Memphis Depay returns to PSV Eindhoven for Tuesday’s Champions League opening group game still reaching for consistency. The player Louis van Gaal made the first of Manchester United’s summer signings suffered a setback at half-time during the 3-1 victory over Liverpool. United’s manager decided Depay’s ball retention was not good enough and he was replaced by Ashley Young.
On the eve of playing at the Philips Stadion in United livery rather than the PSV colours he wore for 10 years, the 21-year-old was asked how he had taken that substitution.
“I think my reaction was good and I will improve in training, keep my head up and work on it and think I can do better in games,” Depay said.
The calmness of these words was matched by his demeanour throughout a media briefing in which Depay sat alongside Van Gaal. The man who paid PSV £25m for Depay’s services offered his own view of a player who has started all 11 of United’s pre- and regular season matches.
“As a manager you are never satisfied but he is doing well, he has played every game, until now, as you know it’s not so easy,” Van Gaal said. “It’s a high rhythm in the Premier League but he has to adapt and he shall improve.”
To explain Depay’s removal against Liverpool, Van Gaal said: “That was tactical. I have said already that the last pass was not so good in the third and fourth phase. We could have played better the last pass, I think, so that is why I changed him.”
The manager’s move had been coming. Each of those 11 games has featured moments where the ball was ceded sloppily by Depay. This is a by-product of Depay’s youth and his eagerness to take possession and drive at opponents. These are positives and mitigating factors.
As Philip Cocu, his coach at PSV who saw Depay score 22 goals in last season’s Eredivisie title triumph, said: “I am not surprised he has ups and downs but he is also a player who puts a lot of risk in his actions.
“If he is not successful, criticism will follow but he can also be decisive in moments. He will be good. Sometimes it will be difficult in the beginning but in a few months he will get better and better.
“He will bring goals and he always plays towards the goal. He also has good vision for other players. He will always be a player who will have two players on him but the rest of the team will have benefits from that. He is also a quick learner, he will get time and pick it up very fast.”
Rule one in the Van Gaal manual for forwards (and every team position) is the ball must be guarded. Not given away as his side’s careful buildup play threatens to break open the game. The surprise is that Van Gaal had been so patient with Depay. For this he can be applauded and the player should have no complaints at not being given a fair chance to settle.
But a Holland international who made four appearances at the Brazil World Cup (scoring twice) and who was his domestic league’s top-scorer is expected to deliver sooner rather than later.
There have been flashes of what Depay has done for his country and former club. The highlight so far is the display against Club Brugge at Old Trafford in the Champions League play-off round. He scored twice and created Marouane Fellaini’s late goal in a 3-1 victory.
Depay does appear what Cocu bills him as: a match-winner. Yet already he has seen Young come on in his place and create United’s opener against Liverpool – winning the free-kick from which Daley Blind finished – and he is conscious of the need to enhance his play.
“It’s a new experience for me in the Premier League, so I have to improve and I know that,” Depay said. “I learned some things here [at PSV] but, as the boss is saying, the competition is different and I have to learn in the Premier League – to improve there.”
Anthony Martial was the other young gun signed by Van Gaal in the window. Acquired for an initial £36m, Depay watched as the 19-year-old capped a 25-minute debut as a substitute against Liverpool with a scintillating goal that came after he glided through the visiting defence. These are very early days for Depay and Martial. Yet each can be a catalyst for the other. As Depay said: “We are both young so we can help each other, ask each other questions.”
Despite losing Depay to United, PSV are only two points behind Ajax after the opening five matches and are expected to make a fist of retaining their title. Cocu’s team will provide a test for United and Depay. His attitude suggests he is up for it.
