Memphis Depay Is Manchester United Man with Most on Line After Internationals

There are several Manchester United players who will hope to come back from the international break in improved form, but none more so than Memphis Depay.

Memphis has found the early going of his United career tough. After putting in some promising initial performances, particularly in the Champions League, it became increasingly clear that his time at Old Trafford was not taking off in the manner he would have wanted.

Eventually, Louis van Gaal dropped him, ahead of the Everton game. That game came off the back of United's defeat to Arsenal and the Netherlands' failure to qualify for Euro 2016.

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Van Gaal's "total human being" approach to management meant that he took both Memphis and Daley Blind out of the firing line against Everton, allowing them time and space to lick their wounds. Blind has made his way back into the first team, reuniting with Chris Smalling at the heart of United's defence.

Memphis, on the other hand, is still out in the cold.

He has attracted unfavourable media commentary. Criticism of his performances is, of course, fair. However, the criticism of his fashion choices, or the coverage of his weight has been less fair. It seems unlikely that his choice of outfit has a great deal of bearing on his ability on the pitch.

As for the weight gain, while Memphis spoke to De Telegraaf about the acquisition of muscle mass (h/t Goal.com), the Mirror Football Twitter account took a shot at him.

All of this, though, is a distraction. The truth is, Memphis is yet to make much in the way of positive impact for United. He has got off the mark in the league and the Champions League, albeit against Sunderland and Club Brugge, neither of whom would count among the Red Devils' toughest opposition of the season.

In his lengthy spell out wide, he did not register a single assist. This was not the fault of wasteful strikers, either. His chance-creation numbers are poor—he has managed just 0.5 key passes per league game and 0.8 per Champions League game.

From a subjective perspective, Memphis has looked like he has been a little too keen to impress, to demonstrate that he is worthy of an important place at a big club—worthy to wear the No. 7 shirt.

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That is born out somewhat by the numbers, He has attempted a lot of dribbles, without tremendous success. He is averaging 1.4 successful dribbles per league game, but 1.5 unsuccessful. An average of one of his 3.1 shots per game in the league has been on target, the rest either off the mark or blocked.

After his league debut, Van Gaal said he had warned his new players not to "be very eager," or to "show himself maybe too much" by which he seemed to mean trying too hard. This seems to be something Memphis has been unable to take to heart.

It should not be a surprise that he has struggled. The adaptation to a new league and new level of attention must require a significant adjustment. He has gone from being a talismanic player in a title-winning side to a struggling bit-part player in a team whose credentials remain uncertain.

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He has been outshone in almost every department by another young player arriving from a different league, but Anthony Martial's early United career has been remarkable and is the exception, not the rule.

It may be that Memphis' improvement has to wait, and he emerges as a force either later this season or even requires a full year at the club before he starts to show his true worth. Luke Shaw struggled in his first season at the club but demonstrated before his injury this season that he was ready to make an impact.

Of course, it may also be that Memphis never finds his true form at United and his signing goes down as a failed experiment. However, it is far too soon to leap to that conclusion.

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For now, having made the Netherlands squad after a near miss, Memphis can use the international break to play himself back into some form and to lay a marker down for the next run of games for United. There is plenty of competition for places in his position at the moment, and he could really do with proving that he should be in the mix.

He can afford to be reasonably patient, though. He is a young man, and in terms of his future at Old Trafford, he has time on his side. However, for his sake, and the sake of his team, starting to get things right on the pitch as soon as possible should be his key priority.

All advanced statistics per WhoScored.com. 

Quotations obtained firsthand except where otherwise stated.