Fantastic signing. The only player who has been good in every game this season. When Herrera is fit, these two will create a great partnership on midfield.
17
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 29
- Clean sheets
- 9
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 4
Had a pretty average game yesterday, aside from the goal. Some dodgy passes.
Something of a leader on the pitch though which is good.
Something of a leader on the pitch though which is good.
The man just delivers.
He put some good shots on goal from distance in his first couple of matches. I really only remember a few shots that I thought were pretty poor considering the time he had to make them. A couple were last night. I like the fact that he is having a go though.
The poster you quoted needs to understand you can't have it both ways. If Blind had that mentality then we'd have left WBA with a loss. The team needs more Daley Blinds. Players willing to shoot from distance aside from di Maria.
Apologies for doing my stats nerd thing but that comment had me questioning my own recall, hence I went looking for stats.
93% pass completion, with almost two thirds (43/74) of those passes forwards. That's pretty damn impressive IMO. 4/4 tackles and 2 interceptions as well.
It's his partners in midfield that let the side down really. Herrera completed 81% of his passes (less than half of them forwards: 15/32) with Fellaini doing almost exactly the same in the second half. 2 tackles and 1 interception from mop-head, 0 and 0 from Herrera.
Recurring fecking theme at United these last few years, only one of our central midfielders turning up on the day. Blind and Carrick both to start against Chelsea, please.
I suppose it's not surprising, as Carrick divides opinion and both players are very similar in style. You are going to get that with players whom have more substance than style and aren't very flashy.
Personally, I am a very big fan of Blind, just like I am with Carrick and perhaps I'm a bit blind-sighted to their flaws as I appreciate the type of player they are more than any other. In saying that however, I didn't think Blind was great like some are saying and the goal covered an otherwise mediocre match from him. Still, he's been very good in every other match so far.
I agree. I actually think he's got a good shot on him. Carrick very rarely attempted shots on goal and they never had any bite to them. He tried to curl or finesse them in from distance. It's nice to have a midfielder try to blast some goals in from outside the box.
Mr Dependable Daley Blind
Edge of the box is fine, but he clearly doesn't have the shooting ability to score from 35 yards. When he tries from there, as he did once yesterday, he's just giving possession away. He should know by now but LVG needs to tell him that too.
I was happy with the signing but he's exceeded my expectations by some distance thus far. He's settled very quickly.
I'm fairly relaxed about, as long as its at the right time. If there's time left on the clock, or we're already in front, or we're dominating possession and more chances will come, I'm cool with it. As we saw vs QPR, when Falcao got a chance from a rebound, things can happen when you shoot. Plus the opposition has to close you down, which can cause movement in the defence for others to work with. Nothing better for a defender when its obvious what the opposition player will do.
The trouble is when its your last chance of the game or you're having trouble putting sustained pressure on the opposition. In those times you need to play the percentages.
Really like the look of him. Gets the job done, usually in a quiet fashion. Once the team really start ticking, I imagine he'll be incredibly important for us to keep the balance.
Am I the only one who's noticed that he loves putting his passes miles in front of the receiver if there's plenty of room for it? Might be confirmation bias on my part.
Am I the only one who's noticed that he loves putting his passes miles in front of the receiver if there's plenty of room for it? Might be confirmation bias on my part.
He really needs to build on his athleticism. Makelele and De Jong weren't the biggest of DMs but they were aggressive and strong. Blind gets into good positions to disrupt play but the other midfielder can blow past him on sheer strength alone. I think he's already a good signing for us, let's hope he can become a main starter for us for the next few years.
I honestly don't think I've seen him get blown past. His lack of physicality gets overplayed imo.
There were a few times yesterday where he tried to break up their play high up the pitch but wasn't strong enough in the challenge. When they went past him, he also didn't have to recovery speed to make up for lost ground.
I reckon a season of English football will improve his football tremendously.
I'm looking forward to seeing him play with a proper partner in a 4-2-3-1. I don't think Herrera is suited to playing as one of the 2, he's better playing a similar role to Oscar IMO as he's best as an AM. We need a physical, athletic CM in there to compliment Blind's reading of the game and positional qualities.
Blind covered more ground than his team-mates (11.48 kilometres), played the most passes (74) and did so more accurately (93.2 per cent) than anyone else on the pitch.
Showed some great leadership qualities in the final 20 minutes of the game. Put in some great challenges, and had the balls to strike a few from long distance. Really hope he can kick on from here and become the leader from the back 5.
I really like this player.
I really like this player.
I thought Carrick would come on for Mata, who had a really poor game. Herrera looked a bit rusty, I think he just needs more games though and would not drop him, unless it was tactical for Fellaini purely so that we can be more combative.
