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Didn't we buy him to be a first teamer? Was meant to be him and bailly as Joses two cbs...
All spot on.
Who would you have preferred as LB today?
I would give any young player a run instead of him. Dalot on the left and Willy on the right.
As I said in October. It’s time for Lindelof to go. He’s proven not good enough since 2017. Stiff, passive, cowardly defender with no pace, and not good on ball give or take a long pass.
What’s more fkd than your man scoring?
Scoring from you letting him run past you than a wonder shot from outside the box
You've been set up and asked to reply to the wrong point. You don't need to justify who should play left back and your original post still stands. The issue is not that Lindelof isn't a left back, it's why is our most experienced and senior defender at the club doing such basic things as allowing Foden 5 yards of space, getting his body all square and letting him cut inside? It's the fact he's such a terrible player with minimal defensive instincts and proactive awareness.
That's exactly what every player down the channel should do 9/10 if they can't handle them 1 on 1. You slow them down, make them go wide (where you set up your body to bait them to go that way) and then get across to block the cross/pass and/or jostle to make them recycle it again. In this whole period, the defence then gets a chance to get set and defend the scenario. You also give yourself a chance for your team mates to come support you. You don't let a player come inside and allow them to pass the ball into open areas in front of the goal or in this case take a shot from a decent shooting position (relatively speaking). It's basic defending. Something you should expect of a central defender of 29 years old.
Debatable
Ok Mrs. Lindelof
I don’t think his issue is he doesn’t anticipate the player cutting inside, he’s just not at the level required physically to do anything about it. Slow off the mark, weak and passive.
Doesn't really get much blame for the second, Casemiro gets done with a simple 1-2 and doesn't have the pace to turn and recover.
Second one isn’t him. Case too slow and Varane comes out which leaves the gap. I guess you could say if Lindelof was a top CB with pace he might have got across but it wouldn’t be his fault.
He's the only defender I've ever seen that doesn't acutally like defending.
Yea, exactly. There is nothing wrong with more "passive" defending and not relying on last ditch tackles etc. Lindelof is basically invisible though. Never makes life difficult, rarely even pops up with interceptions.
Hes not quick enough across because he pauses and puts his hands behind his back even though they can be in natural position. Just sprint out and close him down.
I think he should get across even with his pace. He seemed to pause and hesitate and put his hands behind his back instead of sprinting straight to him.
Ok not to quibble over this point, you surely agree it's not his 'fault' though.
To offer some sort of defence because I am contrarian like that.
There's being contrarian and then there's talking in theory, which is in itself is fine. However, between the idea of one extreme, which you're presenting of 'playing in a continental style' + 'not tackling except as a last resort' to 'he's not a coward and that's just his style based on what we've seen' is a middle ground. The middle ground is that it's fine to be positionally smart and just 'cover' space but you can also get tight, make blocks, jostle /hassle and be proactive in your actual defensive involvement to not let the opposition dictate play. Plenty of Spanish and Italian defenders play in this way. This reasonable middle ground, which can be both 'continental' and effective is not being met. Lindelof is consistently passive, standoffish and minimally involved. That is a polite way of putting it. When you've seen this happen for 6-7 years straight then people call it as they see it and at this point in time it's no longer scapegoating. There's undeniable substantial proof of 100's of games. It's almost objectively as it can be for a subjective opinion to call him a coward and weak. In any other league, he would be still a weak defensive player.
Not really disagreeing with your post at all, I don't think he is a great exponent of that continental style, just pointing out that it is how he was coached to play the game. I did forget Dalot so Mea Culpa on that one.
If he's not a 'great' or let's be honest even a good exponent of that style, then he's not that style. He's a bad defender, which is the whole point. For you to then contextualise 'oh he's just coached that way', you're basically absolving him of his own deficiencies. It's a bit bizarre.
This is a point and view I can understand even if I entirely disagree with it. He's almost 30 years old, can't step up as a first teamer and when called upon as a 4th choice is 'ok' at best. He's an 'asset' with value, so we should sell and promote the youth like Kambwala or bring in a cheap young/old experience option like we have with Evans. There's plenty of upside in those as opposed to keeping a defender, who will be looking for his last big contract on fairly high wages and will be physically declining. Lindelof's 'best' quality all these years has been his availability (because he doesn't really do anything with any intensity) and yet these past 2-3 years has been out quite a lot relatively speaking (back issues and even this season quite a few niggles here and there).
