Misplacing way to many simple passes which resulted in either goals or dangerous attacks from Bodo.
4
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 19
- Clean sheets
- 7
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 2
With comments here, i am really starting to question my ability to judge players.
I think that he is our best defender. Good reading of the game, good on the ball, not making mistakes......i am not sure what people want.
I think that he is our best defender. Good reading of the game, good on the ball, not making mistakes......i am not sure what people want.
I’m starting to think the same. He had one misplaced pass to Maz that I can recall but other than that he was solid. Nothing he could do with either goal. 2nd one he is covering the cut back and then goes when he has to but it was just a cracking finish.
He has been great.
He plays more like an old fashioned sweeper/centre half than a modern day CB.
Squad player at best.
Squad player at best.
I think I agree with this. He is not great on the ball, but I think he anticipates the play very well, which leads to him often stepping up and breaking up the play. He's also great in the air. When we play three at the back, I'd love to see a Yoro-De Light-Martinez soon.
I know what you mean. In a back four he probably is. The back the three system is going to take a while for him and Martinez to get used to.
Yeah, it's sort of weird all the defender threads are so negative. De Ligt was good yesterday, so was Martinez. I see full of negative comments in both threads.
Don’t get the negativity, he’s a good player and playing well. Don’t think he will ever be world class, but that’s fine.
He's been underwhelming. Not close to Maguire's level so far, sadly.
Yeah, you're right about that. He doesn't make 2-3 howlers every game
Yeah, you're right about that. He doesn't make 2-3 howlers every game
Just don't be surprised if Maguire becomes our starting CCB as he's gonna be even better in a back 5 than a back 4. That role is tailor-made for him, even more so than for de Ligt.
Amorim won't be unable to make use of one of the best CBs in the Premier League like ETH was, preferring the likes of Varane and Martínez over him. The eternal benching of Maguire under ten Hag after 2 games was one of the biggest early red flags in his tenure at United. Clueless fans championed him for it, of course, because social media told them Maguire was awful, and Varane had aura, or something like that...oh and pace!
He's doing reasonably well at the moment as a pure defender. He's neither been amazing or bad there. For the central role he's been given, you're expecting more of a commanding presence though. He doesn't look particularly comfortable playing from the back and pushing high.
Of all the players to irrationally fanboy over, Maguire is an odd one. He's perfectly fine as a defender but one of the best in the PL he is lost certainly not.
I'm not fanboying over anyone, I just hate when a player gets heavily over- or underestimated.
Before the Bayern vs PSG game sporting director Max Eberl gave an insight why they have sold de Ligt besides Bayern fans trying to keep him by signing a petition for him. He said that de Ligt is a top-defender, but according to their perspective he isn't as suited as Upamecano and Kim to the high pressing that Bayern wants to play.
Eberl: “We felt more comfortable with Upamecano and Kim because they can defend higher up the pitch."
Even though I think de Ligt did a pretty good job for us so far, this reflects the opinion of a lot of caf members.
While I do agree that many have underrated Maguire in the past (and some still do), you clearly overrate him. There's only been one short period in his entire career where he's been 'one of the best in the PL', which was the second half of 20/21. Other than that he's bounced around between periods where he's been good (certainly not one of the best), absolutely terrible, and plenty of times where he's been quite inconsistent.
0 tackles, 3 interceptions, 1 clearance, 1 blocked shot, 4 aerials, 0 fouls
This is the amount of defending he's done in 90 mins vs. Ipswich and then 65 mins vs Bodoe
It isnt a lot, yet we've conceeded 3 goals in 2 games with none of the goals really involving him. Maybe the 2nd against Bodoe he could have done something exceptional and come across and closed down the attacker who went past Malacia but he did have a man himself already so it would have been hard to vacate that space without giving an easy pass for the attacker to score.
I think the RCB and LCB do more defending but it still doesnt seem like a lot of defensive actions and we're going to face much tougher opponents. Maybe they will put the ball into the box in the air more so he can make more clearances and aerials
This is the amount of defending he's done in 90 mins vs. Ipswich and then 65 mins vs Bodoe
It isnt a lot, yet we've conceeded 3 goals in 2 games with none of the goals really involving him. Maybe the 2nd against Bodoe he could have done something exceptional and come across and closed down the attacker who went past Malacia but he did have a man himself already so it would have been hard to vacate that space without giving an easy pass for the attacker to score.
I think the RCB and LCB do more defending but it still doesnt seem like a lot of defensive actions and we're going to face much tougher opponents. Maybe they will put the ball into the box in the air more so he can make more clearances and aerials
Yeah his role will be more organizing, and then stopping aerial threats, and with an on the ball focus. Naturally for 1 vs 1 defending the central CB won't have players running at him. He struggled vs delap but was fine yesterday.
Wouldn't pay much attention to the goals conceded yet. Back to back screamers from bit big chances, it happens. We conceded many chances against Ipswich but barely and yesterday. We'll just see how grows.
I think he'll end up getting phased out for a better athlete eventually. If Yoro gets up to speed I feel the position will be his.
He hasn't had the chance to play in a decent team since the 20/21 season, either. He was admittedly awful in 21/22, especially in the first few months, but it's no coincidence that the whole team was collectively bad during that time. Then, he has been a bench option ever since. I'd like to see him get a run of games as our CCB in the middle of a back 3, in a more stable and better side.
