On United's most failed signings in recent years, Dutch midfielder Van der Beek will certainly be one of the "parallel goods". This season, his Ajax-era mentor Tenhag has coached the Red Devils, but £39 million Van der Beek still has few appearances. Former agent Guido Albels recently shelled former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, arguing that he had not treated Van der Baker fairly in favour of Pogba, destroying the confidence of the Dutch midfielder.
Van der Beek has been signing for Manchester United in 2020 for almost two years, but he has made only a handful of Premier League starts! In the experience of the Red Devils, Van der Beek was abandoned by Van Gaal, and participation in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been basically hopeless.
The 25-year-old Netherlands international considered a transfer to improve his treatment, so he parted ways with Albers to move to high-profile agent Ali Durson, who has Manchester United players Tyrell Malassia, Lindelof and also the agent of Barca midfielder Frankie De Jong.
However, Tenhag came to Manchester United and let Van der Beek temporarily abandon the transfer plan, hoping to find form under the guidance of the mentor, unfortunately, so far this season, Xiao Fan has only made 3 substitute appearances, totaling 19 minutes.
In an interview with the Dutch "Voetbal Primeur", Arbels believes that Van der Beek has not been treated fairly in Manchester United, especially former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Norwegian favorite big star in the squad such as Pogba, who can still play even if he violates the team rules, and Van der Beek's efforts are ignored.
"I can see that he is very disappointed in the way United have treated themselves and he is well aware of what I have done to turn things around. In the Netherlands, Downey (Van der Beek) was praised by everyone, he performed well and was loved by the fans. But when he came to Manchester United, he never got a chance to play and his relationship with the club was really cold."
Van der Beek's former agent recalled a March 2021 upheaval: "There was a struggle and an interest factor at play, and Downey was going to compete with Pogba on the pitch. Once, Pogba was late for training, only said sorry, and then could continue to play the main force. And a player who trains for 8 weeks a day can't convince the manager that he's good enough."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's preference for "his own people" is not a player of Van der Beek, Eric Baie, who has been rented to Marseille, has questioned in person that he always let Maguire start, and now right-back Diogu Dalo has never been given a chance during the coaching of Solo, and now Tenhag has let him play the main force, and the Portuguese right guard has become one of the most motivated and consistent players in the whole team.
The means of the boss coaxing the main players to stabilize the team and motivate the players when he initially replaced Mourinho in charge, but the British "Daily Telegraph" commented that this method cannot be used for a long time, otherwise it will affect the authority of the manager, which also led to the Norwegian losing Manchester United's dressing room before the end of the class.
Albels added that while no longer Vanderbeck's agent, they were still friends and kept in touch, and Little Fan still wanted to prove himself again under Tenhaag. But now the Dutch midfielder is no longer facing purely objective difficulties, but also his own problems, and his psychological state is worrying. "I underestimated the mental blow to him from not being able to play, and I should have focused earlier on how the psychological effects could help him." Alberts explained.
Under Tenhaag, the reason why Van der Beek could not get a chance to play was no longer the manager's eccentricity, but his own mental struggle. The British "Sun" revealed that after Tenhag came to Manchester United, he was surprised to find that Van der Beek lacked confidence and sentenced two people in Ajax.
Confidence has had a greater impact on players than many people think, as evidenced by the contrasts in the performances of Manchester United team-mates Marcus Rashford and Maguire over the past year or two.
Van der Beek also suffered an injury that missed two Europa League group games due to injury, which would have been the stage for him to play for good performance. Now, Van der Beek's hopes of being named to the Netherlands World Cup squad have been dashed, and he has never been included in the big list by Louis van Gaal in the past year.
Van der Beek will hardly be the absolute mainstay of Manchester United, but he can certainly play a role if he is physically and mentally safe and healthy. Now, he no longer has to worry about the manager favoring his rivals, and Van der Beek can only blame himself if he can't regain his position with his efforts.