I personally thought Smalling got too excited. Sometimes he feels he should win everything, but that was on Blind's side. Had Smalling been in his position, he intercepts the cross from Eriksen, in my opinion.
Smalling & Blind Partnership
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
I personally thought Smalling got too excited. Sometimes he feels he should win everything, but that was on Blind's side. Had Smalling been in his position, he intercepts the cross from Eriksen, in my opinion.
For a team which is negatively set up, you have to really look at these two as a reason we ship so many goals.
It's clearly not a world class, but we still have conceded the second fewest in the league. For me, the main problems are further forward on the pitch.
They are not being helped out attacking wise at all. They are working over time because they know if we concede one, no way in hell we're gonna get back into the game. Least of our worries at the moment.
Because we have two defensive midfielders who don't transition the ball at all, or rarely with any speed and tenacity. On the subject of Blind I still feel that Smalling plays his game like he's babysitting him, maybe that is directive from Van Gaal or not. I think that is why they have been quite poor in my opinion. Conceding the least or not.
We have the second best defensive record in the league and I know this is cushioned by the fact we play such a negative style where our midfield rarely bombs on to support the forwards, but the burgeoning partnership between Blind and Smalling shouldn't be undervalued, they have been one of the success stories of a crappy season.
If Jose comes in, in the summer it will be interesting to see what he does, the general consensus is that he wont fancy Blind as a CB but will he want to break up a partnership that has grown into a very solid defensive duo? I don't doubt he'll want a CB bought as we have limited cover, but I do wonder if he'll opt for a squad CB rather than a starter.
If Jose comes in, in the summer it will be interesting to see what he does, the general consensus is that he wont fancy Blind as a CB but will he want to break up a partnership that has grown into a very solid defensive duo? I don't doubt he'll want a CB bought as we have limited cover, but I do wonder if he'll opt for a squad CB rather than a starter.
Jose will feck blind off onto the bench, because he's not a complete idiot.
I'd consider changing it when we've fixed our attacking woes and start leaking more goals but at the minute we're 2nd in goals conceded and 10th in goals scored - we've scored one more than Bournemouth.
Our style of play definitely takes pressure off the defence in games but our poor attack keeps teams in the game longer and invites pressure late on.
It's something to keep an eye on but I'm more than content with it for now.
Our style of play definitely takes pressure off the defence in games but our poor attack keeps teams in the game longer and invites pressure late on.
It's something to keep an eye on but I'm more than content with it for now.
That's a good point, while the system we play does help the defense it also hinders it as we face pressure in a lot of games because we can't kill teams off. I'm not saying we shouldn't buy a CB in the summer but I do think careful consideration should be given to our current CB partnership, there is much to fix in this team before worrying about one aspect that has worked pretty well.
LVG is from Netherlands.
Blind is from Netherlands.
That's the main reason for the Smalling - Blind "Partnership".
And that's the main reason we play with two defensive midfielders.
We need a proper center back, not Blind.
Blind is from Netherlands.
That's the main reason for the Smalling - Blind "Partnership".
And that's the main reason we play with two defensive midfielders.
We need a proper center back, not Blind.
Blind is in the team because of merit. I think some poeple here won't give Blind his due because they've been spectacularly proved wrong by him.
I don't have a problem with Blind as CB next season if we continue to use a posession based system (of course a better version of what we are seeing!). But in a counter attacking set up, like that of Mourinho, Blind would have to give way to a better 'defensive' CB.
Yes. Jones was the best of the lot. But he is not from Netherlands, so he is getting injured. It all makes sense now.
Defensively we have looked quite decent this season. Right at the start of the season I was quite content with Blind and Smalling and they have proven me right. Blind's reading of the game has been phenomenal and I hope to see him in our midfield. He will be the one to take over Carrick's place performance wise and will consistently get criticized by our fans the same was Carrick has been taking flak all his United career.
Blind has been surprisingly good in defence this season. I must admit that when he first started playing there I thought it would be a disaster, but he makes up for his lack of physical attributes with his reading of the play as some other here have said.
That being said, if we do plan on getting back to winning the league in the near future I'd prefer us to have a natural centre back in there and move Blind back to midfield. A small bonus of this that some might overlook is that we'd actually have two big defenders in the box for corners rather than having just Smalling in there like we have now.
Would be fantastic cover if anyone ever gets injured at the back too.
That being said, if we do plan on getting back to winning the league in the near future I'd prefer us to have a natural centre back in there and move Blind back to midfield. A small bonus of this that some might overlook is that we'd actually have two big defenders in the box for corners rather than having just Smalling in there like we have now.
Would be fantastic cover if anyone ever gets injured at the back too.
Agree that we need a proper CB and not Blind, but I don't suspect any nepotism behind the move.
Agree with this.
Personally I'm fine with admitting I was wrong. I liked Blind as a midfielder last season but I thought he was too small, slow and weak to be a premier league centre back. When he did well in pre-season I thought it was down to the quality of the opposition and it took me at least a couple of months before I stopped thinking that he was going to struggle against every quick and powerful forward.
At the end of the day we could go and buy a better player than Blind but you can say that about basically our entire outfield. Him and Smalling have been one of the strongest parts of our team this year and we shouldn't be quick to change that, especially given the money that needs spending in other areas.
