Let’s talk about Lindelof

cyril C

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In general he seems better against teams who play technical football on the ground, rather than a lot of long balls and muscleing. And that is how most top teams play in Europe nowadays, and some of the better teams in PL.
Let's put into perspective. Lindelof is a Swedish, not Italian, Spanish or French. Sweden plays like Ireland and Scotland.
 

podurban2

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Let's put into perspective. Lindelof is a Swedish, not Italian, Spanish or French. Sweden plays like Ireland and Scotland.
Wow, that logic.

He’s Swedish so he isn’t technical or suits a technical team, OK. Not even considering he went to Benfica at the age of 16, so that’s where he would get the bulk of his professional experience.
 

A-man

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Let's put into perspective. Lindelof is a Swedish, not Italian, Spanish or French. Sweden plays like Ireland and Scotland.
I based my statement on my observations rather than a passport prejudice.

It is true that Sweden national team does not play very technical, more like England, but he still performs better against technical teams playing on the ground than against teams who hit long ball after long ball.
 

MrBest

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Don't get why there is some negativity around him. He was awful last year but this year has played regularly And done very well. These is still room to improve but he is only 23. Look at John Stones, young but the talent is there but makes bloopers. It is very rare you have a complete CB at jist 23. I totally back Jose at the moment in regards to bringing in a experienced CB. We can get Toby for 25m on Jan, I would do that and sign that young young Ajax defender who's name I can never spell.
 

cyril C

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Wow, that logic.

He’s Swedish so he isn’t technical or suits a technical team, OK. Not even considering he went to Benfica at the age of 16, so that’s where he would get the bulk of his professional experience.
That point that I wanted to make against the comment, is that Lindelof should NOT be unfamiliar with long ball tactics, given his upbringing in Sweden. He is gifted with confidence on the ball which distinguish himself among other Nordic CB, but he should not be afraid of long ball. Whether he is good on long ball is another matter, but at least he should not be a stranger to it.
 

cyberman

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If only there was a Lindelof FC movement, the amount of posts that would be in danger of being quoted would be ridiculous if he keeps improving.
So is Jose allowed to buy another CB since Lindelof isn't now a waste of 30m?
Has that burden been lifted?
 

The holy trinity 68

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Sure name them. I think he wouldn’t be starter in a division two team. I’ve personally never thought that about a United player in 20 odd years of watching the team.
Bellion, Dong, Djemba Djemba, Obertan, Bebe, Miller, Tosic, Eagles, Taibi, Prunier, Clegg, Chadwick, Spector, Darren Ferguson, Lynch, May, Buttner,

The list above is 17 far worse players.

Then the likes of Poborsky, Cruyff, Milne and many more that may have been decent players elsewhere but were utter dross for United.
 

golden_blunder

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In general he seems better against teams who play technical football on the ground, rather than a lot of long balls and muscleing. And that is how most top teams play in Europe nowadays, and some of the better teams in PL.
And that’s exactly why we lose to the likes of Brighton when Glen Fecking Murray bullies him. If we only concentrate on europe and the big sides like city who play on the ground we will never win the PL again. Look at City, ball players at the back but they are all excellent in the air. Even Pep recognizes that factor
 

stu_1992

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You have to give credit and say he's improved a lot recently from what we've previously seen of him. Which at times made him look like an absolute liability if we're honest. He hasn't completely won me over yet (tbf no one in the defence has) but if he keeps going like this we're on the right path.
 

A-man

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And that’s exactly why we lose to the likes of Brighton when Glen Fecking Murray bullies him. If we only concentrate on europe and the big sides like city who play on the ground we will never win the PL again. Look at City, ball players at the back but they are all excellent in the air. Even Pep recognizes that factor
That’s making it a little too simple. Those losses have not only been because Lindelof is weak isn’t he air. And yes, City have a good defence, but they are also helped by the possession the team have. But they also struggle and make mistakes. Did you watch Lyon - City? Not very solid.
 

golden_blunder

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That’s making it a little too simple. Those losses have not only been because Lindelof is weak isn’t he air. And yes, City have a good defence, but they are also helped by the possession the team have. But they also struggle and make mistakes. Did you watch Lyon - City? Not very solid.
The point is they are ball players but if teams want to go long against them stones, Laporte and Kompany are more than capable

For United, smalling is very good in the air and rojo not bad but both Bailly and lindelof are particularly poor in this respect. It’s why we should never play them both together

And yes, it really is that simple sometimes. If glen Murray is getting the better of our cbs it means the midfield can exploit the spaces
 

RedCurry

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Bellion, Dong, Djemba Djemba, Obertan, Bebe, Miller, Tosic, Eagles, Taibi, Prunier, Clegg, Chadwick, Spector, Darren Ferguson, Lynch, May, Buttner,

The list above is 17 far worse players.

