he's better than lindelof. they would've made a solid partnership but a clever player like blind can play next to any defender. lindelof ,smalling, Bailly - it doesn't matter.
Daley Blind | Ajax Performances
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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Oh how we could use a versatile, technical work horse to fill in (or even start) in our current situation.
Marginalising him, selling him and then whining to the press that all his centre backs liked to play on the right side. Maybe don't sell the one that is more comfortable on the left then hey Jose?
Loved Blind and never felt he had a fair chance under Mourinho. Was great under LVG at CB and like a Rolls Royce John O'shea, would play anywhere you asked him as well. Glad to see him doing well.
When Mourinho freezes you out there's not much you can do. He was always an intelligent defender who could pass and charge up the field, and could ahve still played a role for us. But he wouldn't be getting as much game time as he is getting at Ajax, a place where he is comfortable, so good for him.
We basically had a modern defensive player who could cost us now about 30-40 millions and just blew this money on sacking Mourinho and contracts for players with 99 problems.
Not my money but this is just insane.
The fact that I will probably never see him playing next to Lindelof is genuinely depressing... just for the sake of testing two smart defenders who could sustain calmness against CL sides.
He both started and ended the season in the starting XI during Mourinho's first season in charge and then was injured for a lot of his second
I get the feeling he just wanted to go home back to Holland and Ajax
It's a pity. Mourinho screwed us over big time.
Sounds familiar. Don’t remember him playing there much after that, so for Mourinho that was probably bit of a deal-breaker.
Just came in out the blue for our europa league final and played better than any CB we had that season 
Jose is a cn*t
Jose is a cn*t
Summer 2018 will never make sense ever again.
Best performance I have ever seen from him. Never performed to that level at United!
Delighted for him, good pro and I hope he continues it at Ajax
Delighted for him, good pro and I hope he continues it at Ajax
Lindelof - Smalling - Blind
Is near perfect. Calm defenders protected by godzilla.
Is near perfect. Calm defenders protected by godzilla.
I thought he was very good for decent periods at United. We don’t have a defender as technically gifted as he was. I know he was small but I didn’t see him get bullied to often? Maybe I’m misremembering
He didn't
oh yes he did. countless times he pocketed big strikers and on occasion pacy wingers under LVG. mourinho never actually used him at centre back. darmian was favoured at LB and then in 2017/18 he started off with Blind and reverted back to Young. Blind was never in his plans but merely a stop gap.
Nope, remember the FA Cup semi final where he completely pocketed the big strong fast Everton centre forward? Whatever happened to him?....
Lindelof this year has been excellent. He is like a bigger version of Blind. Him and Blind would have made a good partnership (and Blind and Smalling had a good partnership, with Lindelof and Smalling making a good one). Three CBs who while not great are quite good and reliable.
But instead we kept Rojo and Jones. Cause Mourinho is a fecking idiot.
I think sometimes people judge players on how they look rather than how they perform which is a bit strange...
Well done,Jose.
Blind was wasted. One of my favourite signings over the last 5 years and should never have been sold.
Oh for sure. I think Lindelof has made some great steps this season but Blind has that extra bit of class imo. he hasn't reached that level yet but together it would've been a supreme partnership.
Favourite Blind moment.What a strike.
Players who leave us tend to go the opposite way and never recapture the form that brought them to our club in the first place but Blind has seamlessly slotted back into Ajax way of playing and is showing great form once again.
To reiterate what other posters have written above, Blind should've never been sold.
Blind was a far better passer. He really did start our moves from the back often with good passes into front players in the middle
Lindelof is more "comfortable on the ball" compared to the best ball playing CBs.
Some people on here (or the media or the internet) would complain about height and pace if we had cannavaro and baresi back there. It's not like Blind has a physique like Mata! Brilliant player who has been very unlucky in his career I think .
Gary Neville did a great assessment of him in I think LVG’s second season. I was always ok seeing him in the team. Very intelligent player
I really liked Blind when he was here but it was the right move to sell him. He wasn't brilliant enough with the ball to get into the midfield ahead of the likes of Carrick and Herrera, wasn't tall enough to consistently succeed as a CB in the PL (despite a strong season next to Smalling which has been too quickly forgotten with respect to both players), and wasn't fast enough to be a satisfactory first-choice FB.
Of course after a game like this there'll be fans coming out of the woodwork claiming we shouldn't have sold him, but if he was still here he'd be getting so much flak and be lumped in with all the 'squad rubbish' which we're meant to be clearing out.
Of course after a game like this there'll be fans coming out of the woodwork claiming we shouldn't have sold him, but if he was still here he'd be getting so much flak and be lumped in with all the 'squad rubbish' which we're meant to be clearing out.
Probably. He would be a good backup but would need to be shipped out anyway and would be mentioned in the same sense as Darmian and Jones.
Disagree. Think he would have been a useful squad player if still with us, covering 3 positions. Much more so than Darmian or Rojo.
Agree that there would be people slating him but then there are always some anyway.
Suppose so. I'd be happy with him as a squad player. If you listen to a lot of this forum though, the squad should be full of star players a la Madrid or PSG, and Blind would get constant, nonstop heat for just being good.
He was more than good at the role of ball playing CB.
Hahaha Mourinho got rid of this guy but kept Jones and Rojo....
I seem to remember him starting the first season under Jose as a first choice centre back and doing very well but then he was dropped after the City game early in the season. We rarely saw him in a settled position again until injuries meant that he got another chance at the end of that season at CB. I agree that I don't think he was good enough in midfield or full back but he could have played more at centre back (especially with our problems there over the years).
Have always liked him, good squad player that can cover 3 positions at worst.
No idea why Jose got rid of him... It's hard to find a defender of his mold.
No idea why Jose got rid of him... It's hard to find a defender of his mold.
I liked the lad but no way was he a Jose player
Said at the time he was leaving that he should have been a Barca player
Said at the time he was leaving that he should have been a Barca player
I think he always played well at CB for us, but he never played in a cohesive team like this Ajax team. That helps a lot.
I hope we, as a club, are looking at Ajax tonight and start thinking long term instead of wanting instant results over progressing our general football. Look back to our final against them and we still haven't looked good in the CL whilst they've now outplayed Munich and Madrid this season.
Always felt that we shouldn't have sold him but it made sense if we assumed that Jose would be in charge.
In the squad, he's as good a centre back as Rojo/Jones/Darmian while having excellent passing, also a decent leftback with superb delivery, and the only player capable of playing the passing role from deep midfield (Matic can't long pass as well, Pereira has no positional sense and hasn't shown any special passing ability so far, McTominay's passing isn't even close).
In the squad, he's as good a centre back as Rojo/Jones/Darmian while having excellent passing, also a decent leftback with superb delivery, and the only player capable of playing the passing role from deep midfield (Matic can't long pass as well, Pereira has no positional sense and hasn't shown any special passing ability so far, McTominay's passing isn't even close).