Van de Beek played for just two minutes on Wednesday night
Donny van de Beek has been urged to hold talks with Manchester United over his lack of game time by former Dutch international Ronald de Boer.
United lost their fourth consecutive semi-final on Wednesday night, as they were outclassed by a Manchester City side hitting their stride at a time when many teams are starting to feel the physical effects of such a congested season.
Van de Beek made a late cameo, coming on in the 88th minute for Fred – a substitution some fans labelled ‘disgraceful’ and ‘insulting’ to their £35m midfielder.
Ah yes. Now is the time for Donny Van de Beek to show what he can do with… *checks clock*… two minutes to play
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) January 6, 2021
The Dutch midfielder has struggled for game time in his first season at United, starting four games in the EFL Cup until Wednesday’s defeat and only making sporadic appearances in the Premier League.
With a delayed Euros tournament coming up in the summer (hopefully), De Boer has said the playmaker should demand answers from the club who seemingly refuse to integrate him into the team.
“Euro 2020 is coming, he will undoubtedly want to be there. Maybe it would be good for him to discuss with the club exactly what they want with him,” he told Dutch outlet, AD.
“If the view on playing time does not improve, he may have to declare that he should be loaned or even sold.
“You have to be lucky every now and then. Of course it doesn’t look great now, but with a great performance it can suddenly change completely.
“We also don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Perhaps they have made certain agreements with his transfer, they will get him ready for next year this season.
“That always remains a bit of a guess.”
In his 10 league appearances so far this season, Van de Beek has only scored one goal – a late consolation against Crystal Palace in September.
His time at Ajax shows he has a lot more to offer and will need playing time to show it. With United’s star man Bruno Fernandes looking fatigued against Man City, now could be the time for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to give his biggest summer signing a chance to prove his worth as an attacking midfielder.
Whether he will bow to the pressure remains to be seen.
