Daley Blind | Ajax Performances

Dolf

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Was only good in that ultra defensive LVG possession system.
A poor midfielder and a slow left back.
Was no reason to keep him.
Found his level, wish him all the best.
Good enough to win against Bayern, Real Madrid, Germany NT and now playing against Juventus. And all that in an attacking system.
But sure, no reason to keep him. Rojo showed us much more use.
Glas he left though, we had no idea how to use him. Waste of his talents.
 

Ekeke

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Good enough to win against Bayern, Real Madrid, Germany NT and now playing against Juventus. And all that in an attacking system.
But sure, no reason to keep him. Rojo showed us much more use.
Glas he left though, we had no idea how to use him. Waste of his talents.
Dont forget when he played in midfield in his first season in a similar role to the one we're now seemingly grooming Fred for. He did better in it than Fred has so far, its just at the time the comparison was with Carrick rather than Matic, and the latter is much easier to handle


Blind & Ander were two of my favourite signings post Sir Alex and unfortunately it seems like they'll go down as 2 players we didnt show enough faith and give enough responsibility to.
 

AgentP

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We were dumb to let him go. And this is not even hindsight, it's just common sense. We kept Young, Valencia, Rojo, Jones and Smalling but let this guy leave. Atleast we didn't let him go for cheap.
 

Cassidy

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We kept Rojo over this guy...
 

andersj

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Dont forget when he played in midfield in his first season in a similar role to the one we're now seemingly grooming Fred for. He did better in it than Fred has so far, its just at the time the comparison was with Carrick rather than Matic, and the latter is much easier to handle
One of my favorites too. He only got one year as a central defender. The first time in his carrier he played there regularly. And it was in the PL. I think he improved alot during that year, and I'm sure he would have continued to improve in a zonal marking-system if he got the chance. Mourinho ruined his development, but he has still looked good against the likes of Bayern, Real Madrid and Juventus this season.
 

Dolf

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Blind & Ander were two of my favourite signings post Sir Alex and unfortunately it seems like they'll go down as 2 players we didnt show enough faith and give enough responsibility to.
Exactly. These are players who would give anything for the club and they never complained. Sure, they are no Modric or Maldini but we should have trusted them more. They are the kind of player that would have helped us build in the long term.
 

SadlerMUFC

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"If" SAF were still in charge Blind would still be a United player. SAF always had a utility guy in the team whether that was P Neville, O'Shea or Hargraeves. Blind would have been the same. A guy who may not start every week, but will fill in at several different positions. Never should have sold him...
 

Based Adnan

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A shambles how we've kept some absolute dross in the squad but got rid of this guy. Would walk into the team at CB. Class player.
 

Sir Scott McToMinay

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Good enough to win against Bayern, Real Madrid, Germany NT and now playing against Juventus. And all that in an attacking system.
But sure, no reason to keep him. Rojo showed us much more use.
Glas he left though, we had no idea how to use him. Waste of his talents.
Tom Cleverley was good enough to win against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, and win the PL as a first teamer, doesn’t mean we should’ve kept him.
 

Adam-Utd

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He wasn't so good at LB but as a CB he was fantastic. No surprise he's doing so well at Ajax playing there.

He and Smalling made a good partnership, so no wonder he's doing well with De Ligt also.
 

Eleven-Eighteen

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Not many people on the Caf had much to say about his departure iirc. So why suddenly the love?

He's had good performances yes, but in a team and a league that is vastly different to United and the PL. He was here under two different managers and played in multiple positions, both as a starter and as a substitute, but wasn't able to quite make an impact. It was a good decision to sell him, at the time. Hindsight is always 20-20
 
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Good squad player and nice guy.

Those saying he should have been kept instead of Rojo are right, but we've been trying to sell Rojo for at least a couple of years and can't anyone to buy him!

We have crap like Rojo, Darmian and Bailly stinking out the place because no other clubs are foolish to buy them.
 

beedoubleyou

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Not many people on the Caf had much to say about his departure iirc. So why suddenly the love?

He's had good performances yes, but in a team and a league that is vastly different to United and the PL. He was here under two different managers and played in multiple positions, both as a starter and as a substitute, but wasn't able to quite make an impact. It was a good decision to sell him, at the time. Hindsight is always 20-20
Because most people here are mental.
 

limerickcitykid

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Not many people on the Caf had much to say about his departure iirc. So why suddenly the love?

