[MorraGambit]

BT just shown that Darmian had the most tackles and interceptions with 10 today

 

[Sylar]

Thought he was really great defensively. Long term we need Martial and Shaw on that side, but given what happened against Spurs, I thought he dealt with it well well today. Didnt really allow much delivery into our box which really helped us defensively.

 

[dichinero]

No questioning the defensive side to his game tonight. Well done

 

[Ban]

He was decent tonight tbh.

 

[::sonny::]

Joked by Leko many times in few mins

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Imagine if Shaw was putting in this level of performances...

Exactly, if we had played like this over the last 8 with Shaw at LB, we would be hailing his performances. Darmian has been good enough in this period where weve conceded a mere 5 goals in in 8 games.

 

[Devil may care]

He did fine defensively today and could have gotten assist, no complaints.

 

[Adisa]

Grateful that Leko did not star the match. Ruined him like four times in ten minutes.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He did well because he was against brunt all game who spend half the time trying to turn backwards. As soon as they brought on somebody who could run he fell apart AGAIN.

 

[Fracture90]

Pretty much identical situation like with Fellaini at the start of the season. He's doing his job defensively but he's just too one dimensional when playing LB, no attacking contribution whatsoever.

 

[m1y2]

okay, but thats not good enough for me, we should aim higher and promote Joe riley and leave Blind and SHaw fight for the first team spot

 

[Robbie Boy]

Best he's played in a long time.

 

[Raees]

Needs replacing ASAP.. sooner or later teams will clock on earlier and wreck us down that side.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Needs replacing ASAP.. sooner or later teams will clock on earlier and wreck us down that side.

Yup. It's been evident lately that teams are looking to expose him. He was actually ok today but overall, he's miles behind the required standard.

 

[Raees]

Yup. It's been evident lately that teams are looking to expose him. He was actually ok today but overall, he's miles behind the required standard.

Same. He was ok but was so lucky to be up against a snail in Brunt who looked off the pace. Phillips would have destroyed him.

 

[Fracture90]

Needs replacing ASAP.. sooner or later teams will clock on earlier and wreck us down that side.

Plus we're pretty much sacrificing our attacking game from the left flank just so Mourinho can keep playing him there.

 

[Raees]

Plus we're pretty much sacrificing our attacking game from the left flank just so Mourinho can keep playing him there.

I think Jose likes to build up his side brick by brick. Left wing is definitely been neglected for now, while he has focused on perfecting our right flank.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

He wasn't too bad today but long term he isn't the answer as a starter. If he wants to stay and be a squad player though I'd be happy with that.

 

[MorraGambit]

okay, but thats not good enough for me, we should aim higher and promote Joe riley and leave Blind and SHaw fight for the first team spot

The thing is Blind IS fighting for the first team spot and Shaw is unfit. Jose just trust him more in that position for some reasons.

 

[m1y2]

The thing is Blind IS fighting for the first team spot and Shaw is unfit. Jose just trust him more in that position for some reasons.

Shaw is injured not unfit, and Mhky was also unused but he kicked on and looked super exciting. The situation is temporary right now at som positions and I belive majority of ppl can see that too

 

[MorraGambit]

Shaw is injured not unfit, and Mhky was also unused but he kicked on and looked super exciting. The situation is temporary right now at som positions and I belive majority of ppl can see that too

I think the situation is a bit different with Mkhitaryan as he is new to the league and might not fully ready. There are also reports saying that he has gained weight since joining so maybe it has something to do with the physicality of the league.

http://www.football365.com/news/mkhitaryan-has-put-on-8lb-at-man-united-report

Blind on the other hand has been playing here for a couple of seasons but Maurinho seems to prefer Darmian over him in the league.

 

[donkeyfish]

BT just shown that Darmian had the most tackles and interceptions with 10 today

Darmian is a pawn. He might be fine defensively, but we should dubiously sacrifice him to let our attack develop faster.

 

[ti vu]

Darmian is a pawn. He might be fine defensively, but we should dubiously sacrifice him to let our attack develop faster.

We did just that with Valencia with Mkhi (when fit)/ Lingard (today). So we deliberately draw attention to our left wing (but still have enough covering options) then quickly switch play to righ hand side with pace and hit the opponent.

