Daley Blind image 17

Daley Blind Netherlands flag

2014-15 Performances

View full 2014-15 profile

6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
29
Clean sheets
9
Goals
2
Assists
3
Yellow cards
4
akash02 said:
Defensively, he's just not up to it. The number of times he gets caught behind the ball is criminal and something Fellaini was torn apart for last season.
Click to expand...

I completely disagree. He gets caught behind the ball because he's the one leading the midfield press high into their own half and is generally playing catch-up. It's impossible to press high and always be in the right position to sweep up in front of the defence. Fellaini on the other hand was just slow and unaware of his surroundings. Completely different things.

Our pressing was excellent today and suffocated Sunderland in possession and Blind-Herrera deserve a lot of credit for that. It's a very effective form of defence. When we occasionally get bypassed we are quite open but that's part and parcel of the approach.
 
I actually thought he was very good today, plenty of forward passes, through balls, something that no other midfielder or striker did today.
 
Brwned said:
I completely disagree. He gets caught behind the ball because he's the one leading the midfield press high into their own half and is generally playing catch-up. It's impossible to press high and always be in the right position to sweep up in front of the defence. Fellaini on the other hand was just slow and unaware of his surroundings. Completely different things.

Our pressing was excellent today and suffocated Sunderland in possession and Blind-Herrera deserve a lot of credit for that. It's a very effective form of defence. When we occasionally get bypassed we are quite open but that's part and parcel of the approach.
Click to expand...

I don't think our main DM should get behind the ball as much as he does. Maybe he needs to improve his positioning, I don't know but he's not as solid as I'd like him to be.
 
Raw said:
Not one of his better games. He gave away a lot of silly fouls.
Click to expand...
He is a defensive midfielder. He will give away fouls, sometimes a lot, all DM's do.

What's important is that he was once again very calm and composed with the ball and had a lot of good forward passes. I actually really like the look of the Herrera-Blind midfield.
 
Grew into the game. Decent performance overall.

But he needs to stopped trying to give assists to the other team in every single game.
 
Is turned too easily when pressing, but still did well all around. Basically just orchestrated all of the possession in midfield and looked to go forward with his passes as much as he could.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
He is decent for the money paid but I do feel that a player of his quality should be 4th or 5th choice for a club like Manchester United.
Click to expand...
You're massively underrating him. He'd be first or second choice at a lot of top clubs... Also, he's extremely important to the system.
 
He was fine today. Though I'd prefer it if he played as a proper sitting midfielder. There's moments when he chooses to run around like a mad man towards the ball and gets caught out.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
He is decent for the money paid but I do feel that a player of his quality should be 4th or 5th choice for a club like Manchester United.
Click to expand...


Wow. Im not saying he is world class, but i cant remember the last time we had a player of his quality as 4th choice in our midfield. He is certainly very good for us especially in t he role he plays. few out there do what he does better.
 
Mciahel Goodman said:
Christ, that's complete nonsense. Similar to the stuff people used to say about Carrick.
Click to expand...

Which clubs would pay £30m for him?

ChaddyP said:
Wow. Im not saying he is world class, but i cant remember the last time we had a player of his quality as 4th choice in our midfield. He is certainly very good for us especially in t he role he plays. few out there do what he does better.
Click to expand...

The midfield that everyone has derided for the past 7 years or so?
 
akash02 said:
I don't think our main DM should get behind the ball as much as he does. Maybe he needs to improve his positioning, I don't know but he's not as solid as I'd like him to be.
Click to expand...

He's not playing as a defensive midfielder though. He's playing more or less as a "box to box" centre mid in essentially exactly the same role as Herrera, in a partnership that's not much different to Keane-Scholes in roles. Keane got caught behind the ball a lot too when he played in that kind of setup because of the nature of it - you can't be everywhere at once, and if you're going to take the positive approach and drive the team up the pitch then you will leave gaps in behind that on occasion you'll be chasing back to cover off. I think you're being very unfair. If he was told to sit and track runners and close off spaces in front of the defence and he wasn't doing it then that'd be a reasonable criticism, but that's clearly not what he's doing and presumably he's not being told to do that otherwise he wouldn't be a mainstay in the team.

I like his approach personally. It's ballsy, it's positive, it's proactive. It's the kind of things many people were looking for when they were complaining about the many, many times when we just sat back and soaked up pressure in our own half.
 
It's obvious when you watch us play how important he is to the team and the system. I think he's a great player.
 
I thought he was fine today. Keeps things simple and moves the ball around.

