I actually don't mind Ray Parlour, he always comes across as a pretty nice guy. Wilkins is patronizing.
Victor Lindelöf | Officially signs
- Thread starter Zoo
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
The spluttered laughter from the recorder at the end got me.
Wilkins is also one of those, 'You weren't a footballer, so you know nothing' brigade. That has cropped up a lot in his broadcasts.
Also Our academy Graduates go on to build a good careers, How many players from our academies are playing in other clubs on good levels. Danny Drinkwater Epl champ Last season, Keane who's stock rose tremendously, Joshua King Had a great year,Shawcross, Blackett Mcnair to name a few.
Just to add to what @SCP said about catching the Benfica-Munich game, I believe Lewandowski said Lindelöf and his CB partner were amongst the toughest CB duos he's faced that year after said match.
No one expects City to field English players, they always just have the minimum sitting on the bench to meet the quota. United are, because we always have. No one cares about what City do anyway.
The others in the studio know what he's saying is bullshit but yet he keeps getting paid to spout such nonsense?
Maybe he is the English version of Eamon Dunphy?
The British version of Dunphy is Souness
That has to be the most ill informed, biased and derogatory load of bollocks I have ever heard come out of a supposed football pundits mouth.
Lindelof has done nothing!? Portuguese league winner, Euro U21 winner and 12 caps for Sweden at 22! Michael Keane's biggest achievement is helping Burnley stay in the Premier league
Lindelof has done nothing!? Portuguese league winner, Euro U21 winner and 12 caps for Sweden at 22! Michael Keane's biggest achievement is helping Burnley stay in the Premier league
I was thinking along the lines of them both being CMs rather than playing styles, but really it's just a daft bit of fun.
Lindelof has done nothing...hasn't he just won the league in Portugal?
Yep.
And what's Keane done? Scrapped a survival finish with Burnley
Wilkins what a twat
"He's done nothing, absolutely nothing. While young Keane has just had a terrific season at Burnley". Brilliant.
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Should deffo say yes to a bit of fun!
Good read, hope in pans out - from that he sounds like the Rio to Baily's Vidic.
Pretty excited about this one. Jose has been great with center backs, both signing them and coaching them. Bailly was a great coup (I'd known of him and liked him in Spain), but have seen much less of Lindelof admittedly. I have a Swedish mate and he said basically what's been echoed in here that he's very good on the ball but he said a little weak in the air which is a bit of a concern given that isn't Bailly's strong point. He said he's sort of like Blind but better in every area apart from creativity and obviously a much higher ceiling.
It was Jardel, a brasilian who spent most of this season injured, another detail I now remember that might explain a little maybe some fall on performance away at Besiktas, Napoli or Dortmund, was that this season Benfica had a lot of injuries and his main partner this season was Luisão who is nearing the end of his carrer.
Also I am not sure if Lindelof had to switch his position this season to play alongside Luisao or Lisandro, but that might be better explained by Benfica posters.
Regarding the defensive line against Bayern, even Guardiola praised that on a book written by a Spanish journo, this year they couldn't do the same, but the Champions each year is more inequal, even a team like Napoli who plays great football cannot do much against teams like Real, and nobody is going to say Koulibally is average because they suffered 6 goals against Madrid.
No wonder Mou cannot stand these clowns in the media. Listen to Wilkins spout his deluded nationalistic nonsense.
You'd think they would have learned after Marco Silva made them all look like the mugs they are.
You'd think they would have learned after Marco Silva made them all look like the mugs they are.
Gets paid to speak shit like this. Sad world.
I still really rate Rojo by the way. I hope we don't just boot him into touch, assuming Lindelof is any good that is.
He is the white Paul Parker.
Who the feck is Michael Keane again? What has he won? What has he done? Lindelof has won multiple titles in Portugal, the u-21 Euro's, and has Champions League experience. But I guess keeping Burnley in the league with a mighty 16th place finish means he's proven and Lindelof isn't...
"When it's a player from Europe the price always starts with a 3" Nah get fecked , has he forgotten about Shaw, Stones, Sterling, Carroll etc English players are by far the most overpriced. If Keane was from anywhere else he'd cost about £15m.
Stealing our jobs...
Tbh I do not really know too much about him. What I read sounds great though. Could be a great Partner for Bailly and our new ballplaying CB.
Although I have to say Blind and Rojo both did a good Job as well.
Although I have to say Blind and Rojo both did a good Job as well.
Ray Wilkins probably had a problem with Thierry Henry joining Sky, when there were plenty of other perfectly solid English pundits not getting a look in.
