Demetri Karim Mitchell
Jan 11, 1997 (20)
Manchester
1,80 m
Foot: Left
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35
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Demetri Karim Mitchell
Jan 11, 1997 (20)
Manchester
1,80 m
Foot: Left
He looked bright in that last game. Exciting talent, has bags of pace.
Must have shown quite a lot in training considering we seem to be letting CBJ go. Would not surprise me to see him as our second choice LB after Luke Shaw. Winger converted to full back he certainly has a lot of attacking talent and I hope he can adapt his game as well defensively, if he does in a few seasons time he could end up starting for us, who knows.
I actually think he was the most impressive out of all the youngsters In the palace game, really exciting option to have at fullback
It would surprise me a lot if Demi was our second choice LB after Luke Shaw, if only because I'm struggling to see Mourinho trusting Shaw to that extent. Darmian for tougher opponents, Demi or Blind for weaker sides at Old Trafford is optimistic but not totally unrealistic.
I would imagine he will need a successful season on loan at a PL club before Mourinho takes Demi that seriously.
I would imagine he will need a successful season on loan at a PL club before Mourinho takes Demi that seriously.
By the numbers, I actually suspect he might have travelled as a leftwinger, really.
Just seen that he's travelled with the first team for pre season. Looking forward to seeing how he gets on, got high hopes for him.
That kid does not need any loan out. He is ready. Play him, Jose. You won't regret it.
Demetri Karim Mitchell
Jan 11, 1997 (20)
Manchester
Foot: Left
My favourite of the kids. Absolutely talented left footed player. I want to see him in the first team next season.
We only have Darmian, Blind and Young for LB, and none of them have full Mourinho's trust. Darmian is the favorite, probably, but it's more than likely that he'll use Mitchell in pre-season ahead of him
Would be great if that happened, at least if he stayed training with the team. He could have a chance if we let Young go, specially if we don't sign Perišić too.
Don't believe Darmian is the favorite, not at the beginning of the season. Mourinho has to be ambitious and play someone who might provide more in attack. I think Blind is the first choice. Also, Young is still not available, like Shaw. Mitchell's minutes might come from the leftwing, instead of leftback.
Why do you believe that he prefers Blind when Darmian was a mainstay in the side last season near the end? I prefer Blind myself, but it was pretty clear that Mou didn't rate him enough, sadly.
While in attack Mitchell will be fighting with Micky, Rashford, Martial, Lingard, possible Pereira... he certainly has more chances to break through as a left back, where we don't have an undisputed starter and which is his main position.
That's not so clear, and the overall defensive setup of the team on those games might partly explain it. Since the Chelsea game, where Darmian did a specific job on Pedro, it's true Darmian got to play more games than Blind as fullback, but the Dutch was also forced to put a shift of 6 games as centerback, including the Europa League final. I still think Mourinho sees Blind as more offensively capable than Darmian and that will be a criteria for starting the season in the position, I hope.
We'll see if Mourinho sees Pereira as attacker or midfielder, but I'm expecting less movement along second line of attack positions in the beginning of the season, so Lingard, unless he's really an new option there, won't probably feature in the leftwing. So, you have Blind and Darmian fit and sure for leftback, and only Martial sure for leftwing, at least till we buy Perišić, since Rashford should be starting as striker. Even if Young and Shaw don't recover in the meantime, that's why I think Mitchell has more chances of minutes as leftwinger, although I think Mourinho sees him as a longtime option for leftback, a bit like Tuanzebe was putting a shift in defensive midfield.
I wouldn't mind seeing him go on loan in January and then next pre-season have him and Joe Riley battle for the back-up LB spot.
I think we'll need him for depth. With CBJ likely leaving either on loan or permanently we only really have Darmian and an injury prone Shaw at lb. There's Blind also but I just increasingly get the feeling Jose doesn't want Blind playing anywhere in his side. Wouldn't be shocked if he's sold. Can't see Young being used unless we're in a major injury crisis. Not sure Joe Riley will make it at Utd tbh.
I think if Mitchell does well enough in pre-season he might knock Young down the pecking order which mean he could get some games next season.
I don't see Demi getting played at all really, maybe a couple minutes the same as TFM last season. I think Joe Riley can be just as good as Demi and is already a much better defender. Your Blind claim is totally baseless as well. He played just as much at LB last season as Darmian and Shaw and was the 7th most played player last season. Mourinho has no problem benching and getting rid of players he doesn't want. He doesn't regularly play someone he doesn't want anywhere in his side and make them one of the most played players.
