[MancFanFromManc]

I have great respect for Blind. He's played out of position virtually all season. He's cool under pressure and a clever footballer. But... has rock all pace, height or strength. He has given his all season and I salute him for that. The problem is that he isnt a centre half. This is Manchester United. We shouldnt be having to play someone out of position, certainly not for more than a couple of games.

If LVG stays does he continue to play Blind at the back? Does he play Blind atall??

 

[Nighteyes]

Daley 'tactically intelligent' Blind

 

[m1y2]

Are you serious? Stones has been 100 times worse than blind this season. And please dont give the 'he is playing bad because of Martinez' crap. For someone who is a CB, he seems to not know the basics of defending

John stones is 21 with a good guidance of a manager he can be one of the best CB in the league, the potential is there and he showed that, 100 times worse is just exaggeration, he was fantastic the season before, Martinez is far from ideal to develop such player and that's a fact... Blind on the other hand is 26 and will never develop into top payer whatever position he plays, he's just limited potential.. If we want to play playmaker from CB let's just play Carrick there..

 

[mancan92]

Lets be honest he isn't a center back but has done a good job there. What I don't understand is why he has been played there all season. OR why someone else hasn't been brought in during the summer or January. We have a CB of even Shawcross levels of physical ability and we win yesterday's game. It's just ridiculous, I don't blame Daley I blame Van Gaal for continuously playing him out of position for no reason.

 

[Esquire]

I have great respect for Blind. He's played out of position virtually all season. He's cool under pressure and a clever footballer. But... has rock all pace, height or strength. He has given his all season and I salute him for that. The problem is that he isnt a centre half. This is Manchester United. We shouldnt be having to play someone out of position, certainly not for more than a couple of games.

If LVG stays does he continue to play Blind at the back? Does he play Blind atall??

Yeah completely with you. Blind has played out of opposition all season in the most physical league in the world. By and large he has done well. It's clear he is not the solution at CB but he wasn't a problem either. I think he can replace Carrick next year. But he got schooled last night and it just shows he can't ever be our first choice centre back next season.

 

[sunama]

As a defender he is "okay". It also doesn't help that he has played virtually every game of the season. He needs a break.
I'd prefer to see Blind played as a midfielder, though. He's great in that position.

 

[prath92]

John stones is 21 with a good guidance of a manager he can be one of the best CB in the league, the potential is there and he showed that, 100 times worse is just exaggeration, he was fantastic the season before, Martinez is far from ideal to develop such player and that's a fact... Blind on the other hand is 26 and will never develop into top payer whatever position he plays, he's just limited potential.. If we want to play playmaker from CB let's just play Carrick there..

He has been way way worse. he was like the Memphis of Everton's defence. Trying stuff but falling on his back every time. He must have had at least 15 mistakes that led to goals. For someone with world class potential he seems to get worse.

Plus he is going to cost at least £30m and that's too much for him

 

[RedAle]

He has done a good job overall this year, but I think the manager has to recognize the strengths/limitations of him playing the position. Games like last night you don't want him in there.

What I think we really need is a high level all-round CB, that we can partner with Smalling when we need to defend and Blind when we need to attack. Plenty of minutes for all three.

 

[Stacks]

He has been way way worse. he was like the Memphis of Everton's defence. Trying stuff but falling on his back every time. He must have had at least 15 mistakes that led to goals. For someone with world class potential he seems to get worse.

Plus he is going to cost at least £30m and that's too much for him

He is English. he is young and doesn't play in the archetypal English CB way. therefore he is special, must be wrapped in cotton wool, and allowed to act the fool on the pitch because me simply must not let a talent like this slip by. Reminds me of Phil Jones

 

[Beachryan]

It's not his fault - because he's not a CB - but when LVG leaves I'm optimistic that we'll get back to have 2 defenders in the middle who defend as their priority. Smalling is okay, but hardly dominant in the air, so pairing him with someone who actually is would solve so many of our defensive issues.

Football really is simple at times - and at present having a short CB with very little leap is resulting in us conceding loads of chances and goals from crosses. Playing a CB at CB would really help. I know that's not clever enough for LVG, but hopefully whoever is next understands.

 

[Lawman]

You should look at it not me. Smalling just moved up there without giving a look or a hint of communication at blind within a sec or two and blind was ready to play offside on WHU player on his left who was closer to him than Caroll who was smalling's man and was standing 2 yards ahead of smalling.

Also they were standing very close to the halfway line. So even if blind saw it and had the speed of bolt, all he could do is pretty much running into WHU's half and leaving 2 players behind? And the result will be the same when WHU pass the ball to caroll who was smalling's man.

You DO NOT leave your man to charge into someone else's half to press someone that you don't need to as a defender. It was pretty dumb move.

