[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Why are you doubling down? You’ve just been given objective evidence that what you said was wrong. All you need to did say “fair enough, my bad, he was obviously decent in at least one season before Maguire joined”

Which is exactly how I remember it too. He was impressive that season. Did well in central defence and also solid as a fullback when we needed him.

Ok, he gave the shittest season I remember for a CB at this club in 2017-2018, and did alright in the second half of a dogshit season for the club in 2018-2019. Prior to that in the first half of the season he was being made to look a complete liability by the likes of Glenn fecking Murray.

So yeah, all thing considered I’m doubling down on him showing a shite level pre and post Maguire.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Ok, he gave the shittest season I remember for a CB at this club in 2017-2018, and did alright in a dogshit season for the club in 2018-2019.

So yeah, all thing considered I’m doubling down on him showing a shite level pre and post Maguire.

Interesting. I mean, you’re wrong, obviously. But interesting all the same.

 

[Galactic]

Statistically his aerials are quite good this season.
Aerials won per 90 min and success rate:

	Aerials won	Success Rate
Maguire	2.7	52%
Lindelof	2.4	73%
Varane	2.0	77%
Shaw	1.6	59%
Martinez	1.4	52%

This is from all minutes, also in other positions than CB.

Interesting. Thanks.
Would be interesting to see Matinez-Lindelof partnership. But I guess Varane is undroppable since he’s a World Cup winner and a RM “legend” (and he’s quite good too).

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Interesting. Thanks.
Would be interesting to see Matinez-Lindelof partnership. But I guess Varane is undroppable since he’s a World Cup winner and a RM “legend” (and he’s quite good too).

Varane has sat out loads of matches this season. Ten Haag has generally tried not to play him twice/week because he’s so injury prone. I’m fairly sure we’ve seen Martinez-Lindelof a few times this season and it’s been solid every time.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

He's been fantastic the last few games. Looks a lot more confident and assured alongside Shaw.

Maguire knows his time is up. Nearly over for him now at Utd.

I'd keep Victor.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Hope we keep him. We can’t get rid of both him and Maguire in the summer.

Looks like an elite level defender when he’s not with Harry.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Interesting. I mean, you’re wrong, obviously. But interesting all the same.

Wrong? Ha ha.

I was responding to a poster who wanted to blame Maguire for Lindelöf’s performances and how he is viewed by the majority of fans.
Considering he had a season and half pre Maguire looking terrible and has had periods of terrible form with multiple partners post Maguire, I’m certainly not “wrong”.

As I say, he looks different now, stronger, plays more on the front foot, maybe the system suits him, maybe he’s hitting his prime, maybe ETH is good for him or maybe he just suits the bit part role as a backup centre half. Maybe it’s all of the above, but simply “he’s not playing with Maguire” isn’t the reason.

 

[Red00012]

Been a great little boost to the squad the way he’s played. I'm still a bit wary about not replacing Maguire if he leaves, I think that leaves us a CB short. But I'm happy if Lindelöf is part of that squad. So much more comfortable on the ball than Maguire.

They will have to get a CB in as it’s more than likely Maguire , Bailly and Tuanzebe will all leave

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Interesting. I mean, you’re wrong, obviously. But interesting all the same.

Interesting you appear to have forgotten his performances in the early part of 2018-2019 getting embarrassed against the likes of Glenn Murray. Very interesting.
He picked up in the second half of the season as I said, but let’s not pretend he wasn’t mainly shite pre Maguire for 1.5 of his 2 seasons.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Then we need another top class LB.

Think getting a player who can fill both roles (not that I can think of anyone bar Shaw who can play LB and LCB off the top of my head) would be very useful.

 

[top1whoisman]

Think getting a player who can fill both roles (not that I can think of anyone bar Shaw who can play LB and LCB off the top of my head) would be very useful.

Then again we already have one very good player (Shaw) who can do that so I’m not sure we’re that much in need of another versatile LB/LCB. Of course it wouldn’t hurt either.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Wrong? Ha ha.

I was responding to a poster who wanted to blame Maguire for Lindelöf’s performances and how he is viewed by the majority of fans.
Considering he had a season and half pre Maguire looking terrible and has had periods of terrible form with multiple partners post Maguire, I’m certainly not “wrong”.

As I say, he looks different now, stronger, plays more on the front foot, maybe the system suits him, maybe he’s hitting his prime, maybe ETH is good for him or maybe he just suits the bit part role as a backup centre half. Maybe it’s all of the above, but simply “he’s not playing with Maguire” isn’t the reason.

