[lRed]

Thought he was really better than his last games.
Hope it's not too serious if he is injured, 3rd choice CB is fine by me for now.
Keep making progress and growing the Maguire-Lindelöf partnership.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

He keeps getting injured. I think he missed almost half season with Aston Villa last season too. I’m afraid that this guy might be another injury prone defender that we got.

 

[Meep]

Any news about the injury? Was away from the TV when he got subbed. Muscle strain or worse?

 

[FootyGirl88]

He keeps getting injured. I think he missed almost half season with Aston Villa last season too. I’m afraid that this guy might be another injury prone defender that we got.

You're thinking about his first season at Villa, he played nearly every game for them last season.

 

[Rozay]

Too many people jump to conclusions after a few games which isn't surprising. He needs a run of games and I'm confident he'll show alot more than what we've seen so far.

Also it wasn't just us fans who believed he had the quality to play in the first team. The Villa manager also advised Ole on Axel's credentials to play in the first team.

Think it goes both ways, more the other way even. Too many people jump to the conclusion that he is this or that good based on a few appearances too.

I think there’s a clear disparity between the player people want Axel to be and the player who actually walks out in the red shirt. One day, those players might align, but there are actually young centre halves who look a lot better than Axel has who we want us to sign and play. Yes, he is only young, but others have been too. He may develop later, but it’s not like he was the best defender in the Championship last season or been outstanding for us. The constant ‘he should be starting’ or ‘is better than Lindelöf’ stands up to no questioning or scrutiny.

He simply doesn’t play like a 20 year old Varane, Gomez, Konate, Jones etc, which is perfectly fine, but let’s not just ignore that and speak about him like he’s one of those young centre halves. If we had a different manager, so far, I’d say he’s more likely to be at a mid-table PL team in a few years than in our XI. I stress, that may change, but only when his actual performances do, not before!

 

[Classical Mechanic]

You're thinking about his first season at Villa, he played nearly every game for them last season.

Pretty sure he missed a chunk of last season there with an injury also. He looks very injury prone so far.

 

[A-man]

Pretty sure he missed a chunk of last season there with an injury also. He looks very injury prone so far.

He was out because of a foot injury. Don’t remember for how long but he played 28 games out of 46.
Edit: checked his stats and it looks like he was out for 3-3.5 months last season.

 

[Adnan]

Think it goes both ways, more the other way even. Too many people jump to the conclusion that he is this or that good based on a few appearances too.

I think there’s a clear disparity between the player people want Axel to be and the player who actually walks out in the red shirt. One day, those players might align, but there are actually young centre halves who look a lot better than Axel has who we want us to sign and play. Yes, he is only young, but others have been too. He may develop later, but it’s not like he was the best defender in the Championship last season or been outstanding for us. The constant ‘he should be starting’ or ‘is better than Lindelöf’ stands up to no questioning or scrutiny.

He simply doesn’t play like a 20 year old Varane, Gomez, Konate, Jones etc, which is perfectly fine, but let’s not just ignore that and speak about him like he’s one of those young centre halves. If we had a different manager, so far, I’d say he’s more likely to be at a mid-table PL team in a few years than in our XI. I stress, that may change, but only when his actual performances do, not before!

He doesn't play like a 20 year old Konate that's for sure. But neither does Issa Diop from West Ham who you were very excited about United signing in the summer when he was linked to us for £60m. He's currently been dropped for Valbuena and has struggled for them.

Axel hasn't leap-frogged Smalling because fans on Redcafe have had a influence over Solskjaer. It's because he's deemed a better footballer and the same applies to Lindelof and that decision was made by people who work with the players on a daily basis. It's best to show some patience because he hasn't even played consecutive games for us and a run of games is very important to settle into the team. He also cost us nothing and is rated very highly amongst the United coaches and your criticism of him is very premature. Maybe you're annoyed Ole preferred him over Smalling?

He isn't strong aerially and that is something he needs to work on. But everything else will come with regular game time. On the ball he's very good, can defend space in a high press due to his pace and is athletically and physically gifted. When Ole says he's a future United captain, he says that because he works with the player on a daily basis and that should be noted and not what someone says on this forum.

 

[Still ill]

Needs games. The end.

 

[Mickson]

Top prospect and in these kind of games he's our best CB (ball-winning ability, pace). But I have said this in the past as well: never going to make it due to injuries. Happens too often. Sadly.

 

[Rozay]

He doesn't play like a 20 year old Konate that's for sure. But neither does Issa Diop from West Ham who you were very excited about United signing in the summer when he was linked to us for £60m. He's currently been dropped for Valbuena and has struggled for them.

Axel hasn't leap-frogged Smalling because fans on Redcafe have had a influence over Solskjaer. It's because he's deemed a better footballer and the same applies to Lindelof and that decision was made by people who work with the players on a daily basis. It's best to show some patience because he hasn't even played consecutive games for us and a run of games is very important to settle into the team. He also cost us nothing and is rated very highly amongst the United coaches and your criticism of him is very premature. Maybe you're annoyed Ole preferred him over Smalling?