Strange point for Wilkins to make. Surely it's the homegrown players who are the most overpriced, as quality is in such short supply.
It's like Eric Bailly didn't happen
That is ridiculous. Think the more common view is why is English talent so overpriced?
Showed real ignorance about what Lindelof has done in his career too.
Very happy with this transfer, it has the potential to turn out really well. Still remains to see how well Victor can adapt to PL, but I think he has all the tools for it. He has had quite a rocket career lately, only 2 years ago he came close to leaving Benfica and move home to Sweden, but Benfica opted to offer him a senior contract in the end and he stayed. His break-through came largely through happen-chance due to injuries but he quickly cemented his place in the Benfica defence. Has added alot to the Swedish national team and looked like he will ahve no problem to take over from previous Swedish defending "greats".
He won't start Sweden's game tonight against Norway, and hopefully he won't feature at all. Don't want any last minute injury to mess up this transfer.
He won't start Sweden's game tonight against Norway, and hopefully he won't feature at all. Don't want any last minute injury to mess up this transfer.
I think in that context he meant done nothing in the Premier League, whereas Keane is an experienced PL defender
It's still a shit stupid point and I'm not defending him, but I think that's what he meant by it
That's racist
No way... some of my best friends are white...
TBF Milan supporters probably said the same about him and they were right. He was quite shit at AC Milan.
I'm not surprised by those Wilkins comments. I'm sure they stemmed from a belief that Johnny foreigner is to blame for England's lack of success or the general absent of British coaches at the bigger clubs.
This is indicative of the blame culture surrounding the sport in this country; England always "under perform" and our coaches are never given a fair shot. It's easier to play the blame game than to look in the mirror.
This is indicative of the blame culture surrounding the sport in this country; England always "under perform" and our coaches are never given a fair shot. It's easier to play the blame game than to look in the mirror.
Fantastic article by Jan Hagen who really knows his Portuguese football.
(Google translate though)
The date is January 23, 2016. On the table in front, Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira has an offer from Middlesbrough who wants to loan their Swedish B-team player Victor Lindelöf. The Swede is lucky for a possible transition to the Championship, but the offer is greatly improved compared to the loan offer they received only a few days in advance. Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka is very interested in 21-year-old and the deal can be quite lucrative if the boosting club were to activate Sweden's 3 million euro buy-out clause plus potential bonuses. In that case it would be a multitude of what the club paid Västerås back in 2012 for the defender, which after all only stands for 28 minutes Primeira League football.
This was thus Victor Lindelöf's situation for only a year and a half. After over three years of B-team football and only sporadic chances in the cup, Lindelöf's Benfica career could be over before it had all started properly. The reason we never saw the versatile Swede wearing Middlesbrough costume was that only days after the Teesside club's last offer, it was a good deal in a duel between Lisandro López and Moreirense Emmanuel Boateng. The Argentine midfielder was suffering from severe pain in the left thigh, which later proved to be a real muscle injury. With the team's captain, Luisão, out with a broken arm, Victor Lindelöf was the only alternative from the bench. The Swedish did their best in a match Benfica eventually won 4-1. Without knowing the extent of López's injury and with Luisão still out, Benfica did not dare to leave Lindelöf leave the club. Especially not with an extremely important O Clássico and eight-finals in the Champions League just a few weeks away.
The road from reserve team football and almost Championship games to the double series championship and Manchester United transition have been long, crooked and characterized by a lot of coincidences with Victor Lindelöf.
The Young player debuted at senior level already at the age of 16 in 2010 when he helped the mother club Västerås to raise to Superettan. Although it ended with the downturn the following season, young Lindelöf impressed greatly from his back position.
Several big clubs got their eyes up for the big talent, but it was eventually Benfica who finished the 17-year signature in January 2012. A somewhat untraditional club choice for a young Scandinavian, but it also says a lot about Lindelöf's mentality. 17 years old, he chose to remove all the safe for games in Portugal. Unggutten could easily have chosen a Swedish top club, but as he himself has stated, neither the resources nor the training facility at Benfica can be compared to anything in Sweden. Family, friends and games in Sweden's top divisions were exchanged with the million city of Lisbon, where he neither knew anyone nor could the language and the way to fast first-team play was long. Very long.
For Lindelöf, there was only development that was in the center and this has been the case since. Development, development, development. The ability to adapt to any situation and extreme professionalism are perhaps the qualities that best describe "Vigge".
The following summer, young Lindelöf moved to Lisbon. With the exception of a Frenchman, a Croatian and a Chinese, the Swede practiced and converted exclusively with players with Portuguese or Spanish as native speakers. It was a very honorable exception, however. Robert Mirosavic, another Swedish young man, also took the trip to Benfica that summer, and it probably made the transition a lot easier for the 17-year-old rightback.
