[Jacko21]

He'll get a chance and will play again whatever we want it or not, but he'll have to do really hard to change his critics - and I'm one of them - opinion about him.

He only has one critic to impress. That's Mourinho.

 

[Jacko21]

Lindelof might be the worst CB I've seen play for a top flight English side ever

Wait, where is the white text?

 

[el3mel]

He only has one critic to impress. That's Mourinho.

Well, to some extent I can't disagree much with your logic here.

 

[K2K]

Rojo and Smalling were a little meh, too.

How many of our current defenders were better when they started? Even Valencia, who had 7 years of PL experience, had a shaky start to his rb career.

Have a little patience.

As a left back.

He's still shite at LB.

Valencia had a very good araer as TH and kept fan favourite Rafael out of the team. One blunder in the Arsenal game.

People are just revising history now.

 

[kouroux]

You wanna hope that whatever was seen in him during the scouting is worth it.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

As a left back.

He's still shite at LB.

Valencia had a very good araer as TH and kept fan favourite Rafael out of the team. One blunder in the Arsenal game.

People are just revising history now.

Just trawl through this place back then, both Valencia and Rojo were crucified, especially the latter. And Valencia was a bang average FB till 2015/16.

 

[Rozay]

You wanna hope that whatever was seen in him during the scouting is worth it.

That's the issue for me. It being 'worth it'. Even if there is a good player in there, so what? It's not even an area of need. He'd have to be pretty fecking special for it to be 'worth it'. That's not the same standard needed to justify a left back signing, for instance.

 

[kouroux]

That's the issue for me. It being 'worth it'. Even if there is a good player in there, so what? It's not even an area of need. He'd have to be pretty fecking special for it to be 'worth it'. That's not the same standard needed to justify a left back signing, for instance.

I don't disagree, just saying that if there is a good/great player, even if not needed, it never hurts the team.

 

[Rozay]

I don't disagree, just saying that if there is a good/great player, even if not needed, it never hurts the team.

Yea, that's true. I just mean the bar is higher in my opinion for him not to be a waste of money.

Sort of like us spending £30m on a GK last summer. Imagine how good he'd have to be to not be considered a waste?!

 

[settembrini]

It's so tiring to hear 'remember Vidic and Evra' from people that clearly don't remember Vidic and Evra. Vidic looked average at first, not a disaster like Lindelof. Evra was a shambles on his debut but that was away at City, a local derby after he had been at the club a matter of days. Incomparable situation to Lindelof who even in the slowest of slow pre-season games looked out of his depth.

 

[Martial]

It's so tiring to hear 'remember Vidic and Evra' from people that clearly don't remember Vidic and Evra. Vidic looked average at first, not a disaster like Lindelof. Evra was a shambles on his debut but that was away at City, a local derby after he had been at the club a matter of days. Incomparable situation to Lindelof who even in the slowest of slow pre-season games looked out of his depth.

Is completely correct.

 

[whatwha]

It's so tiring to hear 'remember Vidic and Evra' from people that clearly don't remember Vidic and Evra. Vidic looked average at first, not a disaster like Lindelof. Evra was a shambles on his debut but that was away at City, a local derby after he had been at the club a matter of days. Incomparable situation to Lindelof who even in the slowest of slow pre-season games looked out of his depth.

Spot on.

In addition to @don't sign old players we need @Don't sign mentally soft players.

(And if only mental softness was his only problem. It's not just about confidence. I can't see much of the supposed quality)

 

[Acole9]

He was awful on Saturday, no excuses for that performance at all. I don't want to write him off yet because he's not played that many games. He does strike me as a player who relies heavily on whoever he is playing alongside him at centre half, he really needs to cut that out otherwise he'll never make it here. He's going to need a strong mentality to get over this dodgy start to his United career and to be honest I'm not sure if he's got the confidence in himself.

 

[groovyalbert]

The game on Saturday itself won't define his Utd career. How he responds to that performance will. I'd play him against Swansea, give him the opportunity to show us what he can do and rest up Smalling, Jones and Bailly for Spurs. There's clearly talent in there for us to have pursued him for so long, I'm happy for us to give him chances in cup games and Europe.