Yes Blind is there on merit because our other options are a perma-crock, a youngster who is not even good enough to be a squad player for us as a CB and Rojo. LVG just didn't strengthen that position over the summer. I like Blind there and I think he has proven most of the posters wrong - including me - but I think it should still be Smalling with another genuine CB who won't get out-jumped or out-paced every time.
Other than the emergence of some young stars our defense has been the only real success of this season. Only Tottenham have a better overall defensive record and at home we have conceded just 7 goals in 17 games, you can't do that with adodgy defensive pairing.
What is so smug about it? I still don't think Blind is the right choice for a CB for us. Do your eyes squint far too much while laughing to read the whole thing properly?
That's basically the worst I've been proved wrong post. Wonderful smugness.
Pretty much, I remember a lot of people writing him off at CB before the season even started. At every opportunity, they've slagged him off to try and be proven right.
Except he isn't outpaced or out jumped every time. Infact he's dealing with that far better than anyone imagined, he's coming out on top far more regularly than not.
Really? Even against Palace Zaha went past him as if he was not there and he has been saved numerous times by Smalling.
I see your point but Blind's passing could be massively important in a counter attacking setup.
Good shout. I dont trust Jones to stay fit and Rojo is a bit of a loose cannon.
You say that he's been outpaced or outjumped every single time. Is it even possible for us to have such a good defensive record in that case? A defensive system can mask some defensive deficiencies but not to this extent. You also say that he's on the merit because other options were injured and van Gaal didn't buy enough. Did it ever occur to you mind that it might be because van Gaal planned it, considering he was playing him in this position at pre-season.
Some people see what they want to see, but to claim that Blind has been outpaced and outjumped every single time reeks of agenda posting.
It's great against teams that don't attack us or only play 1 forward without their midfielders bum rushing us.
As soon at someone attacks against us they get found out however. It makes it worse that we need 2 holding midfielders and still can't cope when someone attacks us.
I'd much prefer a better partner for Smalling and Blind becoming one of the holding midfielders because he can find good passes and could even move up the field when the opportunity comes.
As soon at someone attacks against us they get found out however. It makes it worse that we need 2 holding midfielders and still can't cope when someone attacks us.
I'd much prefer a better partner for Smalling and Blind becoming one of the holding midfielders because he can find good passes and could even move up the field when the opportunity comes.
Maybe not every single time and it was a slight exaggeration but far too much for my liking. He has had 2 DMs in front of him for most of the season and that has helped massively in our defensive record.
Do I think that Blind has done a decent job under the circumstances? Yes. However that does not mean we don't need to upgrade him as I would want us to move away from 2 sittings MFs in front of our CBs most games and that is when Blind will have his work cut out.
He's mainly there because Johnny Evans was not left footed, nor a ball player. (Therefore sold.) Marcos Rojo has played a couple of times with Blind at LB this season, there is not much left footed competition really.
We've conceeded the 2nd least amount of goals this season. Whether this partnership happened by accident or not is immaterial. I genuinely would like them two to start next season as our first choice - had we a fit LB and consistency at RB we'd have conceeded even less.
Decent job is underplaying Blind's contribution and I do think we've other positions in the team that need sorting before the centerback thing(Striker, rightwing, central midfielder, rightback etc)
And Smalling has been saved numerous times by Blind. No defender is perfect, it's s rarity in a game for a defender not to be caught out of positon, beaten in the air of outpaced at least once.
The fact that we have conceded few goals this season is not mainly because of Blind and Smalling. Although they have been good, it is our possession based style of football which is responsible for conceding few goals. If the other team doesn't have the ball they can't score. Against certain teams like Tottenham and Arsenal who are good in attack we lost both away games 3-0.
A massive part of our proficiency in retaining posession is down to our two CBs being so composed though. I lose count the amount of times I see Smalling or Blind step up higher on the pitch to offer for the ball and spread the ball despite being under pressure from attackers.
The 2 DMs formation is nothing new. Since Keane left United, we played with 2 DMs most of the time under SAF mainly because Carrick being Carrick and Scholes getting older and he sat pretty deep. It just depends on if one of 2 DMs at least if not both can ping the balls like either of them. If they can't, a CB who can has to do it.
Frankly, I am a bit amused that some people are trying to take the credit away from them by saying Blind is good but this and that and same with smalling etc. They are the least problem we have this season. If you think that the DMs are overprotecting them, what about their FBs? Losing a player like Shaw is a big blow to the defense but they cope it well.
And, do you think that our midfielders as a whole are having a good season?
I'm happy with Blind and the partnership. I don't get what playing counter attacking football has to do with changing Blind (if someone can explain that to me feel free). He reads the game well and I haven't seen him exposed for his lack of pace yet due to his good reading of the game. Other areas can be tackled but we do need an up and coming CB. Stones if the value is right.
We should have had that sorted this season itself. Moreover, if we move away from the two DMs system, we will soon find out how difficult Blind's life will be at CB. As things stand, any team which has a go at us generally causes us more issues than they should which really does not show our defense in a great light.
The midfielders have been dire at creating chances. Our defense as whole gets opened up very regularly when the opponents attack us with some conviction. Have I been imagining the time when Wolfsburg, Arsenal, Liverpool, etc cut through our back 4 like a hot knife through butter when they really tried to take the game to us?