No he didn't. He was not a Jose player. Honestly in this team he would have been the best number 10 we had. He can dribble, shoot from range, is much quicker, stronger in the tackle and create and had created more even from defense than Mata.
Selling Daley Blind
- Thread starter Josep Dowling
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No he didn't. He was not a Jose player. Honestly in this team he would have been the best number 10 we had. He can dribble, shoot from range, is much quicker, stronger in the tackle and create and had created more even from defense than Mata.
Another Jose mistake — selling Blind
It’s almost as if Jose were an agent of City, on a mission to destroy United.
Blind is no all-worlder, but he put in decent shifts for us and never made the kind of mistake we see from Lindelof or Bailly.
It’s almost as if Jose were an agent of City, on a mission to destroy United.
Blind is no all-worlder, but he put in decent shifts for us and never made the kind of mistake we see from Lindelof or Bailly.
How is that a jose mistake? If a manager doesn't see what he needs in a player then its fair that he let him go. Its like hiring a manager to win trophies but provide him tools that he doesn't know how to work with.
Blind was very poor for long time before he was sold. Selling him was not a mistake.
Agree. Just because Blind is a captain of Ajax, doesn't mean he was at United level. He was not. Ajax is a team that plays in second-grade league. They had some success in CL, until they got their behinds handed to them by Tottenham. Jose's United competed and beat Tottenham, so yeah - Blind wasn't good enough for us. Maybe there are players still here that are even worse (*cough* Phil Jones) but that doesn't mean Blind should have been kept. Just means others need to go as well.
That's a major stretch. He's not a dribbler, not really a good shot either. Saying he's much quicker than anyone isn't correct and saying that a Ajax player creates more than a United player is a no brainer. The Dutch league isn't exactly fairly balanced from top to bottom.
The premier league was difficult with his lack of pace and physicality. Smalling carried him through one good season at CB but it was the right decision for all parties.
He really struggled whenever he played in midfield for us. The game was a bit quick and chaotic for him. He only really showed his passing from CB where he had more time on the ball.
You should watch games other than he played for United. He is a Dutch International player too and plays regularly in the CL.
Yes he is a better dribbler than Mata( whom I have compared), better tackler and a better shot a better header and much quicker. Yes everyone is quicker than Mata I know.
Loved watching my guy play football. Its really hard to describe what it was & why some people didn't like it but it was like this to me -
Whilst he was slow and not strong as most players - watching him play was like watching a guy playing slow, intelligence and composed classical music in comparison to every other player who would always aim to play this fast, uncomposed and rash type of generic hip hop.
Once you appreciated his style of football, it was very unique and addictive.
Wouldn't ever argue that he needed to be in any starting 11, he didn't - but for United to not have him in the squad whilst having utter trash like Bailly & Rojo playing rubbish hip hop like every other player was poor business & no one can convince me otherwise.
Whilst he was slow and not strong as most players - watching him play was like watching a guy playing slow, intelligence and composed classical music in comparison to every other player who would always aim to play this fast, uncomposed and rash type of generic hip hop.
Once you appreciated his style of football, it was very unique and addictive.Wouldn't ever argue that he needed to be in any starting 11, he didn't - but for United to not have him in the squad whilst having utter trash like Bailly & Rojo playing rubbish hip hop like every other player was poor business & no one can convince me otherwise.
He shut down Lukaku numerous times, proving that brain is sometimes more important than brawn in football.
Don't think Lindelof is much of an upgrade, and I would have sold Rojo, Jones, Young and Bailly before Blind.
Don't think Lindelof is much of an upgrade, and I would have sold Rojo, Jones, Young and Bailly before Blind.
He's not quicker than Mata though. Maybe if they are running a 50m sprint but you are talking about Blind in the context of playing as a #10 and it's ludicrous to say that he's quicker than Mata in his general off the ball movement or ball play, be it quick passing or turning with the ball.