Dear oh dear you can't be serious Blind was out of position with the full defensive line he had went to sleep (he did it for the 3rd goal also) but carry on and don't let that stop you from absolving him.

 

[Lawman]

He was shit yesterday, his worst game for us, but some of the above posts are just laughable. Still a quality player, just had one of those days.

He was worse versus Watford Ivaldo but he has had a good season just not a top class centre back long term.

 

[Lawman]

So did Smalling, a player twice his size and is renowned as being a monster air was repeatedly beaten by Carroll, West Ham have been doing it to everyone this season. Our relentless fouling in dangerous areas and our inability to control the game and prevent the service was as much of a problem as struggling to deal with the end threat.

Yep Mata and Herrera needed their backsides kicked for this!

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Credit to Blind, hasn't done too much wrong all season. Was quite impressed with his positioning and play under pressure last night, particularly the passage of play where Carroll ended up chopping him down.

If Van Gaal is to stay, then it looks pretty nailed on that if we don't sign a left footed centre back then Blind is staying in that position. I'm not overly concerned with this so long as Smalling can revert back to his early season form.

 

[facund]

You should look at it not me. Smalling just moved up there without giving a look or a hint of communication at blind within a sec or two and blind was ready to play offside on WHU player on his left who was closer to him than Caroll who was smalling's man and was standing 2 yards ahead of smalling.

Also they were standing very close to the halfway line. So even if blind saw it and had the speed of bolt, all he could do is pretty much running into WHU's half and leaving 2 players behind? And the result will be the same when WHU pass the ball to caroll who was smalling's man.

You DO NOT leave your man to charge into someone else's half to press someone that you don't need to as a defender. It was pretty dumb move.

I think you have misremembered some of the details. You are correct in saying that Smalling shouldn't have been so aggressive in his attempts to get the ball but it is Blind's job to be reading the game and adjusting his position accordingly. He has 3-4 seconds to assess events but rather than pushing up he actually ends up 5 or so yards deeper than he started. Also, at no point do any of the United defence enter the opposition half during this phase of play, Blind could have played Carroll offside by being virtually level with the lower section of the centre circle.
Hopefully the following screenshot indicates all the above, it is taken as the ball is played through to Carroll from the half way line..

I like Blind and feel he has done admirably well at CB this year but on this occasion he was daydreaming and there is no legitimate excuse to be 10 yards behind the next defender.

 

[prath92]

When blind went charging ahead against Chelsea, it was his mistake for not communicating with CBJ who played Costa offside but when Smalling did that yesterday, it was Blind's fault because he didn't read the game.

 

[facund]

When blind went charging ahead against Chelsea, it was his mistake for not communicating with CBJ who played Costa offside but when Smalling did that yesterday, it was Blind's fault because he didn't read the game.

More than one player can be at fault at the same time you know. Both Smalling and Blind were at fault on this occasion, just because Smalling did something daft doesn't give Blind carte blanche to completely ignore what is going on around him and compound the original error.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

He had a bad day at the office last night. Woeful, even. Unfortunate.

 

[MancFanFromManc]

Yeah completely with you. Blind has played out of opposition all season in the most physical league in the world. By and large he has done well. It's clear he is not the solution at CB but he wasn't a problem either. I think he can replace Carrick next year. But he got schooled last night and it just shows he can't ever be our first choice centre back next season.

Good shout re replacing Carrick, and his experience at CB will only make him a stronger midfielder (I'd like to think), and maybe his lack of pace wont be as big a deal there, especially with his range of passing

So baring any new signing we're looking at Smalling & Jones at CB next season ?

 

[prath92]

More than one player can be at fault at the same time you know. Both Smalling and Blind were at fault on this occasion, just because Smalling did something daft doesn't give Blind carte blanche to completely ignore what is going on around him and compound the original error.

No but it does show double standards. Smalling for some reason gets away with a lot. From what I saw, Smalling didn't defend well at all.

Fwiw I think yday was his mistake but the point is the same people also critiscize blind for the Chelsea goal and then say Smalling was fine last night.

 

[gza the genius]

He's largely been excellent for us, just a couple weeks ago he was getting unanimously praised for how he dealt with Lukaku. He isn't a natural center back so he will have off games but that should get better the longer he plays there.

On a side note, maybe that rest wasn't the best decision after all.

 

[Esquire]

Good shout re replacing Carrick, and his experience at CB will only make him a stronger midfielder (I'd like to think), and maybe his lack of pace wont be as big a deal there, especially with his range of passing

So baring any new signing we're looking at Smalling & Jones at CB next season ?

There are plenty of people saying Jones is not the answer. Personally I think he has regressed and too brittle to be first choice. Think you will agree we need to buy a CB but as long as it's long someone like Ramos who just used us. Ed needs to wake up and shake off his galactico mentality.