I don't think Riley would ever be able to offer what Demi can going forward. My belief is that Jose can make most players into great defenders and Demi actually did very well defensively in the games he played last season. Riley's just a slightly above average youth player who looks good in the reserve team, you see them all the time. He'll spend the early part of his career at a championship club and if he develops well he might make it to a mid table Premier League club. Mitchell has a lot more skill about him as you'd expect being a former winger. He has a much higher ceiling. Never know how far he'll go, he might not develop into anything but he has more potential at this moment to be a useful squad player for Utd than Riley.
The Blind claim is not baseless. Blind played a lot because he was seen as a first choice player for most of the first half of the season. The second half of the season saw him moved around more simply to fill gaps where players were injured. When all were fit in 2017 Jose seemed to be very unsure of the lb position switching between Shaw whom I think he actually wanted to be first choice but was constantly unfit or got injured, Darmian who imo clearly became the 1st choice lb for the last 7-8 games of the season and deservedly as he did very well, and Blind. He still got games in 2017, though less than in 2016, but he didn't ever feel like a first team regular at that point the way he did in the first half of the season and the fact that he was moved around so much suggests he was seen as a useful option when we were encountering so many defensive injuries and he was relatively injury free (a major reason he had so many appearances compared to our other players). Now we have a new young cb and we don't have to worry about Bailly going to the AFCON, as well as the introduction of Tuanzebe into the squad, whom I think Jose considers to be a first team member now (pretty sure he said something like that and said the same about Timbo), Blind isn't as important to have in terms of injuries. Mitchell also did very well when he came into the squad and Jose must have been impressed with him to bring him on tour. If he performs on tour I don't see Jose sending him anywhere. Darmian will likely start the season as first choice at lb and Shaw will probably be gradually introduced. Mitchell won't get many minutes but he'll still be part of the squad and more importantly he'll be training with the squad and Jose will be teaching him a lot of new things which is more helpful than going on some random loan which could be a disaster ala CBJ. Blind won't be discarded for nothing but if we were to get any sort of decent offer for him I think Jose would definitely consider it.
You get that feeling from Blind having only started 7/10 of our last games, including the Europa League final? Seems like a sure thing.
Edit: I've read your later explanation and still not convinced.
Well it was against Ajax and Bailly and Rojo weren't available remember. Smalling also started that game and I expect he'll be gone by the end of this window. As I explained above, I don't see Blind starting anywhere near that many games without all the injuries we got in that time.
Really liked the look of him in the one game he played for us. We are guilty of overhyping youngsters off the back of one performance, so we shall wait and see if there is more to him but seemed like the perfect type of modern full back this club is crying out for in order to take us to the next level.
We need pacey, inventive wing backs who can bomb up and down the pitch, with more emphasis on attack than defence.
We need pacey, inventive wing backs who can bomb up and down the pitch, with more emphasis on attack than defence.
Don't you see the same argument would apply exactly to Rashford and would be equally wrong?
No it wouldn't because we had no striker outside of Ibra and Rashford and if you want to count him Martial. There's no way Rashford could be sold now because we literally wouldn't even have enough numbers to risk selling him. Rashford was playing on the wing even when we had plenty of other strong options like Martial, Mkhi, and Mata also so he was ahead of them in the pecking order before any sort of injury occurred. Blind was starting ahead of Darmian who was terrible before the end part of the season where his performances improved dramatically, Smalling, and Jones. Smalling and Jones were also constantly injured and unfit which Jose actually stated in a press conference so once Rojo got a serious injury there wasn't really an alternative to Blind, not a strong one anyway. Tuanzebe came into the team late, but I don't think Jose is willing to trust him at cb and I think that will likely continue this season. Instead he'll be backup to Valencia along with TFM. The reality is that if Bailly and Rojo were available for the last part of the season I seriously doubt Blind would have been playing since Darmian had done well to establish himself in the lb slot. Now we have Lindelof we have 3 cbs who will be ahead of Blind in the pecking order as opposed to 2, as well as having 2 lbs who will be ahead of him in the pecking order. Jose hasn't used him at cdm so I don't see him playing there. If no club makes an offer for him he'll stay for depth but I don't see us turning down an offer between £15-20m for him and he won't be getting anywhere near as much game time this season unless we suffer an even worse injury crisis than last season.