 

[Bojan11]

People are saying we didn't need a CB?

I'd love to go back to the transfer thread and see how many wanted us to sign one.

Especially after the criticism of Jones and Smalling at the end of last season. Lots of people wanted us to bin one or both towards the back of last season. Now these people are saying we didn't need a CB in the summer. Funny.

 

[Sammyjunn]

It's so tiring to hear 'remember Vidic and Evra' from people that clearly don't remember Vidic and Evra. Vidic looked average at first, not a disaster like Lindelof. Evra was a shambles on his debut but that was away at City, a local derby after he had been at the club a matter of days. Incomparable situation to Lindelof who even in the slowest of slow pre-season games looked out of his depth.

Threadmark this post mods.

 

[ruairifionnan]

Problem is , he`s looked poor in all games he has played in .

 

[Bwuk]

He just looks out his depth - I feel sorry for him.

Maybe he does have talent, but he isn't ready for a move at a side like United. He just looks nervous and he doesn't look like he belongs here.

Compare that to Tuanzebe in his brief appearances.

 

[Kamprad]

Well he's certainly had an awful start. Lindelof was not even called up to the Swedish u-21 squad that won the Euros a few years ago. Even though he was 21. Then we had an injury on our RB Krafth(now in Bologna) and he was called as a reserve and started all games as a RB. Not an CB. And made a good tournament even though it wasn't WOW. At that time he wasn't even close to play in Benficas first team. Was even rumors placing him in a championship club. Think it was Middlesbrough.

A few years later he started to play in Benfica and took the ordinary spot as one of two CB. He played one and a half season in Benfica before coming to United(just one season before Mourinho put his eyes on him). He was alright but not dominating. The made a good run in CL and he was still not dominating but didn't do any mistakes either. In the national team its the same. Good but probably not even our best CB.

What I'm saying is that he hasn't really proved himself on top level. He had a rocket fast career to the top and haven't done any mistakes until this season. But that's not enough. So you can't really tell what way he's going. Hes really hard to judge. Does he have potential to be a top defender or not? No one knows. Not even swedes. Everyone has bad periods and this is his first one on senior level. Maybe it was too early for him to come here to United but I think you guys should give him a break now that he's here until he's settled down and got his confidence back and the we can judge him.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

People are saying we didn't need a CB?

I'd love to go back to the transfer thread and see how many wanted us to sign one.

Especially after the criticism of Jones and Smalling at the end of last season. Lots of people wanted us to bin one or both towards the back of last season. Now these people are saying we didn't need a CB in the summer. Funny.

Hindsight, I don't think many expected Phil Jones to be any good, or even if he was to be dependable as an option. With Rojo out for 6 months too, a CB was definitely needed.

 

[haram]

Maybe Mourinho feels like he has a lot of attributes he can improve and mould into a top player. We should give him a season at least and see how he comes along.

He does not look great at the moment.

 

[Denis79]

Loan him to a PL side in January and recall Mensah. Let him build his confidence without pressure because atm he's a liability not an asset.

 

[Marcus]

Mourinho clearly said earlier on that he needs time to adapt. Vidic looked really terrible when he first joined United and he became monster for us after that initial period.

 

[The United]

I think comparing him with the likes of vidic, rojo being not settled at first does not make a very good argument whether he will become like them.

Both of them had great heading ability which is one of the most required skill set for a CB. Lindelof does not seem to have it. At least he has not shown it. For that alone and if he can't improve, I doubt he will survive much at United.

Vidic was a tad weak and inexperience at first obviously but his tacking, aerial ability and no nonsense type of defending was never in doubt.

Basically, we could see what vidic, rojo were good at at least. The question is what it is with Lindelof to hang our hope over?

By saying all this, it is too early to say he will be a flop atm. But, I just felt the need to expand the argument with comparing CBs.

 

[haram]

Loan him to a PL side in January and recall Mensah. Let him build his confidence without pressure because atm he's a liability not an asset.

He needs time under Mourinho and our set up. Loaning him out now does him no good.

