[The United]

Depends on how and what you want to play.

It is very obvious that the likes of blind has to be in the team somehow if we want to pass the ball out of deep successfully most of the time.

Or are ok with being able to dominate in the air more and feel 'safer' with pace and power CBs?

I think it depends on jose. For me, I love good passers.

 

[Lynty]

And how does that make Blind a better centre-back than Smalling?

No proof. It's all opinion. I just find the irony funny.

 

[George Owen]

No proof. It's all opinion. I just find the irony funny.

Get over it man
Blind sucks as a CB.

 

[Cascarino]

Get over it man
Blind sucks as a CB.

He's got weaknesses as a CB but I think he's very good. I thought he was poor in the city game but he's been playing well now for a while. As long as he's paired with a physically dominant CB he's very useful, playing the ball out from the back is important and he does that far better than your other CB options.

 

[ZDwyr]

Was missed greatly today. Smalling did himself no favors today with that performance. Surely Blind will walk back into the team.

Smalling did himself no favours?! feck me. The amount of latitude some players get is amazing. Bailly was absolutely awful. If anyone deserves dropping for Blind after that it is Bailly.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Get over it man
Blind sucks as a CB.

 

[ivaldo]

Get over it man
Blind sucks as a CB.

Oh yeah, the evidence is all there!

 

[JeffBoomTetris]

He was horrendous against City. That gave Mourinho enough reason to replace him with Smalling

 

[Festive Sandvich]

I'd try him as the deepest midfielder behind Herrera and Pogba. He's good at passing an he's an intelligent player, which is more than I can say for the majority of our team.

This would be my selection too, there's a bit of everything in that midfield, nice balance.

 

[Ixion]

He was horrendous against City. That gave Mourinho enough reason to replace him with Smalling

Because all teams are going to attack like City. I mean if he can't stop De Bruyne then he's a liability against anyone.

 

[Duafc]

I just find it funny that people say he's a liability, too many mistakes, lacks physicality, not a natural CB etc - all despite him looking in 9/10 games like a Rolls Royce and posting fantastic stats.

As if Watford didn't just walk all over both Smalling and Bailly, won most headers, held the ball up with ease, beat them for pace and skill, passed around them and pulled them all over the shop... That's Watford, Deeney, Ighalo and friends... Not De Bruyne, Silva, Nolito etc.

It's tough to say whether he should be at CB or CM at the minute but he's one of the first names on the team sheet for me.

 

[christy87]

I just find it funny that people say he's a liability, too many mistakes, lacks physicality, not a natural CB etc - all despite him looking in 9/10 games like a Rolls Royce and posting fantastic stats.

As if Watford didn't just walk all over both Smalling and Bailly, won most headers, held the ball up with ease, beat them for pace and skill, passed around them and pulled them all over the shop... That's Watford, Deeney, Ighalo and friends... Not De Bruyne, Silva, Nolito etc.

It's tough to say whether he should be at CB or CM at the minute but he's one of the first names on the team sheet for me.

Exactly, I think he's one of our best players, but I'd move him to the base of a 3 man midfield, we need him there to free up pogba to make his runs forward.

 

[arthurka]

This guy would offer the discipline and intelligence to offset Pogba's exuberance in midfield. Also the best passer in the squad.

Carrick says hi...

 

[Paul the Wolf]

100% loss rate with our 'supposedly' best defensive partnership.

Sorry. Too good an oppurtunity.

Bailly and Smalling were both poor yesterday but they were losing all the aerial duels and don't see Blind winning those either , I hope that when Smalling gets a couple more games under his belt he will get sharper and develop a partnership with Bailly. Nothing against Blind but him being a CB makes me nervous

 

[NinjaZombie]

I'd play him in midfield with Herrera and Pogba. We need his distribution abilities. Herrera can make up for his lack of mobility.

 

[Festive Sandvich]

Carrick says hi...

Point taken, but I'm more thinking viable longer term. Actually think Blind is a better forward passer anyway (imo). Could make a decent case for Bastian too, but looking pretty unlikely we'll see him again.

 

[Morpheus 7]

Blind needs to be in the United 11.If that's at center back or as a dm I don't mind. He adds such composure and calmness to our play and his passing is excellent. We missed him so much yesterday. Maybe he isn't as imposing at the stature of Smalling but he makes up for it in other qualities. His intelligence and positional awareness is top quality. He reads the game better than anyone else in our current side. I underestimated Blind as a CB last year but he has a better partnership with Bailly. Sooner we get him back in the team, the sooner the focus will be brought back from a defensive side.

 

[sunama]

Given our last 2 performances (conceding 4 goals in 2 games), I can't believe why any sane person would want Bailly/Smalling partnership.
After the Watford horror show, Blind would be straight back into the starting XI.

We need to start winning guys and its pretty clear that Smalling/Bailly is not going to work anytime soon. Maybe after they have played 10 games together, they could be great, but right now, we need to stop the losses and habit of leaking goals.

Statistically, Blind/Bailly is our best combo, so that is who should play.

This is not even a debate.

 

[prath92]

Bailly and Smalling were both poor yesterday but they were losing all the aerial duels and don't see Blind winning those either , I hope that when Smalling gets a couple more games under his belt he will get sharper and develop a partnership with Bailly. Nothing against Blind but him being a CB makes me nervous

One of the only things Smalling has over blind is his aerial ability and speed. That is the only thing that makes people want Smalling over blind. Surely if that's the same then surely there is barely any advantage playing Smalling over blind?