I agree there’s more to it than Maguire being his kryptonite but disagree that the version we’re seeing of Lindelof this season is something we haven’t been before. He’s been very good for us plenty of times before. But this season he seems to be benefiting from having partners that complement his strengths. Probably also helps that this is the first time in his United career he’s had a competent DM mopping up in front of him. Hence his one really bad performance came this season when Casemiro probably had his own worst performance.

 

[Alex the Red]

I was at a family wedding so onlysaw MOTD highlights but apparently Lindelof played really well. I liked him when he first came and thought he was an intelligent footballer but then his positioning and basic awareness seemed to go out the window. Hopefully he is now back on track.

 

[Lyng]

I agree there’s more to it than Maguire being his kryptonite but disagree that the version we’re seeing of Lindelof this season is something we haven’t been before. He’s been very good for us plenty of times before. But this season he seems to be benefiting from having partners that complement his strengths. Probably also helps that this is the first time in his United career he’s had a competent DM mopping up in front of him. Hence his one really bad performance came this season when Casemiro probably had his own worst performance.

Completely agree.
I think you can add the playstyle to it. He is much more at home in a system where we are trying to actually play ball instead of simply standing back and relying on counter attacks.

 

[top1whoisman]

A thing worth mentioning, in my opinion, is that whoever played CB those few seasons with McFred in front of them, deserves some defending (pun not intended) in terms of their performances. Same goes for Matić of the last couple of seasons.

McTominay & Fred are pretty average regarding tactical awareness and positioning. Neither are a DM who can shield the defense. So the amount of times the CBs were under pressure due to lack of help from midfield is a factor for sure. It makes any CB look poor if you’re exposed to 90 minutes of forwards running towards you at full speed.

Same thing with building up in possession from the back. Neither McTominay of Fred really show up for the ball so it’s understandable your options are to keep possession by recycling it to your CB partner or GK, pass it wide to your FB or go long.

And yes, that applies to Maguire too. Maguire’s performances this season tell me even more than the ones without Casemiro in front of him.

Even the fullbacks he played with; Telles, Darmian, the younger versions of AWB & Dalot etc., makes your life as a CB more difficult.

No Lindelöf wasn’t great before this season, but he was not terrible either. His passing is pretty good and the through ball assists to Rashford and Bruno are something we haven’t seen from any of our other CBs even this season.

Lindelöf is comfortable in possession and very able to break the first line of press with a sprint forward with the ball.

Despite not being the tallest and strongest he’s pretty good in aerial & ground duels and I don’t agree with those who say he’s timid or gets bullied easily.

Hope he’s happy with his role this season as I’d like him to stay. A good, experienced option for rotation on either side. Difficult to find someone like that on the market.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I agree there’s more to it than Maguire being his kryptonite but disagree that the version we’re seeing of Lindelof this season is something we haven’t been before. He’s been very good for us plenty of times before. But this season he seems to be benefiting from having partners that complement his strengths. Probably also helps that this is the first time in his United career he’s had a competent DM mopping up in front of him. Hence his one really bad performance came this season when Casemiro probably had his own worst performance.

Aye, could well be all of that and Casemiro certainly makes everyone look better. We’ll see I guess, I’d still be extremely sceptical about having him as a first choice CB.

 

[ManchesterMats]

Aye, could well be all of that and Casemiro certainly makes everyone look better. We’ll see I guess, I’d still be extremely sceptical about having him as a first choice CB.

If we want to compete at the highest level of competition Lindelöf is not an alternative as a starting player. He’s fine as a backup defender though.

Lindelöf have had 5 years of proven himself as a defender in United and have failed to do so as a first choice. Blaiming Maguire for that is just shamefull.

If Lindelöf isn’t ok with being a backup I’m sure he will have lots of clubs being interested in the summer.

 

[A-man]

Interesting. Thanks.
Would be interesting to see Matinez-Lindelof partnership. But I guess Varane is undroppable since he’s a World Cup winner and a RM “legend” (and he’s quite good too).

I personally think Varane is our best CB but he needs to rest matches and is injured a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lindelof end up playing more minute than Varane this season, just like the last season.
Martinez and Lindelof have paired up a few times and it has been a mixed bag. The match against Leicester was excellent from both and I hope they will get more matches like that.

Varane has sat out loads of matches this season. Ten Haag has generally tried not to play him twice/week because he’s so injury prone. I’m fairly sure we’ve seen Martinez-Lindelof a few times this season and it’s been solid every time.

