then you have to deal with the Benteke type of strikers
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He's been good, but I'll be furious if he has moved into the side at the expense of Mike. Well, not 'furious', per se, 'enraged' perhaps.
I'm all for it. His old man had a pretty decent career there & he's shorter than Daley. There's plenty of other examples of players doing a job at CB despite not being physically typical (Bloody Gary Medel did a good job at the copa & WC).
Darmian, Shaw & the other CB will all be quick enough & good enough in the air to compensate & it may complement those players to have Blind in there as well.
If we're facing 25 crosses a game then it means the whole system has gone pete tong anyway. We could always sub him off if we're holding on & defending our own box.
Darmian, Shaw & the other CB will all be quick enough & good enough in the air to compensate & it may complement those players to have Blind in there as well.
If we're facing 25 crosses a game then it means the whole system has gone pete tong anyway. We could always sub him off if we're holding on & defending our own box.
Blind and smalling would make a nice partnership.
Some people want to leave blind out but his tactical displince is even better than carrick's IMO. Having both on the field and not sacrificing a more fluid player in midfield is a big benefit; especially in UCL games.
examples (purely for an analytic point of view)?
If i understand the tactics correctly then we should have a maximum of 5 defenders in defensive situations. Now blaming blind because he is not yet a regular CB is no different to blaming shaw or darmian for relative inexperience. 5 defenders mean we are arching towards quantity over quality and with quantity you definitely need a play of instructuonal understating like blind.
This is still all hypothetical though; but i would not be suprised at all if rojo & blind were rotating until say laporte is available (if needed at all).
My words. At least worth a try.
That's a pretty bold opinion to have. Even Blind's biggest fans often say his main weakness as a DM is his tendancy to move out of position.
Carricj is a displined player dont get me wrong. However blind is a player who knows EXCATLY what van gaal is talking about with regards to tactics. The same with depay. Blind has grown up at ajax playing with these tactics.
Its him moving out of position that shows me he has tactical awareness. Thats why i said that i rekon that he started at DM to provide cover for Rojo or Jones; the latter being less able on his left hand side.
I'm not sure how moving out of position and leaving your centre-backs (often badly) exposed shows tactical awareness. His tendancy to goal ball chasing every now and then would often land us in trouble.
This is over cooked how long has Blind played under LVG? Blind is a clever player no doubt but he is very limited and his lack of pace is very obvious at times.
Phase of Play, the Caf edition.
don't know about most, but I have no problem seeing such a poster around
since you list Depay, definitely as Dutch NT guys under him they can exactly understand what he's trying to express? so that makes the RvP case quite head-scratching
The way I see it Smalling is the 3rd captain and biggest leader in our defence. He's played second halves so that we don't get destroyed with so many youngsters on the pitch. When the season starts he'll be first CB on the team sheet.
When asked about Blind playing CB LVG has justified it by saying he likes a left footed CB. Everyone has overreacted and took it to mean he's now first choice. Don't think that's the case at all. People need to just relax
When asked about Blind playing CB LVG has justified it by saying he likes a left footed CB. Everyone has overreacted and took it to mean he's now first choice. Don't think that's the case at all. People need to just relax
I'm not sure if Memphis is fully up-to-date with van Gaal's methods. He's played under Rutten, Advocaat and Cocu- none of them play like van Gaal does. In his short spells at the NT I doubt he's learned it all which took our squad months (van Gaal said he couldn't possible explain it all as coach of the NT- so he just showed them Barcelona). It might be a bit easier for him since he's Dutch and an attacking player (less busy with defending/keeping possesion) but I'm sure van Persie knows van Gaal's style much better, Schweinsteiger probably does aswell.
Memphis wasn't bought for his 'knowledge of the philosophy', he's bought because he's one of the hottest young prospects and fills a spot in the team which needed strenghtening. Van Persie was let go because he's had alot of gametime, was on very big wages and still looked likely to be #2 behind Rooney as the striker next season even though he knew van Gaal's methods well I think.
In that sense Blind is perfect, at Ajax he learned to play how van Gaal wants much better than he would've done at PSV.
@NL Max What are your thoughts on Blind possibly being moved to a permanent LCB role?
I don't think it will be permanent, in my eyes Blind can play the following positions:
CDM = LB > CB >>> CM
He's a great system player, he will rarely make big mistakes and usually does what van Gaal asks of him without moaning. In a possesion based team he's a great cog. He's not the highest quality player but he's able to slot into 3 (I really don't rate him as CM) positions without much trouble. I don't think that he will get a settled position yet this year, he's far too usefull for that.
The other reason why he played LCB is because van Gaal wants a ball playing CB there I think. He bought Rojo for that reason and Evans used to be pretty good at it who also played there, Blind is the only one on tour who's pretty good at this. I'm sure van Gaal knows the limitation of Blind, I doubt he'll play against Benteke at CB for example. Van Gaal experiments alot but isn't scared to stop if he sees it isn't working. I like Blind at CB for certain matches (where possesion/brain/passing > physicality) but I don't rate him as our starter CB yet. He might prove me wrong but for now I can't see it happening.
