Surprise at Blind playing well at centre half

[TwoSheds]

Why is this so surprising?

He's loved by Van Gaal and its easy to see why - he's exceptionally intelligent and tactically aware and consequently superbly versatile. He's primarily a defensive mid yet his best performances came for us at lb last year because he is able to see what needs to be done and when, which made him especially potent in attack despite his lack of pace.

He's extremely reliable, a good tackler, has great stamina, superb positioning, an excellent left foot, a cool head playing it out from the back and when making himself available...pretty much the only things he lacks are strength, height and pace. Even so, he's taller than a certain Javier Mascherano who hasn't been such a bad centre half at another possession team in Barca.

The other thing is, he already played in central defence last year during an injury crisis and did well...so why wouldn't he be a good centre half for us?

 

[prath92]

He doesn't have sterling's pace though. It doesn't matter that many CBs have the pace he has.

 

[lem8sh]

Because he will get found out by the better strikers in the league due to his lack of pace and/or aerial ability.

 

[VorZakone]

Meh, let's judge him after 10 games at minimum.

 

[Moonred]

As you mentioned, absence of strength, height and pace are three things that most people would be worried about when selecting a defender.

 

[shabadu84]

Even a Blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while

Sorry

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

The midfield is a huge factor imo. The defence is being protected more.

 

[Siorac]

We're getting away with it because 1) toothless opposition, 2) good protection from midfield (that still feels weird to type out).

Yes, he's a good passer.

 

[kouroux]

He's done well but it's only two games. We have a stupid tendency (not aimed at you OP) on these boards to draw out conclusions after so few matches.

 

[2 man midfield]

Carrick struggled there under previous systems, but with more pressure on us. Blind isn't the biggest, or the tallest but in this system looks quite comfortable. Let's see how he does after a few more games.

 

[Treble]

He's our most intelligent defender. By far.

 

[VanGaalEra]

Because he will get found out by the better strikers in the league due to his lack of pace and/or aerial ability.

How many better strikers are there then Kane, and how many have the aerial ability of Gestede?

No alarms so far against both of them.

 

[Devil may care]

The reason we are getting away with it so far is that Shaw and Darmian make the back 4 compact and Schneiderlin covers him when he goes wandering off up the field and out of line with the other 3 defenders.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

No one should be surprised he's serviceable. But the Rio/Vidic years spoiled us a bit and now we long for an elite CB to pair with Smalling to replicate it.

 

[Scholesgoals]

Hes there to assist in bringng the ball out from the back. It helps when there is a link between the two and he provides that. Its a sort of defence by ensuring that pressure is not invited in the first place. We have enough height in the team elsewhere

 

[Kag]

Blind is no raging liability but he isn't the answer either. Physicality is hugely important in this division and it is something that will bite us on the arse if we persist with him at centre half.

That said, so far so good. I like Blind a lot. If he was physically stronger and faster then we'd be looking at an incredible player. He's got the football side of things well covered.

 

[Striker10]

Barely tested.

 

[Anustart89]

Because he will get found out by the better strikers in the league due to his lack of pace and/or aerial ability.

Yet the lack of aerial ability wasn't found out by Gestede who everyone are banging on about. They actually won one aerial challenge each against each other.

 

[Jaap]

Would have probably been a different story last season, but, right now, he hasn't put a foot wrong.

Wouldn't be surprised if he nailed down one of the centre-back positions.

 

[2cents]

I don't remember his Dad being particularly physical either, but he was a fine defender. Was he any taller than Daley?

 

[Anustart89]

I'll gladly admit I've been wrong about him so far, but some people in here are just waiting to have a go at him.

If he plays ten games flawlessly and then we concede a goal from Blind being outmuscled by a Benteke or similar type of striker, people will be like "Ah well, told ya he's a liability".

 

[ChaddyP]

When he was shifted to LB we all thought he would shit his pants against sterling and a few other very fast right wingers, and then he didnt. He knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses and he compensates. His passing from the back is more important than his lack of speed. having him in the Back 4 is a blessing because of his passing percentage. I am quite ok with him playing there. Only issue i have is we cant squeeze the game as much as if we had Rojo there. Squeezing the game by playing a high line helps get rid of the distance between midfield and attack. But as i said he is very good at reading and passing and this helps keeps us in control of the game in my opinion.

 

[Nytram Shakes]

its nice having someone so comfortable on the ball at center back, though i im still worried he will come unstuck when we against a top class attacking line.