Riley already offers a lot going forward. Demi looked shaky and all over the place at times for the u23s, which isn't even a slight as he is new to the position but currently Riley is a better defender. Riley also did very well in his senior appearances which were actually competitive games as well and not a meaningless end of season dead rubber. Yes the likelihood is Riley won't be good enough, realistically neither will Demi. Riley is also a former winger so moot point. Demi has a more technical silky dribbling style but it isn't really necessary at fullback. Neither Danny Rose or Kyle Walker are silky dribblers. Riley is equally fast and is more direct and also very good at attacking. He is currently the better defender and more physical for me. He is also more energetic and gets up and down better imo. They are both talented players who realistically won't make it and spend early part of their careers in Championships and look to move up so there is no real point to making definitive statements like that as they can be claimed on anyone.
I also completely disagree on Blind. There is no chance that Mourinho wants him nowhere near his side nor will he be sold.
Your responses are far too long. Make a point or underline the issue in your own text.
Can't correct all the misinformation there, but this I find curious: nevermind Rojo being injured for long, you're convinced Blind will be sold ahead of Smalling!
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I don't think there's much point in continuing debating over this because it's clear we strongly disagree. I personally think Mitchell was our best player against Palace and though Riley's performances against Shrewsbury and Midtjylland were fine they weren't at the same level. You can say they were more meaningful games all you want but ultimately facing Zaha is a much tougher prospect than facing any Midtjylland or Shrewsbury player and he did a damn good job against him. Riley's decent going forward but Mitchell's still clearly better imo, and not just because he's a better dribbler, I think his link up play is better and quicker. Physically, yes, no doubt Riley is the more typical full back height but there have been plenty of short full backs who performed at a very high level. I'm not saying he'll ever be a 1st choice lb for Utd, in fact, I'd be shocked if he ever became that but I could see him developing into a squad player ala Lingard. For whatever reason I don't get that impression with Riley. I also think this is the time you want players like Mitchell and Riley to be going on tour if they are to have a real chance at making it, yet Riley hasn't travelled. Yes I know he was on loan and got injured but realistically you'd have wanted Riley to be with the tour squad if he was going to make it (maybe he's still injured, I'm not sure about that, if so, fair enough). Also, the fact that Mitchell made such a recent transition to full back yet has clearly earned Jose's trust in the way other players who were recommended to him like Willock did not speaks volumes to me. I also liked Mitchell a lot a couple seasons ago before his first major injury so maybe that is also factoring into my assessment of the two.
Nothing more I can say on Blind.
I said that I was convinced Smalling would be sold so I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. I never said that. There's a better chance Smalling is sold than Blind but realistically I could see both being sold. I don't know what you were trying to say with Rojo but he did his cruciate in late April and missed our last 10 games so Blind was a natural choice at cb after that. As for your opening sentence, if you're too lazy to read my explanations then don't bother responding to them. Those are the reasons I have for believing Blind isn't an ideal choice for Jose, I can't shorten it down. After responding to you originally with a shorter post you said the situation I described was the same as Rashford which it wasn't.
The reality is you don't know, regarding Darmian/Blind, what would happen if Rojo was available (Bailly just wasn't available in the final). It could just be Darmian ended up the season better physically than Blind. You're contextualizing too much – just sand in the eyes, really, that's why you write too much and we get lost in the text (you could try paragraphs) – when Blind, again, started 7/10 of our last games, including the Europa League final (Smalling choice was, in my opinion, much more an attacking option, has one of the goals showed, than the fitness ahead of Jones Mourinho claimed).
When Smalling is sold, Blind will still be at least the 4th option for centerback, as you say, at least till January when Rojo's expected to be back, and even that's supposing the unproven Lindelöf comes good. No reason to seeing him getting sold, then, since every team needs at least 4 centerbacks.
The same, proving his need to the team, happens at leftback, at least till Shaw gets back and comes good (or Mitchell proves to be an extraordinary player). Blind, for me, looks to be first option in the position, just because he's better at attacking than Darmian and that should be a major criteria in the beginning of our season. No one said he was ideal for Mourinho, just that we might not improve on the position this summer transfer season and he might want to wait if Shaw develops.
Concerning who might get sold, Darmian, for me, although I don't think he should, he's the more likely, just because he has a lot of market value in Italy and could even be used in an exchange deal. Since all of Smalling, Darmian, Blind, Shaw can end up being sold, I don't see the concluding facts that Blind is the one.
The comparison with Rashford still stands: was already being used in the beginning of the season, was moved when others got injured and played more.