Anyone who is saying he's 4th choice in midfield need to have their head's checked. He's been our most reliable midfielder all season and is a crucial component for how van Gaal has the team play.
 
I still think he's been LVG's best signing. Solid without being emphatic, skillful without being world class....a team needs these sorts of players in a squad. Bloody hell, Ferguson signed enough of them...
 
Did he get a card today that I missed? I swear I saw him make so many little fouls the ref had to take his shoes and socks off to explain how many he'd done and he'd only get one more. It was ideal for us, broke their momentum time and time again.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
It's obvious when you watch us play how important he is to the team and the system. I think he's a great player.
Click to expand...
Agreed. He reads the game well, almost always makes the right pass, and is always in a good position to receive the ball. I think he is a great player, too. Great signing by van Gaal.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
The implication is that he is a top player. I just wonder if that view spreads beyond some members on a United forum. We should have top bracket players in every position.
Click to expand...
We should have the right players in each position. Blind is the right player for us right now.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
The implication is that he is a top player. I just wonder if that view spreads beyond some members on a United forum. We should have top bracket players in every position.
Click to expand...
Every team needs it's supporting cast, this much is obvious. Blind's brilliant at what he does, and I'm not sure we'd find many better right now to be honest. He knows the system inside out, which is also very important.
 
I thought he was very good on the ball today, passing it crisply with either foot, but he's a worry when he gets caught chasing back shoulder to shoulder IMO as he is really slow.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
Every team needs it's supporting cast, this much is obvious. Blind's brilliant at what he does, and I'm not sure we'd find many better right now to be honest. He knows the system inside out, which is also very important.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Which is why I wouldn't mind seeing a better player bought in for him. He is a good player not a great one. Do we want to win the Champions League again?

OK, it isn't a priority position at the moment but those are my thoughts.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
The implication is that he is a top player. I just wonder if that view spreads beyond some members on a United forum. We should have top bracket players in every position.
Click to expand...

No, we should have players that are working the best in certain positions and Blind is exactly that. We've got top bracket players in ADM and Falcao and it's not working miracles, is it?
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Exactly. Which is why I wouldn't mind seeing a better player bought in for him. He is a good player not a great one. Do we want to win the Champions League again?

OK, it isn't a priority position at the moment but those are my thoughts.
Click to expand...
When was the last time Manchester United had eleven top bracket players for each position though? When was the last time any club had? It's just not how squad building works, Blind suits the system, which comes first. He's been great this season and I'm sure will continue to impress.
 
He is a good player, but he is too weak - we will get slaughtered with him in that holding role next season
 
Brwned said:
He's not playing as a defensive midfielder though. He's playing more or less as a "box to box" centre mid in essentially exactly the same role as Herrera, in a partnership that's not much different to Keane-Scholes in roles. Keane got caught behind the ball a lot too when he played in that kind of setup because of the nature of it - you can't be everywhere at once, and if you're going to take the positive approach and drive the team up the pitch then you will leave gaps in behind that on occasion you'll be chasing back to cover off. I think you're being very unfair. If he was told to sit and track runners and close off spaces in front of the defence and he wasn't doing it then that'd be a reasonable criticism, but that's clearly not what he's doing and presumably he's not being told to do that otherwise he wouldn't be a mainstay in the team.

I like his approach personally. It's ballsy, it's positive, it's proactive. It's the kind of things many people were looking for when they were complaining about the many, many times when we just sat back and soaked up pressure in our own half.
Click to expand...

I'm comparing him in relation to Carrick although maybe that's unfair in itself. Carrick didn't tend to get caught behind the play as much as Blind seems to do and I put that down to Carrick's positioning. I don't think he's playing box to box at all and his role is clearly a lot more restrained that Herrera's.

The more I watch Blind, the more it appears that he's not an actual holding midfielder. He looks like a conventional CM playing out of position.

His passing and general positive play is something I like about him.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Exactly. Which is why I wouldn't mind seeing a better player bought in for him. He is a good player not a great one. Do we want to win the Champions League again?

OK, it isn't a priority position at the moment but those are my thoughts.
Click to expand...
Daley Blind is the exact type of player that any top club would want if they were competing for the Champions League. He passes very well and is an intelligent player. Given that he knows van Gaal's system and how well he has performed this season, who would you replace him with? He plays his role fantastically.
 
Did well today. Liking his partnership with Herrera, though center mid is obviously a new role for him. He'll get better with time there for sure. Think both of them had around 115 touches of the ball according to whoscored, both so intelligent on and off the ball.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.