[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Was it really worth a comment to say that? .

Yeah, how else do you educate yourself if you don't ask questions? As I say, I genuinly want to learn, why are you so defensive?

 

[Larseno]

Good thing football is a team sport right? I do hope too that Blind, alone , does not have to keep control when we meet fast world class strikers. That would be pretty bad.

Clearly you didnt understand what I ment. Blind WILL get one on one challenges. Even a wiseass like you understand that. There will be freekicks against us. There will be counterattacks. There we be crosses where he will get one on one on the header.

Yes its a team sport but its also very much an individual sport. And you would be a foul to deny that

 

[The United]

Clearly you didnt understand what I ment. Blind WILL get one on one challenges. Even a wiseass like you understand that. There will be freekicks against us. There will be counterattacks. There we be crosses where he will get one on one on the header.

Yes its a team sport but its also very much an individual sport. And you would be a foul to deny that

So he never had one on one challeges before against good strikers? Have you seen some? If so, remember what happened more of the time?

Did he start playing his first pro football this season or something?

 

[Larseno]

This is a load of nonsense.

Thats your opinion. I think it makes sanse.

 

[Larseno]

So he never had one on one challeges before against good strikers? Have you seen some? If so, remember what happened more of the time?

Did he start playing his first pro football this season or something?

If I remember correctly De gea was player of the year for a reason. Blind was part of that reason. Smalling too. How many unreal saves did de gea have to do? If not for De Gea we would have conseded a lot more.

My main point is that I cant see Blind as a longterm solution. Next year he sgould be replaced IMO. If he continue like this it will be good enough this season.

 

[Sammyjunn]

So because he had like 3 bad matches last season, he isnt that good some want to argue and will get exposed everytime he faces decent opposition. Yeah right.

 

[Sammyjunn]

If I remember correctly De gea was player of the year for a reason. Blind was part of that reason. Smalling too. How many unreal saves did de gea have to do? If not for De Gea we would have conseded a lot more.

My main point is that I cant see Blind as a longterm solution. Next year he sgould be replaced IMO. If he continue like this it will be good enough this season.

So you think the level he shown so far this season isnt good enough for Man United?

 

[The United]

If I remember correctly De gea was player of the year for a reason. Blind was part of that reason. Smalling too. How many unreal saves did de gea have to do? If not for De Gea we would have conseded a lot more.

My main point is that I cant see Blind as a longterm solution. Next year he sgould be replaced IMO. If he continue like this it will be good enough this season.

So you don't remember? Did you even watch most of our games last season at all?

 

[Larseno]

So you don't remember? Did you even watch most of our games last season at all?

Omg. Of course I remember. Its a figure of speech. I watched almost every game and I was not impressed. He started very good and he ended very good. In between I think he cost us a points.

 

[The United]

Omg. Of course I remember. Its a figure of speech. I watched almost every game and I was not impressed. He started very good and he ended very good. In between I think he cost us a points.

So in another words, you didn't and made up more shit.

Thought so.

 

[Larseno]

So you think the level he shown so far this season isnt good enough for Man United?

I think he has started fantastic. And I allready said so. But I predict he would do far worse against potential topp 10 in the league. I may be wrong. He has improved a lot since last season. But hes physical abilities cant be hidden. And I think it will end in us giving away big chances against better opponents then we have met so far. IMO. You people take this almost personaly.

 

[Larseno]

So in another words, you didn't and made up more shit.

Thought so.

Charming guy you are. Learn to behave. Just because you dissagree you dont have to make this personal. I stand by what I said and I know there is plenty of people who agree with me. The same as many dissagree. But thay at least behave and dont act like a jackass.

 

[Sammyjunn]

I think he has started fantastic. And I allready said so. But I predict he would do far worse against potential topp 10 in the league. I may be wrong. He has improved a lot imaince last season. But hes physical abilities cant be hidden. And I think it will end in us giving away big chances against better opponents then we have met so far. IMO. You people take this almost personaly.

But the thing is, he played against top 10 last season as well and still gotnthe better of most of the top forwards. Of course he wont be brilliant everytime and some matches some will get the better of him, but so do Smalling, Ramos, Kompany, Koscielny, etc, but it seems as if his performances against Aguero, Lukaku, Benteke etc dont bother you. Out of my head only Carroll really got the better of him, but West Ham away is really tough for any defender. There's no near perfect CB atm, except Boateng and Pique when he gets to that form where he has to defend for 4 at Barca.

 

[The United]

Charming guy you are. Learn to behave. Just because you dissagree you dont have to make this personal. I stand by what I said and I know there is plenty of people who agree with me. The same as many dissagree. But thay at least behave and dont act like a jackass.

