Things have certainly turned around for Manchester United’s new no. 17 since Gary Neville labelled him a player who makes “far too many square passes and takes the easy option”.
Fresh from playing a solid role in his team’s recent 3-1 victory over Aston Villa last weekend, Daley Blind goes down as someone who is rapidly beginning to see his stock rise in the Premier League. The Dutchman simply brings a certain workman like ethos to this current Manchester United side that has scarcely been matched my most of his teammates throughout the 2014/15 campaign.
He may not have arrived with the same high profile status as the likes of Angel Di Maria or Radamel Falcao, he may be seen as more of a contributor to most of United’s moves this season rather than a finisher, and to be perfectly honest, Louis van Gaal may not have even discovered what his best position actually is out on the pitch yet – but the 25-year-old former Ajax man has nevertheless impressed a great deal of his onlookers so far this term.
In light of such a generally positive outlook on the Dutchman, does Daley Blind deserve to go down as the best new signing Manchester United made in the run up to the new season?
In short, the answer to that question could well be yes.
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The Red Devils set their stool out early last summer with a view to greatly improve the squad that had been left so badly hung out to dry under the ill-fated reign of David Moyes at Old Trafford. The United backroom staff clearly tried to emulate what has been traditionally done by the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the last few years, with the desire to bring in several ‘Galacticos’ type signings for immediate effect.
Money was seemingly no object for Manchester United at the beginning of the season – yet as the likes of Di Maria and Falcao have publically failed to do the business this term, with both Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo also not living up to their lofty price tags so far – the somewhat understated £14million transfer of Daley Blind pretty much goes down as the best deal of the bunch.
The versatile Netherlands international largely made a name for himself with his fine displays for Holland in last summer’s 2014 World Cup. The central midfielder – who has also been known to ply his trade at full-back as well as on the wing for his manager this season – provided his team with countless searching balls throughout the whole of the tournament, famously setting up Robin van Persie for that all important header against Spain in the group stages.
Blind has subsequently done whatever has been asked of him from Louis van Gaal this season. He has been almost Roy Keane like with some of his tenacious performances in the middle of the park, has turned his wild energy off the ball into something a great deal more composed when in control of the situation, and has even popped up with a couple of important goals this term to win some hard earned points in the race for Champions League qualification.
Perhaps Ander Herrera also has to go down as a strong contender for best Man United summer signing as well – yet as the Spaniard cost almost double what Daley Blind eventually set the Red Devils back after the World Cup – the former Eredivise Player of the Year nonetheless deserves the accolade on value for money alone.
With certain high profile stars unceremoniously under-performing for Louis van Gaal throughout the course of 2014/15, Blind’s approach to proceedings has been like a refreshing burst of energy in a team of mostly overpaid, and somewhat over-rated, players who just haven’t displayed enough honest hard work this season.
Daley Blind is therefore worth a great deal of praise at the moment, even if this season could ultimately end up a campaign to forget for the ever-tested Old Trafford faithful.
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