He isn't strong aerially and that is something he needs to work on. But everything else will come with regular game time. On the ball he's very good, can defend space in a high press due to his pace and is athletically and physically gifted. When Ole says he's a future United captain, he says that because he works with the player on a daily basis and that should be noted and not what someone says on this forum.

This has nothing to do with Smalling (which is why I didn’t mention Smalling), and I’m not sure he’s leapfrogged Smalling anyway. Keeping a young defender to give dead rubbers to is one thing, keeping a senior player in his prime with experience and international caps is another. I don’t think he thinks Axel is better than Smalling, I think he thinks Lindelöf is. I doubt he thinks Greenwood is better than Lukaku and Sanchez either.

Anyway, perhaps Ole does rate him highly and think he’s one for the future. He may feel the same about Williams and Garner too. My point is it is the fans who are always in a hurry to move them above established players. These players are not better than them now. Axel isn’t better than Lindelöf now, Williams isn’t better than Shaw for me either. So long as Lindelöf, or even Rojo is fit, Axel shouldn’t start ahead of them now. He then needs to significantly improve his performances, which he may we’ll do, to be able to start ahead of them in the future too.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Shame about the injury. I really like Axel and would love him to take over from Lindelöf but gun to head, at the moment I'm not sure. I don't know what his actual ceiling is. Put it this way, as someone else said, compared to the best in Europe in his age bracket, he pales in comparison at present. That's not to say he can't get to that standard, though.

 

[Adnan]

This has nothing to do with Smalling (which is why I didn’t mention Smalling), and I’m not sure he’s leapfrogged Smalling anyway. Keeping a young defender to give dead rubbers to is one thing, keeping a senior player in his prime with experience and international caps is another. I don’t think he thinks Axel is better than Smalling, I think he thinks Lindelöf is. I doubt he thinks Greenwood is better than Lukaku and Sanchez either.

Anyway, perhaps Ole does rate him highly and think he’s one for the future. He may feel the same about Williams and Garner too. My point is it is the fans who are always in a hurry to move them above established players. These players are not better than them now. Axel isn’t better than Lindelöf now, Williams isn’t better than Shaw for me either. So long as Lindelöf, or even Rojo is fit, Axel shouldn’t start ahead of them now. He then needs to significantly improve his performances, which he may we’ll do, to be able to start ahead of them in the future too.

He has leap-frogged Smalling and that is the reason Smalling is on loan. Ole like Southgate prefers his CBs to have ability on the ball and Smalling didn't fancy being 4th choice.

Ole does think he's one for the future but he also thinks he's for the present which was evident by making him 3rd choice ahead of Smalling. And whether Axel is better than Lindelof right now isn' the point because Axel has hardly played mostly due to injury. But Axel is just as good on the ball and is potentially far superior at defending space in a high press and is athletically and physically superior to the Swede which would benefit Maguire and the team in the longrun. Both are weak aerially.

Why should Rojo start ahead of Axel? He's fortunate he's still at the club.

Greenwood had nothing to do with Lukaku being sold. It was actually Rashford and Martial that Lukaku didn't feel comfortable playing second fiddle to. And yes, Greenwood was preferred over Sanchez and I do know that because I know the kid, and he's already contributed more to the club than Sanchez ever did. And i've never brought up Williams as someone that should be a regular starter at LB right now.

 

[A-man]

Shame about the injury. I really like Axel and would love him to take over from Lindelöf but gun to head, at the moment I'm not sure. I don't know what his actual ceiling is. Put it this way, as someone else said, compared to the best in Europe in his age bracket, he pales in comparison at present. That's not to say he can't get to that standard, though.

To be fair I wouldn’t say Tuanzebe has had the chance to develop to his full potential compared to the names you mention. He is 22 but have played very few senior matches. You don’t need to compare to the best 22 year old in Europe, you can even compare to Lindelof. In his 22 year old season he played 32 matches in Portoguise league and 8 Champions League games. The year before he played 4 CL matches including quarter finals against Bayern. You can’t develop without matches.

 

[Dante]

I thought he looked very passive yesterday. There wasn't any defending for him to do, though.

I would imagine that Ole told him to sweep whilst Maguire had the responsibility to break out of defence.

 

[Stadjer]

A young talented defender who is also injury prone?

Now that we have a replacement for Phil Jones can the real Phil Jones be sold?

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

To be fair I wouldn’t say Tuanzebe has had the chance to develop to his full potential compared to the names you mention. He is 22 but have played very few senior matches. You don’t need to compare to the best 22 year old in Europe, you can even compare to Lindelof. In his 22 year old season he played 32 matches in Portoguise league and 8 Champions League games. The year before he played 4 CL matches including quarter finals against Bayern. You can’t develop without matches.

I mean, he played almost an entire season for Villa last year and to be honest, apart from say 2-3 teams, I wouldnt say the Championship is far off the Portuguese league in terms of quality and difficulty.

 

[A-man]

I mean, he played almost an entire season for Villa last year and to be honest, apart from say 2-3 teams, I wouldnt say the Championship is far off the Portuguese league in terms of quality and difficulty.

