Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has backed summer signing Donny van de Beek to become a success, despite his slow start to life in the Premier League. Van de Beek has found himself competing for minutes in a packed midfield area and has only completed 90 minutes on three occasions.
Solskjaer, though, is remaining calm about the midfielder’s progress and insists that he will come good in a United short.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Remaining Calm About Donny van de Beek
Van de Beek Has ‘Done Well’
Van de Beek has a lot of competition in midfield but the argument put across by some United fans is that if he isn’t playing then he won’t have the opportunity to impress in games.
Solskjaer, though, insists that it will take time for the Dutchman to fully break in, as it did with other United players in the past who now find themselves regular fixtures in the starting 11.
He told reporters: “I think we are too quick sometimes to jump on, “oh he’s not playing, it’s a failure.
“But with Victor [Lindelof] and Fred as examples, it takes a little bit of time and now they are massively important players in our squad, in our team, which will be the same with Donny.
“He has come in and he is in a midfield group there with quality, challenging with Bruno [Fernandes], Juan [Mata] and Jesse [Lingard]. I have loads of No 10s, loads of central midfielders with Paul [Pogba], Nemanja [Matic], Scott [McTominay] and Fred, and Donny has done well when he has come in.
“He is always ready, he always works hard in training, he’s positive and he will make differences in many games for us this season. He will grow more and more for next year.”
Rotation Needed
With a shortened Premier League season due to the late start, players are feeling the effects, particularly over the busy festive period of fixtures.
Solskjaer says that players will be rotated and that the whole squad will be needed, citing Eric Bailly as an example who has come back into the side and excelled in recent games.
He said: “This season is going to be about the squad and rotation and to have the right players playing at the right time.
“We have seen so many injuries and the schedule has been so hectic, I think we have been quite good at rotating. That has been standing us in a good stead.
“You see Eric Bailly who has come in and done brilliant. He has had injuries and niggles, but you have to train well. That is the work the coaches are doing on the training pitch and the players are putting in the work as well. When you’ve got a chance you have to be ready to take it.”
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