He's had good performances yes, but in a team and a league that is vastly different to United and the PL. He was here under two different managers and played in multiple positions, both as a starter and as a substitute, but wasn't able to quite make an impact. It was a good decision to sell him, at the time. Hindsight is always 20-20
He was a vital part of the best CB pairing we've had since Fergie. How is that no impact?
 

clarkydaz

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Not many people on the Caf had much to say about his departure iirc. So why suddenly the love?

He's had good performances yes, but in a team and a league that is vastly different to United and the PL. He was here under two different managers and played in multiple positions, both as a starter and as a substitute, but wasn't able to quite make an impact. It was a good decision to sell him, at the time. Hindsight is always 20-20
He wasnt playing under jose and people knew he had no future here under him, as he isnt a physical bruiser. Jose later moaned we have shit defenders who cant play the ball
 

Ekeke

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Not many people on the Caf had much to say about his departure iirc. So why suddenly the love?

He's had good performances yes, but in a team and a league that is vastly different to United and the PL. He was here under two different managers and played in multiple positions, both as a starter and as a substitute, but wasn't able to quite make an impact. It was a good decision to sell him, at the time. Hindsight is always 20-20
You'll have to point those people out. I liked him from his first season
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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One of my favourite players of all time at United.

Everything at the defence seemed organised and on time.

Would make passes right from defence to the CAM or make crosses from LB right to the target man.

Selling him is one of the main reasons I went from disliking Jose before United to hating him afterwards.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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I liked him, but c'mon now.
He was because I just found very creative as a defender. I never felt let down by him like some of the fans did at some games & I liked his versatile nature in the first year and the more stable CB version of him in the 2nd year.

Then the most important part was that I don't think we would have won any of our cups during that period without Blind. Even the Europa League final - Jose chose Blind with the other defenders injured and he completely bossed the game vs Ajax - something to this day we have not got back since he left.
 

RedCurry

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He was because I just found very creative as a defender. I never felt let down by him like some of the fans did at some games & I liked his versatile nature in the first year and the more stable CB version of him in the 2nd year.

Then the most important part was that I don't think we would have won any of our cups during that period without Blind. Even the Europa League final - Jose chose Blind with the other defenders injured and he completely bossed the game vs Ajax - something to this day we have not got back since he left.
I am not disagreeing with you that he was a very good defender. I would also have kept him. But I personally wouldn't call him one of my most favorite Utd players of all time.
 

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One of my favourite players of all time at United.
I wouldn’t go that far, but certainly one of my favourites of the post-SAF era.

It was surely no coincidence that the quality of our football under Jose deteriorated when Daley stopped featuring regularly. Even though he was mainly used at left back, which wasn’t his best position.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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I wouldn’t go that far, but certainly one of my favourites of the post-SAF era.

It was surely no coincidence that the quality of our football under Jose deteriorated when Daley stopped featuring regularly. Even though he was mainly used at left back, which wasn’t his best position.
I said he was one of my favourites not one of the best or anything.

I just found him eye catching and classic in the way he played football that I loved watching him in defence as much as I did some attackers scoring goals upfront. It made me enjoy defending more watching him do what he did.
 

Revaulx

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I said he was one of my favourites not one of the best or anything.

I just found him eye catching and classic in the way he played football that I loved watching him in defence as much as I did some attackers scoring goals upfront. It made me enjoy defending more watching him do what he did.
Me too. He brought the best out of Smalling also; we rarely had to put up with people wibbling on endlessly about how bad Chris is on the ball when Blind was alongside him.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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It's funny the way he's ended up being "replaced" at enormous expense by a player who is very similar to him - Lindelof.

Although, on the plus side, Lindelof is a lot younger (and quicker?) so a decent enough upgrade, all things considered.
At max I have seen Lindelof make one or two passes in his career at United in comparison to the passes that Blind used to make 1 or 2 times a game.

It may not be easy to remember but Blind used to drill balls from CB up to the furthest forward CM or Cam's or the free wingers etc.

