The partner of flowing water, the iron iceman, and the imperfect Lindelov have been showing their value to Manchester United.
Smolin, Bailly, Jones, Rojo, Maguire, Touanzebe, Vallanet, Lima and Luke Shaw … Lindelov has been fighting side by side with different central defenders during his six seasons at Manchester United. In the summer of 2017, the Swede was brought to Old Trafford by Mourinho. At that time, the Magic Bird very much hoped that the central defender could become a reliable barrier in Manchester United’s defense line and lead the club to success.
Although Lindelov is not perfect, he is still a reliable central defender during the reconstruction period of Manchester United. Lindelov’s excellent sense of defensive position and consciousness, good decision-making ability and passing ability are of great value to successive Manchester United coaches. However, the 28-year-old Swede often encounters some problems when defending strikers with strong impact or extremely fast speed.
At the beginning of this season, Lindelov was regarded by Tenghage as Manchester United’s fourth choice in the central defender position, and his appearance was ranked behind Lima, Vallanet and captain Maguire. However, due to the injuries of the first two and the poor condition of Maguire, Lindelov once again became the only orthodox central defender left in Tenghage’s four-guard system.
His calm goal in the penalty shoot-out ensured Manchester United’s victory in the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton. His performance in 120 minutes won him the first single player award since the Europa League victory over Granada in April 2021. The recent losses of Manchester United to Brighton and West Ham United failed to continue Lindelov’s excellent form, but he can still end the long season as one of the most reliable players in Manchester United’s defense this season.
Lindelov spent at least half his time at Manchester United forgotten by fans. After winning the FA Cup semi-final, Tenghage said: "When you need to form a strong team at a club like Manchester United, it is not always that easy." "But there are some players who can play steadily in every game, such as Lindelov."
"But he doesn’t get a chance to play in every game. When you are not chosen, you must wait for the opportunity, and when the time is right, you can prove yourself. Now, in one game after another, he has really contributed to the team. His performance is very stable and the team needs him. So this is also the requirement of Manchester United for other players. "
Nicknamed "Iceman", Lindelov’s performance in Manchester United for many years has been difficult to quantify with some data, because his advantage comes from his sense of position, defensive awareness and anticipation, rather than his aggressiveness in one-on-one confrontation. Lindelov is a defensive player like a cat, ready to wait for an opportunity. He will take the opponent’s attacker to a less dangerous area before making a tackle.
Lindelov has only started 10 times in the Premier League this season. When he plays, Tenghage tends to partner him with defenders such as Maguire or Lima, because Lindelov needs a powerful central defender to make up for his shortcomings on the defensive end.
Lindelov is still very valuable to Manchester United in the following three aspects:
Steady play: Lindelov missed 19 games because of injury during his six seasons for Manchester United. In recent games, many Manchester United central defenders have been dealing with injuries and unstable conditions. Lindelov is not the fastest or strongest central defender in Manchester United, but he can almost always be selected by Tenghage and often score 6 to 7 points (if the perfect score is 10 points). Lindelov’s steady performance means that Tenghage has one less thing to worry about when he re-matches the four defenders.
Good communication: Mourinho’s initial plan was to make the combination of Lindelov and Bailly the regular combination of Manchester United’s central defender position, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer often chose one of them as the starter. Bailly’s tackle is faster and more dominant on the defensive end, while Lindelov’s good communication skills have also been recognized by his teammates. This communication ability between Lindelov and his teammates has enabled him to play steadily when partnering with different central defenders for many years.
Excellent passing ability: Although Lindelov is not a traditional ball-holding central defender like Maguire, he can use excellent passing skills to support Manchester United’s offensive organization in the backcourt, whether it is a short pass that is promoted layer by layer or a long pass in a quick counterattack. In the 2019-20 season and 2020-21 season, Manchester United fans were deeply impressed by Lindelov’s ability to send threatening long passes to Rachford on the left wing. In the 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest in mid-April this year, Lindelov played left-back and Maguire had to move to the right-back position. Tenghage explained that this decision comes from the advantage of the Swedes in using the reverse foot to intercept and delay the opponent’s attack. "If Maguire plays on the left, Lindelov can’t play to his advantage, which is very difficult for Maguire," Tenghage said. "But I think Maguire is more influential on the right. Lindelov’s feet are very balanced, and I think he performed very well in defending Johnson. "
As one of Manchester United’s backup central defenders, Lindelov can stand up in times of crisis, which has high tactical value for the team, but the question is whether he is satisfied with the role he plays now.
"Like every player, you want to play every game. Obviously, I didn’t do that this season," Lindelov said when representing the Swedish national team in international competitions in March. "But I didn’t think about it. Now I concentrate on the national team’s game, and then the rest of the club’s game this season. Then in the summer, we must reassess and see what is the best decision. "
Lindelov is one of the players who can play a role among all the healthy defenders in Manchester United at this stage, but if Tenghage really wants to take the team to a new height, he may need to continue to improve. One day, Manchester United will find a stronger central defender from Byhlinder Loff, but they may need players like Lindeloff to help them get back on their feet when they try to sprint many times and all fall down.
Lindelov’s performance is not perfect. He has been sitting on the bench for most of this season for a reason, but when he is called by the team, he will try his best to complete his task. He is not a perfect Manchester United centre-back, but for a player who works hard, he deserves applause from Manchester United fans.
