Red Alert with Steve Shanyaski

How could anyone not feel sorry for Donny Van De Beek, sat waiting for his chance to come on against Chelsea that never materialised.

He wants to play but has so far only started in two Carabao Cup matches. A young lad massively important to Ajax’s success last season, it is just getting to that point now when everyone is starting to ask, “Why did Ole sign him just to keep the subs-bench warm?”. It’s starting to feel slightly cruel on such a young and eager talent. 

He’s clearly got as much talent as many that start for United. He was subbed-on simultaneously with Pogba against PSG, and it was Donny that made more of a difference, not Paul. In fact, I get excited every time he comes on – as do most United fans – which is why it’s so frustrating so see him sat on the bench with a 1000 yard stare in his eyes, watching a 0-0 game come to its dreadfully boring end. 

What a dull game that was. We went from the midweek high of the PSG win, to watching paint dry on a damp wall back at Old Trafford. Ole set up with four at the back, and then two defensive midfielders. Six players committed to blocking the back third of the field from Chelsea attacks, which they did well to be fair. 

After all the frustrating previous weeks, and finger pointing, I felt that Lindelof had the best game of the six. He really looked like he’d got himself focused and wasn’t about to be beaten by average crosses and corners like the weeks gone by. 

We were lucky not to lose that game though, with the absent-minded VAR team missing Maguire dragging Azpilicueta down with a UFC-style standing side headlock. Little things like that make me still wonder if Maguire is still mentally ready for his role as centre back and captain at United.

The big question is what did the Chelsea game tell us? Many things. Two managers that were more petrified of conceding than going for that killer attack tells us that both Ole and Lampard are made to doubt themselves under pressure, and they would rather walk away with a “no damage done” result than a reward for bravery. Both teams have enough firepower to destroy the other on the right day, with the right tactics. 

I saw Chelsea as really putting some thought into their purchases before the start of the season, signing Havertz and Werner, and previously Pulisic in January  – but all were fairly none existent in Saturday’s game. With our defence doing such a great job of snuffing them out, then what was the issue up front for United? Well, another thing this match told us was how out of his depth Daniel James looked coming up against a premier league defence. It was almost as though we were playing with 10 men, because anyone on Chelsea’s right side had Dan James in their pocket.

Ole made changes and brought Pogba on rather than Van De Beek, but I feel he is putting his trust into a player that will continually let us down. Pogba’s role has become like a pretend-hero role, a last 20 minute super sub that actually does very little. If an £80M player hasn’t got what it takes to deserve a full 90 minutes then his position in the team is unjustified and needs to be gone. 

So, going forward United have a lot to think about. Ole needs to be brave and embrace the fact that his job is continually on the line with more fierce decisions. Stop playing favourites like Dan James and Pogba that offer very little, and wake up the talent that is falling asleep on the bench like Van De beek, Tuanzebe and Alex Telles. 

We’ve got Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday and Arsenal on Sunday. Two big games that require big decisions from Ole, and no pedestrians on the pitch taking up places for the hungry talent that’s sitting watching and hoping.