Donny van de Beek defended again by Solskjaer after another lacklustre display

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:55 BST
• 2 min read

Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has leapt to the defence of attacking midfielder Donny van de Beek after the Dutchman again failed to impress after being named in the starting line-up.

Van de Beek has, more often than not, been used in cup competitions since his £35.7m [€39.4m] move from Ajax in the summer when he was brought in as Man Utd’s marquee signing.

He has started 11 games so far this campaign, with two coming in the Premier League, three in the League Cup, three in the Champions League, and three in the FA Cup.

In that period he has one goal and one assist to his name.

He was given another opportunity to make an impact from the starting after being named in the line up for Man Utd’s FA Cup clash versus West Ham on Tuesday.

But, he was ineffectual, gaining a 6.0 FootballCritic rating for his performance, with the game passing him by before he was replaced in the 73rd minute for Bruno Fernandes.

Solskjaer, who has continually stated his belief Van de Beek will come good at Old Trafford, was forced to defend his player’s performance again.

“I thought in the first half, we and Donny played really well,” the Norwegian said after the break.

“We created spaces and he was part of that.

“He did his job neat and tidy, had a half-chance. In the second half, the whole team fell off a little bit and we just wanted to make a few changes.”

Van de Beek’s future at Man Utd under threat?

Van de Beek’s future at Man Utd has even been called into question despite him only being there for less than a year.

Former club favourite Edwin van der Sar, who worked with the player at Ajax, has thrown his support behind his compatriot previously, and also revealed that figures within Old Trafford are confident that Van de Beek will come good too.