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This. Rojo needs to be shipped out asap and take Jones with him.
I don't think you can say the reason people don't rate Lindelof is because of Football Manager and FIFA.
Yes Matic falling deep to collect the ball is definitely bad for someone like Lindelof who likes to hit long balls and to advance with the ball. And I agree that will not change with another CB. But I find that a problem as it takes away one important dimension that is important in modern football.
it was just an observation. I think it is clearly the way to go to use Smalling in the box as he is great in the air. And even though Lindelof is not that fast, he is good at reading the game and could stop counter attacks. That is also how the winning goal against Arsenal came. Lindelof intercepting a counter attack after a setpieces. Ball going to Young who found Fellaini.True. I think he can probably do that job whilst taking our deep set pieces (if we choose him to do that like Sweden do). After he takes the kick he can get right back in position to defendYes Matic falling deep to collect the ball is definitely bad for someone like Lindelof who likes to hit long balls and to advance with the ball. And I agree that will not change with another CB. But I find that a problem as it takes away one important dimension that is important in modern football.
About the setpieces, I don’t know what I wanted to say with that
That is fine, his passing is still useful when Matic is being pressed when he comes deep for the ball. He can play 1-2s to get Matic or Pogba free from defensive pressure and in case of Pogba, it might even help him on his way to start a mini-counter to the press, that is still something Smalling cannot do.
Yes of course its still useful.
He did the same vs Switzerland which created Ekdal's chance. (Stopped a counter attack and played a great pass)Yes Matic falling deep to collect the ball is definitely bad for someone like Lindelof who likes to hit long balls and to advance with the ball. And I agree that will not change with another CB. But I find that a problem as it takes away one important dimension that is important in modern football.
About the setpieces, I don’t know what I wanted to say with that
Definitely, but we haven’t seen much of that in a United. Saving it for second season
No everyone is entitled to their opinion. Fans just need to understand these are humans who perform differently under different circumstances.
I dunno how you worked this out but Lindelof has better passing in Fifa than our other CBs.
Sweden are doing zonal marking, he hasnt really given Kane a touch.
He has played well in general play, some nice moments with the ball as well, but that aerial issue does worry me. Don't think you can pair him with Bailly with both them being sub par in that area, that might have been the plan when the signing was made. He certainly reads the game fairly well but poor in the air and not very quick.
You think of the games he looked most comfortable in last year and they tended to be in Europe. Less physical game, Utd pushing forward in the group matches, Lindelof could play on the front foot, read the game and distribute the ball. He is not a backs against the wall defender. I have my doubts but I am interested to see if this WC proves a evolutionary process for him, bring more confidence to his game, too many of his early games for Utd he looked scared of the stage.
Pretty much. Wasnt bad like he was when he first signed for us, just not very involved and had 1 good moment and 1 bad moment defensively
I’m not sure what your agenda is? Granqvist had his worst game of the WC but I don’t blame him, the English players had skills who’s hard to handle for a team like Sweden. Every corner and set pieces was potentially a serious goal scoring opportunity. Sterling provided acceleration and speed and Kane is always difficult to defend against so I can’t take your criticism seriously. What do you expect? Sweden to nullify one of the best NT in the world?
Tbh what is that, in terms of what is that supposed to prove? It’s certainly nothing that would make me laugh at the poster’s view or say they were wrong. It looks like just one person’s opinion and as valid as the poster.Wow
It would be easier to form a pairing if we had a complete CB that played every week.
Top Post. Excellent and balanced summary of Lindelof during the WC, thank you for making this analysis. I also like your last paragraph, but you do need to realize that some posters here are indeed children.Before I start, because I know how hysterical posters can (will) be :
What I'm about to post are just some facts that show what I mean when I've said that Lindelof is a very passive defender. This is about establishing the type of player he is and comparing it to the other CBs around.
Being a passive defender doesn't automatically mean that he's not as good as a more active or aggressive CB.
But he is a passive defender and this is what I mean by that :
Lindelof has the 9th least attempted tackles of all CBs at the World Cup who played more than 2 matches (2 matches seems far too little to judge a player on). Doesnt mean a lot on its own, but...
Lindelof also made the 3rd lowest amount of interceptions as a CB who played more than 2 matches at the World Cup. At this point the only other CB on both lists is Varane of France.
He attempted the 9th least headed duels of all CBs in the world cup to have played more than 2 matches. At least he has a higher win percentage of those he tried to win compared to the other CBs who tried to win few headers.
Lindelof made the 2nd least fouls of all CBs in the world cup who played more than 2 matches. Again it doesnt mean anything on its own, in fact if he had been winning the ball a lot then making so few fouls would be a good thing. But when you look at his lack of ball winning and headed attempts its just another part of the passive pattern.
Now its important to also look at where he doesnt appear in these lists of low actions. Two of note are :
Clearances
Averaging 5.3 per game thats a lot healthier than the rest of this. So when the ball came into the box he did a fine job of trying to get something of the ball, showing that he most likely had good defensive positioning. That would be the 18th most of all CBs in the world cup who played more than 2 matches. Not amazing but definitely closer to the top than the bottom.
Shots Blocked
Averaging 0.5 per game Lindelof comes in at 37th of the 51CBs on the entire list. This time he's a bit closer to the least than the most but its a perfectly healthy number on its own.
Just to mention, Granqvist - Lindelof's CB partner for Sweden was towards the top of a lot of these fields. He's a more aggressive and active CB who had a great World Cup. This shows that there was plenty of opportunities to win the ball in these ways but Granqvist took on the responsibility to do it, while Lindelof was passive and became more active when the ball was in and around his own box.
There are some stats that arent on Whoscored. I'm not sure they are on another site and they may not be. Things like how often a player he's marking wins the ball. Something like that would be useful to help fill out the full picture. But I dont think that stat is available.
I'm not sure theres anywhere to find out how often a CB plays a player onside and they receive the ball. That would be another useful stat to round out the picture. Its something that happened a single time against England as he played Sterling onside. But how often did it happen over the course of all his matches at the world cup? I dont know.
And another useful stat would be how often a CB wins the ball as the last man before the keeper is called into action. This was something Lindelof did once against England where Sterling was running through, he came across and won the ball to cover his defense that time.
These could all be useful stats but I'm not sure if or where they would be available.
So overall Lindelof is a passive defender who tends to only come into action defensively when the ball is in and around his box. He'll block some shots, he'll make some clearances. But until that point he's less aggressive than most CBs.
Going back to the beginning of the post. Being a passive style CB isn't necessarily always a bad thing. So long as the CB is there to always make the clearances and pressure someone trying to take a shot and perhaps block it then you can get by.
However more active and aggressive CBs are likely to stop moves a lot earlier on before they become dangerous and need those box clearances or blocked shots. Personally I value this and I'm not a big fan of a CB who will only be making challenges when 1 mistake leads to a good chance on goal.
So contrary to the childish belief of more than 1 poster, I don't hate Lindelof. I guarantee I pay more attention to him than most. But he is a certain type of defender that I'm not a big fan of. Its not my preference and I do question how good that type of CB is.
Managers will often prefer a certain player over another because they have a preference of a style of player.
It doesnt mean that they hate a player because they pick someone else.
It means they value a different style of player more.
There is no hatred.
Comments that suggest hatred towards a player are a very childish defense mechanism for someone to use when they simply cant be bothered to discuss an alternate opinion because they believe themselves to have such a perfect knowledge of football that they couldnt possibly ever be wrong. Oftentimes however the alternative opinion may involve a lot more research than their own.