 

[Bojan11]

He's largely been excellent for us, just a couple weeks ago he was getting unanimously praised for how he dealt with Lukaku. He isn't a natural center back so he will have off games but that should get better the longer he plays there.

On a side note, maybe that rest wasn't the best decision after all.

Lukaku on another day could have scored 5 goals too. I don't see why he gets praised for that.

He's been average or poor at CB. He's a utility player.

 

[MancFanFromManc]

There are plenty of people saying Jones is not the answer. Personally I think he has regressed and too brittle to be first choice. Think you will agree we need to buy a CB but as long as it's long someone like Ramos who just used us. Ed needs to wake up and shake off his galactico mentality.

He's not alone in that !!

 

[The United]

I think you have misremembered some of the details. You are correct in saying that Smalling shouldn't have been so aggressive in his attempts to get the ball but it is Blind's job to be reading the game and adjusting his position accordingly. He has 3-4 seconds to assess events but rather than pushing up he actually ends up 5 or so yards deeper than he started. Also, at no point do any of the United defence enter the opposition half during this phase of play, Blind could have played Carroll offside by being virtually level with the lower section of the centre circle.
Hopefully the following screenshot indicates all the above, it is taken as the ball is played through to Carroll from the half way line..

I like Blind and feel he has done admirably well at CB this year but on this occasion he was daydreaming and there is no legitimate excuse to be 10 yards behind the next defender.

No one is disputing about Blind being behind.

I was saying about how smalling just charged up without communicating with blind at all. Did you see your own pics? When smalling moved up, blind didn't even see him because he had someone else on his left and his body was directly turning to the left. It was not like he was alone 'daydreaming' like you said. It was miscommunication. But, if you are going to do offside trap, you should be letting the other defenders know somehow and make sure they are aware of it. Basic stuff.

Smalling was almost at the half way line. The question is why on earth smalling pressed the guy on the half way line leaving his main man behind 10 yards while we had 2 players that could do it? He pressed the guy so deep that he left not only blind behind but also 3 other players behinds too. You think it is normal for a CB to do it on half way line? He didn't even get the ball.

What was the purpose of it?

It was DUMB regardless of blind's position. IF blind did it, he should be rightly ridiculed as well.

 

[The United]

Dear oh dear you can't be serious Blind was out of position with the full defensive line he had went to sleep (he did it for the 3rd goal also) but carry on and don't let that stop you from absolving him.

Read above

 

[facund]

No one is disputing about Blind being behind.

I was saying about how smalling just charged up without communicating with blind at all...

We agree fully that Smalling made a daft decision but that doesn't absolve Blind who magnified it by not doing anything to address the clear danger that arose. It could be argued that a natural defender would have been more alive to the danger and actively tried to resolve it regardless of how high in the half the defensive line would have been.

You went a little beyond merely pointing out Smalling's error. You attempted to mitigate Blind's role in the subsequent outcome.

blind was ready to play offside on WHU player on his left

Was he really? And yet he continued to move back towards his own goal and in fact didn't even play this man offside when the pass eventually came.

Also they were standing very close to the halfway line. So even if blind saw it and had the speed of bolt, all he could do is pretty much running into WHU's half and leaving 2 players behind? And the result will be the same when WHU pass the ball to caroll who was smalling's man.

Is this accurate? As shown in the screenshot, he could have moved a yard or two forward of his starting position and played Carroll offside if he had looked around and seen what was transpiring. It may not have completely resolved the issue but it would have managed the problem better.

Did you see your own pics? When smalling moved up, blind didn't even see him because he had someone else on his left and his body was directly turning to the left.

I can get another screenshot of him facing play in the intervening time but it would be irrelevant because even though he didn't initially see Smalling run he had a further three seconds to do so and to have his eye off the ball for that long would be hugely concerning, and deserving of criticism, in and of itself.

Smalling instigated the problem, Blind's daydreaming (remember there was three to four seconds for him to react) exacerbated it. Both deserve criticism. Schneiderlin too as he did nothing to stop a man freely running to receive the ball which is what Smalling responded to.

 

[The United]

You have to realize though that it was a matter of a few secs in real time. Still pics are all good but the movement within a few secs made a lot of difference.

We have to assume that Blind didn't see it early enough. Otherwise why would a full international put himself in that kind of situation. He himself is a pressing machine sometimes far too much for our liking.

My point here is that our defense was in a messy mainly lack of communication between them. It was obvious in the whole match. And i have no idea why that happened. It didn't help they were equally bad to each other with all the draft decisions and mistakes.

 

[Lawman]

No one is disputing about Blind being behind.

I was saying about how smalling just charged up without communicating with blind at all. Did you see your own pics? When smalling moved up, blind didn't even see him because he had someone else on his left and his body was directly turning to the left. It was not like he was alone 'daydreaming' like you said. It was miscommunication. But, if you are going to do offside trap, you should be letting the other defenders know somehow and make sure they are aware of it. Basic stuff.

