Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s verdict on Donny van de Beek after first start in a month
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised Donny van de Beek’s performance against Watford as Manchester United progressed in the FA Cup.
The Red Devils beat their Championship opponents 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to Scott McTominay’s early header.
Van de Beek played the full 90 minutes for just the fourth time since signing for United from Ajax in the summer and it was his first start since the win over West Ham at the beginning of December.
Many fans believe the Dutchman should be given more opportunities to show what he can do in the Premier League.
And having shown off some neat flicks and fine passing, he may be given a chance in the Red Devils midfield more regularly.
Solskjaer was pleased with what he saw from Van de Beek against Watford, saying: “I think Donny showed again his qualities.
“He plays, he’s very technically clean, makes good decisions – what a little flick with the back-heel to play Juan [Mata] through in the first half!
“He’s got that quality to open up tight games, so definitely he’ll benefit from this game as well.”
United bounced back from Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to rivals Manchester City to beat Watford.
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And Solskjaer was taking the positives from a scrappy encounter, adding: “You're through and that's the main thing.
“We started really brightly. I didn't expect us to start this well, because it's a team that's not really played together and they've not really played for a while, and you expect them to grow into the game.
“But it was a really good start, and we created some chances and of course scored a goal.
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“After about 20-25 minutes, maybe, we stopped playing simple football; we tried to complicate things and we got counter-attacked a few times.
“We started giving them the ball back easily, we tried to complicate it, maybe one or two men out of position and then suddenly they counter-attack and when you’ve got Andre Gray or Ismaila Sarr running at you, you’re always going to have the heart way up here.”
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