Donny van de Beek has looked to be finding his feet recently. He made a valuable contribution as a substitute in the win over Brighton.
Against Burnley last week he managed to provide an assist to set Edinson Cavani up for the third goal.
Did this buy him any extra time with United chasing a goal against Leeds? Unfortunately not.
Van de Beek was unfortunately on the bench, and when he was brought on, it was the 89th minute.
Even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, an expert substitute himself, would struggle to impact the game in so little time.
Van de Beek managed to touch the ball eight times during his brief cameo. But it was not enough time to change the result.
Perhaps even in 30 minutes Van de Beek may not have been able to make an impact – what was telling, was that Solskjaer did not show enough confidence in him to try.
Supporters were not very impressed with Solskjaer’s continued lack of faith in the Dutchman, who has just 332 Premier League minutes to his name this season.
Will Van de Beek start for United soon?
There are now three big games facing United over the next fortnight. Home and away against Roma, and at home to Liverpool in between.
Bruno Fernandes will be first choice for the Europa League ties, and Van de Beek may have a chance to start versus Liverpool, perhaps.
He has not started a league game since December though, so it would not be a surprise if Bruno started all three.
At the same time, the Portuguese star’s form has begun to drop off. He does not have a Premier League goal to his name since mid-February.
Fernandes had five shots against Leeds, all of which missed the target.
If he keeps on struggling in front of goal, United would be obliged to give Van de Beek a chance, even if it is simply to give Fernandes a jolt.
Whatever the next week holds for Van de Beek, he deserves better than being a 89th minute substitute.
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