Unlike his Swedish teammate, Lindelöf quickly established himself on the club's reserve team, where he was a permanent fixture in the spring season, and attended Benfica's A team. There he made a try against players like Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola, Nico Gaitán and Óscar Cardozo.
Although the first-team debut came the following season, in a cup match against Cinfães from level three, it was first and foremost on reserve team Victor Lindelöf to mark. He quickly got the nickname "Iceman" by coaches and teammates for his immense calmness, both on and off the pitch, and established himself as an important piece on the club's B team. Even though Portuguese reserve team football may not sound very attractive, Benfica B play on level two in Portugal. Segunda League is known as very tough and physical, but it was a relationship that Lindelöf enjoyed very well.
Towards the end of the season he also got a jump in an insignificant away fight against Porto in the last series round. Although the championship had already been decided, the total 120 minutes of first-team football made that season that the Swede, at the age of nineteen years, could crown both the Cup and Serie champion with Benfica.
2014/15 season after Lindelöf got more matches with first team Benfica's driveway. He trained with the A team throughout the season, but he still got only one minute's first-team football that year, compared with 120 the previous year. It was obviously disappointing for the young Swede, but as one of the reserve team creators, Lindelöf was a hard man to call for B team manager Hélder Cristóvão. Benfica B finished the sixth season, with Lindelöf as captain in several of the matches, only four points behind the first place.
Under-21 triumph
Summer 2015 was a big step in the right direction for Victor Lindelöf. Even though the season before had given minimal first-team football, Benfica had no doubts about renewing the contract to Sweden with five new years. Lindelöf had proved himself a very useful and versatile player for the team's B team, where he had shown great skills such as right back, defensive midfielder and not least, Central defender.
Although he had captured the captain of the Swedish U21 national team on several occasions, the Benfica player was not taken to the U21 European Championship this summer. Only a late injury ensured that Lindelöf finally got to travel to the Czech Republic. There he impressed greatly from his right back position, was taken on the tournament's team and scored the crucial 4-3 penalty in the penalty shootout when Sweden beat Portugal and several of Lindelöf's teammates from Benfica in the final.
Sweden's position on the first team improved considerably over the summer and he was now considered the club's fourth choice at the back, behind Captain Luisão, Jardel and Lisandro López. Although the chances of the A team lost before Christmas, Lindelöf was determined to fight for a place in the starting lineup. There many wanted to get a loan agreement - Lindelöf was at last 21 years old at this time and fixed first-team football still seemed a bit out of reach - did not stress Swedish. One of the stresses of his then agent Per Jonsson was that his client had to leave the Lisbon club soon. Lindelöf himself was never in doubt that he was going through Benfica, the question was just when it was going to happen.
The breakthrough
The answer to that question is eleven days in mid February 2016. As mentioned above, there was a crisis in Benfica. Luisão and Lisandro López were out injured and O Clássico and eight-finals in the Champions League were approaching storm storms. The transfer window was closed so Benfica had no choice but to trust Swedish Victor Lindelöf. On February 5, 2016, Lindelöf finally got his first league match, after three and a half years in the club and 99 reserve teams, when Benfica planned over Bivalenses 5-0 byrival. Lindelöf did his business well, but Benfica's next opponent was of a completely different caliber. In a very smooth and tough battle on Estádio da Luz, Porto was able to beat all the points in a 2-1 win. Lindelöf could not be blamed for any of the goals, but the loss ensured that the bitter city rivals Sporting took over the first place from Benfica
Just four days later Zenit was waiting in the 8th final in the Champions League. Benfica fans were still unsure of the level of their newly-paired pair Jardel and Lindelöf, but the brained Brazilian and, in particular, the young Swede delivered a great game and made sure that Benfica held zero in their 1-0 triumph against the Russians.
In the following weeks, Victor Lindelöf delivered several major achievements, and perhaps the very best in two extremely tough outfits against Sporting, in an almost title-winning match like Benfica, and in return for Zenit, which sent Benfica to the quarterfinals.
The hard-working Swede had really got his breakthrough at Portugal's most talented level and his good performances kept club legend and captain Luisão out of the team after his return from injury. With Victor Lindelöf as a very important contributor, Benfica won 14 of his last 15 league matches and eventually crowned himself to Tri-campeões (series champion three years in a row) following a fierce series of inspiration against cityrival Sporting.