Nothing personal, trust me.

I just don't hold.

 

[ivaldo]

The only one smoking any substance would be you. Considering you have failed to properly argue my points with sound logic, instead jumping to wild conclusions which you dub "irrefutable evidence". Ad hominems aside, do you really think it is valid to argue your conclusion from a video that shows 1 chance Southampton created? Out of their 13 shots, not even counting chances created, only 1 made it into the highlights you showed. Surely that is "irrefutable" logic, why even bother watching the whole game to evaluate our defense performance when you can make conclusion from a small clip showing mostly our attacking highlights.

Next you take a giant leap saying Bailly loses his man, when he consciously chose to not do so that our defensive organization isn't comprised. If you pay attention you'd know we play a compact zonal marking system. No where in zonal marking does it say if you are the LCB to allow a striker to run past you to close down someone ahead of you, especially when Pogba was in the proper position to close Long down. Once the mistake in positioning was made by Blind, a small one in the grand context of things, Bailly reacted to cover the gap, but as the ball was going wide left, he recognized that he the RCB would be drawn away from his zonal marking position and hence reacted correctly to cover a zone in front of the goal to intercept any cross. Bailly is an excellent defender unlike Blind, and doesn't lose his man. You just made an incorrect analysis of what happened on the football pitch.

Criticism can exist for even the best players in the world, and Blind is far from that. He has a good skill set with some obvious defensive weaknesses. Don't need to go all psycho when logic is used to point out the flaws in a players abilities. Doesn't mean that he's bad. It just means he's good in some situations, and not so in others. I like Blind, and I think it's great we have him in the squad; look at how much Pep payed for an inferior player in Stones. I just don't try to overrate him.

You are like a conveyer belt of bullshit. Do you understand a highlight video includes highlights right? A chance would be deemed a highlight. I watched the whole game, did you? So far the only example you've given didn't actually happen. Why not enlighten us and offer up a time stamp from the game where Blind is exposed by Redmond due to a lack of pace.

Bailly let's him go as to keep shape? What the feck are you talking about. Redmond got in behind the defense! It's his job to stop that from happening. Both Long and Redmond were on the left hand side of the pitch, do you think it's more prudent for Bailly to mark no one and leave their man completely unmarked. This is ridiculous, Redmond didn't 'run past Blind', he drifted over from the right, Blind was already marking Long and rightly followed his man, you're just making stuff up now. This isn't fussball, opposition players will drift and defenders have to readjust to it.

But let's just reassess shall we?

Firstly it was Blind that allowed Redmond to get in behind.
Then you tell us it's Blind job to cut out the pass.
Then you say Blind shouldnt follow his man, which would leave him in a situation that would be impossible to cut out the pass!

Which one is it? Or is this all down to 'vertical running'?

 

[Larseno]

Nothing personal, trust me.

I just don't hold.

Sure seem so. At least then you wouldnt attack me like you do. You make this about me. Ergo you make it personal.

 

[ivaldo]

I think he has started fantastic. And I allready said so. But I predict he would do far worse against potential topp 10 in the league. I may be wrong. He has improved a lot since last season. But hes physical abilities cant be hidden. And I think it will end in us giving away big chances against better opponents then we have met so far. IMO. You people take this almost personaly.

He played all of last season at centreback you know, how many times did the top teams get the better of him?

 

[Larseno]

But the thing is, he played against top 10 last season as well and still gotnthe better of most of the top forwards. Of course he wont be brilliant everytime and some matches some will get the better of him, but so do Smalling, Ramos, Kompany, Koscielny, etc, but it seems as if his performances against Aguero, Lukaku, Benteke etc dont bother you. Out of my head only Carroll really got the better of him, but West Ham away is really tough for any defender. There's no near perfect CB atm, except Boateng and Pique when he gets to that form where he has to defend for 4 at Barca.

Im not asking Blind to be perfect and you are intitled ro your opinion, and so am I. I think Blind played good here and there and prob didnt get enough cred in some matches. But the rest of the time I saw him getting run passed inside the box when players did right left movements. I saw him try to steal the ball and totaly fail letting opponents run against the goal almost alone. I saw him beeing to late in situations on freekicks. I saw him way out of the defensive line keeping players onside getting big chances. Smalling was not perfect either but not as many blunders as Blind IMO. De Gea saved us many times. Thats because of individual misstakes. So far this year hes done almost nothing because we have been very good so far. But last year I dont believe that our defense was so good as aome claim we were.

