Donny van de Beek was assigned a surprising starting spot last Thursday evening. However, his performance will not lead to more playing time, the English media believe. The Europa League match at Real Sociedad (0-1) was won, but the Dutchman was judged by the English newspapers with the lowest score of all Manchester United players.
The Mancunians won by just one goal difference from the Basques, instead of the needed two. They finished second in the group and were sentenced to play an intermediate round in the Europa League. Coach Erik ten Hag allowed Van de Beek to start at 10 in the base behind Cristiano Ronaldo. It was only his fifth game of the season. Van de Beek was replaced by Marcus Rashford after 58 minutes and that was completely right according to the English media.
Manchester Evening News gave Van de Beek a 3 as a score, the lowest of all Mancunians. “He was in no man’s land and had no chemistry with his teammates. He got a chance but didn’t seem for a moment that he would take it.” The newspaper stated that, with a good European performance, Van de Beek had the prospect of replacing Bruno Fernandes at 10 this weekend, but ‘he ruined that chance’. “Conditions were in his favour, but he struggled to get hold of the ball and add something to the game.” The newspaper sees his future in Manchester bleak: “The number of opportunities to prove themselves at the club is decreasing.”
Boulevard newspaperThe Sun is also not at all convinced and headlines “All Don’t Wrong”. “Van de Beek again fails to seize his chance”, it can be read and he received a score of 4. That was again the lowest number of all players. “He showed himself to be rusty and was completely invisible in the first half. Not much changed after the break.”
Manchester United icon Paul Scholes was also not impressed with the Dutchman and did not understand what Ten Hag wanted to achieve with his tactics. “It got pretty messy in the second half. I don’t really understand what he (Ten Hag, ed.) wanted to achieve. Rashford came in for Van de Beek as number 10, but that is not his position. He has to play on the wing and have space when he receives the ball.” Scholes is also of the opinion that Fernandes should play on 10 and Van de Beek does not have the qualities of a winger. “To play from the side you need ‘legs’ and I don’t think this is Donny’s forte.” In Scholes’s view, the Dutchman should therefore sit on the bench again.