What do people see in Lindelof?

[sullydnl]

Here's Maldini making a number of mistakes, sorry I mean tackles..

Aside from anything else, the idea that every tackle is a mistake ignores the fact that you might have to cover for someone else's errors at some point.

It's referencing a good principle for defending (i.e. good positioning > tackling your way out of bad positioning) but it's pretty funny when people take it to literally mean tackles are in themselves a symptom of bad defending.

 

[Majima]

I'm currently watching the re-run of the game and the lad from Dalian looks brilliant in a low block.

Enjoy. It's one for the footballing purists that. Sweden's defensive organisation is always impressive to watch.

 

[Adnan]

Enjoy. It's one for the footballing purists that. Sweden's defensive organisation is always impressive to watch.

The defensive organisation of the Swedish team is remarkably well coached.

 

[Adnan]

Aside from anything else, the idea that every tackle is a mistake ignores the fact that you might have to cover for someone else's errors at some point.

It's referencing a good principle for defending (i.e. good positioning > tackling your way out of bad positioning) but it's pretty funny when people take it to literally mean tackles are in themselves a symptom of bad defending.

Agreed.

 

[GazTheLegend]

Knew as soon as I saw the existence of this thread that Lindelof would be man of the match against Spain.

 

[Bebestation]

I preferred Daley blind to him. The same weaknesses but Blinds positive aspects were better (or his game reading, passing, versatility and left footed ness).

 

[golden_blunder]

Here's Maldini making a number of mistakes, sorry I mean tackles..

Jesus what a rubbish defender, so many mistakes

 

[golden_blunder]

United CB gets clean sheet vs Spain despite possession of only 14.9%.
Same United CB picked as MotM.
United fan forum:



Talk about toxic fan base.

When most of the fan base want him upgraded doesn’t that tell you something rather than one match? Has he ever won MOTM at United?

 

[Dan_F]

It’s not that surprising. He’s a good defender when he doesn’t have to deal with fast, physical strikers, or lots of set pieces. We all know his weaknesses.

 

[SecondFig]

When most of the fan base want him upgraded doesn’t that tell you something rather than one match? Has he ever won MOTM at United?

For me it's not even that there's anything wrong with Lindelof per se, I could easily see him being a starting CB at a lot of elite clubs. It's simply that he's not the ideal partner for Maguire - and given that Maguire is our captain, record defensive signing, and (until the end of this season) an ever-present in our team - it makes sense to bring in someone who complements Maguire's skillset.

I like Lindelof, I like Bailly too, but right now we have some good CBs, not a good centre back pairing.

 

[Champ]

Some people on here criticising Lindelof for being passive and heralding Danielson for being aggressive...they really need to learn the art of defending as a pair.

Do these people realise as a CB pairing one player will always attack the ball whilst the second CB will drop behind and cover any missed headers/clearances?

That was quite clearly how the Swedish back line works.

And despite this Lindelof only put in one less clearance than Danielson, probably due to the amount of pressure Sweden were under constantly. Lindelof didn't put a foot wrong really.

 

[Andy_Cole]

He’d be class in la Liga to be fair to him.

 

[Mickson]

My intention wasn't to criticise Lindelof but rather to point out that there's many people who watched the game that had Danielsson as their MOTM. The below is a tweet from one of many Swedes online who had Danielsson as their MVP who is considered the more proactive defender.

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That guy supports Djurgarden, which Danielsson used to play for, and won them the title for the first time in ages. Common among Swedish fans, they just say that their player is the best. I would say that Olsen was MOTM, and I support Malmo and therefore hate Olsen so you can trust me I would say that Danielsson and Lindelof were about the same, although Danielsson is obviously more proactive as a player but there's no doubt that Lindelof is a better player overall which his career indicates.

 

[golden_blunder]

For me it's not even that there's anything wrong with Lindelof per se, I could easily see him being a starting CB at a lot of elite clubs. It's simply that he's not the ideal partner for Maguire - and given that Maguire is our captain, record defensive signing, and (until the end of this season) an ever-present in our team - it makes sense to bring in someone who complements Maguire's skillset.

I like Lindelof, I like Bailly too, but right now we have some good CBs, not a good centre back pairing.

Fair enough. I just think there’s too many mistakes in him in the PL where the game is more physical

 

[Adnan]

That guy supports Djurgarden, which Danielsson used to play for, and won them the title for the first time in ages. Common among Swedish fans, they just say that their player is the best. I would say that Olsen was MOTM, and I support Malmo and therefore hate Olsen so you can trust me I would say that Danielsson and Lindelof were about the same, although Danielsson is obviously more proactive as a player but there's no doubt that Lindelof is a better player overall which his career indicates.