 

[Paul the Wolf]

One of the only things Smalling has over blind is his aerial ability and speed. That is the only thing that makes people want Smalling over blind. Surely if that's the same then surely there is barely any advantage playing Smalling over blind?

That's two

 

[JeffBoomTetris]

Because all teams are going to attack like City. I mean if he can't stop De Bruyne then he's a liability against anyone.

Not all teams will attack quite like City do. But Mourinho displaced him anyway.

Which was very silly and short-sighted. Blind was poor vs City, yes. But, it was the wrong decision. We missed Blind setting the buildup from defense in the last 2 games. Smalling for all his defensive quality doesn't provide the safe extra passing option for the midfielders. As such, Watford totally toyed with us in stretches. They were in control and didn't let us penetrate them.

 

[Lentwood]

I just find it funny that people say he's a liability, too many mistakes, lacks physicality, not a natural CB etc - all despite him looking in 9/10 games like a Rolls Royce and posting fantastic stats.

As if Watford didn't just walk all over both Smalling and Bailly, won most headers, held the ball up with ease, beat them for pace and skill, passed around them and pulled them all over the shop... That's Watford, Deeney, Ighalo and friends... Not De Bruyne, Silva, Nolito etc.

It's tough to say whether he should be at CB or CM at the minute but he's one of the first names on the team sheet for me.

Yeah it's ridiculous. We have fans who are STILL arguing a case for Rooney and fans who still fail to acknowledge any criticism of Herrera, Mata or Smalling but Blind has one iffy game (and lets face it so did the other 10) against the best side in the league and suddenly he is dropped and written off on here

 

[Escobar]

I'd play him in midfield with Herrera and Pogba. We need his distribution abilities. Herrera can make up for his lack of mobility.

Why not? With him we have someone to start our game from deep and can be our defensive midfielder, and with Herrera and Pogba we have skill, mobility and the freedom to attack. I like it

 

[NinjaZombie]

Yeah it's ridiculous. We have fans who are STILL arguing a case for Rooney and fans who still fail to acknowledge any criticism of Herrera, Mata or Smalling but Blind has one iffy game (and lets face it so did the other 10) against the best side in the league and suddenly he is dropped and written off on here

I'm one of those who are not big fans of him in centre back. I'd rather we use him in midfield, see if he can replace Carrick and try to sign another centre back.

Why not? With him we have someone to start our game from deep and can be our defensive midfielder, and with Herrera and Pogba we have skill, mobility and the freedom to attack. I like it

Yeah, in theory, they have different skill sets so would complement each other. But that's just my opinion.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

This is so good.

It had me at Martial in the opening seconds followed by music very similar to the opening sequence in GTA3. Never mind the 12 minutes of Daley's passing!

(Ajax's finishing is fecking terrible )

 

[izec]

Another brainfart.

 

[Bwuk]

Not his fault, had to put a foot in and try something. TFM at fault.

 

[podurban2]

Will get slaughtered on here for that mistake.

Nonetheless, I don't want to see him at CB, I want to see him play CDM and I think he has been our best passer tonight (Carrick too).

 

[The United]

Another brainfart.

LOl how would that be a brainfart or a mistake..?!

He had to put a foot in as someone said earlier and caught someone that was coming from behind. The ball should have never come back into the box like that.

 

[klayton88]

Will get slaughtered on here for that mistake.

Nonetheless, I don't want to see him at CB, I want to see him play CDM and I think he has been our best passer tonight (Carrick too).

Agree.

He'll get stick for that tackle but should have been dealt with well before it fell to him. He's been good tonight.

 

[Rossa]

LOl how would that be a brainfart or a mistake..?!

He had to put a foot in as someone said earlier and caught someone that was coming from behind. The ball should have never come back into the box like that.

Nah, more unlucky there, although too sloppy. He's a little sloppy overall, so not that surprised that he made that challenge tbf.

 

[MadDogg]

He and Carrick were our best players for most of the half. Towards the end of the half Carrick started drifting out of the match a bit, and Blind made a couple of poor mistakes.

 

[izec]

LOl how would that be a brainfart or a mistake..?!

He had to put a foot in as someone said earlier and caught someone that was coming from behind. The ball should have never come back into the box like that.

So causing a penalty isnt a mistake He wasnt through on goal ffs, the Northampton player just touched the ball diagonally away from goal. Needless foul as i have seen this season.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Another brainfart.

He got sold out by Rojo, TFM and Schneiderlin on that sequence.

 

[izec]

He got sold out by Rojo, TFM and Schneiderlin on that sequence.

Sure, still no excuse to be that clumsy. Could have done better than the lot before him, but he messed it up equally.

 

[James_42]

Blind with another mistake and as usual the excuses are being rolled out for him, no surprises there.

How come other players don't get the same treatment?

 

[Rossa]

Blind with another mistake and as usual the excuses are being rolled out for him, no surprises there.

How come other players don't get the same treatment?

He's a little sloppy, trying to be too casual.

 

[The United]

Blind with another mistake and as usual the excuses are being rolled out for him, no surprises there.

How come other players don't get the same treatment?

You mean giving benefit of doubs when a player does not have a very good day which happens to every players once in awhile?

yea, I wonder.

 

[Wade3]

Other than the clumsy scene for the penalty, he did well.

 

[VeevaVee]

He's overrated on here. Proved to me what I've been saying all along - that he's decent backup but not cut out to be first choice (yeah I know as backup he'd be played in this game anyway).