Lindelöf's humble attitude, huge effort and ball-playing style fell quickly in taste among the club's passionate supporters, and the Swede quickly became a favorite at Estádio da Luz. Lindelöf brought much more peace into Benfica's rear row than Lisandro López did and he was far better off to distribute the ball and launch an attack than Luisão was. He and Jardel eventually developed a very good chemistry between them and impressed, among others, Bayern Munich's superstriker Robert Lewandowski, who stated after the team's first match last year's Champions League quarterfinal that Benfica's Central defenders were the best he had met last year.
After Lindelöf's entry into the team, Benfica won 20 out of 23 possible matches (victory rate of 87), the team held zero in ten of the matches and only scored 15 goals in total (0.65 goals per match). By comparison, Benfica, without Lindelöf on the team, had a victory rate of 69 and an average of 0.97 goals per match that year.
After a disappointing autumn season, Victor Lindelöf was able to look back on the best months of his professional career in the summer of 2016. After his first league start in February, there was only one way. Up. Debut and quarter-final in the Champions League, league champion, league champion, A national team debut and solid place at Sweden's EM team in France. All in just five months.
After a summer full of transitions, Victor Lindelöf returned to Benfica's training facility in Seixal at the end of July. The Swede was ready for a new season with the red from Lisbon and was early on killing all the rumors about a transition away. Not because there was no interest, but the Swede had enough self-understanding to understand that a transition to a bigger club, in a tougher league, after only half a year with first-team football, would be madness.
This year's season is hardly back for Lindelöf's first at Benfica's A team. Although the club experienced some disappointing collapses in the Champions League (2-4 tap against Naples, dropped 0-3 away from Besiktas to 3-3, and 0-4 away towards Dortmund in the eighth finale), the 22-year-old Swede and His teammates look back at a very good season. The season started with the Super Cup title, after the sinking of Braga, before it was terminated with Benfica's fourth league team in a row and cup title, completing the Lisbon triple triple triple.
Europe's most exciting back four.
Achievementally, Lindelöf was probably chopped in the formidable 2015/16 season. He has certainly delivered very solid this year, but his partnership with Luisão has not been as fruitful as the partnership with something more moving Jardel. Not a bad word about Luisão, one of the biggest in Portuguese football over the years, but the 36-year-old Benfica captain has really lived up to his nickname "O Girafa" (the giraffe) this year and it may not have been easy to be his partner this season.
Removed from the slightly awkward Benfica veteran, Lindelöf has been part of Europe's perhaps most exciting defense series this season with Manchester City ready Ederson in goal, Barcelona and Manchester United-linked Nélson Semedo and former La Masia product Álex Grimaldo on each back.
Nor did raging Benfica set up with Lindelöf's mother club, Västerås, midway out this season made things easier for the Swede. The Lisbon club tried to expel Västerås, which has worn a lot with the economy, from its resale clause. The clubs argued for several months over this clause, which should actually have been one of the reasons that a move for the 22-year-old to Manchester United stranded in January. After a lot of media prolongation, the clubs finally agreed and Benfica agreed to pay Lindelöf's old club ten percent at a possible transition. There is money that will be worth gold for Västerås if the move to Manchester United is completed as expected.
In isolation, since his league defeat in February 2016, Victor Lindelöf has probably been the best central defender in the Portuguese league for the past 16 months. He has taken Portuguese football by storm and there has been broad consensus amongst those who follow Primeira Liga that Sweden is ready for major tasks. Right from the start, the 22-year-old has demonstrated historical calm, both with and without the ball in the legs, and the ability to raise his level to the current standard. He has impressed a lot in the home series, but it was first and foremost during last year's Champions League final game that Lindelöf really showed what qualities he lives in. Just weeks after his first league start for the club, the Swede had to get into the star galleries for both Zenit and Bayern Munich. His task was glossy, although Benfica had to look torn by the German champions in the quarterfinals.
Lindelöf will fit into the vast majority of formations and playing styles, but his features are most useful in a team that likes to dominate matches. The Swede is a modern and ball-playing stopping type that often takes the ball forward into the track to find good fit options. The 22-year-old, in attempting to launch an attack, often passes both first and second squad before he finds a fellow player and it has helped to make him a much sought after stop.
On the number of passes per match (62) and passport safety (90 percent), Sweden is the top three of all players in the Portuguese league this season. In the Premier League, only Nicolás Otamendi (65 passes per match / 88 percent hit safety) and César Azpilicueta (65 passes per match / 87 percent hit safety) of the stops can refer to similar numbers. None of Manchester United's current stoppers did not have as many passes per match or as high a percentage as our Swedish friend. In addition to the enormous care qualities and technical skills, Lindelöf also impresses with his physics and tactical assessments.
