Yup, he's played aggressively again which suits him. Like him playing a little more infield when we have the ball, he's been a good outball a few times so far.
36
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 29
- Clean sheets
- 12
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
- Status
Needs a good shout out after that performance. Pedro invisible for 65 minutes and Willian never entered the pitch. Marked them out of the game.
Played well.
Defensive masterclass today, spare man at the back.
Quietly had a good game, Pedro barely did anything. My average rating this season for him is 4.9 but he's starting to turn it around.
Best game he had since Tottenham in 2015.
Very good today, defended well and was always available for his teammates. Has played well recently.
Is he left footed?
I've criticized him aplenty this season.
But ill give him his dues . Very good today.
But ill give him his dues . Very good today.
Was fantastic. Everyone was.
He's not a full back, a role like Azpilicueta's at Chelsea would suit him.
No complaints really. He's starting to show that early defensive prowess he exhibited last season. Think that Arsenal game broke his confidence a bit.
However, he's been impeccable lately. He's generally a good defender.
However, he's been impeccable lately. He's generally a good defender.
Played well today.
He didn't stand out as much as the others but I thought he was still impressive. And I am not a fan of him at all but Thursday and today he's played very well and earned a place.
Doesn't get much credit on here but I thought he was excellent today. One of the few players not to make careless passes at some stage.
Last edited:
One of our underrated players. Sometimes a scapegoat, just like Fellaini.
Did very well (again) today. Pedro and Willian didn't have a sniff.
Did very well (again) today. Pedro and Willian didn't have a sniff.
Solid performance today. I like him. Put it this way - he'd be very good for a team like Chelsea.
Solid defensively. I still don't rate him much as a ball player, but positionally he has always been very good. Strong in the tackle and decent in the air. Did a similar job to Herrera by keeping Pedro quiet and did it well.
Wow, he's silently superb, at his very best recently. 
I've changed my mind, Matteo Darmian's a great squad player, don't mind him staying, we need the cover and his capabilities in tactical situations. Well done, and that's how you fight for a places in the first eleven, rather than complaining or sulking.
I've changed my mind, Matteo Darmian's a great squad player, don't mind him staying, we need the cover and his capabilities in tactical situations. Well done, and that's how you fight for a places in the first eleven, rather than complaining or sulking.Jose should just turn him into a CB.
Solid performance. Kept it simple, and did exactly what was required. He keeps up these performances and he wouldn't be too bad a squad player
I've been critical of him but credit where it's due he played really well defensively today.
Still don't like the type of full-back he is and think we should let him go. But while he's here i hope he plays like this more often.
Still don't like the type of full-back he is and think we should let him go. But while he's here i hope he plays like this more often.
Pleased to see him getting so much praise today - I thought he was very good today and that performance deserves highlighting.
This could be his best game in UTD shirt and it came with him playing as a LWB.
He was pretty much great today.
He was pretty much great today.
Cracking performance!
Incredible performance.
It's very odd, but I did not see him today, unless I was mistaking him for Herrera.
At times, he seemed to be play as CM. Great game.
That's good since his role is not to stand out but to catch the shadow players who makes off ball movement into dangerous area when attention was shifted elsewhere.
His weakness always is ball winning. You don't want to force him to stand out in action which mostly result him being beaten in duel. His strength lies with tactical awareness & discipline means that he would slow down the off ball runner significantly. Even if he doesn't win the ball, the shadow player would be exposed and losing his strength thus putting more burden on the ball carrier, main attacker to win their battle which our other defensive players are a match for them: Hazzard vs Herrera & Valencia, Carrick vs Cesc, Kante lack's creativity, Costa vs Bailly & Rojo, Moses vs Young...
My thoughts exactly. At times he was playing in a free role but in defence. Terrific performance.
3rd game in a row where he was good.
Yeah, gotta give credit when it's due.
He does well in games like today - once we play against poorer teams and require the fullback to provide some quality upfront, he won't deliver
Best performance since his debut.
Easily. He wasn't a complete coward for a change. Was good to see.
Everyone who thinks he should be the first one sold this summer can go do one. Darmian is a technical defender, his physical attributes aren't his primary strength, and he's struggled with the PL because of that, but he just needs to be played in the right system and he will most certainly shine, like he did today. He's more than capable of being the Azpilicueta of this Mourinho team.
Fecking brilliant! Didn't even realise Pedro/William were playing.
Has been really good lately..
Great v Anderlecht and again fantastic today.
Mou likes him..
Great v Anderlecht and again fantastic today.
Mou likes him..
Another positively surprising performance from Darmian.
But what if Jose don't want to play a back 3? We've played it only a few times the entire season. Should we keep him around for those rare occasions or permanently alter the system to get the best out of Darmian? How often are we expecting such extreme man marking to be employed in future United games?
You say it yourself, "he just needs to be played in the right system". That generally hasn't been as a FB in a back 4 (he's had some decent/solid games there). Darmian is a pretty good defender when that is all he has to worry about, he had a very specific job today that involved following his man about and meant he wasn't relied upon to provide width and forward impetus but 90% of our games don't allow for that and we require a FB (his reputed position) to be involved in attacking phases and ball progression. He has his uses but they are quite limited based on the 2 season sample of evidence.
He was good today and full credit to him on his recent form.
- Status