Green_Red
New Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2013
- Messages
- 10,296
Pleasantly surprised so far but will reserve judgement for a good few more games.
He did it twice both to januzajHe did this low driven pass into one of our forwards' feet in the first half against Villa. It was a thing if beauty.
It put is right on the front foot and split open a well organized Villa side.
Time will tell if he can deal with the Giants and speed freaks though. I still think Rojo will be Smalling's main partner.
There is also no guarantee that otamendi if he comes will adapt to the PL quickly. Or even Ramos. This is a moot pointWhile there is no guarantee that he will be crap when we face the likes of Chelsea or City, there are no guarantees on a good performance too
Lolz. True. What I meant was his performances against Spurs or Villa might not give us an indication of what might happen when he faces City or Chelsea.He did it twice both to januzaj
There is also no guarantee that otamendi if he comes will adapt to the PL quickly. Or even Ramos. This is a moot point
Yeah I think Smalling also doesn't seem to have a great time against Aguero. The movement and acceleration is too much, so you can't man mark him or keep him in sight. You just have to cut off all the service to him.Don't think he can cope with the likes of Aguero and an interested Lukaku. Then again, don't think many can cope with Aguero
I might be wrong but wiki suggests he was a LB who was converted to a DM.Why is this so surprising?
He's loved by Van Gaal and its easy to see why - he's exceptionally intelligent and tactically aware and consequently superbly versatile. He's primarily a defensive mid yet his best performances came for us at lb last year because he is able to see what needs to be done and when, which made him especially potent in attack despite his lack of pace.
He's extremely reliable, a good tackler, has great stamina, superb positioning, an excellent left foot, a cool head playing it out from the back and when making himself available...pretty much the only things he lacks are strength, height and pace. Even so, he's taller than a certain Javier Mascherano who hasn't been such a bad centre half at another possession team in Barca.
The other thing is, he already played in central defence last year during an injury crisis and did well...so why wouldn't he be a good centre half for us?
Lovely stuffEven a Blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while
Sorry
He played at CB a lot for Ajax too. He's really versatile. I think he should be applauded for his performances so far. He kept Kane quiet and dealt admirably with the 'pace and power' of Villa's forwards.I might be wrong but wiki suggests he was a LB who was converted to a DM.
Not to mention Agbonlahor - who is one of the quickest players in the league.How many better strikers are there then Kane, and how many have the aerial ability of Gestede?
No alarms so far against both of them.
He won't be protected by the homegrown plot shield thoughHe's basically Jonny Evans but better on the ball. Not fast, not strong or good in the air but Evans managed to forge a decent career here as a CB for many years. We'll see how it goes though - I still think it will massively flop.
I agree, this is the PL. Unfortunately things like physicality and pace are huge factors in this league. There are players and teams out there who are flat track bullies. Will be interesting to see how he copes with that. TBH though with regards to pace, Hummels is also someone who lacks this, and Mertz, but they both compensate with size and strength I guess.Blind is no raging liability but he isn't the answer either. Physicality is hugely important in this division and it is something that will bite us on the arse if we persist with him at centre half.
That said, so far so good. I like Blind a lot. If he was physically stronger and faster then we'd be looking at an incredible player. He's got the football side of things well covered.
Ah, so he's actually taller than his Dad, that's reassuring. Anyone remember who partnered Danny Blind in defense for Ajax? I think it may have been Frank De Boer, not exactly a physical beast himself.I am a bit torn on this.
So far I think he is doing well and there are examples of other DM's converting to center backs, like Mascherano (174cm/5' 8¨) and actually Daley's dad Danny(176cm/5'9¨) both of which have been very successful on the basis of intelligence and positioning instead of shear physical attributes. I think Daley has these 2 characteristics but the premier league is known for it's physicality as others have pointed out.
It's about the whole team defense though including the pressing of the strikers and the coverage of the midfield and we have only had 2 games but I feel more confident in the defense we have now including him than the one we had last year without him in the central position.
It was Frank de Boer, yes and he was the same size as Daley(180cm/5'11¨). Coincidentally Frank started out a LB before being moved to CB ....by van Gaal.Ah, so he's actually taller than his Dad, that's reassuring. Anyone remember who partnered Danny Blind in defense for Ajax? I think it may have been Frank De Boer, not exactly a physical beast himself.
It's not a cliche, it's a fact, pace and power are the two predominant factors in the PL.It's just so cliched on how English football is viewed. You couldn't make up that post
Which explains why players like Zaha make a mockery of the league.It's not a cliche, it's a fact, pace and power are the two predominant factors in the PL.
Maybe but I am not arguing it as a pro or con, just like when it was said the English league is lagging behind due to certain mentalities, it's not about personal preference, simply about what we face in this league and how we have to equip the team to deal with those obstacles.Which explains why players like Zaha make a mockery of the league.
Hit the nail on the head for me.People are forgetting that he's not going to be up against Aguero or Lukaku 1vs1 most the time. He'll have Smalling alongside him in addition to the protection of a much more beefed out midfield. This isnt the NBA.
He broke trough as a rightback, played mostly as a leftback afterwards but also played CB and in his last season as CDM. In his youth days he was shoved around alot aswell so he's used to those 3 positions, they aren't new to him.I might be wrong but wiki suggests he was a LB who was converted to a DM.
I thought he was excellent against Spurs. Against Villa he was decent too - 11 clearances 3 interceptions 2 headed duels won 1 tackle won 61 passes with 95% pass accuracy.He didn't have any defending to do because Villa had no one posing a threat to either of our centrebacks, and I didn't think he played well against Spurs, at all. Smalling did.
Two clean sheets without De Gea is a surprise considering, but it's too early to make a real judgement either way yet. I'd kind of let Blind off the Spurs game because there were others who played worse than him despite not being played in a new position.
Agreed. You can feel it already people wanting him to make a mistake. He already got blamed for the goals that were not his fault look at the PSG game. People are so obsessed with transfers and wanting a new CB. Blind played at CB for Holland during World Cup and was good then. He made 1 or 2 mistakes against Club America but other then that was good (great against Barca) in the other pre season games. Simple fact is he has been good and the only excuse I see is "yeah well Kane was crap and Villa had 0 shots'.Poor bugger's got Valenciaitis. Imagine having virtually your whole fan base urging you to make a mistake to justify their opinion of you.
Make no mistake, he's going to get blamed for something that really isn't real his fault