 

[moodyred]

People compared him with how Vidic and even Rojo performed when they first joined United. Unfortunately, his performance looks alot worse than many I have seen playing for United in CB. I really hope he can adapt like those before him, but at this point, I don't really see that happening.

With the current form, he is only suitable to play for Liverpool.

 

[K2K]

Just trawl through this place back then, both Valencia and Rojo were crucified, especially the latter. And Valencia was a bang average FB till 2015/16.

I remember it quite well actually.

Rojo started as a CB for us and the caf liked him. Then he moved to LB and had some awful perfomances and they turned against him.

Valencia was different. He had replaced the caf golden child in Rafael at the time, and they were definitely those that didn't like him and constantly brought up how he was not a RB. But he had a decent season and largely kept everyone quiet. Then the mistake against Arsenal happened and all hell broke loose. A lot used it as confirmation for the bias against him.

Read their respective player threads and you will see such a trend.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Hindsight, I don't think many expected Phil Jones to be any good, or even if he was to be dependable as an option. With Rojo out for 6 months too, a CB was definitely needed.

Go read his transfer thread, there were posters arguing that we dont need him.

 

[poacher]

People are saying we didn't need a CB?

I'd love to go back to the transfer thread and see how many wanted us to sign one.

Especially after the criticism of Jones and Smalling at the end of last season. Lots of people wanted us to bin one or both towards the back of last season. Now these people are saying we didn't need a CB in the summer. Funny.

I think people are only complaining because Lindelof has been so poor. If we had signed a top notch CB that was clearly better than the existing CBs no one would complain. If we had Laporte or Marquinhos and they became starting CBs no one would say anything it's just a shock to see a defender that can't even do the basics like header the ball or tackle.

 

[Lentwood]

Wait, where is the white text?

Name me a PL CB that can't head, can't tackle, has no pace and looks terrified whenever an opponent comes near him?

Even the worst old school cloggers like Andy O'Brien and Gary Breen could go and head a football

 

[spiriticon]

Even if he can't defend, he hasn't really shown us a lot of his ball passing skills either. I can't remember one super raking pass from him to bypass the opponents midfield. It's all been pretty safe from him passing wise so this begs the question: What exactly is his 40m talent and why should he start over the 5/6 other CBs we have?

 

[Jacko21]

Name me a PL CB that can't head, can't tackle, has no pace and looks terrified whenever an opponent comes near him?

Even the worst old school cloggers like Andy O'Brien and Gary Breen could go and head a football

Oh come on, you've just written him off.

Look back on his time at Benfica and you'll find (shock horror), he can head, he can tackle, has pace to recover and was noted for his composure.

Why he isn't showing the same kind of form, only he can answer.

The guy wasn't plucked out of obscurity by an unproven manager.

I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to give a player the time to find his feet before ranking them as the worst PL defender - not least because he's not Cygan or Krompkamp. Because not only do I want to see him succeed, I'd sooner avoid being left looking like a mug if Lindelof reverses his fortunes.

 

[chb23]

The problem is he's meant to be nerves of steel, yet he's a nervous wreck.

The problem is he's meant to be a great on the ball, yet he's shown nothing.

The problem is he's meant to be great passer, yet he's shown nothing.

Only reason he's playing at the moment is cause we actually threw some cash at him. If we paid money for Tuanzebe we'd for sure be giving him more opportunities, it's a shame. I'd drop him to the u23's and let him build his confidence back up.

 

[Lawman]

The problem is he's meant to be nerves of steel, yet he's a nervous wreck.

The problem is he's meant to be a great on the ball, yet he's shown nothing.

The problem is he's meant to be great passer, yet he's shown nothing.

Only reason he's playing at the moment is cause we actually threw some cash at him. If we paid money for Tuanzebe we'd for sure be giving him more opportunities, it's a shame. I'd drop him to the u23's and let him build his confidence back up.

He does look very comfortable on the ball to be fair. His defending has been dreadful since day dot but hopefully he will come good (still early days for him).