 

[Larseno]

He played all of last season at centreback you know, how many times did the top teams get the better of him?

To often I think considering our dexensive approach. Something must be wrong when David De Gea must bring up one worldclass save after another. Did does chances come out of the thin air?

 

[Larseno]

To often I think considering our defensive approach. Something must be wrong when David De Gea must bring up one worldclass save after another. Did does chances come out of thin air?

 

[ivaldo]

To often I think considering our dexensive approach. Something must be wrong when David De Gea must bring up one worldclass save after another. Did does chances come out of the thin air?

Examples please.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Im not asking Blind to be perfect and you are intitled ro your opinion, and so am I. I think Blind played good here and there and prob didnt get enough cred in some matches. But the rest of the time I saw him getting run passed inside the box when players did right left movements. I saw him try to steal the ball and totaly fail letting opponents run against the goal almost alone. I saw him beeing to late in situations on freekicks. I saw him way out of the defensive line keeping players onside getting big chances. Smalling was not perfect either but not as many blunders as Blind IMO. De Gea saved us many times. Thats because of individual misstakes. So far this year hes done almost nothing because we have been very good so far. But last year I dont believe that our defense was so good as aome claim we were.

Im not saying you're wrong or it's a crazy statement or something, but if you think we need better, I then try to relate him to other players as reference as to if there's much better attainable out there. It was his first year in prof football as a CB, with a struggling team and no proper shielding DM (Carrick en Morgan werent good enough), I think he showed a lot of potential, against good opposition as well but he also had lapses in form and moments of inconsistency, something I can consider given the circumstances. But if he was to actually live up to that potential he showed at times last season this season, by continuing these performances, imo we should keep him. But thats a big if ofcourse.

 

[Larseno]

Im not saying you're wrong or it's a crazy statement or something, but if you think we need better, I then try to relate him to other players as reference as to if there's much better attainable out there. It was his first year in prof football as a CB, with a struggling team and no proper shielding DM (Carrick en Morgan werent good enough), I think he showed a lot of potential, against good opposition as well but he also had lapses in form and moments of inconsistency, something I can consider given the circumstances. But if he was to actually live up to that potential he showed at times last season this season, by continuing these performances, imo we should keep him. But thats a big if ofcourse.

And this I agree to. It was not optimal what happend last season and I really think Mou have gotten him in to shape. And he has adopted hes game to cover for hes lack of pace and jumping. But at some point this will not be enough. I hope im wrong. I actually think Blind is the best passing CB in the league. Some of the best in the worl actually. But I think its most effecrive when we dont get counterattacks against us wich is difficult to avoid. City this year is way more in form so far and I think Kevin DB, Aguero, Silva and Sterling will make big problems if thay can isolate Blind in two weeks.

 

[Perrick Dubois]

He played all of last season at centreback you know, how many times did the top teams get the better of him?

I think it was pretty obvious that we defended differently last season than this season. Even I was a vocal critic of him last season that he would go running around at the wrong time chasing things. It has since been revealed that it was a defensive tactic from Van Gaal. A rather poor one.

Right now his form is up and he is defending well on the cover for Bailly who is a monster. He's the perfect foil in my opinion because he presses very smartly when playing toward his own goal. It is just when the play was in front of us last season and he'd often run out of position that bothered me.

He looks very comfortable playing under Jose. I hope it continues because if he is keeping up this level and genuinely keeping Smalling out of the side then that is only positive in my view. None of this "in the team because of his ball-playing" in my opinion Bailly looks much more composed and adept on the ball than Blind has this season. Which says something significant. Defend your position first, technical aspects come after. A player shouldn't just be forced into the side because he is a ball-player. That aspect is benefiting his defensive form which is excellent so I can only envision good things coming from our back line this season. Proud of Daley so far.

 

[Larseno]

Im not saying you're wrong or it's a crazy statement or something, but if you think we need better, I then try to relate him to other players as reference as to if there's much better attainable out there. It was his first year in prof football as a CB, with a struggling team and no proper shielding DM (Carrick en Morgan werent good enough), I think he showed a lot of potential, against good opposition as well but he also had lapses in form and moments of inconsistency, something I can consider given the circumstances. But if he was to actually live up to that potential he showed at times last season this season, by continuing these performances, imo we should keep him. But thats a big if ofcourse.

Btw, thanks for the constructive tone. Im thankful

 

[amolbhatia50k]

To often I think considering our dexensive approach. Something must be wrong when David De Gea must bring up one worldclass save after another. Did does chances come out of the thin air?

