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Always thought Blind was slightly underappreciated by United and the Premier League in general. He can play passes that many cannot see let alone execute.
Yeah these exact movements and manipulation of space is what alot of posters who think he is bad simply don't see.
not necessarily they don’t get it but they feel more comfortable with the alternative options.
I don't think that's the case. Often you will see him pass and move and players like Wan Bissaka stop and look or simply run. There clearly is a lack of understanding.
Yes. You understand football better than those that play at the highest level of the game.
I partly agree. For me Blind was never a centre back, certainly not for the premier league anyway. He got expsoed so often for pace and strength playing there for us. We wasted him playing him there. He was a decent left back, but I did think he was a godo option in a poor side at the time in central midfield, preferred him to Herrera there and Herrera had a decent spell at the time.
Donny plays one touch style football. Something several of our players are not used to and thus they don't work well together with Donny.
TBH, AWB is no stranger to the similar treatment. He makes a lot of movement in the final third, and is ignored by the teammates most times.
And I think that underlines the issue even more, and explains why most of our goals come from individual moves or counters and why low defending blocks are hard for us to unlock.TBH, AWB is no stranger to the similar treatment. He makes a lot of movement in the final third, and is ignored by the teammates most times.
Henderson made some “very good” saves and overall looked sharp. Saves that De Gea at his best would make with with a blindfold on, admittedly, but Dean put in a very, very good performance.
Think for me it was about Varane having more pace to allow the defense to push up which would mean the mids being closer to the front four to help knit things together. As opposed to this huge gap between attack and midfield.
Haha so true. I often notice this. It's like they wait for the opposition to get back into position before they even know what to do and by that time the chance has gone.
That's a nice bit of analysis. Thought he had good game, at least one of his better ones.
I agree with the bolded part, still seems like we're playing exactly the same football as pre-Varane and our good record is more due to De Gea than back 4 (partly because all our fullbacks are in poor form right now).
how do people seriously come to conclusions like this? he was anything but awful.Yes I agree with that. Without possesion there still doesnt seem to be an organised press most of the time, often its just Fernandes and maybe one other and also often the other side seems to progress from there own third to our with ease when teams go at us. I think we have had some good spells in games but so far this seson we havent played well at all really, we have struggled. Like last season a burst of goals and scoreline reversal has kept people happy. Newcastle was certainly an example, we were really poor against a poor side.
Great thread.
We don't press. Ever. Some players are running around (like Fernandes) but if you've seen a real organized pressing, we don't come close to that. This is in my opinion our biggest issue in general - off the ball movement, it applies to both when we're not in possession but also when we're building an attack. A lot of our issues could be mitigated (for example lack of DM) if we knew how to press as a team.
I just wish he hadnt left his man alone in our box for West Ham's 1-0 goal.
Tbf it came out of nothing, it looked like situation was under control and then all of a sudden West Ham player beat Telles and other one so easily.
He isn't, not even close in terms of his passing and he never was a metronomic pace-dictating midfielder.
He is in my opinion. His forward passing in particular was excellent against West Ham.
That's exactly what he does better and that's exactly what is required from a player of his role. He plays even more (almost 2 times more) passes, controlling the pace of the game from deeper areas while van de Beek never played a similar role nor had he shown any promise in it.
Agree with this, and I believe this is a large part of the plan that has been referred to in the discussions that Ole and Donny have had. Sancho is going to move over to being a predominantly right sided attacker in due course and I also think that these are two players very capable of building an understanding in that area of the pitch.
Note that fbref doesn't have passing data from the Dutch league so all of Donny's passing stats come from last season when he played less than 6 games' worth of minutes in the league. Not a great sample size to draw any conclusions.That's exactly what he does better and that's exactly what is required from a player of his role. He plays even more (almost 2 times more) passes, controlling the pace of the game from deeper areas while van de Beek never played a similar role nor had he shown any promise in it.
Fair points, you can see him constantly looking around and he's taking positions which make it easier for the team to move the ball. My only worry is if he'll be allowed to do it in PL game where our midfield generally is quite timid.
I think that's true but another conclusion is him in CM and Sancho on the wing makes even more sense.
To be fair, those games are being won by Ronaldo, Greenwood, Pogba, Fernandes... not Fred or Matic. There is a difference in quality up top that cannot be ignored.
Well that's not really possible to compare is it.That's exactly what he does better and that's exactly what is required from a player of his role. He plays even more (almost 2 times more) passes, controlling the pace of the game from deeper areas while van de Beek never played a similar role nor had he shown any promise in it.
That (the bolded) is completely baseless in my opinion on a number of grounds.Well that's not really possible to compare is it.
Jorginho plays in a role tailored for him. What i'm saying is VDB is capable of doing the same thing. If Tuchel joined us he'd probably have us playing a 4-3-3 with VDB at the base as the playmaker.
if he's never played the role then how can he show promise
He ticks every box required. Good first touch, press resistant, moves the ball quickly and keeps it simple. He's shown he's capable of hitting the long switch when required also. Defensively he's capable too, just needs to practice his positioning.
He said himself he can play this position in the interview with Rio Ferdinand, and all his better performances for us have come from deeper positions.
Basically, you're saying that van de Beek can seamlessly transition into one of the most specific and niche roles in modern football despite never performing in any similar role before in his career nor showing even the glimpse of potential to orchestrate the game from deeper areas based on the fact that he is press resistant & a decent passer? A player, whose strongest feature is his off-the-ball movement, especially in offensive areas. It's kinda hard to argue against an opinion that isn't based on any real evidence, so fair enough.Well that's not really possible to compare is it.
Jorginho plays in a role tailored for him. What i'm saying is VDB is capable of doing the same thing. If Tuchel joined us he'd probably have us playing a 4-3-3 with VDB at the base as the playmaker.
if he's never played the role then how can he show promise
He ticks every box required. Good first touch, press resistant, moves the ball quickly and keeps it simple. He's shown he's capable of hitting the long switch when required also. Defensively he's capable too, just needs to practice his positioning.
He said himself he can play this position in the interview with Rio Ferdinand, and all his better performances for us have come from deeper positions.
Vdb and mctominay will be good too. Vdb can play a Box to box role
I'm not as sure about McT and Donny, Scott isn't anywhere near as good defensively as Fred is.
Jesus, according to the Caf Donny can play any position.