The training product Lindelöf
Victor Lindelöf is first and foremost a product of extreme fitness and hard work. Since the arrival in 2012, he has spent a lot of pounds of muscles but still able to keep a lot of his speed, making him extremely difficult to pass one-on-one. The 22-year-old reads the game with simplicity, often positions itself correctly and never stresses on the pitch. He is therefore rarely forced to throw himself into tackles, as reflected by his five yellow cards on 73 first-day performances for Benfica.
With another former Primeira League striker in Manchester United, it is natural to compare Marcos Rojo, who captured 27 yellow and five red cards of 62 matches in his time at Cityrival Sporting. Now it is said that the two are each other's opposites. Where Lindelöf has used tactical wisdom to ward off, Rojo often had to resort to illegality to correct his own positioning mistakes. Also personally speaking, they are quite different. Marcos Rojo has a very rough play style and a huge temperament, while Lindelöf, through great calm, mastery and without having to say so much, oozes class and authority. He is simply a leader.
Lindelöf has shown enormous professionalism and great loyalty to the club over several tough years. Not a bad word, the Swedish has said about Benfica despite years with few chances at the first team, agent failures, months of transitional rebounds and the Lisbon club's unpleasant attempt to extort the Swedish mother club. Instead of giving up for agent talk and press about club change in January 2016, he also changed agent. Until recently, literally, the young Swede has been loyal to the club. Just hours before Manchester United announced that they had agreed with Benfica for the Swedish striker, Victor Lindelöf refused to say anything but how well he thrives in the Portuguese capital club.
Victor Lindelöf is not a world-class stopper. Not yet. But the potential of being there is certainly present. The 22-year-old already holds a very high, stable level and has no clear weaknesses. Of course, he could have been more targetable on offensive deathballs, but defensively and in the build-up game, there are few at Victor Lindelöf's age that matches him. He has also won good skies from former Manchester United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic who earlier this year stated that his former national team would be happy to take a transition to a bigger club.
Many were unsure whether Marcos Rojo had what it takes to perform for a top club like Manchester United. He was far from any dominant figure in the Portuguese league and several were skeptical about his club change in 2014. It is not the case with Victor Lindelöf. From day one, as a permanent fixture on Benfica's first team, the down-to-earth Swedes have impressed and demonstrated international cuts. You will be looking long for someone who has seen Benfica regularly over the past year, who thinks that the 22 year old is not ready for major tasks.
When a player like Lindelöf, whose development has been in the center throughout his career, has agreed to a transition to a bigger club in a better league, it is carefully thought out. If an agreement were to go through it is because the Swede believes he is good enough and if the 22-year-old believes he is ready for a club exchange, there is every reason to believe that is also the case. The Swedish national star has the qualities, skills and mentality to succeed in the Premier League. If Lindelöf get time and manage to find his place in the team, Manchester United will have a captain's topic and one of Europe's best stops between hands for many years to come. And then the 35 million euros invested in Victor Lindelöf summer 2017 will be called a bargain.
Today, both "Vigge" and Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira are pleased that the loan transfer to Middlesbrough never went through. Then Lindelöf had hardly left with a double series championship, solid national team and a record transfer to Manchester United today.
(Google translate though)
The date is January 23, 2016. On the table in front, Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira has an offer from Middlesbrough who wants to loan their Swedish B-team player Victor Lindelöf. The Swede is lucky for a possible transition to the Championship, but the offer is greatly improved compared to the loan offer they received only a few days in advance. Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka is very interested in 21-year-old and the deal can be quite lucrative if the boosting club were to activate Sweden's 3 million euro buy-out clause plus potential bonuses. In that case it would be a multitude of what the club paid Västerås back in 2012 for the defender, which after all only stands for 28 minutes Primeira League football.
This was thus Victor Lindelöf's situation for only a year and a half. After over three years of B-team football and only sporadic chances in the cup, Lindelöf's Benfica career could be over before it had all started properly. The reason we never saw the versatile Swede wearing Middlesbrough costume was that only days after the Teesside club's last offer, it was a good deal in a duel between Lisandro López and Moreirense Emmanuel Boateng. The Argentine midfielder was suffering from severe pain in the left thigh, which later proved to be a real muscle injury. With the team's captain, Luisão, out with a broken arm, Victor Lindelöf was the only alternative from the bench. The Swedish did their best in a match Benfica eventually won 4-1. Without knowing the extent of López's injury and with Luisão still out, Benfica did not dare to leave Lindelöf leave the club. Especially not with an extremely important O Clássico and eight-finals in the Champions League just a few weeks away.