I think it has been mostly solid but they also had one or two weaker games like
Aston Villa and there was also one early game in the EL. But overall looking very promising.

If Lindelof can keep his good form, I think ETH will trust him more and dare to rest Varane more often.

 

[Smithy89]

His performance again just adds to the evidence that Maguire is absolutely useless and the weak link.

 

[MadDogg]

feck me we finished 6th and got a manager sacked mid season it was one of those seasons you wished we didn’t have to give an award to anyone.
He’d been shite since his arrival but was one of the less shite players in the latter end of that shite season. And then he went downhill again.
So yeah, all in all since his arrival he’s been pretty ”shite” and if the best retort you’ve got is that a couple of teammates voted him in a dogshit season, that probably tells it’s own story.
Do you even know how many votes he got? I mean, maybe 3 close mates voted for him and 2 for Pogba with everyone else unanimously voting for Shaw.
Either way, he absolutely was shite pre Maguire, and post Maguire.
Like Maguire, he’s had periods of good form mind, most players who get to this level do, just look at Fred.
I don’t think he’s ever played this well though, so either something about our set-up is working much better for him, he’s coming into his prime, or, he suits being a bit part player.

His first season was definitely shit, and that's probably being kind. Second season he was decent and continued to get better as the season wore on, being quite good in the second half of the season. His third and fourth seasons (with Maguire) he was decent as well.

'Decent' obviously isn't good enough that he should have been a starter, but throughout most of his time here he's been good enough for a backup. He had some shockers, some great matches, but mostly he was a steady 6/10 next to a partner who was bouncing from 3/10 to 9/10. It was really only his first season (where he struggled massively with the English game) and last season in a team that was completely collapsing where he was actually shit.

 

[MadDogg]

They will have to get a CB in as it’s more than likely Maguire , Bailly and Tuanzebe will all leave

Bailly and Tuanzebe are complete non-entities so they don't come into the reckoning about replacing. And for most of this season Maguire and Lindelof have been alternating for one spot, so with Shaw's performances in the centre I don't think it's a priority spot unless Lindelof leaves as well. If somebody comes along that is too good to pass up (Kim Min-jae?) then fair enough, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lindelof then asks to leave. Or maybe somebody we can get for cheap who is happy to stay while way down the pecking order as an emergency back-up.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Hope we keep him. We can’t get rid of both him and Maguire in the summer.

Looks like an elite level defender when not next to Harry.

 

[top1whoisman]

Bailly and Tuanzebe are complete non-entities so they don't come into the reckoning about replacing. And for most of this season Maguire and Lindelof have been alternating for one spot, so with Shaw's performances in the centre I don't think it's a priority spot unless Lindelof leaves as well. If somebody comes along that is too good to pass up (Kim Min-jae?) then fair enough, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lindelof then asks to leave. Or maybe somebody we can get for cheap who is happy to stay while way down the pecking order as an emergency back-up.

With the injuries Varane is likely to face again this season, I think we should look for his long-term replacement this summer. Who knows if Mengi or Kambwala can stay healthy and become that, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for that.

Lindelöf is a good rotation/backup option as he’s comfortable enough on both sides and Shaw can help out on the left side, but I hope we’ve got our eyes on the future RCB.

 

[Red00012]

Bailly and Tuanzebe are complete non-entities so they don't come into the reckoning about replacing. And for most of this season Maguire and Lindelof have been alternating for one spot, so with Shaw's performances in the centre I don't think it's a priority spot unless Lindelof leaves as well. If somebody comes along that is too good to pass up (Kim Min-jae?) then fair enough, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lindelof then asks to leave. Or maybe somebody we can get for cheap who is happy to stay while way down the pecking order as an emergency back-up.

Varane is injury prone , there’s no way we are going into a season with 3 centre backs and Shaw to slot in if needed .

 

[CM]

Lindelof was excellent yesterday. Our defence was pure chaos a few times and he rescued the situation. It's nice to see him stepping up in Varane's absence.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

 

[Lyng]

hE iS bAd On tHe BaLl

 

[ManchesterMats]

Wow. That is a great video that is displaying his strengths really well. I still doesn’t consider him to be more than a squadplayer though.

Fun fact is that Lindelöf started out his career as a midfielder and didn’t started playing as a central defender until one of his teammates in Benficawas injured when playing in the Champions League and he had to step in at that position.

 

[A-man]

Some of those long balls are amazing. He is almost as good with his left foot as well. Look at the left foot pass at 2:52. I don’t think we’ve seen any of our other defenders make such an assist even with the best foot.

