Maybe he should've but it's not that easy to 100% control where you head it when you're in an aerial duel, especially with that monster. Perhaps he takes some fault of that goal, but for me Casemiro and Fred even more. Casemiro had no reason to overly commit himself next to Shaw, he should've maintained his position. Then there was no communication between him and Fred who just stood still and ball-watched until it was too late.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 34
- Clean sheets
- 15
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Status
Maybe he should've but it's not that easy to 100% control where you head it when you're in an aerial duel, especially with that monster. Perhaps he takes some fault of that goal, but for me Casemiro and Fred even more. Casemiro had no reason to overly commit himself next to Shaw, he should've maintained his position. Then there was no communication between him and Fred who just stood still and ball-watched until it was too late.
I've never been his biggest fan, but I think he has shown real improvement this season, particularly in his willingness and ability to engage slightly higher up the pitch. His performances over the last few months are really encouraging, and if he can keep up this level, he should be a very competitive squad member next season - giving us more options for significant rotation.
The whole backline and Casemiro were great. Lindelöf did what he should.
Hope that's the last time we ever see him in a United shirt.
Why he played well
Another good game, I'm a big fan of his run forward with the ball, he should do it more, certainly has the ability for it
He damaged someone’s lighter with his head. First thing he headed?
In all seriousness, I thought that he shouldn’t have waited for the ball to bounce, just go and win it. The other players just stood and watched too. It was a great strike but so avoidable if 2 or 3 had woke up
I'll comment about any player, especially if there's cause to make a remark. The fact Lindelof is defended better by posters than his actual own game says everything.
Europa League 2020 semi final. Look at Lindelof's two 'involvements' or lack thereof:
Euro League 2021 final. Same thing:
And today.
Everytime, 'it's not a major mistake', 'someone else should have done better' and 'he defended well for much of the game' etc etc. It's always just a coincidence that when it comes to crunch time, he seem to the be the one involved in these goals conceded. No, it's a pattern and statistical confirmation. Apparently, he's been playing aggressively now due to instructions and that all previous issues was down to coaching and players in front of him. The back peddling to absolve him is truly Lindelof-esque.
Okay.
Am I going mad or was today the FA Cup final, not the Europa League final?
I'll have to check my calendar when I go through the hallway.
I'll have to check my calendar when I go through the hallway.
First? Thought he won the first one against Haaland after five seconds. Won four aerial duels out of five, more than anyone from United.
Well done
He should've. Probably a bit hesitant to over-commit to the first ball in the match in case it bounces over him. But he, Casemiro & Fred should've done better in that goal.
Make an effort. Stand up for both LGBT issues and Lindelof if you really care about it.
They're all big one-off matches that can define a season and Lindelof has consistently not been very good in those decisive moments. It's not hard. At least do sarcasm with some wit mate, you're better than this. Narrate your post in that BBC radio voice; at least it'd be funny and worth a laugh.
Are you having a laugh? Lindelof was very good today, again! All I see everywhere is just you moaning at our players.
But come on. There’s a reason they’re not called objectiveanalysis, logicalanalysis or goodanalysis.
I get your point that but in an ideal world it would have been Martinez and Varane starting with Lindelof on the bench as that's our strongest selection. It's only because of injury he's been thrust into a starting spot and I thought the defence did a good job nullifying City's attack for the most part. He was terrible in those finals granted but I don't see much comparison to his performance today.
Yea it’s no easy to not only win a duel against Haaland but also direct it. I think they were all caught a bit by surprise
Yes but last time Varane/Martinez started against City we conceded 6 goals so there is no guarantee we would have done better with Martinez.
In our last EL final we conceded 1 goal in 120 min can’t really blame defence for that defeat.
But come on. There’s a reason they’re not called objectiveanalysis, logicalanalysis or goodanalysis.
The last time we had a discussion, it sort of started with you saying 'Lindelof deserves some credit in the bank' after 10 games and I said 'no he's playing decent atm and could be an option long term with his sudden change form but based on history, he still has plenty to prove'. I gave you literal examples based on 6 years of observations and you basically gave up to side with 'Lindelof is awesome, you are wrong and bad mmkay'.
So a couple weeks later, Lindelof proves exactly my point that he has plenty of previous when it comes with dealing with crunch situations and now you're resulting in internet points scoring because you can't handle the truth. Look at you desperately defending the fact he should have done better with that high ball and minimising his mistake by attributing others to it more. It's embarrassing and quite pathetic. Like the other posters in the De Gea thread claiming he's still doing an awesome job.
You can look at my posting history. Bizarre. I've praised Rashford, Casemiro and Varane in their respective threads and criticised De Gea and Lindelof; all subjective but pretty fair. That's just for this specific game.
Agree with the first couple sentences. The latter not much so, it's a clear pattern but alas no point repeating it if you still don't see it.
Always seems to chicken out on the pass though and just drops it off to someone close to him. He's a decent passer. Try a thread it through to an attacker.
