Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer teases new position for Donny van de Beek
Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was effusive in his praise of new signing Donny van de Beek's tactical flexibility following his team's win over Brighton.
The Dutch midfielder earned a rare start in the EFL Cup Round of 16 game and repaid his manager's faith with a brilliant assist for Juan Mata, en route to a 3-0 win for Manchester United.
Speaking to the media after the game, Solskjaer hinted that the 23-year-old's footballing acumen could even see him fit into a new position going forward.
"He’s [Donny van de Beek] got very high footballing intelligence and tactically he’s gone through the Ajax system. Dutch football is tactical, he knows football, he's got his head screwed on.
"He’s a different type of left-sided player compared to Dan James and Marcus Rashford but coming inside and finding good pockets why not, he can play loads of different positions, which sometimes is a strength for a player."
"I remember myself sometimes, right-wing, left-wing centre forward, No. 10, Donny is one the coach will always look to have in a squad."
Donny van de Beek's advisor unhappy with Manchester United over playing time
Solskjaer's praise arrives on the back of van de Beek's advisor commenting on his client's lack of playing time so far.
After signing for Manchester United in a £35.7million move this summer, Solskjaer has used van de Beek predominantly as a bench option, starting the likes of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay ahead of him in midfield.
Taking exception to that, van de Beek's advisor slated Solskjaer's selection policy and claimed that the club deserved to lose 7-1 to Brighton over the weekend.
Manchester United managed to pull off a smash and grab 3-2 win despite being second best for large parts of the match.
The Dutchman, who started the game on the bench, was only substituted on in the 91st minute - something that rubbed his advisor Sjaak Swart wrong.
He said:
"A substitute; I don't like it at all. I couldn't do it, coming on with four minutes left. You'd have to leave me on the bench.
"But, I have to say, he still did three good things. And the penalty, where the winning goal came from, came from him. He did well in those couple of minutes.
"But normally they should have lost 7-1. Brighton hit the post and the bar five times. They (Brighton) have a nice team, but that shouldn't happen to Manchester United."
Van de Beek's agent then came out publicly and shot down Swart's comments, claiming that the player himself had no issues with his playing time and enjoyed a great relationship with Manchester United manager Solskjaer.