Complete myth about us being defensive last season. If anything our CMs bombed forward more under LVG. We've sat back plenty this season as opposed to last season's pointless keep ball. What separates the two styles is the directness of our attack.

 

[Litch]

The brain.....

 

[Larseno]

Complete myth about us being defensive last season. If anything our CMs bombed forward more under LVG. We've sat back plenty this season as opposed to last season's pointless keep ball. What separates the two styles is the directness of our attack.

Bombed forward? Thats not my impression. But anyways. Doesnt change the fact that De Gea had to make a ton of world class efforts to save us

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Bombed forward? Thats not my impression. But anyways. Doesnt change the fact that De Gea had to make a ton of world class efforts to save us

Relatively speaking. Neither system is particularly adventurous to be fair. Bombed forward is probably the wrong term.

De Gea's "world class" saves are overstated. It's the consistency and assuredness of his saves that was incredible. That he would have to make saves is normal. The top class saves were only once in awhile.

 

[ivaldo]

Bombed forward? Thats not my impression. But anyways. Doesnt change the fact that De Gea had to make a ton of world class efforts to save us

Still waiting for those examples mate.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

In fact, if anything the argument is wrong way round. Due to our high defensive line, we actually gave Smalling, Blind and De Gea less protection last season than they're getting this season. Jose likes his back 4 not getting run at too often. LVG went for a more front foot set up but matched it with equal impotence once we actually had the ball. So while De Gea was put to the test more last season, that's true for Blind and Smalling as well. So if De Gea's activity last season is being blamed on the back 4, the same can easily and logically be done for it being deflected from the back 4 on top the tactics or CM/full back instructions. They'll get better protection this season with fullbacks and CMs caught high up the pitch less season.

 

[flappyjay]

Blind and Van Dijk are gonna make a good cb pairing for Holland. I have no worries about Blind at the back because none of the top six managers in the league are better than Mourinho at setting up a defense. Mourinho sees him in training versus Zlatan, Marcus, Anthony and he still thinks he is good enough, if he didn't think so he would have already thrown Smalling into the 11. The way he went for Bailly at the beginning should tell you that you should trust his judgement on defenders.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Blind and Van Dijk are gonna make a good cb pairing for Holland. I have no worries about Blind at the back because none of the top six managers in the league are better than Mourinho at setting up a defense. Mourinho sees him in training versus Zlatan, Marcus, Anthony and he still thinks he is good enough, if he didn't think so he would have already thrown Smalling into the 11. The way he went for Bailly at the beginning should tell you that you should trust his judgement on defenders.

They really should, got me excited about that pairing. I regret my past van Dijk comments, he is absolutely brilliant.

 

[flappyjay]

They really should, got me excited about that pairing. I regret my past van Dijk comments, he is absolutely brilliant.

When someone said we should sign him when he was at Celtic I thought they were crazy. Athletic and decent on the ball I can see transferring to a top 5 team next season

 

[Litch]

Van Dijk will not be at Southampton next season, I think they are gonna struggle this season anyway. That said, I'd like us to sign an experienced CB. Just think we lack a bit of leadership in there.

 

[Bwuk]

Van Dijk is class. Said it before many a time.

Him and Blind will be great for Holland. You need defenders who can pass the ball forward.

 

[Larseno]

Still waiting for those examples mate.

Sorry didnt see.

But do you think I make a mental note everytime he does something? Just try to find it on youtube. Im sure you find a compilation of hes best saves there.

But surely you would have to know he made a lot of great saves last season. GK of the year. Isnt that indication enough?

 

[RedStarUnited]

Aguerro or any top striker will get the beating of any top defender.

 

[carlosp]

Clearly you didnt understand what I ment. Blind WILL get one on one challenges. Even a wiseass like you understand that. There will be freekicks against us. There will be counterattacks. There we be crosses where he will get one on one on the header.

Yes its a team sport but its also very much an individual sport. And you would be a foul to deny that

And yet this season all the one on one encounters he has won. All the headers he has contested he has won. All the take ons he has won. Yet you still spout nonsense.

Last season is the past. This season he has been tasked with a different task and has been exceptional.

 

[Larseno]

And yet this season all the one on one encounters he has won. All the headers he has contested he has won. All the take ons he has won. Yet you still spout nonsense.

Last season is the past. This season he has been tasked with a different task and has been exceptional.

Whats wrong with people? Why is not possible to discuss and behave at the same time. You say I spout nonsense. But still others makes counter arguments based on last season. Also you make arguments based on 3-4 games this season. And im not arguing hes performance this season either. But look at who we have played so far. If he continues to play like this I would surely reconnsider.

Btw it IS possible to make arguments without making insults.