Now Lindelof cant pass... ha
Whenever I watch Lindelof play he doesn't probe passing unless he is completely free with zero pressure and has time to get his head up and then pass.
Today for instance whenever he got the ball he always goes sideways, very rarely going wide, he wasn't looking to break the defensive line and probe. Many of the modern CBs do it, Pique does it at Barca to release midfielders, Maguire does it to some extent, Peps CBs will do it, VVD will do it, Lindelof isn't a player to probe with passing like that and break lines, Maguire does that more often.
For me defensively on the ground Lindelof is a very very good option as a squad player, but he definitely isn't a ball playing defender, and he definitely isn't an aerial threat to anyone in an opposition box.
I struggle to think of any examples where Lindelof plays good probing passes, or a long ball besides once every few games, it's not a strong area of his game.
Lindelof isn't a player you think "give him the ball and he will split the midfield with a pass", yet the top teams in Europe have what whether its VVD, cities CBs, at Bayern, Barca, or Real Madrid.
Stats wise this year in the league:
Lindelof in the EPL this year, 59 accurate long balls in 30 Appearances, 0 big chances created, 46% tackle success.
Maguire in the EPL this year, 149 accurate long balls in 33 Appearances, 2 big chances created, 62% tackle success.
Maguire is more likely to play longer passes, and spread the play than Lindelof / play probing passes, it's not really a debate if Lindelof can pass, it's just he doesn't get his head up enough.
Defensively it's not only the small errors that United can make at times, but it's transitioning to attack at times, also in general you "playing from the back" if you are just playing it around the defence with short passes all the time you are inviting pressure on yourselves at times, which is great to draw teams out of their shape but I don't think Lindelof has penetrative passing in his locker as much as you'd like.
If you are playing the majority of your passes sideways 4 metres to your pairing CB or just to the RB and thats it, you aren't disrupting the oppositions shape at all. Lindelof for me just isn't at the level of what you would expect.
Defensively I'm fine with Lindelof as a squad player as I've said, but there's definitely better defenders out there to pair Maguire.