I’m not saying the quality of the Championship is poor, but Tuanzebe has played very little senior football compared to the players mentioned before.That’s why I don’t think he has reached his full potential.

He did not play almost an entire season last season. He played about 2100 minutes in the league, which is about 50% of the matches. On top of that he played 2 cup matches and 4 playoff matches.

The year before he played 300 minutes in the Championship, 18 minutes CL, and 1 minuted PL.

The year before that 305 min PL.

It is not very much. It is impossible to develop in a good way without more matches. It was very unfortunate with the injury as there would be several good opportunities now because of the hectic schedule.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

I love his athleticism. He's young enough that he can learn the other stuff. Some nice passes at times last night as well. Good match for him to gain experience.

 

[ThemanGiggsy]

I think he can stay healthy he would be the ideal cub partner for maguire. Seems like maguire is nervous about both his and victor’s pace which is why he is always failing to step up or play his natural game. If tuanzebe can stay fit I think he would really help maguire.

 

[BlueHaze]

I think he can stay healthy he would be the ideal cub partner for maguire. Seems like maguire is nervous about both his and victor’s pace which is why he is always failing to step up or play his natural game. If tuanzebe can stay fit I think he would really help maguire.

I agree and he'll always be my first choice to partner Maguire but sadly I have the feeling this is just going to end up one of those typical scenarios of a guy with massive talent but career ruined with injuries. I hope I am wrong because he could potentially become a top class CB. He's only 22 as well so there is still hope.

 

[Samid]

Always injured when we need him. How the feck does this club manage to attract one crook after another?

 

[red woppit]

Always injured when we need him. How the feck does this club manage to attract one crook after another?

His injury last season was probably caused by an impact, broken bone, I think the last couple he has suffered have been muscle injuries, which possibly comes from the fact that he doesn't play regularly. If he had a run of games, then he would probably not suffer from those muscle/soft tissue injuries. I rate him quite highly, and would like to see him perform more regularly, sometimes in a back three, other times in a back two. Lindelof currently has the spot, but I'm still not totally convinced by him, Tuanzebe would be better long term I believe.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

Potentially a great defender and would love to see him get a run in the team but unless he gets over these injuries I don’t know if he’ll make it.

 

[TwoSheds]

Always injured when we need him. How the feck does this club manage to attract one crook after another?

A crook is a criminal, a crock is someone who's injured. Apologies if I'm patronising you, just not sure whether you know.

 

[TwoSheds]

I agree and he'll always be my first choice to partner Maguire but sadly I have the feeling this is just going to end up one of those typical scenarios of a guy with massive talent but career ruined with injuries. I hope I am wrong because he could potentially become a top class CB. He's only 22 as well so there is still hope.

Wes Brown had many worse injuries by the same age, still had a good career even if he perhaps rarely hit the heights he should have. If he's good enough he'll get games but let's see.

 

[Edy2]

Another constantly injured centre back to add to the collection..

 

[Samid]

A crook is a criminal, a crock is someone who's injured. Apologies if I'm patronising you, just not sure whether you know.

My bad. He's not a crook (Phil Jones) just yet

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

His injury last season was probably caused by an impact, broken bone, I think the last couple he has suffered have been muscle injuries, which possibly comes from the fact that he doesn't play regularly. If he had a run of games, then he would probably not suffer from those muscle/soft tissue injuries. I rate him quite highly, and would like to see him perform more regularly, sometimes in a back three, other times in a back two. Lindelof currently has the spot, but I'm still not totally convinced by him, Tuanzebe would be better long term I believe.

Are you a physio? How do you know all of this? So are you telling me that he will be able to avoid injury if he can have a run of games?

 

[Irwin99]

What is the injury that's keeping him out?

 

[arthurka]

What is the injury that's keeping him out?

Who knows, we seem clueless when it comes to injuries. Pogbas or anyone elses.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Yet another defender made of glass. feck me.

 

[Champagne Football]

TuanJonese

 

[Isotope]

His injury last season was probably caused by an impact, broken bone, I think the last couple he has suffered have been muscle injuries, which possibly comes from the fact that he doesn't play regularly. If he had a run of games, then he would probably not suffer from those muscle/soft tissue injuries. I rate him quite highly, and would like to see him perform more regularly, sometimes in a back three, other times in a back two. Lindelof currently has the spot, but I'm still not totally convinced by him, Tuanzebe would be better long term I believe.

Can't he just train everyday so Not playing 90 minutes every week wouldn't cause him those muscle/soft tissue injuries?

I mean, how do those athlete that only have a competition once a year survive?

 

[ThemanGiggsy]

Anyone heard an update on him?

 

[ovoxo]

Apparently he’s gone with the squad, so I hope he can stay fit now. I want him to succeed as Maguire’s partner so badly.

 

[FootyGirl88]

 

[GledTheRed]

Crafted from the finest glass.

 

[AltiUn]

Be nice to have him back, we could use any bodies we can get at the moment.

 

[Bastian]

What's been the situation with him this season? A recurrence of the same hip injury or various injuries? Pretty sure most of us were hoping to see him establish a partnership with Maguire after seeing Ole bumping up to third choice at the start of the season.