Redmond was constantly exploiting the channels between him and shaw because of his lack of pace. Good passer, but average defender. Unless Smalling comes in for him, we will concede goals because of his inability sometimes to cope with the athletic players in the EPL.
17
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 39
- Clean sheets
- 19
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
Strange that the players touted as dead cert departures are seemingly valued highly by Jose. I think it's great that we have such varied options in players. It allows us to really address our opponents weaknesses and strengths.
I do think he actually finds pace and someone who moves around a lot hard to deal with
(as opposed to big strong players who he routinely keeps in his pocket for 90 mins)
Hes good despite it.
He proved last season that he can manage against anyone in this league.
He was getting targeted by managers every single week last season and gave nothing away.
He was either good or brilliant outside of about 2 games (he did have one or two crap games)
He was part of the meanest defence in the league with the full backs changing every week and about a dozen players starting at full back at one point or another
Smalling isn't perfect, hes not going to get you the lowest goals conceded last season on his own.
And De Gea had less to do last season than hes had in a long time - he did it brilliantly to be fair to him
Completely leaving his passing aside, hes a good cb and who gives very few chances away.
I'd really struggle to remember him just completely fecking up and giving a goal away too, so hes consistent imo
There were one or two occasions when he struggled in the air and allowed headers on goal. In a counter-attackind side, having a CB who can struggle at crosses is a massive weakness because the system is designed to let the opposing team have the ball, pack the midfield and try to make them go out wide.
Fully expect Smalling to be in the side against Hull, and Bailly's primary partner this season. Will be interesting to see who plays as the right CB in the partnership. Probably Smalling as he's the weaker passer between the two.
Fully expect Smalling to be in the side against Hull, and Bailly's primary partner this season. Will be interesting to see who plays as the right CB in the partnership. Probably Smalling as he's the weaker passer between the two.
Maybe it's even stranger that we think we know enough about football or Mourinho to judge the players beforehand (myself included). Am glad to see them being given genuine chances to make a case for themselves.
That being said, I expect the starting team to look fairly different by the end of the season. If we do sign Fonte, there's a chance that Blind may slide down the pecking order at CB. If that happens, I hope he'll be considered for the DM position. Blind's reading of the game and passing is exceptional.
It seems like he is just second in command now, seeing as this has happened for the last two weeks now when Rooney is subbed.
What instances are you talking about?
Allowed headers on goal? Like they were on target? Which ones?!
And, in a counter-attacking side? You mean if he plays in one? Well, if so, counter attacking side/team usually soak up the pressure to counter attack right? Which means we will have more people to help out in defense and will be very compact while relying on brain to break up the other team play. Which means it makes sense that we have blind in the side no?
Also, for a counter attacking side, you need to pass out from the back really quickly to start your counter attacks. Oh look who fits that style?
What do you mean IF we were a counter-attacking side? We ARE a counter-attacking side. That's how Jose has played his whole career, and it's how he's setting up this United side.
Passing out the back has never been what Mourinho has looked for in his CBs. Both the CMs play pretty deep, and they initiate the counter attacks. We saw Pogba doing that as well - picking the ball up from the center backs and driving up the pitch.
Watch highlights of the game again. In the 75th minute, Blind gets beaten in the air by Long. A better striker would have at least got that on target.
Edit: This article on ESPN FC points out the same thing regarding us forcing the play out wide for crosses
http://www.espnfc.com/blog/tactics-...n-jose-mourinho-style-already-as-pogba-shines
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You just said what I did. If you say jose never look for a defender like him, well why the hell is he playing him every game then?
Also the flick....can happen to any CBs and does. It does not make them shit defenders.
The counter attacking is all about the passes. You can have 5 bolts in the team but if you can't do the right pass, it means nothing. ESPN articles are just like anyone's opinion. Pogba would drive up the pitch once in awhile but he won't be able to do it every time. Against good teams.
You need quick passers to drive the ball up front fast. Which one goes faster to aid counter, the ball or the player? Think about it. Saying we don't need to pass out from the back at all to start a counter would be ridiculous.
The stuff about people pretending like they know what Jose wants based on his previous teams are pretty funny. You don't know shit about what he wants with the team and what he has just like any of us. We just have to wait and see atm.
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The alternatives are Rojo and Jones, who are both way below the levels required for United. I'm not saying Blind is a bad defender, I actually quite like him and how intelligent he is. My favorite United player is Carrick, and I love players in that mould. I just think the way we have set up so far and the way Mourinho likes to build his sides means that Smalling will more likely be picked over him.
In any case, managers usually don't replace CBs during games, but we did see Smalling come on against Southampton. As soon as he's fit to start, I expect him in the team. Who knows, I might be completely wrong and Smalling spends a lot of time on the bench this season.
@Giant Midget so you're telling us a bigger stronger, defender would've gotten them?
gotten what?
Brilliant. Again, and again, and again, and again.
I'm hoping to see him in a midfield 3 alongside Pogba and Mkhi, with Zlatan, Martial and Rashford leading the attack just once this season. Please.
I'm hoping to see him in a midfield 3 alongside Pogba and Mkhi, with Zlatan, Martial and Rashford leading the attack just once this season. Please.
I edited a bit on my first post.
About the way jose setting up RIGHT NOW. I said RIGHT NOW is perfect for blind to play. Because you got 2 giant mids to protect the back line who can head the balls out of danger zone pretty easily. Also, since blind can pass, the ball does not need to go around too much to get to someone that can pass. If blind sees the pass, he will do it as good as anyone. Which benefits us because players who play in DM role right now (except carrick) can't do it regularly. So imo, he needs to be there if we are going to set up that way we are setting up now.
