You can rant and rave that Lindelof ain't good enough, how about some examples of who would be that would also be happy as 3rd choice
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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I read and comprehend pretty well and it looks like everyone else replying to you does too. We just disagree with your opinion.
Lindelof is a substitute so he isn't the "standard we're aiming for as a starter." I think he's okay as a backup/rotational player & 3rd/4th choice CB. If we got someone to come whos better, I'd be all for it.
Until we actually start competing for trophies again(EPL, CL), very few players of high quality will want to be sitting on the bench for the majority of games. Does Messi need a world class player waiting to take his spot in order to play his best? Why would our CBs need one?
As to your injury point, literally every team would be affected if their best player(s) got a long term injury. If Casemiro got a long term injury, we'd probably be even more screwed.
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Nottingham Forest 0:3 Man Utd
Should be our 3rd choice CB. A better fit stylistically than Maguire.
A couple of shakey moments in the first half but I thought he was solid otherwise and good on the ball.
Much improved after a dodgy first half at times.
Assuming he's first choice to replace varane whilst Shaw is first choice to replace Martinez
Seems like he's feeling much more confident about himself with a guy like Lisandro destroying attacks.
Chased players timely and made valid decisions.
Chased players timely and made valid decisions.
Lindelof surprised me by actually being decent when Forest had spells of looking dangerous. 
Credit to him. It wasn't easy and Forest had some good moments. Well done to him for coming through it without too many brain farts (although he still had the swinger in the first half that Licha bailed him out for).
Credit to him. It wasn't easy and Forest had some good moments. Well done to him for coming through it without too many brain farts (although he still had the swinger in the first half that Licha bailed him out for).
Saved by VAR, but that seemed to have worked as a wake up call for him and he did well from that point on. He is a decent back up, I just can't see Maguire starting ahead of him at any point.
Improved as the game went on after a very dodgy start. Having a very good CB in Martinez beside him helped him massively.
Good second half.
Good game in defence and also good with the ball. I’m a bit surprised how good Martinez and Lindelof sync after so few games together. Every time one pushed, the other covered and if one made a mistake or was overplayed, the other was there to clean up. And on the plus side they are both good in possession.
10/10
Thought he was shaky in the first half but had a really good second half.
Dodgy start to be expected as he hasn't played in a while. Grew into the game though and did well. Should be third choice ahead of Maguire.
Great game, assured, calm, composed.
After a bit of a dodgy start he was excellent in the second half. Among our best players yesterday. He even made a few dribbles and drove the ball forward. If he is satisfied with being a backup to Varane we should keep him to be honest.
Maguire is pretty much 5th choice now
Certainly on the upper levels of what you can hope to get from a Lindelof performance, but he wasnt that convincing in the first half.
Good enough performance to be first proper CB backup next time we need one though
Good enough performance to be first proper CB backup next time we need one though
Ropey start but grew into the game. Against weaker teams having two CB’s as good on the ball as him and Martinez is a nice option.
Proper shift. I realize some here would like to send Lindelof packing, but he’s perfectly adequate as a third choice CB once Maguire is sent packing.
Yep, if he's happy to be 3rd choice there aren't many better CBs that would be happy to play that role.
Good game and he's cemented himself as Varane's backup. They play a similar style and he's a decent player so it's an easy fit. He will get plenty of games as Varane isn't the most injury proof, and fixtures will come thick and fast across 4 competitions.
Who comes in for Martinez is more of a problem. Maguire is nothing like him and we lose a lot when he is out.
Who comes in for Martinez is more of a problem. Maguire is nothing like him and we lose a lot when he is out.
Shaw... For now at least.
Shaw.
I wonder if we would genuinely be okay to go with Shaw, Varane, Lindelof and Martinez as our CBs next season.
Would then have Malacia, Shaw, Dalot and AWB for the LB and RB spots. Could add Fernandez or Laird to the group.
Should be 4th choice behind dusty bin
Hope we find a better option than Lindelof as our 3rd CB option for next season, especially given Varane's injury record. I find Lindelof incredibly frustrating with his passive approach to defending (he's the very embodiment of a coaster). In addition to physicality, he lacks proactiveness and tends to coast along in games. He seems to have the ability to do better, but for some reason is content to take the easier route (more of a mentality issue I think). When an attacking player runs at Lindelof, he rarely ever tries to take the ball off but backs off till the attacker chooses to do whatever they please, pass or shoot (I know staying in front of attacker is basics of defending, but the point is he does that nearly all the time without any proactiveness to win the ball should an opportunity arise or if the team is in trouble). Its easy to contrast with someone like Licha next to him.
Even yesterday's game was a microcosm of his usual contributions. An air shot from a nothing cross, which Licha had to dig us out of trouble. Folks in this thread mention how he got better as the game went on, but bigger/better teams will put under spells of pressure and these sort of mistakes (in addition to his lack of proactiveness) will cost us. In big games if Varane is unavailable, I hope we will have someone better than Lindelof available next season.
Even yesterday's game was a microcosm of his usual contributions. An air shot from a nothing cross, which Licha had to dig us out of trouble. Folks in this thread mention how he got better as the game went on, but bigger/better teams will put under spells of pressure and these sort of mistakes (in addition to his lack of proactiveness) will cost us. In big games if Varane is unavailable, I hope we will have someone better than Lindelof available next season.
He would not make the starting 11 in any other Premier League team so if Varane was out for a sustained period I cannot see how anyone would be happy with him playing there.
That's BS, there would be a few PL clubs that would take him off our hands if the price and salary were right
That isn't what I have said though ..is it?
Nope that isn't what you said
So does a club taking him off our hands mean he would be a starting 11 player for them?
Don't see a PL club buying him as a back-up and why would he leave to be a back-up somewhere else
Gives me heart palpitations every time he plays - physically too weak, not quick enough and not aggressive enough. Alright for a back up, but if we need him to play for an extended period we'll concede a lot.
City aside that applies to pretty much any other PL team
I don't rate him at all and accept him staying here only because we have more important priorities and replacements
A PL club won't be buying him and that is the point.
No point going back and forth so we will just see if he goes on the market in the foreseeable future and where the interest comes from and you or I can give this a bump.
That’s right, any of the bottom 3 teams would be perfect
I think we have a good choice of centrebacks available. Happy to have Lindelof in the mix. Strength in depth in this key position is helpful.
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