You don't see that with Lindelof.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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Overall I don't think he was good enough for a team aspiring to be the very best, But he was certainly better than some of the average dross we have now.
 

kundalini

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Blind & Ander were two of my favourite signings post Sir Alex and unfortunately it seems like they'll go down as 2 players we didnt show enough faith and give enough responsibility to.
I also like both players but I disagree about lack of faith. Both got plenty of matches. My only complaint is we kept changing their position. Blind was mostly a DM in the first season, though also LB at times. Then CB the 2nd season. Mostly LB under Mourinho, though sometimes CB. A major criticism of mine is that we rarely seem to give players the time to learn a role. That certainly applies to both Blind and Herrera. We're so busy changing the team that we don't make it easy for players to establish partnerships, deep understanding between players on the pitch.

Blind was a better DM than Fred has been so far (not difficult). Blind was also a better CB than Lindelof has been so far (again not difficult) but hopefully Victor will improve, some encouraging signs this season. The scouts clearly misjudged Lindelof's ability to cope with the physical side of the PL. Indeed you could go through the various CBs and DMs that we have used in recent years and while they have different strengths and weaknesses, their overall performance level is very similar. Even at left-back, Luke Shaw has finally got his act together but still his contribution in the final third isn't that amazing and he still switches off too often in our defensive third, costing us goals. So despite Shaw being a contender for our best performer this season, the difference between him and Blind as a LB isn't that great.

Blind's first season 25 PL starts - 14 wins 5 draws 6 defeats. As a DM 8 wins 5 draws 4 defeats. Results marginally better with him in the team because he arrived too late for the opening 3 fixtures.

Blind's 2nd season 35 PL starts. 17 wins 8 draws 10 defeats. In the 3 games he missed we won 2 drew 1, didn't concede a goal.

Blind's 3rd season 20 PL starts - 9 wins 8 draws 3 defeats.

Blind's 4th season 4 PL starts - 4 wins. Didn't concede a goal. (Now that's weird. I wonder why he got dropped ? Ashley Young instead of Blind looks like a poor decision. Both are capable of providing the occasional high quality cross. Whatever you gain in the attacking third from selecting Young, you lose in our defensive third and in him giving away possession cheaply)

Daley left because he wanted to start regularly. He didn't want to be a squad player. Even in his last season, he had 1231 mins playing time in all competitions, a figure McTominay will struggle to reach this season, while Pereira won't get anywhere near. Bailly is currently about 1050, Rojo, Darmian and Valencia have no chance of 1000+ mins. In his three earlier seasons, Blind had 2700 mins, 5000 mins and 3200+ mins.
 
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Paul_Scholes18

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Decent squad player. Didn't really see the reason to sell him. Although Mourinho didn't seem to like him as a left back.
 
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I said he was one of my favourites not one of the best or anything.

I just found him eye catching and classic in the way he played football that I loved watching him in defence as much as I did some attackers scoring goals upfront. It made me enjoy defending more watching him do what he did.
I felt the same, he was calm and composed. Plus he was good looking too I liked when he had his man bun ❤
 

Canagel

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Better at ball playing than Lindelof. He has the time on his side but not an upgrade at all.
 

chillooout

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This club do not deserve him and do not know how to play him. In several moments, He comfortably looked like one of the the best Manutd players of all time even though he had to play with the deadwoods.
 

reddevil702

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This club do not deserve him and do not know how to play him. In several moments, He comfortably looked like one of the the best Manutd players of all time even though he had to play with the deadwoods.
What! :lol: He had moments when he was very good as a CB for us, but that was also playing with two defensive midfielders.
 

Sir Scott McToMinay

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This club do not deserve him and do not know how to play him. In several moments, He comfortably looked like one of the the best Manutd players of all time even though he had to play with the deadwoods.
I’d go ahead and claim he was one of the greatest players of all time, period.
He is Ferdinand Xavi Yashin and Messi rolled into one.

Please let’s stop that nonsense, he’s playing well for a team with zero expectations and pressure in Europe, Tadic looks like a world beater while in reality both are midtable PL players, end of story.
That’s what confidence and team spirit does to you, that’s how Leicester won the PL.
Blind was a forgettable player for Man United and benefited from playing in an unwatchable, ridiculously defensive system that made Smalling look like the best CB in the league.
Was absolutely average in both LB and DM for us, which deemed him pretty useless as a squad player, for us.
Had a decent pass on him and was definitely better than Darmian or Rojo, but when we wanted to get rid no top club wanted him.
That’s all there is to it.