[A-man]

Such a shame that he needed so much time to toughen up and be ready for this task, I don't like that lack of mental toughness, but he is sitting at the table now for sure.

For me it is quite the opposite. He is playing well despite his weak start: that shows mental toughness.

My very personal opinion is that his style of playing is not that easily accepted in England where toughness traditionally has been more valued than smartness and offensive qualities. When a player like him make mistakes he looks like a fool, like the failed header against Huddersfield. He got a lot of well deserved critique for that, but a poor violent tackle that caused a penalty is not considered that bad. I think we have to accept that his type of CBs sometimes makes crucial mistakes because he is trying to keep the ball within the team.

 

[IMakeThingsUp]

Serious question, considering his on the ball qualities...would he be a better fit at shitty?

 

[prath92]

Serious question, considering his on the ball qualities...would he be a better fit at shitty?

Both he and Blind would be first choice at city had they been there

 

[IMakeThingsUp]

Both he and Blind would be first choice at city had they been there

I'm having a hard time deciding if that is good or bad...

 

[Ramshock]

Love this kid, is going to be a star. Will take his licks and make his mistakes but all defenders have to.

 

[AkaAkuma&]

He has been playing better over the last few matches and played well last night. One can see overall improvements in his game, still has someway to go before he can claim one of the CD spot as his own at United, but positive signs.

 

[Sunny Jim]

I haven't noticed him yesterday...meaning he must have been doing something right.

 

[Dobbs]

Oh dear, a massive knee jerk reaction going on in here. He's first choice now? Shall we see him defend for five games or so before we decide he's good enough to displace defenders who so far have been water tight.

 

[horsechoker]

Oh dear, a massive knee jerk reaction going on in here. He's first choice now? Shall we see him defend for five games or so before we decide he's good enough to displace defenders who so far have been water tight.

At least he's not getting torn to shreds now

 

[Dobbs]

At least he's not getting torn to shreds now

He will when he makes his next mistake. The knee jerk stuff works both ways.

 

[Kapardin]

Our 5 CBs are doing musical chairs nowadays. Every alternate week, one seems better than the rest. Oh well, so long as we have atleast one at any given time doing exceptional work, I am happy. This is one position we don't need to worry about, even with Bailly and Jones out.

 

[Davie Moyes]

Did well as it's never easy to be thrown into such a big game, especially when we were getting outplayed and a lot of our players were struggling against City's press. Looked comfortable on the ball, the only other player who was able to keep the ball despite the pressure was Matic. Keeping the ball under pressure is something we really need to improve on if we want to catch up with City in the long term.

 

[Pacificgi]

He was good when he came on yesterday. It was only him and Matic that seemed to be able to keep the ball more than 3 seconds and pick a pass.

 

[Irish Jet]

Oh dear, a massive knee jerk reaction going on in here. He's first choice now? Shall we see him defend for five games or so before we decide he's good enough to displace defenders who so far have been water tight.

He hasn't had a bad game in over a month. Probably been our best defender over the last month.

He was unlucky to get dropped IMO, especially as Rojo still looks well off the player he was last year. One of the few positives from the game.

 

[hn4manunited]

Victor’s been solid in recent games. Solid again against City when he came on. He’ll turn out to be a great signing for many years to come. He’s adapted and seems to have this calmness about him that it didn’t matter who he is facing.

 

[The United]

He seems way better than let's say smalling at passing. But, I am yet to convinced he is excellent at it. Both rojo and blind are much better.

At one point in the match against city, I think it was him who pretty much got the ball from valencia after a tackle and passed it forward straight to a city player who was like 10 yards ahead of him near our box.

Point is though things like that shows that you can have a good passing ability but if you are lack of composure, that won't do much against a good pressing team.

 

[hn4manunited]

He seems way better than let's say smalling at passing. But, I am yet to convinced he is excellent at it. Both rojo and blind are much better.

At one point in the match against city, I think it was him who pretty much got the ball from valencia after a tackle and passed it forward straight to a city player who was like 10 yards ahead of him near our box.

Point is though things like that shows that you can have a good passing ability but if you are lack of composure, that won't do much against a good pressing team.

He was trying to make a pass through two city players and made a bad pass. If you’ve played football, you’ll know that even the best players in the world make errant passes from time to time. The riskier the pass the higher the chance it ends up getting intercepted.

Go watch Luke Shaw’s game recently. There’s a YouTube video with all Luke Shaw involvements in that game. He was touted as motm for that game and he had a lot of errant passes. My point is that you are nitpicking. I can find fault with every player on the pitch in every game. That doesn’t mean that they are not good players or haven’t done well in that game.

 

[The United]

He was trying to make a pass through two city players and made a bad pass. If you’ve played football, you’ll know that even the best players in the world make errant passes from time to time. The riskier the pass the higher the chance it ends up getting intercepted.

Go watch Luke Shaw’s game recently. There’s a YouTube video with all Luke Shaw involvements in that game. He was touted as motm for that game and he had a lot of errant passes. My point is that you are nitpicking. I can find fault with every player on the pitch in every game. That doesn’t mean that they are not good players or haven’t done well in that game.

Of course even the best players can make those sometimes. But, does he or anyone have to do it in a risky situation while your team is mostly in own box?

Could have just hold the ball or make a much more simple pass to ease of the pressure since the whole team at this point was losing their mind and couldn't string many passes. Or even hoof it up.

So you need a bit composure plus a bit of brain to make sure your pass does not come back and set up the other team attacking play near your box right away. Thanks for proving the point.

And about shaw, TF has anything to do with it. No one in their right mind was calling him a master of passer or any kind of great technical player at this moment. The guy couldn't even get in the first line up for awhile.