It's a moot point anyways as we could put anyone in that position and it wouldn't make much of a difference to our attack unless said player is world class. Even in games where Mata manages to make himself open there's nothing he can do with the ball, no options. Attack is dire on all fronts sadly.
Blind was a highly gifted footballer and we used him like a donkey. Selling him and releasing Ander reflect the absence of football foresight long since drained away from the club.
Of course one of the problems is that nobody would buy Jones, Rojo, or Bailly - they are all poor players, and everyone knows it. It’s the same reason Smalling went to Roma. He should be in the squad, but because we can’t shift players on massive salaries who we don’t want, we have to move on players who have some value to other teams.
We used him incorrectly. And he's not the only one is he.
We should also have kept Herrera, that Irish player Mikita Ryan, and maybe even Memphis Depay.
And RVP - I really miss him
And Hernandez.
And whilst on the subject, Kanchelskis
We should also have kept Herrera, that Irish player Mikita Ryan, and maybe even Memphis Depay.
And RVP - I really miss him
And Hernandez.
And whilst on the subject, Kanchelskis
That's a little overboard. We played Everton three times that season. Blind did dominate Lukaku in the first match. In the second it was Smalling that completely dominated him. In the third Blind largely did well, but there were definitely a few times that Lukaku got the better of him and got into dangerous positions.
And that's really a microcosm of Blind that season. He did far better against big athletic strikers than most people expected, but there were enough times that he struggled that it wasn't a surprise we looked to replace him. The problem in hindsight is that the players we replaced him with weren't an upgrade (Lindelof might end up being so, but two and a half seasons into his career here and I'd still have to give Blind the edge).
The second line of this always reminds me of him.
I don't think he ever got a fair chance in midfield for us as even when LVG was playing him there, he would invariably be playing there on his own with no support due to our weird system at the time. He'd pick the ball up from our defence and the nearest team mate would be 50 yards up the pitch.
However he's being turned into a false legend here. He was too slow at left back and too error prone and weak at centreback, and during his last season under Jose whenever he did play he was absolutely terrible. He was rivalling Darmian for uselessness...and the only thing Darmian is good at is being useless. Blind wouldn't even let him have that.
I've never seen anything from him to sugget he'd be a good number 10. It's easy to say this or that player would be better than what we have, because Mata for whatever reason will go whole games without even trying to do anything. There's 50+ players in the premier league alone who can probably offer better than that.
I don't think if you added Blind to this current squad you'd get much improvement. We have better fullback and cebtreback options. He'd get a game in midfield you'd think but so would Djemba Djemba at this point.
I always liked Blind and think we should have kept him over a number of other players we retained. Obviously it's not as easy as that as he likely wanted to be a regular starter at the time so it was only fair to let him move on but I really think he was solid as a ball playing CB and had the versatility to play as a DMC in the right system.
I also think he'd be great in a three as LCB alongside Maguire and Tuanzebe/Lindelof.
I also think he'd be great in a three as LCB alongside Maguire and Tuanzebe/Lindelof.
I don't remember many people being disappointed when he was sold. The only time there was a fuss was when LVG was playing him at centreback and people on here were claiming he was amazing there.
Problem with that is even if you maintain that opinion he was basically a 4ft tall version of Harry Maguire...and now we have Harry Maguire.
It's quite deluded to think a player who helped us to 6th place in his most influential season here would help an inferior set of players to anything better.
It just seems like a convenience argument. Ajax did well last season therefore we can criticise the club for selling Blind
I was disappointed to see him leave, more so because he was leaving and we were retaining absolute dross like Jones and Young.
I said to my mates in work that whoever signed him from us for the pittance we were asking would get one of the bargains of that transfer window and that was the case. There’s no doubt he’s been class for Ajax, the steady head among a young defence.
Made no sense to sell when he would be a much better utility player than Young for example.
Not to mention he would almost certainly do a better job at CDM than Matic and Fred (with better passing ability also.)
