I agree with this.
Blind was very good against Spurs though. He is the best crosser at the club I would think. I was concerned about his playing their before the game but he proved me wrong.
17
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 29
- Clean sheets
- 9
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 4
I agree with this.
Blind was very good against Spurs though. He is the best crosser at the club I would think. I was concerned about his playing their before the game but he proved me wrong.
think he is.
He was really good against Tottenham
For me, box-to-box midfielders are the main ball winners because they have the stamina and aggression to do so. Since they can cover lots of ground, I expect them to be able to win the ball quickly with their aggression and strength.
Holding midfielders, on the other hand, are great at plugging in the gaps, cutting off passes, slowing down opposition attacks, forcing them out of dangerous areas, and filling in for defenders who are out of position. Here, I don't expect them to mainly be a ball winner, though being able to win the ball with tenacity and aggression is a great quality to have.
What happens, more often than not, is that box-to-box midfielders who aren't great going forward are then shaped as ball-winning midfielders who don't really get involved going forward. Here, I refer to Wanyama, Fernando Reges, McCarthy, Bentaleb, Matic, Schneiderlin, de Jong, Flamini, etc, today and Lass, Gattuso, van Bommel, etc., back then. Some of these midfielders then develop a few skills that a holding midfielder should have, which goes very well with their stamina, aggression, and tackling.
Blind doesn't have the aggression and strength that most of these ball winners have. There was a reason why he wasn't seen as a great left back at Ajax but a great, promising defensive midfielder there. It's why most posters talk about his lack of pace in midfield and the fact that he's weaker than most holding players. It's why Chadli was also causing him to be easily dragged out of position when he went to the left side. You wouldn't see Carrick, Busquets, or Lahm play like that and perform well.
If I see Blind as a #8, then I wouldn't see him as a great #8 when compared to players like Strootman, Nainggolan, Fernandinho, Khedira, Matuidi, etc. He may be quite good at going forward with the ball, but he's not good at winning the ball like the players I mentioned. However, as a #6, if he plays with more control, he'd be up there with the best defensive midfielders in the world.
Agree with @JPRouve Blind's not a DM. For him to become one, he'll have to change what is essentially a main part of his game i.e his aggressive nature, which seems rather pointless. He's a lot more suited to playing as a #6 where he can utilize his best attributes without having to worry too much about being caught out of put of position defensively.
Does it not depend on the players around him though? If they press with him then that's not a problem, after all that is what LVG wants the team to do? If those around him do not press when he does then he will be badly exploited.
He's so 
However, if fit I would want Shaw to start at Anfield due to his pace and power.
However, if fit I would want Shaw to start at Anfield due to his pace and power.
Here is the thing Pogba, Xavi, Verrati, Rakitic or Modric are also #8, I see that you only have counted the physical ones. Wanyama, schneiderlin or Fernandinho, have played like pure Defensive midfielders.
And I believe that you are confusing the zone where the player plays and role that he plays, for us Blind plays more like Pirlo as a deep lying playmaker , I think that he could play #8 like Tigana did, because his best attributes are crucial in the last tier of the field, he is a better ball winner than Matuidi or Nainggolan(because he is great at anticipating and intercepting the ball) and he isn't a good organizer defensively.
If Blind isn't a #6 then he's not a midfielder. His defensive positioning, his ability to read the game when it is laid out in front of him and his knack for helping CBs like Smalling to play the ball out from the back and quickly get it moving forwards are his key strengths. Meanwhile his biggest weakness is that he's much too conservative in possession to be of much use further up the pitch. A #8 needs to be able to play aggressively and attempt higher-risk passes and runs once they get into the opposition's half, whereas Blind always errs on the side of maintaining possession and avoiding risk. He's a textbook deep-lying/defensive midfielder.
For me there's absolutely no question that in any but the very most difficult games (Chelsea, for example) it's got to be Carrick or Blind, with Herrera a necessity ahead of whichever plays so that the midfield has someone capable of taking risks and creating chances going forwards.
Obviously that doesn't mean Blind can't start along with Carrick, because as we saw yesterday he's a very valid option at LB, and brings that ability to step in and bolster Carrick's defensive efforts in the middle when necessary.
It's a tough one for me because I feel like I agree that Shaw might be the better option at left-back against Liverpool and we need to stick with Herrera and Carrick but at the same time Blind has to be in the team...
