Daley Blind

Originally Posted by Neo

Think Blind's performance is being overhyped quite badly, tbh.

He looked good, but it was an easy game for him; one in which he was continuously given endless time on the ball, never pressed and allowed to pick his passes.

I like him, but I'll reserve my judgement until we play a half-decent team. That role at the base of the diamond will be so crucial given the inexperience in the defence. Will be interesting to see what happens when Carrick is fit.,

I agree. He did well yesterday but QPR are dire.

QPR were awful, but that was Blind's first ever appearance in the shirt & he wanted the ball all the time. He didn't play it safe and his positional play & reading of situations was excellent.

Of course there are bigger tests ahead but that's true for all our new signings.

Originally Posted by Neo

Think Blind's performance is being overhyped quite badly, tbh.

He looked good, but it was an easy game for him; one in which he was continuously given endless time on the ball, never pressed and allowed to pick his passes.

I like him, but I'll reserve my judgement until we play a half-decent team. That role at the base of the diamond will be so crucial given the inexperience in the defence. Will be interesting to see what happens when Carrick is fit.,

I don't. He did what he did and it was very good, worthy of praise. The tempo and the accuracy of his passing was very good and encouraged the others to follow suit. Yeah the opposition wasn't as good as we will face in the upcoming months, but considering half the team had never played together before the fixture list is allowing us a little rehearsal for the main event which is fortunate.

I just think these new players should just be judged on a game by game basis, without the caveats.

It was overhyped because everything in this mad old game is overhyped. Look at all that ridiculous nonsense about Danny Welbeck last week FFS

But yeah, he played well and it was encouraging. Even if he's not precisely the player we needed, he's the sort of player we needed, he's playing the kind of football we've been crying out for.

Don't agree. QPR are clearly shite, but given time on the ball to pick passes!? What game were you watching, he moved everything on almost immediately. He was constantly moving and finding space to make himself an option, which is nothing to do with the standard of opposition.

His first touch looked superb, not sure you can put that down to QPR either.

He was my motm. Always wanted the ball, used it well and formed a really useful partnership with Herrera, who was also very good.

It's unfair to blame the opposition. Afterall, we've been shit against worse teams this season. Everything about yesterday was positive and encouraging and these new players have given everyone a lift. Beating qpr 4-0 isn't going to send shock waves around the world but it's given us the confidence we were badly lacking for the past 13 months.

Originally Posted by wiganste

He was my motm. Always wanted the ball, used it well and formed a really useful partnership with Herrera, who was also very good.

It's unfair to blame the opposition. Afterall, we've been shit against worse teams this season. Everything about yesterday was positive and encouraging and these new players have given everyone a lift. Beating qpr 4-0 isn't going to send shock waves around the world but it's given us the confidence we were badly lacking for the past 13 months.

Another positive was that we needed to win yesterday, how many times did we need a win last season and couldn't handle the pressure at OT? (Arsenal and Olympiakos aside)

Need to get 3/4 wins together, great set of fixtures before Chelsea at OT.

Noticed on about 75 minutes he just moved up front pretty much as well, nearly led to an assist for falcao as well.
This boy is mustard

It was remarkable how comfortable he looked. Yes QPR were very poor but it was his debut, he has been playing wing back over the last 2 months and it is a pivotal role. His comfort says a great deal about his intelligence and adaptability.

Utd have needed a reliable alternative to Carrick for a long time now. Blind has the ability on the ball, the next 5/6 games will show if he has the physical ability to play that role in the PL, when he is being pressed hard and has to track dynamic runners. I have had doubts over his pace, but it may be less of an issue when he is in combination with Di Maria and Herrera who are both very mobile.

Originally Posted by wiganste

He was my motm. Always wanted the ball, used it well and formed a really useful partnership with Herrera, who was also very good.

It's unfair to blame the opposition. Afterall, we've been shit against worse teams this season. Everything about yesterday was positive and encouraging and these new players have given everyone a lift. Beating qpr 4-0 isn't going to send shock waves around the world but it's given us the confidence we were badly lacking for the past 13 months.

As always, i'll judge every game based on how United perform - makes no odds who we're playing against.

We played well. At times we showed flashes of what's to come, had a little bit of luck (who's to say we don't deserve it after months of shite) and we steamrollered them.

This is just the beginning.