I'd like de Ligt to work out, but if he won't reach Maguire's level, then there's no point in persisting with him, just because he's a bigger name or prior reputation, or something like that. He hasn't had one performance in a United shirt that comes close to Maguire's performance in the opening game vs Fulham, for example. If Maguire can sustain his current level for the next 2-3 years, he'll still be as valuable as ever in a United shirt.
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He is fine and is doing well. Solid player.
Best teams generally don't have a lot of defending as they can control the games better. If we look at Saliba or VVD stats, they don't rank high in the defensive metrics either.
They control possession way better and De Ligt has been more than fine in that regard for me. It's a bit surprising that some people are criticising that aspect of his game. 80/81 successful passes against Ipswich and 95/100 yesterday against Bodo/Glimt. He even had some lovely cross field passes to our wingbacks early on yesterday. Hopefully the team settles and we can see more of that.
I'd also argue that our defense fell apart when he was substituted yesterday. We immediately became very open with Casemiro having zero positional discipline.
VVD has had some seasons where he had plenty of defensive actions but they were mostly in the air or clearing the ball. 4.8 aerials won and 5.3 clearances in 17/18 is a lot of defending and probably Vidic-like numbers - dont think we have the stats from him at his best. 19/20 he had 5 aerials won and 4.3 clearances. Even this season its 3.3 aerials won and 4.6 clearances per 90 mins.
VVD is the poster boy for top CB who had high individual stats, though they were always mostly lots of work in the air and not a lot on the ground.
He isnt playing in a back 3 though so its harder to compare to what de Ligt is doing.
The tripe you read on here
I agree it's harder to compare since they now play in different systems but defenders from big teams don't normally tend to rank higher for defensive metrics over the course of a season as they'll have less defending to do.
My point being, we shouldn't expect our defenders to do more defending against teams like Ipswich and Bodo/Glimt. That indicates a different problem elsewhere for me.
Redcafe was never a safe place for objectivity of any kind so you're ok.
Good that he hasnt said De Ligt should be sold in the summer.
Hes been fine to be honest, not sure what all the fuss is about, we need to get Yoro in the team and another quick and strong player to pay LCB and we are good. I'm not convinced by Martinez post injury but maybe he can get back to pre injury form.
Still, I think pace and athleticism is going to be a key requirement so I think Martinez will be at risk
Still, I think pace and athleticism is going to be a key requirement so I think Martinez will be at risk
I would be extremely surprised if Maguire displaced De-Ligt, or indeed anyone to become a mainstay starting CB for us.
Maguire was "eternally benched" as you put it due to his own lacklustre, abysmal performances over a prolonged period of time. Kind of his own doing. Maguire made so many individual error's it become impossible to trust him.....
I cant see Maguire being agile or pro-active enough to be the central CB for Amorin, De-Ligt isn't lightning but his reading of the game is superb
We wouldn't get 50 mil for him. Thats for sure.
Utd spent a lot of the game on Thursday pressing right up with the 3 centre backs well into the opposition half. It's going to leave them exposed in 1v1 situations, very much like how Gasperini has Atalanta's backiine playing. Requires the defence to be able to read the game and react or have excellent recovery pace.
Maguire can't read the game well enough to cover for his lack of pace and his decision making about when to step in and drop off is atrocious, too often he's too slow to step up and misses the chance and the ball just gets played around him. He's not suited to that style, in a 3 with England he always had 2 sitting in front so wasn't really exposed to dealing with these situations often enough.
Steve Bruce was slow, but he made up for it by being able to read the game superbly which gave him that extra couple of seconds to counter act his lack of pace. De Ligt has that kind of reading of the game, it sort of negates his lack of pace when the ball is played forward in front of him. It's when the ball gets played in behind that you'd worry about him in a foot race, but with a higher press winning the ball back quicker and not giving the opposition time to play those long balls that often, you'd hope it won't really be too much of a concern.
Man Utd 4:0 Everton
New
Barely noticed him. Which is actually a good thing. The wide CBs have to go touch tight so him not doing so is really important and he's been doing that well. Even more impressive given he usually likes to do the same.
To the post above, I Didn’t see the game but I do wonder if he’s been told to keep it simple. As I’ve said before he looked a really aggressive defender in some of his early games with us but has been quiet a lot of the times I’ve watched him since (and that doesn’t mean ‘bad’).
Very weak and not aggressive. We were under huge pressure after 10mins or so. He and Lica just couldn’t handle the situation. Lost almost all first and second ball.
Thought he was good today actually. Probably his best game (or the game where he looked most comfortable) under Amorim.
This
My thoughts exactly, I do wonder if that is due to his and Martinez pace that they are told to play with more reserved, at least until the team settles down after a few months.
I am not convinced this is the ideal long-term partnership though, we need another rapid CB IMO that can cover grounds quickly and excellent 1v1 down the channel.
Fine again I guess. Not sure if I’m expecting too much but I feel like he needs to impose himself on games more. Obviously he’s not going to do anything in possession (which is fine, not really his role), but OOP it just feels like he’s doing a Lindelof impression of trying not to feck anything up instead of being aggressive and trying to dominate opposing forwards. At least that’s what I’d expect given the pedigree
Amorim wants from both side defenders to be proactive in defence and attack. It makes sense to have central defender to play safe.
Feels like he’s told to play it safe because we don’t trust the players in front of him and we’re playing a new system which is unfamiliar for everyone.