I would not pay much attention to whether the passes were forward or not considering Blind was in front of the defence with the other midfielders pushed up. And there were still one or two really duff ones in there from Blind. Not as many dodgy ones as Shaw or Herrera or Januzaj or Mata though I guess.
Yeah, agree with all of that. I think Carrick, Herrera and Blind are all quality CMs and our options are better than they have been in years. It was up to me, all three of them would start against Chelsea. I wouldn't start Fellaini and I'm not so sure he'll make the grade in the long term but I do like his attitude and would be delighted if he proved a lot of people wrong.
It was just that Hererra's rustiness (sore ribs?) and Mata's anonymity reminded me of previous seasons where we often saw only one CM willing or able to stand up and be counted.
Was our best player on Monday, a really good performance from him. He was let down on the couple of occasions by his defence.
What impressed me most is that he's managing his stamina much better. His first few games of the season he was really good for 60 minutes, but then was a complete passenger for the final half hour. He has clearly either got up to speed fitness wise or realised that you can't sprint for 45 minutes in the first and keep up the same level in the second half, and managed it accordingly.
He was a real 8/10 from minute 1 to minute 91.
What impressed me most is that he's managing his stamina much better. His first few games of the season he was really good for 60 minutes, but then was a complete passenger for the final half hour. He has clearly either got up to speed fitness wise or realised that you can't sprint for 45 minutes in the first and keep up the same level in the second half, and managed it accordingly.
He was a real 8/10 from minute 1 to minute 91.
I wasn't sure about this signing I must admit (though was basing this on his LB performances) but I have been very impressed. Consistently very good
Also made 3 key passes (the most in the team in front of Di Maria and Fellaini with 2 each) and scored
Blind does a good job in his role and rightfully draws comparisons with players like Busquets. But the defensive workload in midfield is more than a job for 1 man. Ander helps a lot winning the ball up the pitch and Fellaini did his part when he came on too.
Di Maria "cheats" a little on his defensive shift with the others expected to pick up the slack. And given what Di Maria has been doing going forward, that can be okay. But it can also cost you in big games which is why I wouldn't be at all surprised if we moved Di Maria further forward in the future and got another Ander type who will do work both ways, for the other side. Strootman would be the obvious candidate.
So far, he's adapted to the BPL very well. His physique could be better to suit the BPL's more rough play, but besides that, He's doing quite well. Was by far the best player on the pitch last Monday, and I'm hoping he can keep managing his more balanced stamina.
Impressive start to the season. My only concern is that we're giving him too much to do when our pressing fails which means he has to cover lots of space.
That's true, in some parts of the game he was all alone in the middle, that's why I think Carrick should starte besides him on sunday.
Agreed. He's having to cover far too much space on his own. He needs another holding midfielder/DM beside him if we're going to press properly. I noticed in that cross near the start that Januzaj jumps for it and van Persie literally does nothing. Perfect cross and he doesn't even attempt to profit from it.
Would like to see him partnered with Carrick in a 2-man defensive midfield vs Chelsea.
Man Utd 1:1 Chelsea
I love this man. His positional awareness is in a class of it's own. His concentration is relentless as well, no wonder Van gaal loves this kid. For a small guy he's really good at salvaging balls in midfield and keeping the engine ticking in midfield. Bossed the midfield surprisingly well with Fellaini today.
I thought he was poor today tbh.
Chasing shadows, been impressed with him in his first few games, but concerning that Chelsea was the first real big team we've faced and he was 2 seconds off the pace.
Chasing shadows, been impressed with him in his first few games, but concerning that Chelsea was the first real big team we've faced and he was 2 seconds off the pace.
Oscar took him out of the game today and he was playing too restricted with Mata and Fellaini leaving a bigger gap in front.
He's fantastic on the ball, but I think he needs a more dynamic partner defensively like Herrera, although Fellaini did well.
Wow, really? Maybe I am blind. Always possible.
That's how we keep justifying Gerrard playing. Good on the ball but constantly needs protection from the likes of Henderson/Allen, etc. But Gerrard's 33 or something.
Could you say that he took Oscar out of the game equally in the first half though?
Thought today was one of his worse games but i think Oscar on him made things more difficult
Okayish performance today
Like Carrick, his contributions are vital yet subtly unnoticed. Wouldn't blame you for being blind
He really needs to shape up. At times he really looks unable to contain the likes of Hazard or Oscar because they were too quick for him.
Other than, he did well. It was a solid display for me.
Other than, he did well. It was a solid display for me.
He's been pretty good since he arrived but if we're talking about him being a key player long term then I'm not at all convinced. I know they're quite different players but if you compare what Blind offers us at DM with what Matic brings to Chelsea....
It's still very early to be judging him tbf, we'll see how he goes.
It's still very early to be judging him tbf, we'll see how he goes.