He did superb considering the way Leicester played. Not really the type of game to get the best out of him when most attacks were long balls drilled over his head.
17
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 29
- Clean sheets
- 9
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 4
Showed just how bad QPR were. Blind wasn't poor but it was a good taste of what the EPL will be like. He won't be able to just sit back and dictate play as he pleases.
That is a fair point about how the 2 CB's help the role of the holding CM, people always look at it as the holder basically covering and screening the back 4, but how the two CB's push out to protect and help the holding CM is also part of the role working within a well oiled unit, whether we have the CB's to do that I don't know though as yet to have them playing as good defenders yet let alone ones capable of a more evovled aspect of the role, and regardless I still think we need a physical presence in midfield.
Strootman is certainly assumed to be the preferred option by LvG and certainly ticks the boxes, I think Saul Niguez is too young, one to keep an eye on but we need ready made right now. Carvalho seems to have been more of a Moyes target I agree. Could Koke be an answer? and you'd have to think McCarthy will be catching the eye as well.
Thought he moved the ball well today under far more pressure than at QPR, which I don't think was anything than a walk in the park against a dire squad with no belief or talent showing up at Old Trafford ready to get fecked, as happens a few times a season (Sunderland 2010 comes to mind, though there are more recent examples).
The goals were too direct and long to really implicate him.
The goals were too direct and long to really implicate him.
Nugent seemed to be following him everywhere in the first half when we had possession.
Koke is a great player indeed. But I think he's more of a #8 than a #6. It'd be a waste of his abilities to shackle him in a more defensive role than he's accustomed to. If we hadn't bought Herrera, Kokw would be perfect for that position.
McCarthy is another excellent option. Accustomed to the league, very good passing ability on top of defensive awareness.
He had a very poor game yesterday. His lack of composure was disappointing and also put pressure on the other players. When Leicester were putting pressure on us, every time he got the ball he panicked and just hoofed it forward, so basically he was inviting more pressure.
His position is key, and he needs to be the cool head in our midfield. Hopefully yesterday was and exception because he is adapting to the new league and maybe he was surprised by Leicesters physicality.
He is very good when we have tons of possession and we're building from the back, but he needs to step up his game when teams press us and run us to the ground.
His position is key, and he needs to be the cool head in our midfield. Hopefully yesterday was and exception because he is adapting to the new league and maybe he was surprised by Leicesters physicality.
He is very good when we have tons of possession and we're building from the back, but he needs to step up his game when teams press us and run us to the ground.
Am I the only one who thought he was decent? He covered our defenders well on quite a few occasions and his passing was decent as well.
I agree.
He had a fair bit of pressure put on him, and was tracked continuously. Considering the same, he did alright. His defensive stats were good too, I think he did alright. Obviously he needs to pick up on the frenetic pace and physicality, but he'd cope well I reckon.
Yup, he was man marked. Even the camera man spotted it and highlighted it some time during the play.
It was actually visible on the pitch too, Daley was making some weird runs that didn't really make sense unless you spotted that man-marking on him, he was trying to get himself some space and lose the marker or drag him away from defenders to play the ball. Of course, it would've looked better if our defenders didn't fecking hoof it again.
Don't think much of yesterday was Blind's fault, he was abandoned by Herrera and Di Maria and had a cracked toilet behind him in Blackett and Smalling and it didnt help that Rafael and Rojo decided to play as strikers. Can't expect him to do all the work by himself...
Somebody needed to tell the FB's to stay back for a while to kill game off. We have gone from overly defensive last season to bloody gungho this season. Poor Daley cannot cover for everybody. They need to be told that it the FB's go forward someone else has to drop back to cover. They aren't doing that. They are all bombing forward, which is exciting, but yesterday was suicidal. Then the ball goes over the top and their attack is right on our CB's who were all over the place. Someone at the club needs to be doing defensive drills with the defenders or it will never get better. The attack is fabulous, the defence is crazy.
Maybe if LvG decided to go 4-3-3 with Di Maria in the front 3 and 2 #8's then Koke and Herrera with McCarthy as the #6 would work.
Maybe if LvG decided to go 4-3-3 with Di Maria in the front 3 and 2 #8's then Koke and Herrera with McCarthy as the #6 would work.
Nice.
But you forgot Ronnie as LAM in the front 3.
Nice.
But you forgot Ronnie as LAM in the front 3.
Damn! Must remember to add him as well as Varane and Hummels to the defense!
I thought he was great first half, second half could have been a bit better but most of the goals we conceded were individual errors, you can't do much about it, and Lvg should have made a tactical change and put Herrera right beside him. I saw the match again, our left hand side of Defence with Rojo and Blackett were hilariously bad. Rojo was awful Positionally and Blind had to fill his place which meant there was space through the middle, while Blackett kept losing individual battles and did stupid errors due to which we were on the backfoot. In the first half alone they made 5 mistakes together due to which they attacked and tested us. After saying all this one thing which i am delighted about is, its the second match in the Row in which Blind, Herrera, Di Maria all "Midfielders" have been our best players when was the last time we could have said that? .
