did show good effort, just as Solskjaer said in his post match presser. This performance has summed up Donny’s time with United.
What more can you say?
Really, what more is there for me to say about Donny van de Beek. I’d love to give a more detailed analysis of his time with the club and his performances, but there isn’t much to go off of. You’d imagine in 39 appearances I’d be able to find something more positive, but there really isn’t anything positive. Donny’s number’s consist of a lone goal on his debut.
At 24 years old the lad is still young enough to make something more of himself at this level. I believe the club should move on. Considering his age, and his past time with Ajax you could still fetch a nice price for him even with his poor time at United. Maybe we sell him in January to fund a move for Ruben Neves? Don’t get me wrong though, I am rooting for the kid. I hope to look back on this article having been proven wrong.
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