What a weird player, top class performance after looking shaky recently.
17
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 56
- Clean sheets
- 22
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 4
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
Still think Blind needs to be in the midfield but he played very well today.
My MOTM, bizzare they gave it to Smalling over him.
For someone who is supposed to be absolutely knackered, top class!
would have given it to demichelis frankly
His corners are shite, get him off them, seriously.
Just got something about him doesn't he?
A penchant for the big games and the big moments.
A penchant for the big games and the big moments.
he was involved in everything we did today.Said that he has footballing IQ more then some combined in our squad but looking what he is doing as CB in positional sense...i would go full Gerard Butler in LAC on him.
Was good today, but he should stop taking our corners. Most of them are pathetic.
he played well today. Cant believe there were people saying his positional sense is 0. He knows how to slow down their attacks for smalling or the FBs to get back. and has the ability to intercept passes
He's so much better than Rojo, not sure if he's good enough to be first choice but a quality and mostly reliable player.
Played well today, defensively up against Bony who is a complete donkey he did well, it is a tough matchup 1v1 for him so fair play. Still, positionally he is just so poor and goes running off far to often, a few times on those breaks from City they were getting in behind our line to easily with Blind rushing up to close down Toure and Silva in awkward situations. But we weren't punished thankfully.
My MOTM, he made some excellent interceptions and did really well against Aguero.
It's not poor positioning, it's called high pressing, but it seems our other players dont get what that means. It's important to master that as possession orientated team. But him being the only one who does it makes us quite vulnerable at times.
I don't think his clearances were that great, a far cry from Vidic as he sometimes invites danger but overall a very solid game.
Smalling has started pressing much higher up in the past few months also. Schweinsteiger,Herrera and Schneiderlin usually are aggressive pressers also. The problem with our press is that none of our attackers are particularly good at it, are poor tacklers and don't have the stamina. Plus if Mata plays - then using a high press is useless as he's pretty much a bypass. As you said, it's crucial for a possession based team to have a strong press, a high back line and aggressive CB's. I guess the classic English or Premiership style of play has been a very deep backline traditionally (besides the excellent Arsenal defence of the late 90's) and a lot of people still don't recognise how important it is to dominate a match.
It's amazing that Blind has apparently no positioning, defensive ability, strength or pace. It should be a miracle he's a professional football!
He's been brilliant. LVGs best signing for us in my eyes.
But my GOD. Stop letting him take corners!
But my GOD. Stop letting him take corners!
Loved how aggressive and pissed off he got with Aguero.
Unsung hero of the team for me. I think he'll eventually replace Carrick at the base of Midfield, he's such an intelligent player. Think Barca may be sniffing around over the next 12 months. Get the lad a new contract.
Wish we could combine his passing with Smalling.
Also his corners are getting worse. Hes been fully ManUnitedified in terms of that. Seen it happen to Mata, Nani and others. They just hit the first man.
Also his corners are getting worse. Hes been fully ManUnitedified in terms of that. Seen it happen to Mata, Nani and others. They just hit the first man.
First time he started taking corners, he was taking good ones, but it's just getting worse and worse for some reason.
Every supporter thinks their team are shit at corners, it's as much to do with the players attacking them
Indeed when you cant even get it past the first defender
He'd be a dream signing for Barca - perfect replacement for Mascherano once he departs.
Think Martial has been better but Blind has been a very good signing.
His corners usually fail to beat the first man, bit like Giggs'
Hes really good, best bit of business we've done in a while, fee paid vs output.
Worried he might not be a Mourinho player, small, not physically strong, slow etc.
Worried he might not be a Mourinho player, small, not physically strong, slow etc.
Best he has played at centre back, city have so much variety in how they can attack and none of it was a problem for him. Think he would be perfect if we played a back 3 and he could step back and forward depending on the situation.
I say it all the time. Half our team likes to press, the other half likes to drop deep. Bastian got killed vs Arsenal, but he was literally pressing on his own for most of that half. Rooney and the rest of guys were happy to let the Arsenal guys stroll.
I see this a lot, but I reckon he more than makes up for it with his aggression. He is usually very intense in the tackle.
Think he'll be fine with Mourinho. He will almost certainly not be a regular starter in defence (don't think Mourinho will favour him at all there), but he's a useful utility player in that he can be played in at least three different positions, and I expect Mourinho will value that to a certain extent.
Played in 46 games already? The new Evra.
Can see Van Gaal putting Borthwick on corner duty as a replacement.
Isn't a high press when the forwards press in the opponents half?.. I hope he isn't doing that.. Lol. Anyhow, Smalling did it a few times to Aguero and I have a feeling it was part of the game plan to not give him any time on the ball.
Not just the forwards, the entire team sort of goes forward and tries to get the ball, block spaces and then continue the attack. Blind has done this at Ajax and at Holland, buts strangely here at United, there's just a few individuals who do it from time to time. A few times he's won the ball in deeper spacer, with less opponents behind the ball, and you're then able to start an attack, but the understanding with other teammates is so poor, that it doesnt work out all the time. We should be capable of it though.
I think you just mean pressing in general. I am not doubting that he makes a lot of decisions to run out of position and try and win the ball/intercept. As I said above a lot of the time he is doing it and leaving acres of space when he doesn't win it and it leaves us exposed. But after I watched the first half it appeared that Smalling was doing a lot of it on Aguero and I didnt watch the first half at the time. Seemed tactical.
People underestimate his potential as a central defender due to his apperance. In England you grow up with defenders looking like Butcher, Pallister and Bruce or more elegant pacey defenders like Rio and Stones (but always big).
To the average footballsupporter in England it is almost as if it is an unwritten rule; this is how a central defender should look. Blind does not fit the pattern and consequently get critisism easier than others. If he make one mistake everyone lays into him. In my opinion Chris Smalling get so much more slack than Blind.
Daley Blind very rarely cost us goals and even more rarely you see his lack of height/strength or pace let him down. Defending is a brains game, and Blind got more of that than most. This was his first full season as a central defender, and certainly something to build on for him.
To the average footballsupporter in England it is almost as if it is an unwritten rule; this is how a central defender should look. Blind does not fit the pattern and consequently get critisism easier than others. If he make one mistake everyone lays into him. In my opinion Chris Smalling get so much more slack than Blind.
Daley Blind very rarely cost us goals and even more rarely you see his lack of height/strength or pace let him down. Defending is a brains game, and Blind got more of that than most. This was his first full season as a central defender, and certainly something to build on for him.
dont let the 'sensible' brigade see this. They would swear that they have seen enough to know that he has no positional sense to play as defender, unlike Smalling. In fact he is brainless and shouldnt be a United player at all.
Good post. I'm a bit torn as to whether I want to see Blind at CB next season or not. He does lack the physicality but he's got to be one of the best ball playing CBs in the prem. It's a great quality knowing he will find a man when he heads upfield as opposed to shitting yourself when Smalling does it.
He seemed to love Fabregas, and I think he falls in to all of these as well.
Blind and Morgan could be Mourinho's Cesc and Matic.
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