De Boer: Depay failed to adapt to Premier League demands

Dutch legend Ronald De Bour has revealed that Memphis Depay had all the necessary ticks to succeed at United but failed to do so because he couldn’t adapt to the higher intensity of English football.

Depay spent two unsuccessful years at Old Trafford, scoring seven goals in 53 matches before moving to French side Lyon in January. According to De Bour, the player drew attention for the wrong reasons during his stay in England.

“Memphis is a great talent.” De Bour told Sport 360, “It just did not work out. He has his characteristics and perhaps he can be smarter at times. When people expect you to do things and you don’t deliver, don’t do other things to attract attention.

“Aubameyang, I saw him in a blue suit, an ugly one in which he looked like a clown, but it is accepted because he is scoring goals, so everyone laughs about it. But if you are not scoring goals and playing bad, people will say he is thinking more about his clothes or whatever.

“They have to be smart, you really have to work.”

His most notable performance for Manchester United came  against Midtjylland in February 2016 when he scored in both legs in an emphatic 6-3 aggregate win, nut-megging a player using a rabona in the process. Depay however has failed to lived up to the standards attached to the No.7 shirt he wore.

De Bour continued: “The only thing I thought when I saw him playing was that you cannot stand on the ball and have time, in England they are much stronger and faster, you have to adapt. He did not really do that.

“He’s got it but thought he could do it standing still, he did not do it while moving. You need a good start. When you have doubts and they do not go away, there is more pressure and people expect.

“But he is still young, and he is at Lyon which is a great team. I still think he can have an incredible turnaround. He has the quality.”

Depay enjoyed a good relationship with current United manager Jose Mourinho, who made sure to install a ‘buy-back’ option when the player departed for France.