 

[Member 105568]

Fair point. That season the whole team was performing really bad. Lindelöf did put in some solid performances though which put him as one of the best performing players of the team for that season.

Going forward into next season I would like to see Martinez and Varane get another season as our first choice centrebacks. Lindelöf and Shaw is great backups and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the other great clubs of Europe makes a move for Lindelöf in the summer.

I’d only sell VL if you could make profit on him. He’d be hard to replace at the price he was bought for and is coming into his peak. The “free” transfers on the market (Ndicka etc) are not anything like as experienced as him.

 

[simplyared]

To think where he is now and where he was when he joined us is the epitome of incredible development. Very valuable player to have.

 

[golden_blunder]

Wrong? Ha ha.

I was responding to a poster who wanted to blame Maguire for Lindelöf’s performances and how he is viewed by the majority of fans.
Considering he had a season and half pre Maguire looking terrible and has had periods of terrible form with multiple partners post Maguire, I’m certainly not “wrong”.

As I say, he looks different now, stronger, plays more on the front foot, maybe the system suits him, maybe he’s hitting his prime, maybe ETH is good for him or maybe he just suits the bit part role as a backup centre half. Maybe it’s all of the above, but simply “he’s not playing with Maguire” isn’t the reason.

It’s an easy get out to ignore the multiple individual errors. Maguire doesn’t control him be RC and get him mistiming headers, being weak at the back post, physically losing battles or backing off and off until the opposition get a shot on goal. All Maguires fault

 

[Robaldo]

Always liked Lindelof. When Varane returns, I don't think it's a given that he starts over him.

 

[Kaos]

Always liked Lindelof. When Varane returns, I don't think it's a given that he starts over him.

Varane definitely starts if fit. Lindelof has had a good spell in the team, but Varane is still heaps the better defender.

Lindelof is still the much better option than Maguire though.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Lindelof is enjoying a renaissance under ETH's tutelage. There's some confirmation bias happening, certainly, because I've always liked Lindelof's playing style, even when he was getting massive amounts of grief from our own fans. He's never been a defender who's going to put his head through a wall like Vidic, and he has less body strength in holding off players or challenging them than Martinez does at half his height.

That said, I think he's always been good on the ball, he doesn't dive in, and his style would work well in a possession-based side (which we are now, I think?). Missing headers and getting pushed off the ball and shit, well, yes, that did happen, but I really do think that the partnership with Maguire was doomed from the start. I'd sum it up as Maguire waiting on the ball too long, so by the time he squares it to Lindelof, there is only one option (back to DeGea) that retains possession. When the ball gets to Lindelof it's the end of a sequence, as in, okay now pass it to DeGea or ping it forwards, it seems rarely does Maguire show enough for the ball that Lindelof can give it back to him - something that the Varane + Martinez partnership does in its sleep.

Again, probably massive confirmation bias. I think he's playing better lately than he ever has for us, long may it continue.

 

[Grande]

It’s an easy get out to ignore the multiple individual errors. Maguire doesn’t control him be RC and get him mistiming headers, being weak at the back post, physically losing battles or backing off and off until the opposition get a shot on goal. All Maguires fault

You have a weird fixation with Lindelöf, and it’s starting to look like he stole your girlfriend or something. To me, I love having Varane and Lisandro, who is my favorite CB since Vidic and Ferdinand, but if we’re honest Lindelöf does less individual errors than Lisandro. Lindelöf makes remarkably few clear errors. Lisandro just makes it worth it because his best is better.

I’d say we’re pretty licky to have a third choice CB of Lindelöf’s stability.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

In the recent games, he became less pussy and less coward. Makes more tactical fouls rather than ball watching or being passive to let the ball through. Watching Martinez and Varane from the bench had given him some lesson that being centre back needs to show aggression towards opposition forwards not being pussy or weak.

 

[TheRedHearted]

He's been fantastic the last few games. Looks a lot more confident and assured alongside Shaw.

Maguire knows his time is up. Nearly over for him now at Utd.

I'd keep Victor.

For me
Martinez
Varane
Shaw
Lindelof

do some proper scouting and find ourselves a new LB

 

[lex talionis]

Forget The Iceman. He is now Victor the Magnificent.

No, he's not at the level of Varane but he makes a perfectly suitable backup for Varane. Have Lindelof and Martinex ever started a match together?

 

[top1whoisman]

Have Lindelof and Martinez ever started a match together?

Yes, nine times.

Omonia A
Omonia H
Sheriff H
Sociedad A
Everton A
Villa A
Fulham A
Leicester H
Forest A (Carabao Cup)