I agree with both posts.
Someone compared our formation to last-season Madrid. In RM this was different, because they had devastating trio up top capable of both creating and scoring. With Falcao, Rooney and RVP we need more support from the midfielders. In return, when they (Di Maria and Herrera) went up the pitch AND the fullbacks bombed forward he was asked to hold Leicester on his own. You can’t let that happen in this league, no matter what the opposition is.
I think he did really well considering the circumstances. His lack of physicality is obvious but he was asked to do way too much today. I’m actually positively surprised how good he was with his passing and under pressure. Better than I thought actually.
I am not sure what you are trying to say.
the comparison to real madrid doesnt make much sense. They played a classic 433 switching to a 442 when defending. Bale, Di maria and Benzema are all hard worker, while Modric and Alonso are both very intelligent players.
I agree that di Maria plays a different role this season. He has to run the whole offence, while for Madrid he played slightly deeper and was just one of several options to create something. For United he is a offensive midfielder with a free role, that is allowed to go where ever he pleases. He has to provide tempo, creative spark and width all by himself. For Real he was more of a hybrid between central midfielder and attacking midfielder.
Herrera is also nowhere near Modric´s level. Modric will give any team genuine balance, while Herrera has a lot to learn. He reminds be a bit on Khedira. RvP and Falcao are also not necessarily workhorses.
Uniteds lineup was closer to a 424 than to a 433 and in this kind of lineup you need a classic defensive midfielder/destroyer to balance things. Someone like Busquets, Martinez or Mascherano. Blind is a player similar to Alonso (obviously a couple of levels worse) and just not up for the task to anchor a team on his own.
If the United performances reminded me of anything it was the german national team and how they played before the worldcup; with two central midfielders who were both no traditional defensive midfielders, (Schweinsteiger=blind, Khedira=Herrera) and 4 offensive players that contributed little to the defence. Opponents were constantly allowed to bypass the midfield and run at the back4, which made the back4 look terrible, even so individual quality wasnt the problem.
Its obvious that I dont rate blind but besides that he is the wrong type of player for this system. He might work in a classic 433 or in a 4231 with hard working winger. In these lineups his sense for intercepting passes and playing smart defence could shine while his defecits cant be exploited. I agree that his passing looked very crisp besides being almost man-marked.
the comparison to real madrid doesnt make much sense. They played a classic 433 switching to a 442 when defending. Bale, Di maria and Benzema are all hard worker, while Modric and Alonso are both very intelligent players.
I agree that di Maria plays a different role this season. He has to run the whole offence, while for Madrid he played slightly deeper and was just one of several options to create something. For United he is a offensive midfielder with a free role, that is allowed to go where ever he pleases. He has to provide tempo, creative spark and width all by himself. For Real he was more of a hybrid between central midfielder and attacking midfielder.
Herrera is also nowhere near Modric´s level. Modric will give any team genuine balance, while Herrera has a lot to learn. He reminds be a bit on Khedira. RvP and Falcao are also not necessarily workhorses.
Uniteds lineup was closer to a 424 than to a 433 and in this kind of lineup you need a classic defensive midfielder/destroyer to balance things. Someone like Busquets, Martinez or Mascherano. Blind is a player similar to Alonso (obviously a couple of levels worse) and just not up for the task to anchor a team on his own.
If the United performances reminded me of anything it was the german national team and how they played before the worldcup; with two central midfielders who were both no traditional defensive midfielders, (Schweinsteiger=blind, Khedira=Herrera) and 4 offensive players that contributed little to the defence. Opponents were constantly allowed to bypass the midfield and run at the back4, which made the back4 look terrible, even so individual quality wasnt the problem.
Its obvious that I dont rate blind but besides that he is the wrong type of player for this system. He might work in a classic 433 or in a 4231 with hard working winger. In these lineups his sense for intercepting passes and playing smart defence could shine while his defecits cant be exploited. I agree that his passing looked very crisp besides being almost man-marked.
I thought his movement was quite intelligent for the Cambiasso goal. Rafael had been dragged into the central area and it meant Marshall was left free in a wide left position, if he had got the ball then he would of had masses of time, Blind was rushing over there to cover that danger. After 2 games it's already clear what people mean when they say how defensively intelligent he is.
A lot of posters seem to be saying play him at CB, I thought he as a DM or LWB?
Seems far to lightweight to play in the centre, he looks tiny?
Seems far to lightweight to play in the centre, he looks tiny?
