Thread:

*The Donny van de Beek Non-Issue*

Over the last few weeks, the constant chatter has been VDB's playing time.

United have played 8 games so far and Donny has featured in 7. Only Rashford has featured in more.

Either way let's dive in & tackle this non-issue

One of United's biggest issue last season was the lack of creativity on the bench. Ole was criticized for not making substitutions when the game wasn't going our way.

Against Seville in the EL Semi's we didn't make a sub until the 87th min - clear sign Ole didn't trust his bench

This season, the first thing he addressed was this issue

- Donny van de Beek for £35m

Donny has primarily played as an AM at Ajax but has also featured at CM and very rarely at DM too.

But Ole didn't sign him to be a CM/DM, Ole signed him to be a back up 10 as is clear below

Donny in his 1st interview abt what Ole told him:

"He said he knew exactly what my biggest strengths are & told me that he wants me to be in & around the 16 yard box at Man United too."

'Being in and around the 16 yard box' - Donny signed bcs he wanted to play up the field

Now you may ask "Sure but he wasn't signed as backup"

Ole: "His ability to see space, time his movements & read the game will really complement the qualities that we've in midfield. His arrival really strengthens the depth of talent we have in that position"

Keyword: 'depth'

Now you're thinking "but VDB won't be ok with this!"

VDB: “I'll start at zero again at ManUtd. That might seem sad, but I love it. If you start down the ladder you can begin to climb up again. It’s now up to me to see how high I can reach. I see this as a challenge.”

Mentality!

Of course as we know even hearing it from VDB & Ole themselves is seldom enough for our fanbase

So I present to you some 'stats' bcs a lot of you seem to trust that more than what the actual players says

Let's take a look at some stats that shows the step up he has to make now:

Donny has had 3 top flight seasons where he has played more than 2000 mins

- 17/18
- 18/19
- 19/20

Ajax primarily play in 3 major competitions
- Eredivisie, the Dutch premier league
- Champions league/Europa league
- KNVB Cup, the domestic cup

Now lets see how much they play:

In the prev 3 seasons:

Ajax in total played
- 138 games
- these 3 seasons combined ran for 826 days

United in that time played
- 171 games in 835 days

In other words,

United played 33 more games than Ajax in just 9 extra days (reminder: a full season is 38 games)

This is a fundamental reason why someone who was a regular starter in a smaller league might not be able to instantly be a regular starter in the PL

Now add
- better opposition
- faster pace
- more physicality
- more pressure

and you see why young players might need easing in

Even then just how much time can VDB expect to get.

For that let's look at Utd AM's last season:

Jesse as AM
21 Apps | 17 starts | 1307 mins

Mata as AM
18 Apps | 14 Starts | 1179 mins

Periera as AM
14 Apps | 10 starts | 877 mins

Bruno as AM
21 Apps | 20 starts | 804 mins

Now,

- Bruno came in at Jan & hasn't rested since bc he's had no backup

- this is a shortened season meaning more games in less amount of time meaning there will be need for more rotations

- Andreas has been loaned out, Lingard hasn't played much & Mata is now playing RW more

All this means only one thing:

Bruno will need a lot of rest to get through this season and when he does, the primary backup will be VDB

United played 61 games last season, more than any in the last 3 seasons bc we got to 3 semifinals (1st time we have done that since SAF)

This means we are looking at a 55-60 game season min depending on how far we go in cups

That is 55-60 starts for an AM

Even if Bruno starts 40 of them (which is a lot considering the shortened season) we are still looking at at least 30-35 appearances for VDB (he already has 7)

This'll be the perfect introduction for VDB to the English game:

30-35 apps in his first season in a new league means he gets to ease himself in while also getting a LOT of minutes without too much pressure while also giving our primary no 10 enough and more rest - planning.

Remember Donny has already played 233 mins this season while Bruno has played just 505.

He's already playing almost half as much as Bruno, that number will only go up as the season progresses as Bruno rests & Donny starts more.

It isn't the end of the world as some suggest.

To recap

- VDB was signed as a backup 10
- VDB is thrilled & sees it as a challenge
- VDB is coming into a bigger more intense league
- VDB isn't used to the demands of the English game
- VDB will need easing in to get him up to pace &
- VDB will get a lot of games by season end

Journos will always find something to write about Utd.

If things are going badly the usual suspects are
- Ole, tactics, dressing room harmony

If things are going well then
-Pogba, Martial, and now Mason & VDB

Before overreacting, look at the bigger picture & keep a cool head.

VDB is a 23 year old fantastic talent who could very well be here for the next 10 years & we're 8 games into a 60 game season

Let's let's cut out the unnecessary negativity and let's trust the manager who's shown just how good he is at handling youngsters to handle VDB well too.

This is a slight correction

Bruno as AM
21 Apps | 20 starts | 1733* mins

I had gotten the calculation for the minutes wrong.

It doesn't affect the rest of the thread or the point I am trying to make.

Just shows I need to triple check my data before posting.

Apologies.