Your point is that Darmian wouldn't have been playing lb and instead Blind would have been playing there had Rojo not gotten injured? Fine, that could be true. It doesn't change the current situation though. Based on how Darmian performed when he was given the chance at lb, it's my opinion that he is now Jose's first choice at lb and I think the majority would agree with that, or at least that he would be chosen ahead of Blind. I believe Smalling was chosen in that game because of his height, not necessarily purely for an attacking option but rather to offer a taller option who could deal with Dolberg in the air since Jose knew he'd be playing Blind. Similarly to you I don't think it was just fitness.
Rojo will clearly be back before January since he is in the tour squad and so must be nearly ready to come back, so this idea that Blind would need to be kept because, assuming Lindelof does well, he'd be 3rd choice doesn't work. Even if you get rid of Blind when all our cbs are fit, you have an order of 1. Bailly, 2. Lindelof/Rojo, 3. Rojo/Lindelof, and 4. Jones. If Blind was to stay he would be ahead of Jones for sure, but he still would only be getting games at cb when injury or fixture pileup necessitated it. If the 4th choice cb is only going to play a few games a season, Jones, Tuanzebe, or TFM could do that. Ro-Shaun Williams might even be in line for a debut since I believe Jose mentioned him towards the end of last season. He was injured at that stage though.
Similarly, Shaw is with the squad so he will be getting minutes on tour and will be ready for the start of the season unless he gets injured while on tour. I expect Darmian will be 1st choice since Jose seemed very happy with him at the end of the season and praised him a lot. Shaw will probably be fighting to regain the position if Darmian's form drops so he'll pretty much be in the same position Blind is in at the start of the season. However, Shaw is young and despite clearly having frustrations with him I do get the impression Jose wants him to develop into our 1st choice lb, he wanted him at Chelsea after all.
I also don't think any club would be willing to risk bidding for Shaw because any club that could afford his wages would likely be concerned about his injury problems. Blind, on the other hand, from any estimates I've checked seems to be on a relatively low wage by Utd standards (though still high for most clubs) which could make him more attainable for midtable or upper-midtable clubs. I could see a lot of clubs wanting him for a decent fee. Considering we have a 2nd choice and, if he performs, a 3rd choice in Demi Mitchell, as well as Young or maybe Lingard if we hit major injury problems, I don't think Jose would have any problems letting him go since he's unlikely to play as much as he would like this season.
I really see nothing to suggest Darmian will be sold. Not only did Jose seem very happy with his performances at the end of the season, but his ability to be used at rb in case of a bad injury to Valencia will also be seen as very valuable. There have also been loads of reports of Italian clubs being interested in Darmian and making bids but none of these bids seem to actually have been entertained. There were similar reports about Fellaini and I don't think we'll be seeing either of them leave this season.
Finally, I think the fact that Darmian is a stronger more defensive full back makes him stand out more than Blind and Shaw, Blind because he's naturally not strong and Shaw because he is so prone to injury. The aerial presence is important also, some teams will require taller players in defence and though Blind normally does well against tall attackers, it's definitely an issue. And as mentioned, I expect Smalling to be sold regardless of what happens with Blind. The way our team functions at the moment our lb isn't particularly productive anyway and it is our lw who is usually tasked with creating things in the final 3rd. It's completely the opposite to Valencia who pretty much does everything on the right side of the pitch.
Even when Blind played lb for us last season he wasn't contributing a great deal going forward. His best contributions tended to be from set pieces and corners. He's a great crosser but clearly Jose didn't trust him with getting forward constantly, and this is probably due to him not being physically capable of it in the way Valencia is. So even the seeming advantages Blind has over Darmian in an attacking sense aren't realistically going to be utilised unless the system changes. If the system does change it's more likely it will be to accommodate Shaw or maybe Mitchell though.
That crunching tackle..
Gif / video?
He's had one game at a first team level and it was a meaningless one at that, it's incredibly unlikely that he's ready.
Needs to sort out his hair
The big stars we know today only became big because someone believed they were ready and thrust them into the first team.I don't see why an exceptionally talented kid cannot be a back up for a position in the first team.
Hard to find any and I'm surprised no videos capture it and include in Mitchell's "individual highlights"...
So here you go, the full match
1:29:46 (Vid) / 86:26 (Game) ~ Mitchell's crunching tackle.*No idea how to make a gif out of it.*
Excellent, thanks mate.Hard to find any and I'm surprised no videos capture it and include in Mitchell's "individual highlights"...
So here you go, the full match
*No idea how to make a gif out of it.*
The tackle from Lindelof a minute later was excellent too.
Hopefully will see him more next game.
A few nice surges from Demi, bringing the ball forward at pace.
Looks a real prospect this kid. Has a natural feel for the game and great skill and athleticism. I'd like to see him as first choice back up to say a Mendy next season.
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