He just waits too long to make a decission. He really needs to be quicker because once he's made a decission, he's already closed down and the option he chose is already gone. Other teams will notice this. Whenever he plays, teams will choose to leave him on the ball and then close him down quickly to disposess him. The pace of Premier League is fast and he needs to adapt to that quickly if he wants to make it.
42
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 12
- Clean sheets
- 3
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Seemed to have lost some of his rhythm from earlier in the season. Was a little to lethargic on the ball, but I still think he's a good back up option. Has a lot to learn. He seems to be a player that thrives in a team with proper organization. We didn't have that today so he suffered. But also remember that he had Welbeck, Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain closing him down at every instance. Those are some pacy players and can be in your face in a flash.
He had a good preseason in the US, but his composure hasn't really carried over during regular league games. Whereas McNair definitely has it despite not getting the preseason.
He's not premier league standard. Liability every time he got the ball or the ball went close. Just seems a bit clueless. Might make it at championship level but I wouldn't expect to see him making appearances for us once we get defenders back from injury.
I'd like to preface saying I am a big fan of home grown talent, and McNair and Tom Thorpe too. But the elephant in the room is that Blackett can't tackle. He isn't aggressive enough 4/5 times and ox danced around him so many times. He is good on the ball and therefore suitable for games where we have tons of the ball and the passing lanes to CM are uncongested, but I think we saw today that he isn't even good enough on the ball when under pressure. Maybe that will improve over time, but his lack of defending talent won't IMO. We've given him a good numbers of games and chances now and I think we can draw some conclusions, as sad as it is to say
Very nervous on the ball and hardly makes the right decisions. I had hope for him but there was always this feeling that I'd never be comfortable with him in defence.
Oxlaide and Chambers were destroying him all game.
Oxlaide and Chambers were destroying him all game.
Like every outfielder in the first 20, terrible.
6-7/10 thereafter.
It was Arsenal, a lot of their players are a nightmare for defenders.
6-7/10 thereafter.
It was Arsenal, a lot of their players are a nightmare for defenders.
Brummie fans would disagree, they thought he was awful and the worst player to pull on their shirt last season.
Was getting absolutely rinsed by Ox and then Carrick tried to go over and help and he got done too.
Just isn't very good and was really lucky not to get caught on the ball more as he took his sweet ass time and would escape at the last second.
He's still a kid with a lot of development ahead of him. I'm simply delighted he is getting games as it will be massive inputs into his fulfilling his huge potential.
We should go easy on criticism on players like him and McNair. Simply put, they should not be playing at this level yet.
We should go easy on criticism on players like him and McNair. Simply put, they should not be playing at this level yet.
Errrr ... Rojo is not only older and played in a world cup final .... It's his first year in pro football and he still has less than 10 appearances!
Agree.He was no doubt dreadful today but people are really gone over the top on this thread.
Look, I'm not basing this only on this match and his matches in the first team, I'm basing this also on his youth matches where he never, ever proved that he is good enough. The only reason he gets picked is because of our injuries and because he is left footed.
That's true I remember reading their forum and they hated him!Brummie fans would disagree, they thought he was awful and the worst player to pull on their shirt last season.
Was getting absolutely rinsed by Ox and then Carrick tried to go over and help and he got done too.
Just isn't very good and was really lucky not to get caught on the ball more as he took his sweet ass time and would escape at the last second.
Still can't see him making it here. He's just not that good...
So many people forget he is a young defender, hasn't been playing and has had to come up against a very good attacking force like Arsenal. He didn't have the game of his life but he did well. We can't have young players putting in world class displays at the drop of a hat.
We won today despite him. His distribution is terrible. He just hoofs the ball. No composure at all. Some of his balls to DDG were awful. He's young sure, but i've seen little to convince me of any real potential...
I'm basing my opinion on his performances before tonight, including for Birmingham last year. Will never be a premiership centre half imo.
