Donny van de Beek’s lack of football at Manchester United and his recent injury has left him on the fringes of the Dutch XI.
Van de Beek had to wait for the Netherlands’ third game of the international break to make an impact.
He scored his team’s sixth goal in a 7-0 thrashing of Gibraltar.
Van de Beek needed just eight minutes to get onto the scoresheet after coming on late in the second half.
The goal was a relatively straightforward strike from close range, but the key factor was that Van de Beek was in the right place at the right time to score it.
The boost he needed
Van de Beek came on in a central attacking role, replacing former Ajax teammate Davy Klaassen.
This was Van de Beek’s third international goal, following previous strikes against Italy and Spain.
Van de Beek made a decent contribution in his final United game before the break, with a sensational dummy to play in Mason Greenwood to score against Leicester.
The rest of his performance needed a bit of work, but it’s important to remember Van de Beek is still 23, and needs regular game time.
Scoring against Gibraltar is not in itself, a huge achievement, but what this does do, is help increase his confidence.
Van de Beek should return to United with a bit of an added spring in his step.
Scoring from the bench will also help him, as this may be his role at United for the foreseeable future.
There is some skill, mentally, to coming off the bench to change games, as Solskjaer himself can testify.
If Van de Beek can establish himself as a bit of a super-sub, then at least, in the short-term, that will increase his value to United between now and the end of the season and set him up for a potentially strong Euro 2021.
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