The questions to ask here is: what is the pecking order for the position from the pool of players we've got to select from? And: what does Lindelof potentially give or fail at if moved forward?
Matic is our one and only DM, after him, literally any player we have in the 1st team squad that you put there is a round peg in a square hole. To varying degree, granted, but every other player is ill-equipped and ill suited to the position. The problem here is Matic looks completely spent at this level to the point he is a liability on and off the ball unless we have complete control of the game from the outset and he's reduced to simply sweeping up and relaying the ball.
McFred work via pressing as a pair and abandoning position, which often leaves us exposed and wide open on counters down the middle, but on the other hand, what they then do is instinctive and organic, which makes the game as simple and constructive as it can be for the both of them, warts and all. You put either of them as the anchor and every instinct and impulse that helps them thrive as central midfielders is taken away from them. Both become tentative and unsure of what the right thing to do in a DM situation is - they don't know when to wait; when to go towards the ball; where to place themselves positionally nor do they provide the calming assured presence you want in a defensive midfielder, so that those orbiting them can expand and make space, confident that their DM has complete control of the situation and can then be progressive with the ball. In fact, both cause unrest as they can't be trusted to make the right decisions nor use the ball conservatively and pragmatically until the opportunity to be more expansive presents itself.
People can slaughter them all they want, but the simple solution is not to put the DM burden on either if them in the first place, and if you do, to be fully expectant of potential calamity being right around the corner at any given moment in a game.
Outside of Matic and McFred, we don't have the selection to be picky from, which is what I find rather bemusing reading through dismissive replies, like the DM situation is not actually dire. Matic was the only competent one we had in the first place, and without him, it's a free for all of mishaps no matter who you put there, so is the objection revolving how bad it can get there and how far below the perceived bar Lindelof would be?
It feels as though 'DM' is being held to an ideal archetype we don't have at the club currently and Lindelof then being measured against that rather than the reality of comparing and contrasting him to the personnel here, at the club, right now, which is a wholly different discussion.
Unless Matic is repeatedly rolled out in the hope he can find some way of rolling the years back or adapting his game to his fading body, there is only, realistically, McFred working in tandem as a pair of CM's who can make discussion of either Lindelof or Jones being played in that DM role completely redundant, imo.
Lindelof's lack of physicality is brought up as a con in midfield, but you don't typically get big, powerful and rapid specimens playing in that area of the pitch, certainly not when compared to the forwards who barrel through him.
His technical ability is also fairly questioned: can he handle the reduced processing time in midfield and does he have the technical nous to execute? Matic currently takes 3-4 touches to get the ball under control and do something with it, and he hides from receiving it; Fred is wildly erratic with the ball and not a player I'd put the house on in situations where he has to think and use the ball intelligently; McTominay hides a lot and, like Fred, doesn't like the responsibility of using the ball thoughtfully.
It's not some stellar compare and contrast here - it's a bunch of players who are not comfortable or particularly capable of anchoring that you have to vs. Lindelof or Jones with. All you'd want from either of them is the ability to read the play and interpret it from a defensively responsible point of view (which only Matic, from our actual midfield set, can do), and then have enough about them to pass the ball to a teammate, no matter how safe and 'boring' their expression and attempt is. You don't need DLP range from them; you don't need Carrick levels of competence; you just need the shape of midfield maintained, defensive discipline and as simple as you like passing as long as it finds another red shirt.
The bar we have for DM amongst what we have is low and even then, we don’t have the midfielders to meet it, so if the CM pack-hunting of McFred is not on the table - which is clearly our best option - there are sizeable cons to any midfielder we have performing the role; I have my doubts Lindelof or Jones compound that, rather they bring different flaws to the role, but should at least have the discipline and understanding of what they're there to do, which every midfielder we have outside of Matic does not. Jones, not Lindelof would be the ideal if McFred aren't out there, imo, but if he's unfit, I'd have no more jitters with Lindelof anchoring than I would with a seemingly way past it Matic, or excitable and naive Fred.
I'm just desperate for us to see any change in midfield, man. I've never seen any big club with a poor midfield like us.