Daley Blind is a really good football player. He certainly has the quality to play at any club in the world including Manchester United. Unfortunately for Blind, he is not going to thrive at United no matter how he plays. If he’s smart, he will get out-of-town the first chance he gets.
Many of you are no doubt wondering why Blind should leave Manchester United since he’s getting consistent games at the moment. It’s true, that he is getting to play almost every week, but he’s being played out of position. He has ten starts on the young season and shockingly, each of them has been at centre back. It’s understandable that manager Louis Van Gaal has chosen to deploy Blind in this manner given his lack of other options, but it’s not a long-term solution. It’s almost comical that it’s gone on this long.
Blind’s preferred and most effective position is, of course, as a defensive midfielder. He thrived in this role at Ajax and frequently features for the Netherlands in this spot. Playing in the double pivot suits Blind’s strengths perfectly. He is happy to put in a tackle and can hold up play beautifully. It’s not a stretch to say that he has world-class ability at that spot on the pitch.
At centre back, however, he is average at best. He lacks supreme size or athleticism which makes him rather non-descript playing in front of the keeper. His intellect allows him to position himself well enough to get by, but he easily gets lost when competing against top class centre forwards. He doesn’t have the size or pace to combat them. He’s performed admirably in this role for United, but it’s just not sustainable.
It’s impossible to think that United won’t be in the market for a centre back in January. They pursued Nicolas Otamendi before he ended up with Manchester City and I’d be shocked if they aren’t after two new centre backs when the January window opens. The powers that be at Manchester United realize that Blind isn’t worthy of every week starting status at centre back.
So the obvious solution would be to slide Blind up the pitch and play him in his natural defensive midfield spot. The fact is he’s crowded out there by superior talent. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin all have a chance to be picked ahead of Blind right now. Even if Blind manages to move ahead of Carrick in the pecking order, as he should, he’d still be third choice behind the German and French midfielders.
I might argue that he should start ahead of Schweinsteiger at this point in his career too, but I don’t see Van Gaal making that choice very often. Blind would at best be a rotation player for United under their current leadership. That simply isn’t good enough for a player of his talent.
This doesn’t even begin to address possible inclusions of Ander Hererra as a defensive midfielder or the inevitable move of Marouane Fellaini back to his more accustomed role. United’s midfield is just too crowded for Blind to flourish.
While Daley Blind might be satisfied being a squad player at Manchester United, he should strive for more. He’d be wise to agitate for a move to a club where he can be guaranteed a place in the midfield every week come January. Otherwise, he may find himself spending his prime years out of the spotlight his play deserves.
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