Well good for you but based on today, he did his job over the 90 minutes and contributed to the 3 points. It's up to van Gaal and Woodward to find the solution for 5 years down the line, not Blackett's.
Mixed bag from him today, he made a couple of decent blocks and used his athletic ability well at times, but his positioning and the ease with which he's out-muscled for a big lad is disappointing.
He wasn't great on the ball which is actually his strength but he made a heck of a lot of important defensive clearances in the 2nd half and considering he hasn't played for an age I think the criticism here is a bit over the top.
Poorly. And that's all people here are saying. Is not good enough.
Surprised Blackett is getting so much abuse when McNair was much worse. Started poorly but did reasonably well as the match progressed. None of the players seem to understand the system we were supposed to be playing. I counted 7 good pieces of play from Blackett, while McNair had just one. Both made lots of errors; McNair far more than Blackett.
Blackett is very raw and clearly has major weaknesses at this point in time. In the medium to longer term he will have to improve his defensive play if he is to stay at United.
Blackett is very raw and clearly has major weaknesses at this point in time. In the medium to longer term he will have to improve his defensive play if he is to stay at United.
It's redcafe.You need a Baresi-like performance when you're 20 years old being thrown in to play against Arsenal to not being abused.Who care about how many good pieces of play he had?
And then the praise in the McNair in the other thread.
What is funnier is that Blackett is getting done for "dawdling" on the ball, it was McNair who put us in the most danger doing just that.
Needs to be more composed on the ball, defensively he has the power and strength. Was good in the end.
Aye couple big clearances towards the end of the game.
The initial 20-25 minutes masked the good bit for most, which is unfair. Glad we won, otherwise this thread would be unbearable.
Invites pressure from the opposition when taking too long on the ball and then compounds it by putting De Gea under pressure with slow backpasses. His technique on the ball seems fine it just seems to be a decision making problem.
Kept going and did well towards the end with some clearances.
Kept going and did well towards the end with some clearances.
If Blackett can improve his concentration and awareness of runners then it looks like he'll get a chance. He needs to be more physical, but he's been far more impressive then I ever would have expected from his reserves/youth team appearances.
Some harsh criticism in here considering it was his first 90 minutes for the first team in a long while. If he had an experienced defender like Vidic next to him, I think he'd be a lot more composed. We seriously lack a leader at the back who'll calm the young players down whilst in possession.
Had a good game considering his lack of experience in this type of game. Wish he wouldn't keep hoofing the ball forward to no one. It just invites more pressure on to us.
Thought he was very poor all game and some point at latter part of the game person watching the game with me asked, has he done one good thing all game and couldn't think of anything. He did a few minutes have a couple good plays defending. He really worried me though, he didn't seem to know where he needed to be.
Some of the criticism is way OTT for such a young lad with no prior experience, the confidence he will gain for playing in such a big game with a far more composed second half showing, will put him in good sted moving forward.
He doesn't really know how to position himself and that's been evident since youth level, to be honest. A spade's a spade; he just isn't very good. I think he'll go on to have a very solid Championship career in time.
Agreed, it's crazy how some people are analysing him and McNair.
Have to start expecting strong, solid performances in these types of games in a few seasons, not now.
I think he has been doing very well and did fine today.
Like a poster mentioned before, most people expect a Baresi / Maldini esque performance from the lad.
I think he may come good even quicker than a few seasons, it would be even better if we could at least get a consistent partner in say smalling where they could have a run of games together.
They're really not. The criticisms levelled at Blackett are exactly the same ones that have been levelled at him throughout his time in the U21s, at Birmingham, and now in our first team. You either 'get' defending or you don't, and he doesn't.
Nobody has major problems with McNair because he actually demonstrates the ability to position himself properly. Nobody is expecting anything Baresi-like from him either, simply the basics.
I did not think Blackett was horrible. There were moment he and Paddy made errors mostly due to inexperience, but they made some nice plays also.
He isn't good enough.
Let's just wait a little bit longer before we give him that 50k/week contract... 
- Status