 

[A-man]

Of course even the best players can make those sometimes. But, does he or anyone have to do it in a risky situation while your team is mostly in own box?

I agree you shouldn’t make difficult passes if there is a risk that losing the ball will cause big problems.

However, I don’t think he considered that a risky pass, it was pretty simple with his abilities. But it looked like he hit the ground or something.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Serious question, considering his on the ball qualities...would he be a better fit at shitty?

Believe it or not Mourinho knew of his ball playing qualities before signing him. His intention isn’t to have a hoofball team contrary to what a lot of posters seem to believe but that’s the kind of quality of players we had before he was manager.

Lindelöf, Pogba, Matic and Bailly are all players that add composure to our team that Mourinho has identified.

 

[IMakeThingsUp]

Believe it or not Mourinho knew of his ball playing qualities before signing him. His intention isn’t to have a hoofball team contrary to what a lot of posters seem to believe but that’s the kind of quality of players we had before he was manager.

Lindelöf, Pogba, Matic and Bailly are all players that add composure to our team that Mourinho has identified.

Just too bad that not all of them are playing simultaneously.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Just too bad that not all of them are playing simultaneously.

Injuries and suspensions is a big factor to that, I'm confident when Bailly is back we will see it.

 

[Himannv]

He's taken time to settle in, but I think he looks very good on the ball and he does seem like a smart defender. I think he'll continue to make mistakes, but the more games he has, the better he seems to get.

Personally I wasn't too impressed with our summer transfer choices this season, but I think he's one of those that are proving me wrong and making me change my opinion.

 

[Fredrik.A]

Think its quite unfair of José to drop him again despite playing really well. Lets hope this will not affect his confidence.

 

[K2K]

Think its quite unfair of José to drop him again despite playing really well. Lets hope this will not affect his confidence.

Or maybe he's just rested after playing a number of games on the trot.

This place is a whinathon at times.

 

[Fredrik.A]

He hasnt though. Played one half against City. With that logic it would make more sense to rest Smalling. It absolutely would make more sense at home, against a team like Bournemouth to play with a defender who can actually hit a pass. It wasnt meant to be whiny either just mycket option and nothing else.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Should be starting every game. Unless not fit enough to do so.

 

[van der star]

He'll probably come on at some point tonight, when Jones' body decides it's had enough football for the foreseeable future.

 

[breakout67]

He'll probably come on at some point tonight, when Jones' body decides it's had enough football for the foreseeable future.

I think you've got it the wrong way round. Jones' brain will want his body to do something completely stupid and he'll get injured. He plays with no fear.

 

[theREDMAN]

Lindelof is showing promise guys and gals. He has always been amazing on the ball but he is now showing signs of defending like a madman. We could have a good one here. I am glad he is shaking off his poor start. I know he didn't play tonight, but we looked better against City with him in the side. Pep probably watches him and drools. The guy can pick a pass! He is already better than John Stones in my opinion.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Would like to see him start getting some minutes again. I really like him.

 

[Devil may care]

Given the shit show going on either side of him tonight I thought he did fine.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

He's looked better lately, but I still feel like that money would have been better spent elsewhere.

 

[ti vu]

He's looked better lately, but I still feel like that money would have been better spent elsewhere.

You never know with our injury curse. Bailly got injuried pretty much out of no where. Jones being Jones. Rojo is finding it hard to get back to his best after long injury. Smalling has flaw. I doubt Mourinho trusted Blind as CB that much.

I maintain my view on Lindelof as Carrick version of the CB. The more he adapts to the team, the more quality he can show, and both are slow stater, career & each season.

 

[kundalini]

I would like to see him make far more use of his ability on the ball. Numerous occasions when he could have driven forward but opted for a sideways pass.

 

[Mickson]

You never know with our injury curse. Bailly got injuried pretty much out of no where. Jones being Jones. Rojo is finding it hard to get back to his best after long injury. Smalling has flaw. I doubt Mourinho trusted Blind as CB that much.

I maintain my view on Lindelof as Carrick version of the CB. The more he adapts to the team, the more quality he can show, and both are slow stater, career & each season.

We have Tuanzebe. Lindelof isn't bad, but as Eddy said: money would have been better spent elsewhere. Seems like a pretty pointless signing at this point.

 

[Darkhorsez]

Given the shit show going on either side of him tonight I thought he did fine.

He did well tonight - good to see

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Seemed to play right back as well as centre back when Darmian just gave up in the 2nd half. Thought he did well overall and seems to be improving a lot.

 

[ti vu]

We have Tuanzebe. Lindelof isn't bad, but as Eddy said: money would have been better spent elsewhere. Seems like a pretty pointless signing at this point.

Tuanzebe had been impressive but clearly Lindelof is different profile that aims to improve our ability to initiate attack from the back. Tuanzebe can pass and can dribbling out of tight situation, but as far as I know, for him to fill that profile may take forever, even impossible. Sometimes it's about special talent and in this case, Lindelof has it. However, we definitely would like him to adapt quicker.

 

[dronesoul]

I maintain my view on Lindelof as Carrick version of the CB. The more he adapts to the team, the more quality he can show, and both are slow stater, career & each season.

I agree. He's supposedly have had slow starts in all clubs he's been new in. I wouldn't be surprised if he mimics Carrick on the pitch as well and gets moved up the pitch in the future, as a kind of a modern defender/DMF/regista hybrid, when he gets settled in and good enough. His feet are way too good for being wasted on a static CB role, and José has always valued good defensive players with very good feet. He's also hinted at Lindelöf's potential in multiple roles in interviews. I'm pretty sure this lad has a career in this club, I'm just not sure in what position yet.