Never said he’s basically awesome. Said he’s one of the best 3rd options and today’s performance doesn’t change that for me at all.
I’ve mentioned twice already that he should’ve done better. That doesn’t automatically negate the fact that it’s not always easy to direct your headers where you want when you’re challenged. Or the fact that those kind of situations happen with even better defenders nor the fact our midfield was nowhere to be seen when they should be fighting for that second ball.
I hope you’re giving your critical analysis on the players in front of the back four tonight. I’d say our defense did well and the problem was the gap in quality elsewhere on the pitch.
But I agree, I can’t handle the truth and post in an embarrassing and pathetic way. No disagreements there.
If you’re talking about the first goal, he doesn’t jump against Haaland. He jumps against KDB. Haaland wins the first header from the GK’s kick, then Lindelof jumps against KDB, heads it against him and it drops on the path of Gundogan. The assist was given to KDB, because he was the least player to touch it before Gundogan.
I thought he could have done better with that header there, but from there on Gundogan just does incredibly well. And I can’t really fault him for the rest of the match. He did well, the whole defence did. We got outdone by some tremendous finishing by Gundo and some poor DDG goalkeeping.
Ah my bad, thought it was Haaland. Point still stands about not always being able to direct your header where you want, when challenged.
Yeah I like how our defense performed against the best team in the world at the moment.
He’s not assertive enough but does okay when called upon. I can see why there are rumours of us signing Kim. We look light at CB any time Varane or Martinez are out. Maybe he’s okay as second reserve for the time being.
Nail on the head.
I honestly think he’s a decent player and defender but he seems timid and not commanding enough to be a united player.
I look at vidic / rio / stam and they oozed aura and people stepped up when they played with them.
Varane is great butI feel people seem to forget he played with ramos for most of his career who Was a vile, disgusting defender I’d have signed as my first player.
Going back to lindelof, play him with a ramos player and the balance is perfect (as a back up player)
I think he’s even good for first backup. Like, he did well in a final against City, not sure what people expect from backups.
Good news for us is that Ramos is going to be a free agent in the summer. Cheeky bid?
Herein lies the problem. The issue is not that he didn't direct the header; no, in that instance he did as well as he could have just like anyone else. It's the fact that he shouldn't be contesting a 50/50 header in the first place. He should have been on his toes to challenge/pressure/jostle and make it hard for KDB to influence the very first (bouncing) ball. By letting it bounce, he can only go for a 50/50 aerial or jostle from a standing position. By pressing against KDB or the ball, he can make it an awkward header/control; it's something Martinez does to a high standard. It's a small error in isolation but not when it comes to Lindelof. It's extremely consistent of his passive nature (just look the examples I have given) despite what the last 10-15 games have told us and the incredibly roundabout ways some posters have been using to absolve this tendency:
"He wasn't told by coaches previously to be proactive and aggressive"
"Varane and Martinez conceded 6 goals against City (despite Lindelof coming on and conceding three with him on the pitch but you know, let's ignore facts) so therefore this means Lindelof is just as good as anybody else"
"It's the midfield's fault"
You can look up my post about Casemiro, where I've basically said it was a one-man midfield. Besides, I'm not blaming the loss on Lindelof. I'm blaming Lindelof for consistently underwhelming me and always flattering to deceive after a run of form. I'm basing this on 6 years of rinse, repeat and not 10-15 games cycles.
As for the last line, it's funny how you turn the moral cheek after I call you out on it. That's good, at least you can show some growth, unlike our melting Iceman.
He’s neither of those. He’s Wes Brown. And so long as he doesn’t kick a fuss about being a squad player I think we’re lucky to have him. I don’t remember the 99 team or the 2008 team to have 4 equal quality CBs. Or any team for that matter.
He was decent today and has been all season but that ball should never, ever have been allowed to bounce for their first goal.
Thought he was weak on that first header
Not sure what you base this on?
We have 17 clean sheets in the PL.
6 of them with Martinez-Varane
11 of them with other CB pairs.
Yeah he’s okay.
Put it this way, I think we need one more CB and I’d like him to be better than Victor, otherwise don’t bother, just stick with Maguire (any takers for that solution?).
Meanwhile I don’t really expect any more from Victor; he is what he is.
Come on.
I think the interesting thing is which one does EtH go for?
Either a young-ish RCB to give rest to and learn from Varane or a left-footed LCB to cover for Martínez. I know we have Shaw but if he replaces Licha when needed, our rotation LBs are not that good.
I wouldn’t mind going into next season with the same CBs personally. The focus of recruiting should be CF, CM, GK for the summer, and in that order.
I think we might have to get a CB because Maguire will not want to be on the bench for fear of losing his England spot and also he’s too expensive both in terms of salary and as an asset, to keep as 4th CB. Pick someone promising but cheap to replace him. Bonus points if he’s left footed.
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