Then the likes of Poborsky, Cruyff, Milne and many more that may have been decent players elsewhere but were utter dross for United.
That’s truly a compelling so I concede that he is not maybe the literal worst player to have played for us. But even from your list, I’d rather have Buttner, Obertan, djemba djemba and Tosic above Lindelof. Those players at least showed some spark of talent however short that lasted.
 

AltiUn

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That’s truly a compelling so I concede that he is not maybe the literal worst player to have played for us. But even from your list, I’d rather have Buttner, Obertan, djemba djemba and Tosic above Lindelof. Those players at least showed some spark of talent however short that lasted.
Good God I don't think there was ever a time I watched Obertan and thought yeah this lad has talent, the feck were we thinking signing him?
 

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I think he still needs to get stronger but he's got good technical ability. Would like to see him in the middle of a back 3 where he can step into the midfield and pick a pass. In midweek he did it and it took like two or three juventus players out of the game. Want some more of that.
 

RedCurry

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Good God I don't think there was ever a time I watched Obertan and thought yeah this lad has talent, the feck were we thinking signing him?
Contrary to you, I found myself being a big fanboy of his like I am probably now with Martial. I remember watching his many trick videos on YouTube and thinking for a brief while that we have signed the “next Robben”. Turns out that not every bald fast winger becomes Robben.
 

AltiUn

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Contrary to you, I found myself being a big fanboy of his like I am probably now with Martial. I remember watching his many trick videos on YouTube and thinking for a brief while that we have signed the “next Robben”. Turns out that not every bald fast winger becomes Robben.
That’s fair enough, he didn’t look half bad on the YouTube compilations but I suppose they aren’t going to include all his rubbish moments. Once I saw him actually play I thought how on earth has he conned his way into a club like United :lol:
 

Dante

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I saw him 'sense danger' more times in the Juventus match more times than he has done in all of his other United games put together. Hopefully that's a sign of him turning the corner, rather than just being good against a particular opponent.
 

AltiUn

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I saw him 'sense danger' more times in the Juventus match more times than he has done in all of his other United games put together. Hopefully that's a sign of him turning the corner, rather than just being good against a particular opponent.
Yeah I noticed that, wonder if it was a confidence thing. He had a tendency to hide a bit like Schneiderlin did when he was with us, but now he's a lot more active in games he's looking a lot better for it. He's actually carrying the ball out and passing forward now, whereas he'd just hit it sideways initially. I'm gonna just hope that this is him finally settling in properly.
 

SwedishFish

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The hate that Lindelöf gets on here still is baffling. In my mind it just seems like the brits on here had their mind made up on Maguire in the summer, who although is a great improvement on Smalling has shown very little to convince me that he'd lift the defence as a whole.

Lindelöf has shown great improvements on reading the game, toughness and his ability with the ball at his feet.

He still needs to grow stronger and work on the aerial aspect of his game especially on long balls being played in behind the defence. I don't think he's got any real problems with corners etc.

What I've said on here before and will say again, what makes him one of the most solid defenders on international level in the world is the fact that he has a mature, experienced defender next to him to work with and that's what United should look at, someone who like Granqvist complements Victors skill set which always is key when it comes to setting up a good CB partnership.

I think giving up on Victor at this stage when he's starting to come into his own would be extremely foolish.
 

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The hate that Lindelöf gets on here still is baffling. In my mind it just seems like the brits on here had their mind made up on Maguire in the summer, who although is a great improvement on Smalling has shown very little to convince me that he'd lift the defence as a whole.

Lindelöf has shown great improvements on reading the game, toughness and his ability with the ball at his feet.

He still needs to grow stronger and work on the aerial aspect of his game especially on long balls being played in behind the defence. I don't think he's got any real problems with corners etc.

What I've said on here before and will say again, what makes him one of the most solid defenders on international level in the world is the fact that he has a mature, experienced defender next to him to work with and that's what United should look at, someone who like Granqvist complements Victors skill set which always is key when it comes to setting up a good CB partnership.

