Better than Lindelof for sure but people are rewriting history. He looked good at CB against shit teams who didn't press or apply sustained pressure often. Whenever we were up against it vs good attacks he looked vulnerable
Daley Blind | Ajax Performances
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Says a lot that we sold blind because he's apparently not good enough but that same Blind totally marked our very own Lukaku out of the game in his final season for Everton.
Selling Blind and buying Lindelof is one of the worst decisions Jose has made here.
Selling Blind and buying Lindelof is one of the worst decisions Jose has made here.
Move on guys. He was a wrong choice . Let's put this way - if he was a great player, why did he go to Ajax? Why was he short of offers from Europe's elites especially given he was available for cheap?
Yep, I have experience watching clownish CB's and can spot them. I spotted Blind miles away.
He definitely had a hard time adjusting, but he did good job in the end in terms of holding up his end of the bargain. And he was the best passer from the back that I've seen at the club
If he had size and pace he'd have been a quality player.
Apparently had a good game away at Bayern Munich tonight.
José post game has been going on about not having the quality to play out from the back, but he never even gave Blind a fair shot there.
José post game has been going on about not having the quality to play out from the back, but he never even gave Blind a fair shot there.
You say this, but Blind - once adjusted to English footy - never got done by size or pace. When deployed as a LB he rarely got beat by pace, and he never got done by big CFs as a CB either. He was a very smart player.
Miss the guy so much. A defender who gets the best out of the team & would get the best out of rash defenders like Bailly.
Jose is a fool - if he wanted a ball playing CB then why sell Blind. Lindelof is not any better either.
You make a valid point that even I - a Blind fan - can't really dispute. Still, I can only go off what I saw of him here and I loved him. I say this as someone who was completely underwhelmed with him being initially signed, too. Who knows, though - maybe Blind opted to go back to Ajax despite receiving offers from elsewhere?
I don't want to call José a fool despite disagreeing with most of his decisions. I just wish he could be a bit flexible in terms of the players he likes and what systems he'd use. Like, we all knew Blind wouldn't cope well with José here due to his size, but he could've tried him alongside Smalling a few times after showing an impressive partnership the season prior. Likewise with his obsession with big CFs and Lukaku at the moment. It's clearly not working so I'd just wish he'd be a bit more flexible and try someone else there, but, because they're not big target men, it's not at all likely to happen.
What a lucky fecker this guy is... manage to avoid all this crap and is probably having a lovely time in Amsterdam.
Blind played as a defensive midfielder today vs Bayern. He was really good, as was the rest of Ajax today.
Too bad he never got a chance as dmf at United.
Too bad he never got a chance as dmf at United.
Had a chance to play with Zlatan and won Europa League against his beloved Ajax. The guy was at least professional.
Deserve some solid portion of luck and happiness after being sold instead of Jones.
Yeah, thought he had a good game. I would've liked to have seen him in midfield but he was so good at CB for us I didn't really mind. To think, I thought LvG was losing his marbles going into his last season with Blind as a CB. Turns out that was one of my favourite things he did during his time here!
This also annoys me. He was our joint best CB, imo. It wasn't like we were selling him because we had too much depth at CB - he was better than everyone bar Smalling. It's just Jones and Rojo had height over him, and Bailly and Lindelof were José's own signings.
I remember him completely shutting down Lukaku when he played for Everton. It's not all about size. The mind is also important. Blind uses his brain and has to be one step ahead of guys who are bigger and stronger than him which isn't easy at all. Shouldn't have been sold ahead of Jones or Lindelof.
Oh the irony.
That's the thing, when height taking over technical abilities on such scale, we shouldn't be surprised of results.
Caftards always bitched at him he's too slow but just how much do you need of that if you're a central defender. Bailly can be fast as hell but he often looked late in last months.
He was our best defender. Said if for three years.
Him and Smalling are the best two defenders (individually and as a partnership) we've had since Ferguson retired. Not that you'd know from opinions on here.
Bailly and Blind looked very good together in Jose's first season but after we lost against City he never played them together again. Jose has no patience..
I would take him in midfield over Matic and Fellani. He's technically brilliant and reads the game well.