Huh? Long is fantastic in the air, one of the better forwards in English football with his head.
I know Blind is weak in the air but Long is one of the striker who is very good in the air. He's short but has a good jumping reach, so never mind Blind im sure Bailly himself won't be able to easily win header against Long.
The opposite thing can be said about having Blind, in counter attacking we are also need a CB who is calm, make the right judgement and read the game well. Like this one:
I'll probably fancy Smalling and Blind with current situation.
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One of my favourite players at the club. Knew Castles was making shit up when he was saying he was leaving. While it may be unpopular on here I feel if Smalling is too get back into the team it be instead Bailly.
Not saying Blind has been better that Bailly, just that Blind compliments Bailly and Smalling so well
Not saying Blind has been better that Bailly, just that Blind compliments Bailly and Smalling so well
He still can't give an assurance feeling when seeing him as CB. It's all nice when we were controlling the game. But when under constant attack, he didn't stand out to dominate the defence.
Because he's not that type of player, that's what Smalling and Bailly are for. I think it's very helpful to have one very smart defender alongside a very physical one, provides a good balance.
That's issue is more with your own preconceptions than Blinds actually performances, he's been a great calming factor back there for us.
Out of every 10 games he easily has 8 good games and 2 bad at worst yet people judge him simply on those 2 games and say he isn't fit enough to be a CB.
Thanks for sharing this GIF. A superb standing tackle the kind which any defender would be proud of making. I'm a huge fan of Blind and doesn't deserve to lose his place to Smalling. He has a great understanding of the game, the sort that can't be taught, which has brought him such success in this league against many a robust or pacy opponent.I know Blind is weak in the air but Long is one of the striker who is very good in the air. He's short but has a good jumping reach, so never mind Blind im sure Bailly himself won't be able to easily win header against Long.
The opposite thing can be said about having Blind, in counter attacking we are also need a CB who is calm, make the right judgement and read the game well. Like this one:
I'll probably fancy Smalling and Blind with current situation.
Bayern, Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, and United in the past. or any of our league rivals. Which one of their 'smart' one that is as slow and weak as Blind?
That's the thing though. Who can tell Blinds actual performance?
The least of our problems, excellent player who even shone last year whilst bigger names were bottling it week on week. He also stayed fit during the LVG reign which was a miracle.
Reading of the game is superb and those balls into midfield speed up our play, even if he loses his place at CB he can fill in at LB as he's miles better than Rojo or Darmain.
Reading of the game is superb and those balls into midfield speed up our play, even if he loses his place at CB he can fill in at LB as he's miles better than Rojo or Darmain.
Mourinho rates Blind despite him not being what he looks for in a player, physically at least, just tells you how good Blind can be.
He's done really well, to be fair. I'm not a huge fan, but he has adapted well and makes me shit my pants less these days than early last season when he played centre back. I think people over emphasise his football intelligence because of his physical limitations, though. Rio was, in my opinion, a much smarter defender. He knew when to drop back, when to press and when to just follow the player. He even knew when it was wiser to let the attacker get to the ball first (something at least one attacker said was very annoying as they thought they would have him beat, only for him to knick it in a much better position from a defensive point of view). Blind is a little bit all over the place at times. There is a reason why Bailly has do some of the sprints he has to make, and quite a few of them are down Blind's side - the same applied for Smalling last season. Whichever centre back plays alongside Blind, they have to do a fair bit of running.
His passing range does let us get away with a two man midfield to a much greater extent though. He is also good at intercepting, I think, especially between defense and midfield. He isn't the best in one on one situations though, but Smalling was a beast there last season, nor is Blind the tallest defender or makes up for it with a great leap, but that isn't such a concern now we have Pogba, Fellaini and Ibra in the team. Although I think he has done well, I would prefer to see a Smalling-Bailly combo in the middle. Attackers would simply stop running at our defense, just like they have stopped doing it against Valencia; why bother?
His passing range does let us get away with a two man midfield to a much greater extent though. He is also good at intercepting, I think, especially between defense and midfield. He isn't the best in one on one situations though, but Smalling was a beast there last season, nor is Blind the tallest defender or makes up for it with a great leap, but that isn't such a concern now we have Pogba, Fellaini and Ibra in the team. Although I think he has done well, I would prefer to see a Smalling-Bailly combo in the middle. Attackers would simply stop running at our defense, just like they have stopped doing it against Valencia; why bother?
He's a right back isn't he?
Yep, been struck by this. I like Blind but I didn't think he'd last a week under Mourinho.
Both smalling and blind were all over the places last season due to LVG's tactic. Haven't you read about it this season?
Comparing him with rio, one of the greatest defender of his generation, well who is as good as him right now anyway?
Do you remember how blind had to run over bailly side to cover his ass a few times btw ?And it is a team game. Players have to cover each other all the time.
People will say one of blind's greatest strengths is one on one situations... Look at the games from last season and this season again. And don't bring up when he got beaten sometimes while ignoring how he rob the ball from so called faster and stronger strikers often on the ground.
The arguments in this thread are funny. Same old same old and people don't even read i guess. Came up with same shit.
Blind is probably the best ball playing centre back in Europe
Alderweireld, hummels to start with
Blind is better on the ball than both, some of his passing is ridiculous
I don't know with hummels for sure as I've barely seen him but for my money Alderweireld is much better, some of his passes to Alli over the top last season were insane.
Blind is comfortably better on the ball. Not even in question!
I admit Alderweireld has a very good long pass but the way Blind's splits the lines infront of him is
Hummels? Get out of here.
I admit Alderweireld has a very good long pass but the way Blind's splits the lines infront of him is
Would rate Blind higher in tight sports. Makes some delicious 20 yard passes under pressure.
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