I think giving up on Victor at this stage when he's starting to come into his own would be extremely foolish.
An even greater improvement on Lindelof. He's defended better this season and is better at starting moves from the back.
 

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This guy shouldn't be playing for us. He's just nowhere near good enough. He takes zero initiative, does zero tackles, wins the ball in the air zero times. His contribution to the game is zero.
 

UnitedChampionsAgain

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The fact that Lindelof has made slightly less howlers recently is tricking some into thinking he's decent. Can't see it myself..
 

Pexbo

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I absolutely loved his commitment at the end of the game today. Obviously in a lot of pain but he still put himself about. There is definitely a player in there. I think he will come good.
 

Fluctuation0161

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I absolutely loved his commitment at the end of the game today. Obviously in a lot of pain but he still put himself about. There is definitely a player in there. I think he will come good.
Fair play to him.

Jose loves that so will run him into the ground like he did with Bailly now. :lol:
 

11101

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The hate that Lindelöf gets on here still is baffling. In my mind it just seems like the brits on here had their mind made up on Maguire in the summer, who although is a great improvement on Smalling has shown very little to convince me that he'd lift the defence as a whole.
What we're taught in England is that defenders should be no nonsense, strong in the tackle, challenge headers like their lives depend on it, and just be good enough on the ball to get it to someone else who is better on the ball. Skills like passing, awareness and reading of the game are not focused on as much. Defenders who don't follow that model will always be underappreciated by fans but the league has gone beyond that now.
 

ROFLUTION

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He was not looking good at the cancelled goal. Also in the situation with Townsend who got a clear chance. Thats 2 big chances too many. I dont know how this can be steered Into some sort of Maguire/British agenda :lol: How is this good enough to play for Manchester United?

Great on the ball today though. But his positioning always just makes him prone to that one big error. We simply need a more stable and better defender.
 

minoo-utd

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He tries his best. But sadly he is not good enough. Jose bought him and Bailly not good enough choices and still wanted to buy at least another C.B
Would you trust him?
 

spiriticon

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To say he's 'out of his depth' like Carragher did is an exaggeration, but let's be honest, he's not amazing is he?

He's terrible in the air, average at everything else. He's got heart, but so has Jones, Rojo and Smalling.
 

MAME DIOUF 32

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The notion that we somehow don't get it because he's not no nonsense is a fallacy. He's not showing that he's a particularly good passer or that he can read the game. He looks more comfortable in possession than Smalling (who doesn't?), but what does he actually do with that?

Anyway, he's no longer the total disaster he was early on but he's nothing special at all.
 

Foxbatt

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Anyone who has Matic in front of him is going to make mistakes.
 

poleglass red

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this notion he is comfortable on the ball is an urban myth. better than smalling doesnt constitute greatness. hes average at best who looked decent in a piss poor league in limited games. out of his depth.
 

ash_86

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Definitely won me over this season. He's not United quality but could be a good sub.
 

Ekeke

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this notion he is comfortable on the ball is an urban myth. better than smalling doesnt constitute greatness. hes average at best who looked decent in a piss poor league in limited games. out of his depth.
He is comfortable on the ball. He just isnt the kind of character who constantly starts moves from the back like some CBs
 

Ekeke

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To say he's 'out of his depth' like Carragher did is an exaggeration, but let's be honest, he's not amazing is he?

He's terrible in the air, average at everything else. He's got heart, but so has Jones, Rojo and Smalling.
He's out of his depth starting every week for a club with ambitions of being at the top, but hes not out of his depth starting every week for the team thats 7th in the premier league. He's a very average level of CB.

If he was performing like he does for United at a mid table side, nobody would be suggesting we buy him.

The fact that Jones has barely kicked a ball this season, Bailly has been terrible at kicking a ball this season and Smalling is Chris Smalling has greatly exaggerated his reputation with some United fans. Because Smalling is somehow a magnet for blame and anything that isnt great about our defending somehow gets pinned on him.
 

shamans

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Good God I don't think there was ever a time I watched Obertan and thought yeah this lad has talent, the feck were we thinking signing him?
Really? I remember seeing Obertan during his first few games here and thinking he's a wild animal that needs to be tamed and will wreck defenses for us. I even remember him making his return in October, bulking up, and everyone on here was commenting "Ocoberton!" good days.
 

redshaw

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Would he get in ahead of Vidic and Rio, absolutely fecking no.

That's part of our problem, stems from managers and the board.

I'm glad he's improved though but our whole defence is made up of squad type players and injury prone players and not a lot has been done.