Its funny Jose sells the only real ball playing defender we had and then complains about not having enough technical quality at the back. And all this after signing Lindelof who was supposed to be that player and now he isn't playing.I agree
I would have preferred to keep until we got a decent replacement not Lindelof.
He somehow has for Jones... or is it pure pity ?
Anyway, people living in a hotel are weird.
Bailly screwed him over for the De Bruyne goal. Mourinho clearly didn't see it that way.
You couldn't make it up..
Mourinho is a fraud.
I also remember that infamous 4/5 game run at the tail end of LvG's first season where opposition fans were licking their lips at the prospect of their wingers going at Blind at LB. Turns out Blind shut them all out - playing a big part in not only beating the likes of Spurs, Liverpool and City, but pretty much sweeping them aside.
He doesn't help himself, does he? I mean, I get where he's coming from with the current squad but it's kinda his own doing with selling Blind and bringing in Lindelof and Bailly who aren't that good with the ball themselves.
That's a great point. Despite his physical limitations he was always pretty much first to the ball and was a great interceptor because of how smart he was. I remember him having so many interceptions in the final against Ajax where he was MOTM for me. On the other hand, Bailly has an amazing physique but has to constantly make last ditch tackles and whatnot.
Always liked him. Whatever criticism he got (often fair in substance but over the top in drama) you couldn't fault his attitude and professionalism. Even chipped in some cracking goals.
Good to hear he is doing well.
Good to hear he is doing well.
Yup. Bailly's at times a hero type defender but often risking an injury, this is why it's so important of him to become more aware of his surroundings.
Jones didn't learn for jack, I truly hope this guy will.
Blind was a top professional and never caused any problems for us but he only got sold because of Mourinho's desire to purge the squad of LVG's signings. Look at some of the signings LVG made and the way they got treated or are getting treated.
Blind - sold
Memphis - sold
Bastian - made to play with reserves
Martial - benched and not playing
Darmian - benched and not playing (but he wanted to leave anyway)
Wow this thread.
Glad he's doing well.
Glad he's doing well.
He wasn't good enough to be a starting CB, LB or DM for United. Would have provided good cover for all them positions but just because he's better than our current options, doesn't mean he's good enough. I do agree that he's a better CB than Rojo, Jones and Lindelof but if we have serious ambitions of winning the league/competing in the CL he would have had to leave eventually.
Rojo got a lot of praise on this forum and was considered our best CB for a period of time. Blind too, but towards the end people were happy to see him leave as they knew we needed better. However, the current dross playing at the minute bar Smalling are not better.
Rojo got a lot of praise on this forum and was considered our best CB for a period of time. Blind too, but towards the end people were happy to see him leave as they knew we needed better. However, the current dross playing at the minute bar Smalling are not better.
Glad that he is doing ok, never had a chance under JM, he is football player not a bus driver.
The ammount of overrating here... It's no different than overestimating LVG selling the likes of Rafael and Chicharito as if it was a disaster.
Sold at the right time. I have zero problem with any player sold by LVG and Mouinho. All left without me shedding a tear on them.
Sold at the right time. I have zero problem with any player sold by LVG and Mouinho. All left without me shedding a tear on them.
Had a good game yesterday against a shocking Bayern, but he's not United level. He really isnt. Come on now. You could see it yesterday a few tikes where he's pressed and loses the ball because he's too slow to act.
Ajax were just whollu fantastic yestersay, but don't pine for Blind, it's silly.
Ajax were just whollu fantastic yestersay, but don't pine for Blind, it's silly.
Sign of how bad things are right now that people are banging about Blind ffs.
Maybe not for where we want to be, but at our current level he was our joint best CB, imo. During that "galactico" summer in van Gaal's 1st season, he was the player I was most underwhelmed at signing, and when van Gaal first eased him in as a CB in season 2 I thought he had lost his marbles, but, in the end, he ended up one of my favourite players in recent years, and had one of the best individual seasons from a player post Fergie to boot. I'd take him back in a heartbeat.
To be fair, I banged on about Blind a lot while he was still here, too!