I'm not saying Danielson is a better player, and him playing in the Chinese league indicates to his inferiority from a technical POV. But in the game yesterday there were many Swedes and non Swedes who thought Danielson was better and having watched the game I don't disagree.

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[CG1010]

United CB gets clean sheet vs Spain despite possession of only 14.9%.
Same United CB picked as MotM.
United fan forum:



Talk about toxic fan base.

So this kind of match where he has got enough support and doesn't get stuck 1vs1 are the ideal ones for him. That's why we have double defensive pivot to protect our CBs. He does have good qualities. But problem is that holds us back as a team. We have greater ambition than what Sweden showed against Spain.

 

[CG1010]

So this kind of match where he has got enough support and doesn't get stuck 1vs1 are the ideal ones for him. That's why we have double defensive pivot to protect our CBs. He does have good qualities. But problem is that holds us back as a team. We have greater ambition than what Sweden showed against Spain.

And to add where the opposition team is playing firmly on the ground! He has previously also done well against such teams for us.

 

[Mickson]

I'm not saying Danielson is a better player, and him playing in the Chinese league indicates to his inferiority from a technical POV. But in the game yesterday there were many Swedes and non Swedes who thought Danielson was better and having watched the game I don't disagree.

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I'm not disagreeing, just gave context. As I said, I thought they were pretty equal. Different players but both did well. I have to say though that I have seldom seen a defender (or midfielder) in Sweden not being up for it in a tournament. They are always solid, regardless of their club standard.

 

[A-man]

When most of the fan base want him upgraded doesn’t that tell you something rather than one match? Has he ever won MOTM at United?

As everything else in a forum like this it is the reactions from the last matches. Most fans were happy with him during the season. That’s why he has among the highest player ratings of all our players from the redcafe members, higher than Maguire as example.

Depends on what MotM you talk about? I can see he was voted MotM 3 times from red cafe members, which is not too bad from a defender. Shaw was the only defender who got voted more MotM.

 

[Trequarista10]

It’s not that surprising. He’s a good defender when he doesn’t have to deal with fast, physical strikers, or lots of set pieces. We all know his weaknesses.

Yeah, he's well suited to La Liga. Hopefully Barca or Real will pay big money for him.

 

[dinostar77]

It’s not that surprising. He’s a good defender when he doesn’t have to deal with fast, physical strikers, or lots of set pieces. We all know his weaknesses.

So not suited to PL then?

Definitely need an upgrade on lindelof this summer.

 

[SecondFig]

Fair enough. I just think there’s too many mistakes in him in the PL where the game is more physical

Think that's a fair point - he'd probably look more comfortable playing for a side like Barcelona

 

[A-man]

So this kind of match where he has got enough support and doesn't get stuck 1vs1 are the ideal ones for him. That's why we have double defensive pivot to protect our CBs. He does have good qualities. But problem is that holds us back as a team. We have greater ambition than what Sweden showed against Spain.

He is often good at organising the defence in defensive games and is good in well organised defences where everybody is loyal to their task. But I expect he will show more of his other skills in the coming two matches.

The double pivot I would say is mainly there so we can play four attacking players who don’t help in defence, and at the same time allow our FBs to move forward. I don’t think we had played differently last season if we had another CB.

 

[Morpheus 7]

When's the last time he was motm for United? Useless bastard cost us so many times last season, not to mention in a final on another setpiece. He's soft, your are full if you think United are winning anything with him playing every week.

 

[A-man]

And to add where the opposition team is playing firmly on the ground! He has previously also done well against such teams for us.

I agree with that in general , but I wouldn’t say Spain played firmly on the ground yesterday. Lindelof had 6 or 7 aerial clearances inside the box.

 

[Zlatans Knee]

I'm not saying Danielson is a better player, and him playing in the Chinese league indicates to his inferiority from a technical POV. But in the game yesterday there were many Swedes and non Swedes who thought Danielson was better and having watched the game I don't disagree.

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Did they not see the fresh air kick by Danielson which let Morata in where he should score 10 times out of 10? I would love to have seen the reaction of people in here if that had been Lindelöf instead.

 

[golden_blunder]

Think that's a fair point - he'd probably look more comfortable playing for a side like Barcelona

Yes in Spain where the game is less physical and the ball is on the ground more. Sometimes I think we need to recognise where we play more

 

[golden_blunder]

@A-man I know the first video is a piss-take but it contains the type of errors at United that Lindelof has been collecting. You keep saying to show you proof

the second video you can tell mata is pissed off at Lindelof, who himself looks very uncomfortable

 

[Adnan]

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Did they not see the fresh air kick by Danielson which let Morata in where he should score 10 times out of 10? I would love to have seen the reaction of people in here if that had been Lindelöf instead.