I've always though he'd be a utility player here long term, I was just wondering if the fact our other CB's are poor on the ball and we look unlikely to get Ramos that he might end up as a regular fixture at CB this season. So do you see Rojo being a starter when fit this season?
The CDM position is supposed to provide cover centrally; yet we didnt have a fully working defence for most of the season because rojo is not a offensively(passing) capable on the left as smalling is on the right. This is the same if you compare jones to smalling and the latter is much more of a fluidly capable player. Especially when we played 3 at the back our weakest side was the left and as such it is my opinion that blind was utilised there to provide more cover on the left rather than carrick.
We now have 2 superior DM's in carrick & schneirdlin whk can focus their entire game on the central cavity. What we then lack is what we have always lacked; a comfortable on the ball player on the left (who is predominantly left footed.)
We now have 2 superior DM's in carrick & schneirdlin whk can focus their entire game on the central cavity. What we then lack is what we have always lacked; a comfortable on the ball player on the left (who is predominantly left footed.)
If Blind ever gets a starting position my bet is that would be as CDM, that's a position he can really grow into (he hasn't played there that long in his professional carreer) and that's where his lack of physical traits can be compensated for by his excellent positioning and passing. At LB/CB/CM he'll always be limitted.
I also don't think van Gaal would go into next season without a new CB, but since the market is scarce he might settle for Blind which won't be terrible. Wouldn't bet on it yet.
Not sure who of Rojo/Blind would get the nod over the other.
I agree with @NL Max with saying that blind is the only ball playing defender on tour.
I would go a bit further than him and say that rojo is not a ball playing defender in the way smalling is. Rojo is much less capable & even though he is the better central defender, blind is/would/could be a better ball playing defender.
I would go a bit further than him and say that rojo is not a ball playing defender in the way smalling is. Rojo is much less capable & even though he is the better central defender, blind is/would/could be a better ball playing defender.
I can only really see Blind operating as a CDM long term in the PL if we play with a double pivot at the base of midfield, as the point backwards midfield 3 exposes his lack of pace and physicality.
I'm certainly hoping we get a CB but with Ramos seemingly off and the Otamendi rumour fading I am not sure who he'd go for, unless there is some substance in the Stones rumours.
Damn, doesn't say much for Rojo.
Just got the news Rojo's been fined too. Looks like blind will be our LCB as the market is empty for left footers. IMO ramos, otamendi & even stones are highly unlikely to be targeted by their preferred foot alone.
It may seem like a little thing but when a right footed rcb and a left footed lcb play together; the space where the central DM has to operate is much more greater. This expands our entire defensive line to 5 defenders with minimal space between players since only one player out the norm moves in to position. (CDM to CB).
That way we revert in to a 3 at the back centrally while still having our fullbacks too.
we seem not to play a lone pivot now though?
Fined? Is this over the whole passport thing? As far as this whole RCB/LCB thing goes, all I can say is we managed for decades without such oddities under Fergie and Barca swept the board last year with two right footed CB's most of the time. I think starting Blind starting as our main CB based mainly off being left footed and a good passer is suicide, especially if he is partnered by Calamity Jones.
LVG has made a career of things like this.. Blind as a cb could well be on the cards..
Schweinsteiger is also in the bench. I doubt we would pay so much for him if his role was to come from the bench. One CDM and 2 box to box midfielders is what i heard van gaal say last season.
Your on to something there because i think jones best partnership is with rojo. 2 bullies shielded with a passer like carrick. If we play 2 ball playing defenders say like smalling & blind then we need a more tenacious midfielder to cover them.
Carrick Morgan Basti are conservative, Herrera has to slot in somewhere to connect to the advanced third. and doesn't he say he loves the point forward triangle?
Smalling isn't a ball player though, he's probably our worst passer of the CB's we currently have. I think putting Jones and Rojo together is like having two wild dogs with no leash, too rash and reckless, both need a calmer head with them.
Who do you think the best passer is then? For me smalling is twice the passer kf the ball than rojo and jones combined.
I think you have mistaken what i said because i also said Jones & rojo would only work with a CDM like carrick who plays with a calm head. However, if we have 2 calm CB's who pass in to space then what is required is not calmness but tenacity.
1 CDM and 2 box to box is a pointed triangle; one attacking minded box to box like herrera and Schweinsteiger as the defensive minded box to box midfielder. The midfield like the defence has to move around. Absolutely no point herrera being in (for example) sneidjers position when he could play at the heart of midfield; moving in to attack when necessary.
I really can't see it myself. He has an excellent football mind but he doesn't have the physicality needed for a PL CB. Also I don't think he is very agile either, don't recall him being great winning headers.
Perhaps he see's him as the ball playing CB we need?
Also if he is trying him at CB then it suggests to me we won't be getting a CB this summer as we would be overloaded with CB options.
Just anywhere but midfield.
Rojo is the best, then Jones then Evans IMO.
The CDM isn't important in the partnership, you need a mix at CB regardless of who is playing as the DM.
Cannavaro was one of the best, and he was 5'9.
There are exceptions to every rule and Cannavaro was short but had a great leap, core strength and good speed, Blind has none of the latter attributes.
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