Syed Shaiban
Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United boasted of one of the best settled defence in England last season and who would have thought that Daley Blind would have been an integral part of it?
Blind made 55 appearances throughout the campaign more than any other United player had done for the past 21 season.
The new season saw the appointment of Jose Mourinho and his first signing was going to strengthen the defensive sector and it was none other than Eric Bailly, who was roped in from Villarreal.
The judgement was passed right then that Blind’s future was in jeopardy and how Smalling and Bailly will form a strong defensive core in the matches to come but then as always the surprise had to come. Daley Blind partnered Bailly in the initial games of the campaign and surprisingly Chris Smalling was benched. Eric Bailly had a sublime start to his campaign by winning three Man of the Match awards straight away and beside him was the Dutchman having a watchful eye of proceedings and using his intelligence to dominate the play superbly. What Daley Blind lacks for pace, he covers it up massively with his intelligence and reading of the play. Apart from that, his passing and ball distribution has always been of top quality on a consistent basis.
From the day he arrived at Old Trafford, Blind has always had eyebrows raised at his involvement and despite Louis’s years at United not going the way the fans had wanted, Blind was one of the few United players who stood out impressively.
So far under Jose Mourinho, Blind has played as a centreback and as a left back and in both the cases he has impressed. Let the United fans not take his versatility for granted because Blind will surely be missed one day when he leaves. Statistically speaking with 86% average passing accuracy, 20 metres as average passing length along with 9 critical defensive actions taken with 65% clearances and 29% interceptions approximately according to Squawka.com, Daley Blind has had a terrific start with only the City game to forget but even so, one single match cannot put a shadow on such an impressive player’s football.
His most recent contribution has come in the 4-1 thrashing United gave to English Champions Leicester and Blind’s intelligence and quick responses was one of the major reasons United performed so well. An added bonus will also be his set piece ability and clever play. The goal of Marcus Rashford showed a quick set piece routine with Blind playing a low pass and JuanMataa crossing in only for Rashford to go in. If not for the quickness of thought United wouldn’t have scored. He is an immediate upgrade to Marcus Rojo and has Luke Shaw’s injury come in as a blessing in disguise? Blind can play upward as well. His ball distribution is fine and his attacking forays with calculative approach give United another dimension in the attack.
So far for the Dutchman, a role under Mourinho has been taken gladly and on a consistent basis, every performance he’s put bar the City game, he has done well. No one can deny at this stage that Daley Blind has emerged as an unsung hero of Manchester United and over the course of the season, his presence will be looked forward to and it’ll only portray his significance to this United team.