Played a game there during the World Cup I think. But yeah, his best position is midfield, and then wing-back.
He's not a CB, if i remember right he played there only once last season at Ajax. He had spent most of his career as a LB, a pretty mediocre one if i may say, until De Boer decided to try him in the holding midfielder position in Ajax's reversed triangle midfield formation instead of Poulsen at some point in last season. He flourished in that position because he could put all the well developed aspects of his game, like good positioning and coverage of space, good distribution from behind and the ability to keep the defense and midfield connected, into full effect.
I don't see LvG using him as a CB unless we return to a formation with three CBs because that system requires defenders who are good on the ball. I'm just happy we have someone other than Fletcher or Cleverley who can play in our midfield when Carrick isn't available. In the previous seasons we really suffered from the absence of Carrick, our build up play could be described in 3 words: Get it wide and we simply couldn't impose our tempo in games.
Once Carrick returns LvG may try Blind as a LCM and give Di Maria a more advanced role, we are trying to make a new start with many new players in the squad fighting for places after all. I just don't want Blind to receive the same unfair criticism Carrick has because of the problems our sheer lack of physicality creates in the midfield and defense.
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Hoping for this myself, especially away from home, seen him play this role for Ajax a few times. Stick Shaw in at LB and move Rojo inside and we should be far more solid.
I think he's been great since his arrival. We were completely at fault for the goals and there can be few criticisms levelled at Daley for the mistakes and overrun nature that we allowed to happen.
Smalling and Rojo as CB with Shaw at LB. We simply cannot allow Blind to leave his post without a 100% fit Michael Carrick back. Fletcher is not capable to fight the fires our attacking minded players would leave him to deal with.
Smalling and Rojo as CB with Shaw at LB. We simply cannot allow Blind to leave his post without a 100% fit Michael Carrick back. Fletcher is not capable to fight the fires our attacking minded players would leave him to deal with.
I thought he was decent. We lost, so that equates to everyone is sh*t again.
I thought our midfield 3 are playing very well together. They pass and move, very quick to turn possession into an attacking threat. Rooney initially helped connect them to the front two, but then he had a brain fart for the last 40 odd minutes.
Certain players lost their head and as LVG said, we stopped playing as a team. I am pretty sure when they watch it themselves, which LVG should make them do, they will see where they screwed up.
To me, if Rojo had done his job instead of day dreaming, they don't get the first goal. Rafael, thinks before giving the opposition the chance to get a penalty they don't get the penalty. Both these events gave Leicester belief. They were fighting for everything, but creating sweet FA. From that moment on last years players resorted to last year and caused mass mayhem in the team.
Whats the general consensus on how he did on Sunday? My impression was Leicester nullified him with a marker and a long direct ball
They had somebody on him a lot of the time so he wasn't able to dictate the play as much. Many other teams will do the same so he'll have to adapt a bit more but I thought he did alright. Definite improvement on anybody else we have for that position at the moment.
think blind did well against Leicester considering he the defense behind him was appalling and he got no help from the players playing infront of him!
Yes. And now, of course, every team is going to do the same.
Seconded. He was OK. By min 70 he was doing a 1-man job. Given it was his 2nd game in a much faster league it wasn't a surprise he slowed down. We needed the team especially Herrera and rooney to drop and give him more help at that point but instead the team went looking for more goals exposing everyone.
My immediate response had been to wonder where on earth he'd gone for the last 20 or so mins of Sundays horror show, but I believe someone else mentioned it on here, he's basically being asked to do the role of two in the diamond, usually you have two holding away from home, or in Mourinho's team at times potentially all 3 screening the back four.
He still for me, looks an incredibly useful, intelligent player, particuarly for the fee we paid.
He still for me, looks an incredibly useful, intelligent player, particuarly for the fee we paid.
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Man Utd 2:1 West Ham
Not impressed by him today.
He completely panicked when pressed by West Ham 2nd half.
He completely panicked when pressed by West Ham 2nd half.
You really need to watch it again. he was throwing himself in front of everything. Perhaps his passing not great but for a holding midfielder he did very well
Dodgy, gave an awful back pass in the first half that should've resulted in a goal as well
He made 1 or 2 errors here and there but other than that he was okay. Really up against it today.
He made one or two mistakes, but he took care of the defensive role quite well.
All our players did and always do. Its like we can't get over the 'injustice' of having one of our players sent of instead of thinking we are playing West Ham at home regardless of 10 men or not.
Don't think all our players completely collapsed or panicked today atleast though there was some effect.
Blind as DM cannot afford to have some many dodgy moments and low 80s passing percentages to boot.
I thought he worked really hard, his lack of pace and strength is going to be a constant issue though IMO, we certainly need another option to compete with him as a #6 and no I don't mean a player who is heading towards 34.