We have to expect some mistakes from a CB plying his trade in China.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

.

When most of the fan base want him upgraded doesn’t that tell you something rather than one match? Has he ever won MOTM at United?

Don’t want to speak ill of the CAF but I’ll do it anyway, most of them wanted rid of Shaw.

 

[SecondFig]

Yes in Spain where the game is less physical and the ball is on the ground more. Sometimes I think we need to recognise where we play more

Which is interesting given that 3 of our apparent top-choice centre backs (Varane, Pau Torres and Jules Kounde) currently ply their trade in La Liga. Obviously that doesn't mean they have the same weaknesses as Lindelof, scouting being a bit more complex than "it's La Liga, don't want".

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

I feel lots of people almost want our players to do badly for national teams so they can complain. I want them all to go far even though I know it might make life harder in pre season.

 

[A-man]

@A-man I know the first video is a piss-take but it contains the type of errors at United that Lindelof has been collecting. You keep saying to show you proof

the second video you can tell mata is pissed off at Lindelof, who himself looks very uncomfortable

It’s always easy to make a player look bad in a failure compilation when you collect 7-8 conceded goals over four seasons. There are similar YouTube compilation with Maguire when he makes mistakes, is bullied and make very poor decisions.



His weakness is vs big strong strikers and not the best forwards in the league. Most of the time those big strikers play for weaker teams and we should beat them anyway. This is why so many top teams prioritise other skills than strength in CBs today compared to in the past imo.

Looking back at the season, I can still not remember many goals that we conceded because his lack of physicality. Sounds like it was 8-10 goals but can only remember one or two.

 

[rotherham_red]

This feels like the mctominay threads where everyone loses their mind going back and forth (including me) but the answer is that mctominay should be our backup 6 and 8 (our Ambrosini as I’ve said before) and Lindelof a fine 3rd CB backing up Maguire and the other starting CB we need.

This in a nutshell.

The team would be transformed if a DM came in first and foremost. I think a top DM would even allow us to play a Maguire-Lindelof partnership as he'd actually be a protection for them, where McFred unfortunately can't. That's not their fault, they're just not those players.

 

[Volumiza]

Lindelöf is a top defender. He has really grown and developed now. Him and Maguire got a good partnership.

It is not easy to uppgrade.

Brave post

I also agree. I'm not saying Lindelof can't be improved on but he's certainly nowhere near as bad as some on here make out.

 

[Volumiza]

For me it's not even that there's anything wrong with Lindelof per se, I could easily see him being a starting CB at a lot of elite clubs. It's simply that he's not the ideal partner for Maguire - and given that Maguire is our captain, record defensive signing, and (until the end of this season) an ever-present in our team - it makes sense to bring in someone who complements Maguire's skillset.

I like Lindelof, I like Bailly too, but right now we have some good CBs, not a good centre back pairing.

This is probably as close to the truth as we'll get.

 

[Zlatans Knee]

.

We have to expect some mistakes from a CB plying his trade in China.

I think that is a poor excuse. Either he is good enough to play for the National team or he is not. If he is not good enough, don’t pick him.
In any case the point remains that he was not better than Lindelöf because he made a glaring mistake that Spain should have scored from.

 

[Cloud7]

Sweden showed no sort of ambition in that game whatsoever. Their entire team was set up to defend. In addition, Spain played most of the game in front of them, passing, trying to pick a hole. No strong, rapid or aggressive attacker running at them, or for the most part running behind them.

That wasn’t the match to judge any CB’s qualities, as those two things don’t happen much at United. We rarely set up as the underdog like that, and we rarely play teams that play as Spain do. If anything that match showed that Lindelof would probably be better off in a different league.

 

[Delano]

I think Lindelof is clearly a good player in the right system. When Sweden beat Italy back in 2017 he looked absolutely brilliant when there was a siege on the Swedish defence, same as last night.

Problem is, he excels in a team that defends deep as opposed to a high line. United play a high line; which should be higher if we want to win titles, meaning he isn't really the sort of CB that should be in our system, especially with Maguire as his partner.

 

[Adnan]

I think that is a poor excuse. Either he is good enough to play for the National team or he is not. If he is not good enough, don’t pick him.
In any case the point remains that he was not better than Lindelöf because he made a glaring mistake that Spain should have scored from.

Him being better of worse is a matter of opinion. Sweden parked the bus which suits their backline.