Thread by @SensibleUtd, Thread:*The Donny van de Beek Non-Issue*Over the last few weeks, the constant [...]

Thread:

*The Donny van de Beek Non-Issue*

Over the last few weeks, the constant chatter has been VDB& #39;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& #39;s dive in & tackle this non-issue

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">

One of United& #39;s biggest issue last season was the lack of creativity on the bench. Ole was criticized for not making substitutions when the game wasn& #39;t going our way.

Against Seville in the EL Semi& #39;s we didn& #39;t make a sub until the 87th min - clear sign Ole didn& #39;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& #39;t sign him to be a CM/DM, Ole signed him to be a back up 10 as is clear below

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">

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."

& #39;Being in and around the 16 yard box& #39; - Donny signed bcs he wanted to play up the field

Now you may ask "Sure but he wasn& #39;t signed as backup"

Ole: "His ability to see space, time his movements & read the game will really complement the qualities that we& #39;ve in midfield. His arrival really strengthens the depth of talent we have in that position"

Keyword: & #39;depth& #39;

Now you& #39;re thinking "but VDB won& #39;t be ok with this!"

VDB: “I& #39;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 & #39;stats& #39; bcs a lot of you seem to trust that more than what the actual players says

Let& #39;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

Now,

- Bruno came in at Jan & hasn& #39;t rested since bc he& #39;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& #39;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& #39;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& #39;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& #39;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& #39;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& #39;re 8 games into a 60 game season

Let& #39;s let& #39;s cut out the unnecessary negativity and let& #39;s trust the manager who& #39;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& #39;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.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤭" title="Gesicht mit Hand über dem Mund" aria-label="Emoji: Gesicht mit Hand über dem Mund">

Apologies.

Latest Threads Unrolled: