How can Donny Van de Beek fit at Everton under Lampard?

How life for Dutch midfielder Donny Van de Beek turned out to be so difficult is indeed a mystery in itself. The then highly rated youngster was signed by Manchester United in 2020 with the hopes of fulfilling the responsibilities of a complete midfielder, something that United fans might have expected from Paul Pogba. He made a positive impact in his first game as well when he scored United’s only goal in a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace. A debut day goal, despite a defeat, is something that fans can be happy about. Many believed the former Ajax player to be the one pulling the strings in the midfield area, but that is not how things turned out. Van de Beek was rarely given any chance to prove his worth, either under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Ralf Rangnick. In the January transfer window of 2022, the Dutch moved on loan to Everton and is yet to play a game for the Toffees. He could, however have a significant impact for new manager Frank Lampard. Lampard showed during his time at Chelsea that he is someone who likes to play attacking football, and that is something Van de Beek could seriously contribute him.

How good is Van de Beek actually?

It is extremely difficult to judge what type of a player Van de Beek in the past couple of years as he has rarely ever contributed to much Manchester United have achieved on the pitch. One has to track back to his days at Ajax to really get a sense of the type of player he really is. Many might not remember, but the midfielder delivered one of the most impressive performances in recent Champions League history in the 2018-19 season.

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The stage was the round of 16 and the opponents were the mighty Real Madrid. The venue, Santiago Bernabeu. A daunting prospect for any opposing player. People might not have expected an Ajax midfield dominance but that was exactly what happened on the day. The center-piece, in a lot of respects, was Van de Beek. He found those crucial passes, time and again and many of those resulted in goal-scoring efforts. Ajax ultimately won the match by a whopping 4-1 margin and Van de Beek knew that he had done something special. To put it in more absolute terms, Van de Beek played against a midfield of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Casemiro at the Bernabeu, and came out on top.

How will he fit at Everton?

It is difficult to say exactly in what role Lampard might employ the midfielder, but one would assume it would be as an attacking one. The quality of Van de Beek’s passes are truly a thing of beauty and so is his ability to run past players. During his time at Chelsea, Lampard had employed an attacking mindset, making most of the wings. For such a set up, it is crucial for the CAM to be able to see the overlapping players on either wing and play an inch perfect pass to the suitable one.

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If Lampard gets his tactics right, Van de Beek could be a major asset. The Dutchman has the composure and skill to find players on the wings with inch-perfect passes. Although his time at United was short, Van de Beek’s diagonals to the wings were usually received with a degree of awe. This means that the Dutchman is able to find these passes from quite a distance. In close quarters, he can play those deadly passes to release the attacking players in dangerous areas. His skill in front of goal is also pretty good as he has shown in the past. The midfielder is not one to shy away from a goal-scoring opportunity and he has converted several of them.