 

[JB08]

So it's not okay to judge Rooney after two games, but it is Blind? I don't disagree with what you said, but we need to play him more, and against better opposition strikers, to judge if he's good enough or not.

 

[surf]

He's been fine so far. If the manager likes what he sees, which seems to be the case, keep him there unless and until it either goes wrong or someone top class becomes available.

 

[noodlehair]

He didn't have any defending to do because Villa had no one posing a threat to either of our centrebacks, and I didn't think he played well against Spurs, at all. Smalling did.

Two clean sheets without De Gea is a surprise considering, but it's too early to make a real judgement either way yet. I'd kind of let Blind off the Spurs game because there were others who played worse than him despite not being played in a new position.

 

[Varun]

Let's revisit the thread after 10 games. Mind you, I'd love to be proved wrong.

 

[Danny Boi]

Yes he is a good passer and a intelligent defender.However he lacks strength and pace while almost every PL striker has at least one of those qualities.I will be worried about him going up against Benteke,Lukaku or Costa or Aguero,Sanchez and numerous other rapid forwards.

 

[Ixion]

After Carrick got injured at the end of last season and we went on the bad run Blind got turned into the scapegoat and suddenly he wasn't good enough for us in the minds of a lot here. There were plenty that even said Herrera was our only decent signing last year. People were letting that cloud their judgement about the prospect of him playing at CB, he is an intelligent player and will do a decent job wherever we ask him to play.

 

[MDFC Manager]

There aren't exactly a world class duo, but neither the strength of Gestede, nor the pace of Agbonlahor troubled Blind.

Sterner tests lie ahead, but as long as we continue to defend as a team, I don't anticipate too much trouble.

 

[Moonred]

Too early obviously and I doubt he will be a long term solution. But half of the forum was convinced Gestede was going to murder the poor fellow.

 

[lem8sh]

How many better strikers are there then Kane, and how many have the aerial ability of Gestede?

No alarms so far against both of them.

Yet the lack of aerial ability wasn't found out by Gestede who everyone are banging on about. They actually won one aerial challenge each against each other.

Take the opposition and situation into account, it's dangerous crosses into the area where he will be found out aerially and against the better teams we will have to deal with plenty of them.

 

[Sandikan]

2 whole games he's been decent.

what on earth were you lot all worried about eh.

great thread!

 

[Siorac]

Too early obviously and I doubt he will be a long term solution. But half of the forum was convinced Gestede was going to murder the poor fellow.

Which was odd. Gestede had one good season in the Championship after long years of mediocrity.

 

[JackXX]

I think Blind and Smalling compliment each other really well as they kind of make up for each others deficiencies. Blind is intelligent, confident on the ball and his positioning is generally excellent. I think that helps Smalling out a lot whereas Smalling has the physical/aerial ability to make up for Blind.

I've been very impressed with all of our back four this season tbh long may it continue.

Edit: I think the introduction of Schneiderlin has helped us out a lot defensively and makes it possible. I would expect the partnership to get a little more exposed with a less robust midfield in front of it.

 

[antohan]

I would love a third top tier option to mix things up but I'm very happy to have him in that mix.

 

[facund]

Because of his lack of pace or ability to physically dominate the opposition even if he has an immaculate game it is likely to go largely unnoticed because there will be no real replay worthy moments, last ditch heroics and the like. His passing may draw some acclaim but the rest won't stand out unless you go to the trouble of re-analysing the game after the fact.

I'm not sold on him playing there yet but it has not brought the carnage some people predicted, whether that continues we will see. I certainly wouldn't want to see him next to anyone other than Smalling who I think helps due to his pace, physical dominance and seemingly natural defensive instincts.

6.5/10 so far, a solid start but with bigger tests to come.

 

[ChaddyP]

2 whole games he's been decent.

what on earth were you lot all worried about eh.

great thread!

did well in preseason to be fair.

 

[100]

The weird thing is I'd be more confident with him versus someone like Aguero/Costa than Phil Jones or Rojo, or maybe that's just testament to the trust I have in them two. But he does have a cool head that just appeals when trusting CBs, he's pretty much anti-Phil Jones.

I do believe that if you truely excel at van Gaal's system then you can negate the effect of lacking physically, as Barca have shown.

 

[TwoSheds]

2 whole games he's been decent.

what on earth were you lot all worried about eh.

great thread!

I think you're missing the point. I'm not suggesting he's guaranteed to be good there. I'm expressing surprise at people thinking he can't possibly be good there. Explain the reasons why he won't do as well as Mascherano does at CB.