I think the problem is similar as with Young. Against lesser teams he's fine but he's a flawed player against teams good enough to target him or expose him. I just think he's in the same category really.
He's done well for Ajax but their strength last season was all about what they could do going forwards. Spurs targetted him and it showed. He still looks the same player to me.
I don't think he got a fair chance in midfield for us so it's hard to comment on that. It's also a bit irrelevant to me as we let a player in Herrera leave for absolutely nothing in the summer who did get a fair chance in our midfield, and was proven to be better than anyone we're playing there at present.
Blind you're going back 3-4 years when the midfielders we actually had at the time seemed much less of an issue than now. We let Herrera run his contract down and leave knowing full well the mess our midfield would be in this season.
Blind is a good player, a good left back also a good CB. But he is just not suitable for EPL. He has neither the aerial power nor pace to deal with our typical attacker. Blind is probably more intelligent than all of our current and ex-CB, but when you can't handle the physicality, you don't belong here.
I agree with the whole post but especially the last paragraph. Of all the players to let go, Blind was probably the best utility man we’ve had for years and how we could use him now.
Good back up for CB and LB and I agree, probably better as a starter than Matic, Fred, Pereira and McT. Stupid move.
This is where a DoF would have been helpful to not just ok incomings but also review outgoings.
The views on blind are quite polarizing here. I love that guy ( I am a Dutch fan so I am a little biased) but we need players like him who are technical and intelligent. That strike against pool from the corner routine I don’t think anyone in this present team can even think of scoring that goal!
the whole physicality thing is an excuse that everyone makes about EPL. Barring the top 6-7 teams every other team sits deep where is the ‘physicality’ in that? We need players who can unlock such defenses and that has nothing to do with being muscular or not. Exhibit A - Lukaku, he was a beast physically and how did he fare for us?
The views on blind are quite polarizing here. I love that guy ( I am a Dutch fan so I am a little biased) but we need players like him who are technical and intelligent. That strike against pool from the corner routine I don’t think anyone in this present team can even think of scoring that goal!
the whole physicality thing is an excuse that everyone makes about EPL. Barring the top 6-7 teams every other team sits deep where is the ‘physicality’ in that? We need players who can unlock such defenses and that has nothing to do with being muscular or not. Exhibit A - Lukaku, he was a beast physically and how did he fare for us?
Blind seems to be becoming better and better from the posts on here.
He now seems to be: great at dribbling, shooting and passing; fast and strong; great defensively; great at attacking; can play CB, LB, DM and number 10 role at a high-quality level.
It is like when that bloke sold Patagonia as a paradise to the welsh, only for those Welsh to find it was actually a barren wasteland.
He now seems to be: great at dribbling, shooting and passing; fast and strong; great defensively; great at attacking; can play CB, LB, DM and number 10 role at a high-quality level.
It is like when that bloke sold Patagonia as a paradise to the welsh, only for those Welsh to find it was actually a barren wasteland.
If we think selling Blind was a mistake then selling Jonny Evans was a travesty; At least we got decent money for Blind.
Bring this guy home to cover Varane and Martinez.
He can absolutely stay where the feck he is.
Blind as cb in the premier league at this stage. I would pay good money to laugh at that.
How long until he trains with us as a favour from EtH and then inevitable rumours linking him to the club?
No thank you very much. Would rather play Shaw there.
I saw him against Napoli and he was a complete disaster.
He's certainly not needed now, but when Matić's legs were gone and Herrera left, he could fit quite a few roles.
We could at least push Fellaini or Fred more up the pitch then.
We could at least push Fellaini or Fred more up the pitch then.
Anyone know why his contract was terminated, he only had 6 months left?
Think it's both a gesture of good will and a sort of falling out with Schreuder. Speculation though.
Cheers. My first thought was some kind of falling out since he only had 6 months left.
No thank you. We don’t need him.
He lost his starting place with Ajax and asked to be freed, it was a good gesture from Ajax.