Donny Van De Beek. 23 year old Dutch international midfielder from Ajax strongly linked with a move to Man Utd. Here's a thread about his gameplay, his strengths & weaknesses.

To begin with, van de beek is a versatile midfielder who can play in multiple positions on the pitch. As a 10, as a CM B2B, as a DM in a pivot. His versatility is next level.

Talking about his numbers, Van de beek has scored 10 goals & 8 assists in all competitions last season. That's a sparking 18 G+A contribution from a midfielder. Don't forget vdb is not even on penalties.

Now his strengths:-
As we know, VDB's major strength is his unorthodox nature of getting goals/assists. Obviously this description will instantly resemble your mind with the "Raumdeuter" Thomas Muller. It's no surprise, the similarity is there.

Since 2017 , VDB has scored 37 non penalty goals for Ajax. These are absolutely incredible numbers for a young midfielder even if he's playing in the Dutch league.

If we talk about the state of play, let's talk about that incredible 2018-19 Ajax side Van de beek was a key part of. Playing as a CAM in a 4231 right behind Dusan Tadic. While De Jong used to operate the central mid, since his departure to barca, VDB has accepted de jong's pivot

Van De Beek's gameplay is typical functional mould. An intuitive footballer who has mastered the simple things such as letting the ball run across his body when receiving it, little movements into space to receive the ball with an exceptional finishing skill.

Notice here how Van de beek is so calm & composed about his ones & two touch simple elegant passing gameplay leads himself & the ball in the box.

A mature athlete, filled with a sense of endeavor, VDB is a vertical visionary player. He's not an elegant high range baller like de bruyne pogba thiago etc.. but he's a standard crisp accurate short passer of the ball. Having 82% passing acc. He likes to keep his radar sharp.

My favorite point on VDB's game is despite not a pin point or long range accuracy of ball movements, van de beek will always find a way to be involved in Ajax's final 3rd game. Last season VDB played mostly as a pivot CM/DM still managed to get 100+ touches in the final 3rd

VDB's strongest asset in the game is to generate key passes in Ajax's final 3rd passing. Last season he generated 1.8 key passes in the league & 1.6 in the UCL. Note that VDB played 26 games last season as a pivot midfielder for ajax and not a 10.

Van de Beek’s understanding of the way he should receive the ball allows the speed of his execution. His body positioning, receiving on the half turn, enables him to face the opponent with one touch, with the next being a pass forward.

Despite all this, Van de beek peaks into the game when he's off the ball. He's a superemely intelligent player who uses his vision & football iq about when to make runs in the box and find those half empty spaces.

Notice here how van de beek uses his awareness to beat the offside trap. He is the epitome of staying between the lines play with the shoulder of the last defender and get the shot on target. VDB has a 36% shot accuracy which is lethal for a midfielder.

Defensively Van de beek knows how to get the ball out of pressure. Since 2019, VDB has improved massively for his defensive performances. On Avg, he averages 5 recoveries, 1 interception & 2.0 tackles per game.

Van de beek is a big game player

Champions League.

vs Valencia
vs AEK Athens
vs Chelsea
vs Juve
vs Spurs
vs Bayern Munich
vs Real Madrid

There's a weakness in him about his defensive assurance for sure + his aerial stability but VDB makes up for his rigourouss workrate, constantly chasing up the ball throughout the game.

To sum up, Donny Van de beek is a massive upgrade to have on Jesse Lingard. He can fill in as a back up for Bruno or he can also play as a right sided central midfielder on the pitch. He's not a grealish mould dribbler + shot creating action player but he's a high pressed guy(1/2

2/2) who could be funcitoned like a Muller or reus in a 4-2-4 on pitch

End of thread. Likes & Rts always appreciated. Follow for more content + my daily dose of hutypa