When Manchester United’s attack on Chelsea became an unrecoal draw on Saturday night, television cameras turned to a solitary figure in the empty stands.
Donny van de Beek looked inconsolable sitting alone in the managers’ shelters dressed in his tracksuit and knowing that he was destined not to go to the countryside.
The Dutch alien so far has not played any of United’s five Premier League matches and has only had 69 minutes of action.
But the draw with Chelsea the first time he had to suffer the indignity of staying on the bench as an unused understudy.
That might not have been what Van de Beek envisioned when he joined United from Ajax for £ 40m this summer.
Hailed as one of the world’s most promising young talents, the Dutchman stood out as a vital addition to United’s team.
But so far it hasn’t worked that way, which has led former Dutch coach Marco van Basten to declare: “Donny shouldn’t have gone to Manchester United. When you’re a smart player, you have to play every single week. “. “
Van de Beek’s adviser, Sjaak Swart, even expressed some frustration last month: “A replacement; I don’t like it at all. I couldn’t do it, there’s only four minutes left. “
However, the player wisely remained silent and within the club showed no symptoms of unhappiness, trains hard and waits for his chance.
Van de Beek appreciates moving to a bigger team with a more competitive team and earning their place on the team.
But it would be a good idea for him to have considerations about when and where he will play.
Van de Beek convinced to move to Old Trafford when he learned of United’s manager Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans for him, but they couldn’t spend as much time on the bench and in the stands.
It may be too early to make the comparison, however, there are still echoes of Juan Sebastian Veron’s movement to United in 2001, which he bought through Sir Alex Ferguson without a transparent concept of where to play it.
At the time, United had the most productive midfielder in Europe with David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, so there was some interest in Veron’s place.
In the end, the Argentine failed in a normal place in the team and, after two disappointing years, moved to Chelsea.
If Van de Beek doesn’t need to suffer the same fate, he’ll have to take on a definite role within Solskjaer.
A flexible midfielder with an attacking instinct, Van de Beek is used as a number 10 or the ultimate adventurous member of a two-man midfielder.
Van de Beek’s biggest challenge is that to be number 10, he will first have to fight Bruno Fernandes, which is highly unlikely right now.
The Portuguese is United’s current player of the year, having contributed 11 premier league goals and assists since joining Sporting Lisbon in January.
Fernandes would have to suffer a prolonged loss for Van de Beek to secure his starting position.
Therefore, the Dutchman will have to look elsewhere for game time and hope that more can be used on the field as the ultimate offensive member of a midfielder of two.
During the first three Premier League games, Solskjaer used Paul Pogba in that position, but when the Frenchman fell after the 6–1 humiliation against Tottenham, United’s manager did not turn to Van de Beek.
Instead, he asked Fred to follow Scott McTominay to give his midfield a more defensive solidity.
He seems to have taken Van de Beek further to the queue for game time, unlike Chelsea, Pogba, the first and only midfielder to leave the substitutes’ bench, while Van de Beek ignored him.
Van de Beek’s two positions seem closed to him for now.
Could I take refuge on the flanks? He has been extreme and Solskjaer prefers to use the speed of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and even Dan James.
When United’s coach opted for craftsmanship over speed in the band, he chose Juan Mata for the last two League matches against Newcastle and Chelsea.
It may seem dark to the player right now, but Solskjaer hasn’t invested 40 million pounds in the Dutch midfielder to forget much of it.
You will have to be patient because it is not the first time that a beloved foreign firm has been feeling at ease in a new league, there is still a lot of time left.
“Don’t worry about it,” Solskjaer said after the match against Chelsea when asked if Van de Beek was leaving in the stands.
I am an experienced sports writer, who for more than 20 years has written for more than 80 websites, magazines and newspapers around the world, Bleacher Report,
I am an experienced sport that, for more than 20 years, has written for more than 80 websites, magazines and newspapers around the world, adding Bleacher Report, Esquire, The Times and FourFourTwo. I interviewed many of the most sensitive athletes, adding Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham, George Best and LeBron James, and covered the Premier League, World Cup final, European Championships, Olympic Games, Champions League and Super Bowl. I have also written several books, including For Club and Country with Gary and Phil Neville and Best XI through Manchester United.