Smalling was almost at the half way line. The question is why on earth smalling pressed the guy on the half way line leaving his main man behind 10 yards while we had 2 players that could do it? He pressed the guy so deep that he left not only blind behind but also 3 other players behinds too. You think it is normal for a CB to do it on half way line? He didn't even get the ball.

What was the purpose of it?

It was DUMB regardless of blind's position. IF blind did it, he should be rightly ridiculed as well.

So basically you are wrong? Blinds body shape is wrong and forget what Smalling does rightly or wrongly Blind needs to react and doesn't. We are not talking amateur football here The United. Blind should be in tune and firstly not be way out of position and two react quicker.

 

[The United]

So basically you are wrong? Blinds body shape is wrong and forget what Smalling does rightly or wrongly Blind needs to react and doesn't. We are not talking amateur football here The United. Blind should be in tune and firstly not be way out of position and two react quicker.

What am I wrong with it?

The issue with me is always has been that smalling should know better instead of charging up. It was a dumb move which took everyone from our defense a surprise. Hence, everyone was in awkward positions, not just blind.

You use blind as he should know as this is not amateur football yet it was smalling who started it... But, no, lets blame on blind whose mistake was not to correct smalling's in time like in 3-4 secs..

 

[Bubz27]

Just saw a stat that shows we've conceded 21 goals from set pieces this season. We absolutely need an aerial presence at CB next season, and move Blind back as a utility man in CM and LB.

 

[The United]

Just saw a stat that shows we've conceded 21 goals from set pieces this season. We absolutely need an aerial presence at CB next season, and move Blind back as a utility man in CM and LB.

Set pieces defending is about organization as much as aerial presence. We are lacking in both areas massively atm.

 

[facund]

My point here is that our defense was in a messy mainly lack of communication between them. It was obvious in the whole match. And i have no idea why that happened. It didn't help they were equally bad to each other with all the draft decisions and mistakes.

Perfectly true, our entire defensive set-up was a shambles and the more I look at the incident the more I see wrong. It doesn't help that our pressing seems to be so erratic, two or three players pushing hard whilst high up the pitch while others further back let men run off them or seem to be occupying redundant space. It is often quite shocking how apparently easy it is for opposition teams to transition to our final third when we struggle to do the same with any sense of haste or incision.

 

[Lawman]

What am I wrong with it?

The issue with me is always has been that smalling should know better instead of charging up. It was a dumb move which took everyone from our defense a surprise. Hence, everyone was in awkward positions, not just blind.

You use blind as he should know as this is not amateur football yet it was smalling who started it... But, no, lets blame on blind whose mistake was not to correct smalling's in time like in 3-4 secs..

You obviously have no intention of admitting when you are wrong or at best you are not sure of what you are talking about. I'll let it lie and think the former.

 

[The United]

You obviously have no intention of admitting when you are wrong or at best you are not sure of what you are talking about. I'll let it lie and think the former.

Sure.

 

[noodlehair]

How many more of these performances will there have to be before people will just accept he isn't very good at all at pretending to be a centreback?

The West Ham game was yet ANOTHER vital game this season which we failed to get the resullt we needed in, due to goals conceded because Bllind can't defend (although granted the whole generallly being awful thing was also a fairly big factor)

It isn't his fault but it's infuriating that so many people just seem to deliberately pretend not to see it.

He is an awful centreback and even his fabled "distribution" is a bit of a myth. Often, he basically plays the same sort of hospital passes Smalling does, except with the added bonus that he runs 40 yards out of position before he plays them.

 

[Name Changed]

Blind has done a decent job because he is a decent player who appears to be an excellent professional. He is not top quality though and he is found out on a regular basis. He's a squad player at best and when you have players like him who are guaranteed starters then you will never challenge for the major trophies.

 

[noodlehair]

You obviously have no intention of admitting when you are wrong or at best you are not sure of what you are talking about. I'll let it lie and think the former.

When Blind charged up and missed the ball against Chelsea, costing us a goal, the opposite excuse was used that it wasn't Blind's fault because CBJ should have read Blind's mind and charged up with him.

But when Blind is left saundering around yards behind the rest of the defence, it's someone else's fault for charging off and leaving him.

This thread is a testament to how dumb this place is sometimes with the player fanism. Peope just invent what they want to have happened to avoid admitting anything they don't like.

 

[dcullivanio]

Blind has been one of our most consistent and solid performers this season despite being played in an irregular position.

I do hope that we unearth/identify a more natural monster CB for next season but there's definitely a place for Blind in our squad going forward. Whilst not being a revelation, he has been a positive this season in my humble opinion

 

[Devil may care]

Had a fairly quiet evening, interested to see what happens with him next season.