Memphis Depay Still Deserves Time Despite Calamitous Chelsea Cameo

It was easy for fans to turn on Memphis Depay after Chelsea’s frustrating stoppage time equaliser against Manchester United on Sunday.

After all, the Dutch forward has done little over the last few months to justify the £25 million that Manchester United spent on him in the summer. Reduced to bit-part cameos, Memphis has only ever had around 10, 15, or maybe 20 minutes, at the max, to impact games. In fact, by all accounts, his best performance came last night while playing for United’s Under 21s against Norwich.

Since the turn of the year, Memphis Depay has only really put a positive spin on a match for the full team against Sheffield United, where he won a penalty that Wayne Rooney converted, and, at a push, at St. James’ Park when he hurried the Newcastle United defence with his running, playing an integral part in Rooney’s second goal of the night.

So, on Sunday, when his attempted pass to an open and clear on goal Morgan Schneiderlin instead went straight into the arms of Thibaut Courtois, who then launched an attack that immediately led to Chelsea’s equaliser, it was always likely that the blame would be laid firmly at Depay’s feet.

It didn’t matter that there was a good 20 seconds between Depay’s admittedly sloppy pass and Costa rounding De Gea to score. Or that the goal was only possible because of Daley Blind’s unfortunate slip and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson’s tackle that inadvertently pushed the ball away from De Gea and gave Costa an empty net to slot the ball into.

Depay’s lazy pass fit into the narrative that the supposedly “arrogant” forward has been a wretched signing for Manchester United. It also didn’t help that Jesse Lingard, the Warrington-born midfielder who has usurped Depay with aplomb and taken his place in the team, scored a stunning strike to put Manchester United in front.

Even the calming words of Wayne Rooney, who insisted that fans shouldn’t blame Depay for Chelsea’s goal and that the entire team were responsible, couldn’t stop the online ire from growing, with many Manchester United fans insisting that this would either be Memphis’ last involvement of the season or ever in United red.

But while it’s impossible to defend Memphis Depay’s return since he arrived at Old Trafford, especially as Anthony Martial and Lingard have been exemplary, Manchester United’s fans and officials need to remain calm remaining his future, and not make any rash decisions.

The current form of Angel Di Maria, who Manchester United bought for £59.7 million from Real Madrid in August 2014 only to sell for £44 million to Paris Saint Germain a year later after his stunning early form plateaued as the season wore on, should be a stark reminder of why United need to remain loyal to Depay.

Sure, there are differences, as Di Maria never originally settled in Manchester, and his problems only increased once his home was broken into. But United’s inability to convince the Argentinian to stay at Old Trafford for at least one more season looks increasingly stupid with every passing week he lights up Ligue 1 and United are subjected to bore-draws.

There was a reason that Manchester United bought Memphis Depay. The similarities between his playing style and Cristiano Ronaldo’s has been plainly obvious even during his dankest displays for United, as Depay has repeatedly tried to attack with pace and creativity. It’s just hardly ever paid off.

Let’s not forget that it took Ronaldo three seasons before he truly found the form that turned him a global phenomenon. United would be foolish not to afford Depay the same amount of time to settle and impress too.

[Images via Getty/Alex Livesey]