Very good effort and he deals with trouble in a safe and mature way. Probably got caught sleeping a couple of times but nothing major, he caught up to it. I don't think the goal was his fault even though he was around. Probably could have told Shaw to get back but these players need to do this automatically.
2
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 40
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
Another solid game and great to see him trying to take control when we were under pressure after the goal.
What did he do?
Held onto the ball a few times when it would have been easier to hoof it, and tried to pick a pass or take it upfield and link the midfield.
Iceboy, innit. I love the way we make triangles around him because it makes us play out on our strongest side going forward. He has good composure and a bit of risk, but not in a David Luiz way, more in a Rio way. Having Smalling besides him really allows him to be more confident with taking more risks as he'll cover him with pace if something goes wrong.
Even his aerial presence has improved. Impressive.
The man is quality. Dominant and great passing.
He's bloody fantastic.
Still managed to ping some good balls despite playing in the left.
I loved the bit where he was being pressed deep into the left corner and he dribbled it round the player and chipped it with his left foot straight to Pogba? in midfield.
Wish we could split his average rating into pre-Solskjær and under Solskjær. Would be fun to see the difference!
The type of player that will help us improve the build up and transition phases of our play. We need more of this in deep areas, it doesn't matter how deep or high the defensive line is. He is gaining more confidence with every game as well.
I like the occasions when he carries the ball forward or finds Shaw with a long ball. More of that! Don’t care if he fails once in a while, it is worth it.
Looked like he was coaching Fred during the game
Reminds me of Rio with the carrying of the ball. Think it would be great to see him do this nearly every game especially to add a body to the midfield and commit the opposition.
He started his improvement under Jose but hes just been getting better and better. A mainstay for us now.
That's the strangest thing for me. He looked truly terrible in the air last season, to the extent it was hard to see how he'd been as successful as he had been. There'd been a notable improvement at the start of this season, and then suddenly a couple of months into the season he started winning the majority of aerial balls even when up against good target men.
Understandably struggled last season and like most players I don't really count the Mourinho part of this season but he's been immense since Ole got the job. Our best central defense is Lindelof +1 and I think he's probably one of our five most important players already. Very consistent and steady, constantly improving. Long may it continue.
Man Utd 3:2 Southampton
Like with Smalling I thought he wasn't at his best today, neither helped by the midfield mess in front of them that only settled when Pogba played deep in the 2nd half.
Good defence but the team would have needed him to help bringing up the ball. On the other hand the midfielder dropped so deep many times that there is no space for him. It’s also a waste of Pogba to use him to transport the ball when Lindelof can do it.
The sooner he moves to RCB the better. I don't know why he has to accommodate Smalling, who is a mistake waiting to happen.
His passing out from the back will be a valuable asset once he moves back to his preferred position.
His passing out from the back will be a valuable asset once he moves back to his preferred position.
Exactly the same as against Palace. Some doubt over who was tracking runners, poor communication and understanding of roles in that midfield group. Not surprisingly makes it difficult for defenders. For all that Southampton created very little, 2 worldie strikes and only a few nervous moments where something might have happened otherwise.
Yeah, I think Pogba deserves more credit for these last 3 games than he'll get, in all of them he took up the responsibility slack when we needed him too, as there's high energy but slightly clueless positioning from the 3 back-up CM's and Pogba dropped deeper to help them out in each game.
What happen to his leg when playing LCB?
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Great performance, don't think he had a single mistake yesterday .
High passing stats for a CB is such a pointless stat. If a CB has more than 50 passes at least 40+ of them will be side ways or backwards. So what's the point? 100% accuracy on 5 yard passes?
Anyway the Iceman didn't look great or poor today. Funnily enough he would've had a clean sheet if it wasn't for 2 wonder goals that neither defender could've stopped (Shaw wasn't at fault for the first, Pogba was).
Good again, needs to be on the right side though.
Give this man #5 in the summer.
I dont think its strange. It was a clear weakness that was worth pointing out. He made among the fewest headers in the league until recent months.
