MY ACCOUNT
Erik ten Hag acknowledges Donny van de Beek must improve in order to be a success at Manchester United, but is refusing to give up on the midfielder.
Having impressed in an advanced role for Ten Hag’s Ajax team, Van de Beek moved to Old Trafford for an initial fee of £35million in 2020, but has since struggled for consistent game-time.
Van de Beek made 27 Premier League appearances across his first two campaigns with United, and has only played 19 minutes in the competition this season after enduring an equally frustrating loan spell at Everton earlier in 2022.
Those struggles have seen Van de Beek lose his place in the Netherlands’ squad ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, but Ten Hag – who started the midfielder in Thursday’s Europa League win at Real Sociedad – believes the 25-year-old can change his fortunes.
Asked on Thursday whether there would be a point at which United accepted Van de Beek’s move had not worked out, Ten Hag replied: “Yes. Not now.
“I think he had quite a good pre-season. He was injured, now he’s back. Last week [against Sheriff in the Europa League] I think he played very well, and today I think it was a decent performance.
“I know he can do better as I know him very well. He acted and delivered what I expect in terms of positioning, pressing, transition and accuracy.
“I think he can be more of a threat to the opponents’ goal, that’s his biggest quality. In the time I am here, he is performing well in the game-time we gave him.”
