Strong back is vital for Reds in top-four bid
VICTOR Lindelof has been a United player for three years, and yet still he waits for the recognition that others receive within a month or two of arriving at Old Trafford.
The Swede, who was unlucky not to have been awarded United’s player of the year award last season, had a very testing few months at the start of this term.
Perhaps it was the arrival of £80m man Harry Maguire, or the fact some were already questioning his place in the side, but something seemed to unsettle him.
Yet the Jose Mourinho signing came back fighting. After a tough autumn Lindelof, along with Maguire, was the rock on which United’s run of 11 games unbeaten was built. Some will have you believe the practice matches United have been playing at Old Trafford are more important than competitive games that happened three months ago. Again, that’s something that will become evident once the Spurs game starts on Friday.
Yet one thing became very clear after the two 60-minute matches that United played against West Brom on Friday – Solskjaer’s team are a collective, with the defence their most important feature.
The United squad that beat West Brom 3-1 read as follows: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw; Garner, Fred, McTominay, Pereira, Lingard, Chong, Mata; Ighalo.
This was the squad that lost 2-1:
Romero, Bishop; Bailly, Tuanzebe, Mengi, Williams, Dalot, FosuMensah; Matic, Pogba, Fernandes, Gomes; James, Greenwood, Rashford, Martial.
The second batch contained Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.
Yet it was the other group, with Lindelof, Maguire, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and David de Gea at the back - Solskjaer’s best defence - that ground out a victory for the supposed ‘lesser names’ up front.
Just like for United’s 11-game hot-streak, defence was paramount.
The Norwegian will be hoping Fernandes, Pogba, Rashford et al are more effective with the added defensive security behind them against Tottenham.
It has been easy to dismiss the impact of Maguire and Wan-Bissaka at Old Trafford simply because of their inflated transfer fees, which automatically bring an extra burden of expectation.
But what does £125m buy you in the transfer market? Last year, it bought United the two final pieces of their back four puzzle. Lindelof and Shaw were the outstanding performers last season.
So it’s no surprise Solskjaer puts such a high value on his defence.
United’s coaching staff know that for the club to mount a successful bid for the top four, they must have a solid base.