 

[suheilsworld]

I would not write him off so soon. Let him have a complete season with us. We all know what happened with Vidic, Evra and De Gea.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

There's no point gilding the lily; Lindelof's had a terrible time from preseason up to this past weekend's mess. For the kind of money we signed him for you'd expect him to slot in immediately and be looking to cement his place in our back two for years to come. Conversely he looks all at sea with no real green shoots to suggest a recovery may be round the corner. However:

That's the issue for me. It being 'worth it'. Even if there is a good player in there, so what? It's not even an area of need. He'd have to be pretty fecking special for it to be 'worth it'. That's not the same standard needed to justify a left back signing, for instance.

while I accept signing a left back could and probably should have been a more pressing concern I don't think badly of Jose for wanting another option for his first team, which Lindelof should have been. I don't think Jones and particularly Smalling were on firm footing at United going into the summer, and with Rojo on a long term injury I can see why Jose fancied dipping into the market for a young player who we must assume given the money spent came highly recommended by a respectable source.

I've just had a scan through an ESPN article on Lindelof's tough start that includes some good quotes from the likes of Vidic and Pallister who endured some torrid times at the beginning of their United careers. Lindelof has been very poor so far, but I'm hopeful that like some other CBs in our history he can turn it around.

 

[Redlyn]

I'm willing to give him time. It was a baptism of fire for him in the prem. Hope he learns from it and gets to grip with the demands quickly. He is currently a liability for us at the back.

 

[IMakeThingsUp]

Well he's certainly had an awful start. Lindelof was not even called up to the Swedish u-21 squad that won the Euros a few years ago. Even though he was 21. Then we had an injury on our RB Krafth(now in Bologna) and he was called as a reserve and started all games as a RB. Not an CB. And made a good tournament even though it wasn't WOW. At that time he wasn't even close to play in Benficas first team. Was even rumors placing him in a championship club. Think it was Middlesbrough.

A few years later he started to play in Benfica and took the ordinary spot as one of two CB. He played one and a half season in Benfica before coming to United(just one season before Mourinho put his eyes on him). He was alright but not dominating. The made a good run in CL and he was still not dominating but didn't do any mistakes either. In the national team its the same. Good but probably not even our best CB.

What I'm saying is that he hasn't really proved himself on top level. He had a rocket fast career to the top and haven't done any mistakes until this season. But that's not enough. So you can't really tell what way he's going. Hes really hard to judge. Does he have potential to be a top defender or not? No one knows. Not even swedes. Everyone has bad periods and this is his first one on senior level. Maybe it was too early for him to come here to United but I think you guys should give him a break now that he's here until he's settled down and got his confidence back and the we can judge him.

I have to agree that he looks more confident in the NT. There he has a CB colleague who is 10 years his senior. But the problem is that his partner in the NT, who plays in the Russian league, actually looks better than him. I'm much less worried when Granqvist is making a header or a tackle. He is much much more reliable (and quite good to tbh, I bet he could play in a better league than Russia).

 

[Bestietom]

Tuanzebe, if given the game time will make it.

 

[Harv]

I think comparing him with the likes of vidic, rojo being not settled at first does not make a very good argument whether he will become like them.

Both of them had great heading ability which is one of the most required skill set for a CB. Lindelof does not seem to have it. At least he has not shown it. For that alone and if he can't improve, I doubt he will survive much at United.

Vidic was a tad weak and inexperience at first obviously but his tacking, aerial ability and no nonsense type of defending was never in doubt.

Basically, we could see what vidic, rojo were good at at least. The question is what it is with Lindelof to hang our hope over?

By saying all this, it is too early to say he will be a flop atm. But, I just felt the need to expand the argument with comparing CBs.

Totally agree with this.
Obviously way too early to write him off but I hate it when people who bring up the Vidic/Evra argument, such nonsense. Vidic was a little shaky and his positioning was a bit off but you could see the talent there. I wasn't overly concerned with him, Evra or De Gea because it was clear what strengths they had, but I can't really see what Lindelofs strengths are, composure, good passer? yet to see either.

I'm not writing him off, just can't see anything yet that has me convinced. Jose is the master when it comes to defenders, so time will tell, I hope i'm proved wrong.