This guy is ridiculously intelligent with his movement and passing. I hope someone at the club makes a video tape of his performance vs Tottenham and send it so Shaw, because that was exactly how left back should operate attacking wise, his overlapping runs were excellent. That’s very important in modern football, fullbacks provide another option. Him and Young combined beautifully on the left.
I really hope Shaw develops this part of the game because he is our future left back, but Blind looks very good in that role, if not better.
I really hope Shaw develops this part of the game because he is our future left back, but Blind looks very good in that role, if not better.
I wouldn't worry, he's only 19 and he'll get there. Defensively he's already a star.
He's very good. Thought he was brilliant at left-back yesterday.
Personally I'd keep him there because I don't think him and Carrick should both be in the midfield.
Personally I'd keep him there because I don't think him and Carrick should both be in the midfield.
He is conservative because of the role he has to play, not because of his ability or mentality during the World cup he was one of the players who created the most opportunities.
I don't know how to post it but: http://www.squawka.com/comparison-m...ptions/key_passes/chances_created/assists#avg
Despite a limited role, he is offensively in the same bracket than players who played #8 all season long while being better defensively.
He created those opportunities as a full-back, not a midfielder. Whole different kettle of fish - he was creating those chances with crosses, which has nothing to do with how he would perform as a #8. We've seen this season that he plays the same conservative possession game no matter how high up the pitch he gets as a midfielder. As perfect as it is in the deep positions, it becomes a problem when he advances, and has caused our much-reported issue with having too much possession and not enough penetration.
As I said, I have no problem with him as a fullback, it obviously works. But as a central midfielder, he can only be a #6. He doesn't have the sort of aggressive, creative passing in his locker that you need in that more all-round role. Him and Carrick together offer too many of the same things and not enough of the creativity, risk-taking and directness that you need from someone like Herrera.
I'm not sure what that stat page is meant to show...? That he's made more interceptions this season than Matuidi and Nainggolan? Surely that just confirms his suitability for the more defensive, deep-lying role.
Hate to say it but that performance was miles better than anything we've seen from Shaw and (especially) Rojo at LB this season. A pity he's not the quickest or he should play there every week. Hopefully Shaw is watching and learning.
He's not as quick as Shaw but he's not crazily slow.
I'm sure he is. He's only 19 after all, so it's to be expected that he still has a lot of watching and learning to do.
He's painfully slow to be a LB full-time. He would have made an excellent LB if he had more pace tthough, he has a mean cross on him.
dare i say- hes the best left back we have at the club.
absolutely, you're 100% spot on.
He is. He's a good footballer with a great footballing brain but he lacks atleticism.
Yeah, agreed. His lack of pace gets over-stated. It's just that LB is a position where he'll often find himself in a lot of footraces with very quick players. And he won't win many of them.
He's played LB in the CL for years and didnt get overly exposed on pace, some really exaggerate how slow he is.
The more I see of him in midfield the less convinced I am of him there. Gives away the ball too easily for someone who always looks for a safe pass, and positionally he isn't good enough. He struggles against any half decent opponent. I think he can play there as the third man in a three, similar to how we used Fletcher...but even then his passing is very limited compared to someone like Fletcher.
I don't mind him so much as a fullback though. He actually looks like he has a clue what he's doing there. He isn't that fast but he does have the stamina for it...and he's generally quick enough to be where he needs to be. Unless the opposition have someone absaolutely lightning quick on that side I don't think it's a problem.
I don't mind him so much as a fullback though. He actually looks like he has a clue what he's doing there. He isn't that fast but he does have the stamina for it...and he's generally quick enough to be where he needs to be. Unless the opposition have someone absaolutely lightning quick on that side I don't think it's a problem.
As Gary Neville pointed out during the game, he was exposed a few times by Sprs but Phil Jones bailed him out. Shaw is the better defender but Inferior going forward. The pass that Blind made to Carrick was one that I don't think you would see from Shaw. I think that Shaw should play against Liverpool considering the pace that they have as Blind could really struggle.
His pace is pretty weak but he makes up with his stamina. I don't think he failed to overlap for Young once.
