One of the greatest fullbacks in Manchester Uniteda s illustrious history a Denis Irwin has said that if there is one most important player for United in their upcoming game against Liverpool, it is Dutch central midfielder Daley Blind.
When he arrived at the club in the summer, Blind wasna t the most popular signing. With names such as Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria also in the conversation, the Dutchmana s transfer slipped quietly under the radar. Yet, Blind has been one of Uniteda s best signings continues to play important roles in big games.
Playing at left-back against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Blind put in a stellar performance, making intelligent runs and putting in top quality crosses. Little surprise then, that Irwin was full of praise for the 25-year-old.
“Daley’s a good, honest pro,” Irwin told ManUtd.com at the launch of the Red Heart United charity match. “He can play at centre-half if you need him, left-back if you need him, and obviously he’s played mostly in midfield for us this season. I think he’s been a really good signing.
“He’s a player who reads situations very, very well, I thought he played extremely well on Sunday [against Spurs]. It’ll be interesting to see the team the manager picks against Liverpool, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he picks the same 11 players, because they played so well. That’s the manager’s decision and he’s got one or two back from suspension and injury, but I thought the team played very well on Sunday.”
The Dutchmana s selection may not be quite as straight forward as both Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw maybe fit by Sunday. Yet, Irwin believes that manager Louis Van Gaal must pick his compatriot.
“I know Blind can fill in places and he’s done tremendously well for us in midfield,” he says. “He hasn’t played at left-back that many times, he’s not played centre-half in a three that many times for us but we know he can play there.
“That’s for the manager to decide, but I’ve got to say he played very, very well at left-back on Sunday, as did the defence as a whole. I thought Phil Jones and Chris Smalling were aggressive, didn’t give Harry Kane much room, and Antonio Valencia played really well at right-back, so it was good to see and we’ll need plenty of that at Anfield.”