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.
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So wait, it's ok to play VDB out of position just to start him but when Pogba has to drop a little deep Ole is a clown playing him out of position?
So you do know players need to play in their best position but only as long as you can use it to criticize the manager?
Got it.
Even funnier now that Pogba is getting to play further up no one is complaining. But why is he getting to play further up? Bcs he's used as an impact sub against tired legs meaning he has less defensive workload
Almost as if the manager knows how when & where to play his players
None of this 'VDB has to start' agenda is coming from a place where they think it's a valid criticism. These fans clearly know without dropping Bruno VDB has to play out of position to start - they're not dumb. But if it means they get to bash on the manager they'll act dumb.
Ole's been our manager for 1.5 seasons and 3 windows now. Ideally he should now be getting his 8-10th signing and the rebuild should be on its last stretch.
But the mess he took over was so huge that 3 windows in, he still has 7-8 unwanted players left to clear out.
Fans need to realise the sheer magnitude of the rebuild he took over. The solution was never going to be just buying players who he wants and likes.
Before he gets to do that, first he has to clear out the ones not needed and we had quite a few of them.
The wages of those players along with their absymal form means finding a buyer for most of them is difficult.
But even with those constraints, Ole is doing the best he can - loan them out with the hopes of getting a buyer later.
LFC's attacking FB's convinced everyone there's no other way to play. They do that bcs their mid isn't creative. City has a creative mid so the FB's tuck in & recycle.
Utd hve inside fwd on wings
They cut in - FB's overlap
They stay wide - FB's tuck in
United have great creativity in mid & superb attackers up front. There is a reason why we play fewer lobbed crosses than anyone else. Our game plan isn't to stretch play wide & cross from the byline. Ours is to compress space & progress vertically with quick one twos.
This is why Shaw was instrumental to us down the left. He has the intelligence to know when to overlap and when to tuck in. Even when he did overlap it was still almost always inside the box to offer a quick give and go for Rashy.