Originally Posted by Ethers

Don't agree. QPR are clearly shite, but given time on the ball to pick passes!? What game were you watching, he moved everything on almost immediately. He was constantly moving and finding space to make himself an option, which is nothing to do with the standard of opposition.

His first touch looked superb, not sure you can put that down to QPR either.

The 'time on the ball' comment was meant in the respect that he wasn't pressed whatsoever. QPR employed a policy to sit back for virtually the entire 90 minutes. They didn't press from the front at all.

As Jenas pointed out on MotD2, it will be interesting to see how Blind copes when he's got aggressive pressers like City's or Chelsea's attacks jumping on him as soon as he gets the ball. That's when we'll see the true value of his first touch and distribution. I also want to see how our midfield deals with powerful central runners like Yaya Toure and Matic.

Originally Posted by Tiberian

It was remarkable how comfortable he looked. Yes QPR were very poor but it was his debut, he has been playing wing back over the last 2 months and it is a pivotal role. His comfort says a great deal about his intelligence and adaptability.

Utd have needed a reliable alternative to Carrick for a long time now. Blind has the ability on the ball, the next 5/6 games will show if he has the physical ability to play that role in the PL, when he is being pressed hard and has to track dynamic runners. I have had doubts over his pace, but it may be less of an issue when he is in combination with Di Maria and Herrera who are both very mobile.

Careful now Tibers, if this thread has taught us anything it's that physicality is overrated & we're now the reincarnation of Barcelona 2009.

I jest of course before the pissants come back for more.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

As always, i'll judge every game based on how United perform - makes no odds who we're playing against.

We played well. At times we showed flashes of what's to come, had a little bit of luck (who's to say we don't deserve it after months of shite) and we steamrollered them.

This is just the beginning.

I saw that shit through a drunken haze on my phone but what i saw was most pleasing. Di Maria - fawkin ell

Did really well, looks a great signing. Those concerned about when we come under pressure against better midfields that will attack us, I would say he will have some help in there for those games. Di Maria and Herrera are both more attack minded but can get stuck in too, and the front 3 from Rooney, Van Persie, Falcao, Mata and J@&%!aj will probably see one sacrificed for Carrick when available for 'tougher' games.

Originally Posted by Tiberian

It was remarkable how comfortable he looked. Yes QPR were very poor but it was his debut, he has been playing wing back over the last 2 months and it is a pivotal role. His comfort says a great deal about his intelligence and adaptability.

Utd have needed a reliable alternative to Carrick for a long time now. Blind has the ability on the ball, the next 5/6 games will show if he has the physical ability to play that role in the PL, when he is being pressed hard and has to track dynamic runners. I have had doubts over his pace, but it may be less of an issue when he is in combination with Di Maria and Herrera who are both very mobile.

It will always be an issue and a slight weakness for Blind; even yesterday he struggled with Fer's athleticism on a couple of occasions. But he's been well coached at Ajax in terms of compensating: uses his body well, sly shirt tugs, positioning etc. But it's for the team to avoid him being too isolated. Having athletic and aggressive defenders like Rojo and Jones helps.

It does raise questions about the popular notion that Strootman will arrive. Risky combination in any system; he's just as immobile.

Originally Posted by Neo

Think Blind's performance is being overhyped quite badly, tbh.

He looked good, but it was an easy game for him; one in which he was continuously given endless time on the ball, never pressed and allowed to pick his passes.

I like him, but I'll reserve my judgement until we play a half-decent team. That role at the base of the diamond will be so crucial given the inexperience in the defence. Will be interesting to see what happens when Carrick is fit.,

Agree to some extent but we've had plenty of these "easy" game over the last year that we've failed to impose ourselves in. Blind is a bigger positive than anything that happened on Sunday imo due mainly to the fact that he made the back three look more comfortable than they have done for a while.

Only on this place could we eventually get a positive and pick the bones out of it to try and make it a negative

People harping on about how it's only QPR we beat need to realise this is exactly the type of team we've been failing to put to the sword on a regular basis for nearly 4 years now.

Swansea would never have dreamed of beating us at OT back then they didn't even have to play well to achieve it a couple of weeks ago.

4-0

How much training did blind do with united? Signed on deadline day and then headed off on international duty. Makes his display even more impressive, basically playing with strangers and still looked comfortable.
He will improve.

blind and the ticker what a lovely combination ... pass and move simple but so effective ...

Originally Posted by puressence

... pass and move ...

Valid point though.