Give Donny a go, Ole
UNITED should be under no illusions about the size of their task for the rest of this season.
To achieve a second place Premier League finish, with in-form Leicester City breathing down their necks, will be no easy feat.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side saw first hand last Sunday the kind of razor-sharp performances the Foxes are capable of when they’re on song.
United are just a point ahead with nine games remaining in the league run-in.
But what ought to be a formality – unlike at the end of last season – is signing and sealing a top-four finish and qualifying for the Champions League. United have put an eightpoint cushion between themselves and the nearest challengers for that place, West Ham, thanks to that league victory over the Hammers 10 days ago, while Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton scramble around to see if they can muster a late surge of some sort.
That United still have to face Spurs, Liverpool and Leicester in the league is a warning sign of sorts, but visits to Aston Villa and Leeds look exactly like the kind of games they have been winning under Solskjaer.
The visits of Brighton, Burnley and Fulham to Old Trafford should also yield three points apiece and cement this side’s status as the highest performing United team AD (after dominance).
They are on 57 points and should get somewhere close to the 81 racked up by Jose Mourinho’s United in 2017/18, who also finished a distant second to City.
The Europa League should throw up trickier ties than the two-legged Granada quarter-final that is now on the horizon – and that ought to be winnable too.
So you would think Solskjaer would not have many opportunities to rest and rotate, and to try out different options, in his side this season.
The Norwegian, however, was brave enough to leave Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw – undoubtedly United’s two best players this season – on the bench at Leicester for the FA Cup quarterfinal. He has been happy enough to chop and change between Dean Henderson and David de Gea in goal. He’s given Mason Greenwood enough opportunities in order to restore the teenager’s confidence after a tough start to the campaign.
In short, there are certain players who pass the ‘threshold’ test in Solskjaer’s mind and can be grouped together in a 16 or 17-man first-team group. He picks from that.
Donny van de Beek has, damagingly, not even been in that group. The Dutchman’s promising start to life at Old Trafford quickly fizzled out and he’s become an afterthought for Solskjaer, most of the time, when it’s come to picking a team.
The regular presence of Scott McTominay and Fred in the United midfield ahead of Van de Beek has frustrated many United fans. And they are right to call for an increase in game-time for the ex-Ajax playmaker, just as they’re right to call for the scrapping of two defensive midfield ‘pivots’ in many United games.
For example, the league match at home to Brighton after the restart is crying out for a Van de Beek start in a deeper centre-midfield role.
Alongside one of McTominay or Fred – both of whom have many strengths when it comes to breaking up play and shielding the back four
– Van de Beek could thrive as a No.8.
Naturally, many may think of Paul Pogba as the ideal candidate for such a role, dovetailing with the No.10 Fernandes, but the Frenchman’s future at United is far from secure. If he leaves in the summer, as remains the expectation, it will fall upon Van de Beek to replace him.
Now is not the time to be sticking with Pogba, now is the time to experiment, especially in the league.
As a creative fulcrum of the side, Pogba’s shoes are big ones to fill, but that’s why United paid £35m for Van de Beek. For Ajax, helping them to Dutch league titles and Champions League semi-finals, he performed that role to perfection.
With Nemanja Matic fast appearing a fading force, a new-look United midfield of Fred, Van de Beek and Fernandes is worth a shot.
The balance in those positions has looked skewed against weaker opponents, hence United’s struggle to break down teams like West Brom and Crystal Palace, of late. Against better sides such as Leicester with Fred and McTominay, United lacked the technical qualities to cope with a fierce press.
Van de Beek hasn’t much shown it yet, but he has the passing range and the game intelligence to thrive in the United midfield. He and Fernandes have played precious little football together.
With a top-four position virtually secure, it’s time for Solskjaer to be brave.