I am surprised how people are still surprised at him being bad in 1vs 1 situation. Clearly Mourinho knows that and instructs his teammates to look out for him there. What he is good at is positional discipline. IIRC our defense rarely play the other team on side off late and for most part cut down the route that their winger can cut inside and shoot. Our play is restrict opponent wingers but also not shy away from defending crosses. Under LVG we try to ball winning full back tactic that exposed Darmian, then our fullback after Shaw injury, as we can't full trust Blind dealing with crosses.

VS Palace we used Blind as Blind is better in 1 vs 1 as well as there is not as much aerial threat in normal circumstances beside Benteke (Jones and Rojo can deal with that themselves) so we pushed up the field and isolated Benteke and Zaha (need a better 1 vs 1 fullback).

 

[Ekeke]

Darmian is good but a little inconsistant in that some weeks he'll constantly win the ball, and other weeks opponents will easily get past him. Its not all the time, but he has his sleepy days

 

[MorraGambit]

Darmian is a pawn. He might be fine defensively, but we should dubiously sacrifice him to let our attack develop faster.

Yes, that's one way to play a pawn. But even a pawn can be promoted to a queen with enough support and patience.

I'm not saying that Darmian is enough. We already have a winger converted to a RB (a good one though). Maurinho is probably reluctant to play more player out of position in defence and trust him to do the job at least until Shaw can play again. One can argue that he's not a natural LB either, but as a poster mentioned before, we can also form a 3 CBs in defence with him to cover for Valencia when the latter bomb forward. So he still provides us with options on how we can set up the shape of the team. Although I don't think Blind ever played worse in that position..

I think the next league match could be an important indicator. If Smalling is back at CB in place of Rojo and he starts at LB again ahead of both Rojo and Blind, then it shows that Maurinho really rates him at least as a no 2 in that position.

If not then we'll see if he is in Maurinho's long term plan in the next two transfer windows. I don't think Maurinho will let him go if he is happy with his role in the team. I think having an international as a backup / squad player is not too bad for a team if they're happy. Like Romero.

 

[xplatformjedi]

Grateful that Leko did not star the match. Ruined him like four times in ten minutes.

People are going to overlook this while they think Darmian had a standout performance.

He had his best performance in several games tonight. Not a great game, but a good game. He's still not a left back.

Question. Which side do you worry about from the opposing attack the most? In EVERY game that Darmian starts I worry about the side he covers the most.


Don't get me wrong. I like him as a squad player for depth. But he's not the best United can get to fill that role.

 

[Fracture90]

I think Jose likes to build up his side brick by brick. Left wing is definitely been neglected for now, while he has focused on perfecting our right flank.

Well let's just hope that doesn't take too long because we could really use that left flank come January, Sunderland and Middlesbrough we can get away with.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Currently performing at RB? Correct me if i'm wrong but i don't think he's played at RB (bar last night) in about 6 weeks since the Fenerbache game.

Sorry. Horrible use of language. My point is that people are rushing him out of the club when I believe he's just as good a right back as Shaw is a left back at the moment.

 

[Lawman]

Sorry. Horrible use of language. My point is that people are rushing him out of the club when I believe he's just as good a right back as Shaw is a left back at the moment.

Shaw has been out for a year with a leg break and is a kid! Darmain is just putrid with no excuse.

 

[stevoc]

Sorry. Horrible use of language. My point is that people are rushing him out of the club when I believe he's just as good a right back as Shaw is a left back at the moment.

Fair enough mate no worries. I see what you're saying now but what we've seen from Shaw this season is probably his bottom level, what we have seen from Darmian is probably his top level. And even at that i would still say Shaw has been better simply due to the fact he has more of an attacking edge to his game.

Sadly i think what we've see from this year Darmian is about as good as he will be in England, as a traditional fullback in a back 4 anyways.

 

[K2K]

Still not United quality.

With this crowd baying for blood and him being in a yellow, I'm scared.

 

[Robbie Boy]

He's just fecking awful.

 

[Kag]

He's dogshit. Waste of a jersey.

 

[SwansonsTache]

This guy needs to go and he needs to go fast.

He is actually regressing, and he was pretty fecking awful earlier in his career with us.

 

[WyoManU]

really doesn't look the part...

 

[mu4c_20le]

No Blind on the bench either, only Young. Going to be a long half for him.

 

[Man-United]

LvG left us with some shit. And it was his own shit signings.

 

[Drainy]

A reminder of just how shocking the LVG era was for transfers.

 

[shaggy]

Gash once more. No hope of a unexpected Rojo-like resurgence either as he's playing in a relatively natural position. Just a shit footballer with no future here.

 

[ha_rooney]

He's so fecking slow