The road from reserve team football and almost Championship games to the double series championship and Manchester United transition have been long, crooked and characterized by a lot of coincidences with Victor Lindelöf.
The Young player debuted at senior level already at the age of 16 in 2010 when he helped the mother club Västerås to raise to Superettan. Although it ended with the downturn the following season, young Lindelöf impressed greatly from his back position.
Several big clubs got their eyes up for the big talent, but it was eventually Benfica who finished the 17-year signature in January 2012. A somewhat untraditional club choice for a young Scandinavian, but it also says a lot about Lindelöf's mentality. 17 years old, he chose to remove all the safe for games in Portugal. Unggutten could easily have chosen a Swedish top club, but as he himself has stated, neither the resources nor the training facility at Benfica can be compared to anything in Sweden. Family, friends and games in Sweden's top divisions were exchanged with the million city of Lisbon, where he neither knew anyone nor could the language and the way to fast first-team play was long. Very long.
For Lindelöf, there was only development that was in the center and this has been the case since. Development, development, development. The ability to adapt to any situation and extreme professionalism are perhaps the qualities that best describe "Vigge".
The following summer, young Lindelöf moved to Lisbon. With the exception of a Frenchman, a Croatian and a Chinese, the Swede practiced and converted exclusively with players with Portuguese or Spanish as native speakers. It was a very honorable exception, however. Robert Mirosavic, another Swedish young man, also took the trip to Benfica that summer, and it probably made the transition a lot easier for the 17-year-old rightback.
Unlike his Swedish teammate, Lindelöf quickly established himself on the club's reserve team, where he was a permanent fixture in the spring season, and attended Benfica's A team. There he made a try against players like Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola, Nico Gaitán and Óscar Cardozo.
Although the first-team debut came the following season, in a cup match against Cinfães from level three, it was first and foremost on reserve team Victor Lindelöf to mark. He quickly got the nickname "Iceman" by coaches and teammates for his immense calmness, both on and off the pitch, and established himself as an important piece on the club's B team. Even though Portuguese reserve team football may not sound very attractive, Benfica B play on level two in Portugal. Segunda League is known as very tough and physical, but it was a relationship that Lindelöf enjoyed very well.
Towards the end of the season he also got a jump in an insignificant away fight against Porto in the last series round. Although the championship had already been decided, the total 120 minutes of first-team football made that season that the Swede, at the age of nineteen years, could crown both the Cup and Serie champion with Benfica.
2014/15 season after Lindelöf got more matches with first team Benfica's driveway. He trained with the A team throughout the season, but he still got only one minute's first-team football that year, compared with 120 the previous year. It was obviously disappointing for the young Swede, but as one of the reserve team creators, Lindelöf was a hard man to call for B team manager Hélder Cristóvão. Benfica B finished the sixth season, with Lindelöf as captain in several of the matches, only four points behind the first place.
Under-21 triumph
Summer 2015 was a big step in the right direction for Victor Lindelöf. Even though the season before had given minimal first-team football, Benfica had no doubts about renewing the contract to Sweden with five new years. Lindelöf had proved himself a very useful and versatile player for the team's B team, where he had shown great skills such as right back, defensive midfielder and not least, Central defender.
Although he had captured the captain of the Swedish U21 national team on several occasions, the Benfica player was not taken to the U21 European Championship this summer. Only a late injury ensured that Lindelöf finally got to travel to the Czech Republic. There he impressed greatly from his right back position, was taken on the tournament's team and scored the crucial 4-3 penalty in the penalty shootout when Sweden beat Portugal and several of Lindelöf's teammates from Benfica in the final.
Sweden's position on the first team improved considerably over the summer and he was now considered the club's fourth choice at the back, behind Captain Luisão, Jardel and Lisandro López. Although the chances of the A team lost before Christmas, Lindelöf was determined to fight for a place in the starting lineup. There many wanted to get a loan agreement - Lindelöf was at last 21 years old at this time and fixed first-team football still seemed a bit out of reach - did not stress Swedish. One of the stresses of his then agent Per Jonsson was that his client had to leave the Lisbon club soon. Lindelöf himself was never in doubt that he was going through Benfica, the question was just when it was going to happen.
