I couldn't disagree more. Bailly has been a beast so far, and pairing him with Smalling would give us two big, strong CBs for the first time since Vidic/Rio.
Blind was better than smalling last season, especially as the season went on. Comfortably our best defender.
I second this
Bailly has been a beast, but does look a little rash at times. I'd be very wary of partnering him with an out of practice Smalling.
This continued criticism of Blind gets on my nerves. Just because he isn't your textbook CB, doesn't make him any less of a player suited for the position. What defines a good player? In my opinion it's the ability to perform consistently at a level that your team requires. Blind has been doing that for quite some time now, and against the so called bigger oppositions, he's been up to the mark as well. I have no problem with either of the three CBs starting for us, mind you, but to criticise the man without him even heeding it, makes absolutely zero sense to me. Also, I've mentioned this in the Newbies but I guess it's worth repeating, having a beast like Bailly who's still rowdy (as has been evident), it really helps him bed in the league by having a calming influence like Daley Blind by his side, who, by the way, can and has found excellent passes in field from the defence!
I agree. The people criticising Blind are the same people criticising Valencia for not being a 'proper' RB/CB
I agree, even though the three of them are different I'd say Blind offers something the two others don't when it comes to passing, positioning, build up from the back and reading the play. Switching between Bailly and Smalling makes more sense imo.
Blind is probably our smartest & most forwardly-driven player we have in the team Sig..
I cant speak for everyone but in my opinion i think our squad has been hugely underrated in the last couple of years because poor managers have made the players drop from their top level. We were in need of a couple more world class stars which we have got in Pogba and Zlatan and i was always of the opinion that as soon as we got a top manager all our players could add an extra 10% to their performances. Within just two games(three counting the shield) its already evident that LVGs slow, tumescent and negative football has been removed and in its place we look functional and machine like, not dissimilar to Mourinho teams of the past. But more than that the team looks like it has room to grow as they become more accustomed to playing with each other. This is just the beginning of Utd getting back to the top of football and i think the reality is both fans and opposition can sense it.
I think Moyes always started on the back foot in fairness - majority on here were probably convinced he was a shit appointment (I was, laughably when I look back, not one of them at the time). But there was the dithering in the transfer market and underwhelming signing of fellaini (who's done wel to continue fighting at the club) etc, so there was never this buzz. Added to that, SAF just retired.
It was the perfect compliment - Smalling peeled the spuds & Blind creamed them..
I'll speak for myself here. At the very beginning of moyse's first season I was calmly optimistic. I knew he was no fergie but was confident in the strong endorsement SAF gave him (I'll put that at a 6/7 happiness scale). I don't really recall how the pre-season made me feel. At the beginning of LVG's first season, I was super relieved we had sacked moyes and were getting an experienced/ respected coach who had won all over Europe. I was also very excited about Di maria (7.5 happiness scale). Now with Mourinho I feel super relived that the nightmare that was LVG's football is over, and really excited about the World class signings and the winning/ confidence factor that seems to have returned to Utd (8.5 happiness scale and frankly would be more if these past seasons hadn't taught me to show restraint in my optimism)
Never change a winning back four - especially in the middle.
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First 3 matches, Moyes: WWD (Moyes got progressively worse with time and it seemed that he had no master plan or philosophy, in place. It felt that he was making it up as he went along)
The pressers were totally irrelevant buddy.
Aye, I never said the pressers determined anything? Other than just signifying the general mood/buzz around his appointment?
Rob Dawson 
@RobDawsonMENIt does start at 17:30 though...Oh shit. I thought the game would start 17:30. I sat down and was so exited to watch the game start in ten minutes.
18:30 for us from Norway, Sweden etc.
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Eric Bailly
Daley Blind
Wayne Rooney
Luke Shaw
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Antonio Valencia
Marouane Fellaini
Paul Pogba
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Juan Mata
Jonathan Moss
replaced by Marcus Rashford
replaced by Henrikh Mkhitaryan
replaced by Chris Smalling