He's still 8th least attempted headers in the league even though yesterday he made 7 headers and he had that other performance a month or so ago where he made something like 6 that game too. Thats because he'd made so few headers up until that point that he has to work hard to change it.
Bailly would be on there above him btw just hasnt played enough games. 1.9 attempted headers per game for him which would be 2nd lowest in the league if I hadnt set any criteria for appearances
So its not really that strange to work hard on something thats a clear deficit is it? Of course we have some posters in here claiming nothing has changed and that hes always performed exactly the same and people just hated him.
But yeah, its what surely should have happened is that the staff and Lindelof worked on his weak point and now its not a weak point.
So credit to him for the hard work.
Other than taking charge in the air which is great, and keeping the ball with his passes which is good, he didnt do much defending against Southampton. Smalling took charge with the defending on the ground winning the ball a lot more. Overall I would say they were about equal.
Of course not, but how much of an improvement there has been in such a relatively short amount of time is quite remarkable.
Lindelof has been reliable for a long time now, does good work and has developed very positively, even most of all players according to some. Just what we need and very nice to follow.
The last match he seemed a little tired, but the same thing also applied to many of the fellow players who didn't perform at the top of their ability.
The fact that the team could still win is impressive and shows that there is a strength in the team, not least at Lindelof, which we now have great pleasure from.
The last match he seemed a little tired, but the same thing also applied to many of the fellow players who didn't perform at the top of their ability.
The fact that the team could still win is impressive and shows that there is a strength in the team, not least at Lindelof, which we now have great pleasure from.
Such a classy player. Love him.
When I looked at the stats for won aerials per 90 minutes I was a bit surprised to see so many of the best CBs in the the PL being at the end of that list. Most of the top-6 teams have 1-2 of their best defenders at the bottom of that list. It I guess as they dominate many matches matches they don’t need to head the ball that often. Maybe simple as that.
It looked like Lindelof improved his aerial skills when Ole came so it cannot must be something g more than just practise. Change in tactics, confidence, way of playing etc.
If I have done my calculations right, he has played 11 PL matches since Ole came with
35 won aerials and 3 lost.
That’s pretty impressive.
If I have done my calculations right, he has played 11 PL matches since Ole came with
35 won aerials and 3 lost.
That’s pretty impressive.
Spurs have both Verthongen and Toby on there. Its not because they dominate, its because its a weakness. Thats why Sanchez comes in. He has more attempted aerial duels than VVD even
Also worth noting Smalling makes the most attempts at aerials out of CBs at the top clubs
He's 8th from the top out of all CBs
Sanchez is next, then VVD, Rudiger, Mustafi, Otamendi, Phil Jones, Stones, David Luiz, Laporte and then Lindelof over Sokratis, Toby and Verthongen
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We need to use him in midfield for the PSG game if we really want to win this game.
We had our best midfield in the first leg and even then we got overran by them. The likes of Mctominay, Fred, or Pereira have no chance at all against their midfield by themselves.
I think we should go for a diamond in midfield with Lindelof, Mctominay, Fred/Pereira and Dalot. Of course, Lindelof being the deepest midfielder.
What do you guys think?
We had our best midfield in the first leg and even then we got overran by them. The likes of Mctominay, Fred, or Pereira have no chance at all against their midfield by themselves.
I think we should go for a diamond in midfield with Lindelof, Mctominay, Fred/Pereira and Dalot. Of course, Lindelof being the deepest midfielder.
What do you guys think?
Here's a stat ripped off F365... Lindelof, Laporte, Diop and Ake are the only sub-25 centre backs to have played over 2000 minutes in the Premier League this season.
Move our best CB out of position to accomodate a weaker CB.
Seems a terrible idea to me.
Agree.
It would be a better idea, albeit still a bad one, to play Jones in MF.
For a start Jones has actually played in that position in big games for the club before.
Thinking about it that might be an idea. Play Jones in a double pivot with McTominay, with Fred or Pereira at 10 and attack down the wings.
. It is too late to change my team prediction
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