Is Memphis Depay the next Ronaldo or the next Nani at Manchester United?

On his return for Man United, Memphis scored a well-taken goal against Watford

Memphis Depay put on an encouraging display against Watford on Saturday. Playing as a striker, his movement was good, occupying the spaces very efficiently. And his movement and finishing for the goal were exquisite. But the real question is, can he continue performing at this level consistently for the upcoming matches?

World Cup 2014 and the breakthrough season

Memphis first caught everyone’s eye during the FIFA World Cup 2014. He was not a finished article yet, but his pace, trickery, crossing and his finishing – both from close and long range – made football fans believe he could be the next big thing in world football.

At the age of 20, he was the youngest Dutchman to score in the World Cup and was nominated for the tournament’s ‘Best Young Player’ award along with Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane, eventually losing out to Pogba.

Unsurprisingly, he was linked with a host of big clubs, including Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, but eventually stayed at PSV Eindhoven. So, having decided to tune into Eredivisie to watch PSV matches and, in particularly, Memphis, I was not disappointed.

He had his best season in his career, scoring 22 goals in 30 matches in the league and became the league’s top scorer. He scored seven free kicks, making him the best free kick taker in Europe. And he scored a stunning free kick 35 yards out in the match where PSV won their 22nd Eredivisie title.

Memphis could not have impressed more, and given his performance, it was known quite clearly he would receive a lot of interest from a lot of clubs. It looked inevitable that he would move to one of the Europe’s top clubs.

Move to Manchester United with great expectations

Before any news agencies could get any information about this speculation, Manchester United acted real quick and snapped him up in the first week of May. United fans knew what he had done in the Dutch league the previous season and that might have made them very excited.

Many fans and experts started comparing him with Cristiano Ronaldo, mainly because of their similar style of play and attitude on the field. Gary Neville did warn us by saying United has signed a player with great potential; he needed time to achieve his full potential. But it seemed most of the fans paid no heed to Neville’s comments, as they blindly believed that Memphis would emulate Beckham or Ronaldo wearing the legendary No.7 shirt.

Failing to deliver, the expectations crumbling down

So, it might have been a hard pill to swallow, for Man United fans, when Memphis struggled big time in the Premier League. He started decently, getting into good areas, showing his skills and pace, linking well with left back Luke Shaw, yet could not take chances to score or assist.

His two goals against Club Brugge seemed that he would finally break his duck in the league, but as days went by, it became clear he was comfortable playing against European sides with relatively weaker defence than those in the league.

In the league, he would try hard to make things happen but with no end product. The fans and he himself were frustrated by his performances. And his performance against Liverpool highlighted his plight in the league; he was being so wasteful with the ball that even Ryan Giggs looked frustrated watching him play.

He was rightly substituted by Ashley Young at the half time and later, a relatively unknown Anthony Martial stole the show by scoring against Liverpool and quickly became United’s signing of the season.

The fans were singing Martial’s name, but they almost forgot that few months ago, they were singing Memphis’ name. That’s how bad his season has been. Even though his performance against Watford was very refreshing and encouraging, it should be seen if he can string a few decent performances together on the back of his impressive performance.

Cases of Ronaldo and Nani

It could be argued that Nani (L) did not as much of Sir Alex's faith as Ronaldo (R) did

It’s a tricky situation that Memphis is in. There is clearly no doubt about his talent. But he's still very young, and as Gary Neville said before, he would need time to settle in a new league, in a new country.

His situation is quite similar to the one with Ronaldo when he first came in. Few players, especially Ruud van Nistelrooy, complained about his wastefulness and his useless trickery with the ball.

But, Sir Alex Ferguson stuck with him, clearly knowing that with age and maturity, he could become a great player. And Ferguson's faith in Ronaldo was repaid as not only he became a great player but one of the greatest players in the world.

However, the same cannot be said about Nani. Arriving in the summer of 2007, he showed a lot of talent and ability to become a special player. But the one thing missing from his game was consistency.

Many believed that Ronaldo took all the limelight; Nani always seemed to be in the shadow of Ronaldo. But when Ronaldo left United for Real Madrid in 2009, Nani failed to step up and replace him.

He did show his quality at times, notably against Arsenal in 2010 where he scored an exceptional individual goal, but those were very few and far between. The truth is, Nani never got the faith from Ferguson he deserved.

Nani never got a good consistent run of games as Ronaldo got at the start of his United career despite his inconsistency. And that eventually led to the downfall of Nani.

Memphis’ future

It was nice to hear from Louis van Gaal in the pre-match press conference that he has faith in Memphis. Even though he conceded that he expected better from him, he also rightfully acknowledged that it’s wrong to expect a young player to perform consistently.

Hopefully, the manager’s faith and his recent performance will give Memphis the confidence to put up good performances and cement his place in the first team. United have got their hands on a gem of a player and everyone, from the coaching staff to the players to the fans, should persevere with him to yield rich rewards down the line. Or else he might end up becoming a player who never realised his full potential.