The breakthrough
The answer to that question is eleven days in mid February 2016. As mentioned above, there was a crisis in Benfica. Luisão and Lisandro López were out injured and O Clássico and eight-finals in the Champions League were approaching storm storms. The transfer window was closed so Benfica had no choice but to trust Swedish Victor Lindelöf. On February 5, 2016, Lindelöf finally got his first league match, after three and a half years in the club and 99 reserve teams, when Benfica planned over Bivalenses 5-0 byrival. Lindelöf did his business well, but Benfica's next opponent was of a completely different caliber. In a very smooth and tough battle on Estádio da Luz, Porto was able to beat all the points in a 2-1 win. Lindelöf could not be blamed for any of the goals, but the loss ensured that the bitter city rivals Sporting took over the first place from Benfica
Just four days later Zenit was waiting in the 8th final in the Champions League. Benfica fans were still unsure of the level of their newly-paired pair Jardel and Lindelöf, but the brained Brazilian and, in particular, the young Swede delivered a great game and made sure that Benfica held zero in their 1-0 triumph against the Russians.
In the following weeks, Victor Lindelöf delivered several major achievements, and perhaps the very best in two extremely tough outfits against Sporting, in an almost title-winning match like Benfica, and in return for Zenit, which sent Benfica to the quarterfinals.
The hard-working Swede had really got his breakthrough at Portugal's most talented level and his good performances kept club legend and captain Luisão out of the team after his return from injury. With Victor Lindelöf as a very important contributor, Benfica won 14 of his last 15 league matches and eventually crowned himself to Tri-campeões (series champion three years in a row) following a fierce series of inspiration against cityrival Sporting.
Lindelöf's humble attitude, huge effort and ball-playing style fell quickly in taste among the club's passionate supporters, and the Swede quickly became a favorite at Estádio da Luz. Lindelöf brought much more peace into Benfica's rear row than Lisandro López did and he was far better off to distribute the ball and launch an attack than Luisão was. He and Jardel eventually developed a very good chemistry between them and impressed, among others, Bayern Munich's superstriker Robert Lewandowski, who stated after the team's first match last year's Champions League quarterfinal that Benfica's Central defenders were the best he had met last year.
After Lindelöf's entry into the team, Benfica won 20 out of 23 possible matches (victory rate of 87), the team held zero in ten of the matches and only scored 15 goals in total (0.65 goals per match). By comparison, Benfica, without Lindelöf on the team, had a victory rate of 69 and an average of 0.97 goals per match that year.
After a disappointing autumn season, Victor Lindelöf was able to look back on the best months of his professional career in the summer of 2016. After his first league start in February, there was only one way. Up. Debut and quarter-final in the Champions League, league champion, league champion, A national team debut and solid place at Sweden's EM team in France. All in just five months.
After a summer full of transitions, Victor Lindelöf returned to Benfica's training facility in Seixal at the end of July. The Swede was ready for a new season with the red from Lisbon and was early on killing all the rumors about a transition away. Not because there was no interest, but the Swede had enough self-understanding to understand that a transition to a bigger club, in a tougher league, after only half a year with first-team football, would be madness.
This year's season is hardly back for Lindelöf's first at Benfica's A team. Although the club experienced some disappointing collapses in the Champions League (2-4 tap against Naples, dropped 0-3 away from Besiktas to 3-3, and 0-4 away towards Dortmund in the eighth finale), the 22-year-old Swede and His teammates look back at a very good season. The season started with the Super Cup title, after the sinking of Braga, before it was terminated with Benfica's fourth league team in a row and cup title, completing the Lisbon triple triple triple.
Europe's most exciting back four.
Achievementally, Lindelöf was probably chopped in the formidable 2015/16 season. He has certainly delivered very solid this year, but his partnership with Luisão has not been as fruitful as the partnership with something more moving Jardel. Not a bad word about Luisão, one of the biggest in Portuguese football over the years, but the 36-year-old Benfica captain has really lived up to his nickname "O Girafa" (the giraffe) this year and it may not have been easy to be his partner this season.
Removed from the slightly awkward Benfica veteran, Lindelöf has been part of Europe's perhaps most exciting defense series this season with Manchester City ready Ederson in goal, Barcelona and Manchester United-linked Nélson Semedo and former La Masia product Álex Grimaldo on each back.
Nor did raging Benfica set up with Lindelöf's mother club, Västerås, midway out this season made things easier for the Swede. The Lisbon club tried to expel Västerås, which has worn a lot with the economy, from its resale clause. The clubs argued for several months over this clause, which should actually have been one of the reasons that a move for the 22-year-old to Manchester United stranded in January. After a lot of media prolongation, the clubs finally agreed and Benfica agreed to pay Lindelöf's old club ten percent at a possible transition. There is money that will be worth gold for Västerås if the move to Manchester United is completed as expected.