They dont exaggerate they just repeat blindly what they see other people posting , just whatever common generalization is most common at the time.And about his crossing we seen during the world cup, he gave some brilliant crosses from LB
You mention Tigana, but Tigana was world class going forward. Blind is nowhere near at that level, and he's too conservative to play a box-to-box role as Brightonian mentioned. Even Lahm struggled when he played as a box-to-box midfielder for Germany in the first couple of matches in the World Cup! Doing well on the attack as a full back is different from doing well on the attack as a box-to-box midfielder.
I was mainly focusing on his aggression and tenacity because he's mainly a defensive player given that he started off as a central defender in his younger years. Compare that to Pogba, Xavi, and the other attacking #8's you mentioned above who didn't start off as more defensive players in their younger years.
You talk about great anticipation and interceptions, but that's what holding midfielders mainly do, not box-to-box midfielders. Box-to-box midfielders are more reliant on their aggression and ball-winning ability than anticipation, reading of the game, and interceptions (not saying they are pure brutes off the ball, but their main attributes are their stamina, aggression, and strength). That's what Nainngolan and Matuidi do and what players like Vieira and Keane did. I see Blind being closer to Hargreaves than Schweinsteiger in terms of their skill sets.
It's not just the stamina, though. Blind shows excellent anticipation and reading of the game, attributes that were only seen in more classical full backs like Maldini, Zanetti, and Irwin, and less in today's full backs like Alba, Clichy, and Gibbs.
This is why I feel like he can become a world class holding midfielder/left back if he just cuts out his annoying need to be uncontrollably aggressive.
Whatever pidgeon hole you guys want to pit him in, he's definitely got a place in this team, I've little doubt he's one of the first names on the team sheet.
Blind played as a CDM in his youth before he moved to fullback (he even had a short spell at rightback). He played leftback up untill last year when he was moved back to CDM, which is his best position.
He isn't athletic but he makes up for this with defensive intelligence and being tidy and neat in possesion. He isn't spectacular in any role, but he can do whatever the manager asks of him. Because of his skillset and being a real team player he can fill in for CDM, LB, LWB and out of him or Carrick he's more suitable for BTB. CDM and LWB/LB are his best positions though.
We won't see him at BTB next year because he isn't one, but because we haven't got a BTB this season he's competing with Herrera for this spot. LvG confirmed he brought him in to be our CDM, but LvG also likes multifunctional players. This gives him the option to tinker around and Blind always plays a 6/10 where he plays. He knows how LvG likes to play so he's vital in this transition season and can do a job where he's needed, even as a BTB player.
Blind also isn't this aggressive tackler you keep mentioning, he's never had this in his playstyle. He also will not get dropped as LvG has confirmed he's fixed in his starting lineup.
Blinds lack of athletic ability is what holds him back. Spend the summer in the gym working on his strength and pace.
He's a fantastic player to have in the squad, but he is never the solution to the lingering Carrick replacement problem.
His passing is a level below...still good but just not the sat nav level.
But he covers a few positions, he has popped up with vital contributions and other than a few recent games, has been a solid 7/10 most of the time he's played. Looked good at LB overlapping Young.
His passing is a level below...still good but just not the sat nav level.
But he covers a few positions, he has popped up with vital contributions and other than a few recent games, has been a solid 7/10 most of the time he's played. Looked good at LB overlapping Young.
Yep, without a doubt. He's going to be one of those rare players whose versatility works for them, not against. That's because of his dependability - I'm not sure he's dropped below a 7/10 once this season, despite all our ups and downs. And he doesn't just play various positions, he really understands how the game works and what LVG needs of him in each match.
A player who can fill three different positions in three consecutive games and still maintain a high standard will always get into the XI one way or another.
I'd be happy to trust his intelligence at left-back against Liverpool... plus with Young in front of him I reckon he'll do just fine.
Was class yesterday. It's something we've lacked since evra left, but actual composure and ability going forward on the ball from left back. Shaw isn't close to him on the ball with his passing, delivery and timing of runs. Pace obviously holds him back, not that he's really slow, he's just not fast. No idea what I'd prefer against liverpool though. Shaw is capable of being a top player, but is way more inconsistent on the ball and picking out the right option. Would probably keep blind at left back so he plays and to keep Carrick and herrera together in midfield.
Yep, him and mata both would be absolutely brilliant if they had more pace/strength. Just with mata he'd be one of the best in the world imo, while Blind would just be an excellent all around player... Still a very good one mind you, just not a key player at United level. More of a first team player, always around the starting lineup without being the very best we have in his position.