Donny still needs to discover his real role
IT could have been one of the finest assists of the season, but Juan Mata’s failure to beat Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann meant Donny van de Beek’s impudent flick didn’t get the reward it deserved.
In a first half of toil, it was the moment that enlivened a low-key cup tie and a sign of the brilliance that the Dutchman can bring to this United side.
The Holland international had already exchanged flicks with Mata earlier in the move before using his instep to divert Mason Greenwood’s pass beyond the last defender and perfectly into Mata’s path. Sadly, he didn’t add the finishing touch.
Old Trafford stood silent apart from the continuous bellowing of Bachmann, but Van de Beek’s moment of imagination felt like it was greeted with the kind of purring admiration that usually echoes around a stadium when a player does something that paying punters simply didn’t see was on.
Even if we can’t execute it, we can usually see the crossfield pass or the perfectly weighted through ball, but it’s when players do something that we never even considered possible, when they find a pass and an angle that didn’t even register as plausible, that really takes our breath away as supporters and this was one such moment.
It was probably Van de Beek’s moment of what was a good, if not sensational, performance. He started the game well, twisting between two Watford tackles to win a free-kick in midfield and even in a deep role he worked hard to find space and try and link play.
He found it tougher going in the second half, when United struggled to impose themselves on the game and were pegged back for large patches by a Watford team that was much changed from its regular look in the Championship.
The pattern of the match will have been a concern for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and that meant the double pivot of Scott McTominay and Van de Beek had more defensive work to do than they would have liked. That’s not the strength of Va Van de Beek, although he di did head clear in his own bo box from one Watford fr free-kick.
By the time Nemanja Matic came on for Jesse Li Lingard, freeing the former Aj Ajax midfielder from his d defensive duties and moving him into an advanced role, United’s fo focus was on seeing out the ti tie.
But if Solskjaer takes anything from Saturday’s third round win, it should be Van de Beek’s influence when he was near the Watford penalty area.
He’s struggled for a defined role since his £35m move in the summer and despite his ability to play as a No. 6 or No. 8, he has not featured as a regular in either position for United.
His last start saw him shunted out to the left-wing against Everton in the Carabao Cup before he was replaced just after the hour mark.
His moment of ingenuity to tee-up Mata came in an advanced central role and that is probably where his future mostly lies, for now.
He’s struggled to find a way past the axis of Fred and Scott McTominay in the Premier League and Paul Pogba has played in those deeper roles more often as well.
But the Reds need someone who can be a creator in the final third, who can
compliment Bruno Fernandes and take the pressure off the Portuguese playmaker.
There will also come a time when Fernandes is missing for an important game, through injury or suspension. When that happens, it feels like Van de Beek is his most natural replacement in this squad.
What he needs to prove he can fulfil that role is to get more games in an advanced position, which is why it might have made more sense to play him in that position against Watford rather than Jesse Lingard. He needs a more clearly defined role in this squad.
Some of Van de Beek’s touches did at least display his quality and show that, in a difficult few months at Old Trafford, he’s lost none of his confidence. That is encouraging to see for Solskjaer and United.