In isolation, since his league defeat in February 2016, Victor Lindelöf has probably been the best central defender in the Portuguese league for the past 16 months. He has taken Portuguese football by storm and there has been broad consensus amongst those who follow Primeira Liga that Sweden is ready for major tasks. Right from the start, the 22-year-old has demonstrated historical calm, both with and without the ball in the legs, and the ability to raise his level to the current standard. He has impressed a lot in the home series, but it was first and foremost during last year's Champions League final game that Lindelöf really showed what qualities he lives in. Just weeks after his first league start for the club, the Swede had to get into the star galleries for both Zenit and Bayern Munich. His task was glossy, although Benfica had to look torn by the German champions in the quarterfinals.
Lindelöf will fit into the vast majority of formations and playing styles, but his features are most useful in a team that likes to dominate matches. The Swede is a modern and ball-playing stopping type that often takes the ball forward into the track to find good fit options. The 22-year-old, in attempting to launch an attack, often passes both first and second squad before he finds a fellow player and it has helped to make him a much sought after stop.
On the number of passes per match (62) and passport safety (90 percent), Sweden is the top three of all players in the Portuguese league this season. In the Premier League, only Nicolás Otamendi (65 passes per match / 88 percent hit safety) and César Azpilicueta (65 passes per match / 87 percent hit safety) of the stops can refer to similar numbers. None of Manchester United's current stoppers did not have as many passes per match or as high a percentage as our Swedish friend. In addition to the enormous care qualities and technical skills, Lindelöf also impresses with his physics and tactical assessments.
The training product Lindelöf
Victor Lindelöf is first and foremost a product of extreme fitness and hard work. Since the arrival in 2012, he has spent a lot of pounds of muscles but still able to keep a lot of his speed, making him extremely difficult to pass one-on-one. The 22-year-old reads the game with simplicity, often positions itself correctly and never stresses on the pitch. He is therefore rarely forced to throw himself into tackles, as reflected by his five yellow cards on 73 first-day performances for Benfica.
With another former Primeira League striker in Manchester United, it is natural to compare Marcos Rojo, who captured 27 yellow and five red cards of 62 matches in his time at Cityrival Sporting. Now it is said that the two are each other's opposites. Where Lindelöf has used tactical wisdom to ward off, Rojo often had to resort to illegality to correct his own positioning mistakes. Also personally speaking, they are quite different. Marcos Rojo has a very rough play style and a huge temperament, while Lindelöf, through great calm, mastery and without having to say so much, oozes class and authority. He is simply a leader.
Lindelöf has shown enormous professionalism and great loyalty to the club over several tough years. Not a bad word, the Swedish has said about Benfica despite years with few chances at the first team, agent failures, months of transitional rebounds and the Lisbon club's unpleasant attempt to extort the Swedish mother club. Instead of giving up for agent talk and press about club change in January 2016, he also changed agent. Until recently, literally, the young Swede has been loyal to the club. Just hours before Manchester United announced that they had agreed with Benfica for the Swedish striker, Victor Lindelöf refused to say anything but how well he thrives in the Portuguese capital club.
Victor Lindelöf is not a world-class stopper. Not yet. But the potential of being there is certainly present. The 22-year-old already holds a very high, stable level and has no clear weaknesses. Of course, he could have been more targetable on offensive deathballs, but defensively and in the build-up game, there are few at Victor Lindelöf's age that matches him. He has also won good skies from former Manchester United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic who earlier this year stated that his former national team would be happy to take a transition to a bigger club.
Many were unsure whether Marcos Rojo had what it takes to perform for a top club like Manchester United. He was far from any dominant figure in the Portuguese league and several were skeptical about his club change in 2014. It is not the case with Victor Lindelöf. From day one, as a permanent fixture on Benfica's first team, the down-to-earth Swedes have impressed and demonstrated international cuts. You will be looking long for someone who has seen Benfica regularly over the past year, who thinks that the 22 year old is not ready for major tasks.
When a player like Lindelöf, whose development has been in the center throughout his career, has agreed to a transition to a bigger club in a better league, it is carefully thought out. If an agreement were to go through it is because the Swede believes he is good enough and if the 22-year-old believes he is ready for a club exchange, there is every reason to believe that is also the case. The Swedish national star has the qualities, skills and mentality to succeed in the Premier League. If Lindelöf get time and manage to find his place in the team, Manchester United will have a captain's topic and one of Europe's best stops between hands for many years to come. And then the 35 million euros invested in Victor Lindelöf summer 2017 will be called a bargain.
Today, both "Vigge" and Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira are pleased that the loan transfer to Middlesbrough never went through. Then Lindelöf had hardly left with a double series championship, solid national team and a record transfer to Manchester United today.
Got cancer from even reading the first paragraph. Thanks but no thanks.
Your loss.