Donny van de Beek has reflected on his recent injury issues, missing fixtures and Manchester United’s final Europa League match.
The Dutch midfielder has struggled to ever cement his place in a United starting 11 but is ready to prove himself when the time comes.
If any manager was going to get the best out of Van de Beek, it would be Erik ten Hag, who coached 25-year-old during their time at Ajax.
Regarding opportunities to play, he told MUTV: “I feel great, I feel good and what I’m saying is I just need to keep going and, if chances come, I have to take them.
“It [playing an attacking role] is also one of the points how I can maybe help the team, play in between the lines and make my runs with the ball, give some passes. I just do my best and have to stay fit and just help the team.”
Van de Beek was recently ruled out of action throughout the end of September and the majority of October due to picking up a knock. He’s now back in action and in contention to play United’s remaining fixtures before the World Cup kicks off.
He touched on the effect the injury had on him, saying: “To be injured is the most difficult thing for a player. You want to be on the pitch, around the guys in the stadium, feel the grass and, yeah, it’s a hard time if you are injured. I’m happy to be back and stay fit for a longer time and just try and help the team.”
Tonight, the Red Devils take on Real Sociedad in Spain in an attempt to finish Group E as winners. To do so, they will need to win by two or more goals, which is a difficult task against an in-form team and away from home.
Van de Beek confident ahead of Sociedad clash
Van de Beek remains confident in the team to pull it off, he said: “I think we have the qualities to do that. First, we have to go for the win but, even that, we have to do more than that, as we have to win by a goal difference of two goals.
“So we have enough players in the squad who can score goals and also need clean defending because we can’t concede too many goals. So everything has to be good on Thursday.
“They have a good team as well but we do also. We have to show it on Thursday and put a lot of energy into the game.”
