HE might not be regarded as one of the best players in Ralf Rangnick’s squad, let alone one of Europe’s top centre-backs, but Victor Lindelof is an important player for Manchester United
Whilst the likes of Bruno Fernandes, David De Gea and Jadon Sancho receive constant recognition from the media and the Old Trafford faithful, the Sweden star has gone under the radar.
Since arriving from Benfica in 2016, he has been a regular starter for United, forming an impressive partnership with Harry Maguire over the last couple of years.
That’s helped overcome other weaknesses and a wider lack of defensive organisation from the Red Devils this season.
Yet Lindelof has yet to be acknowledged as a quality player.
As United lack the presence of an experienced holding midfielder – to sit in and dictate play – Lindelof has consistently stepped forward, with his reading of the game and ability to play out from the back, to keep the Red Devils progressive when they have the ball.
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On top of that, the team previously lacked a clear structure to play through, which made them regularly leaking goals on the counter-attack in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final year at the club.
And n matter who started in defence, the side’s issues not only remained but increased.
Fred and Scott McTominay proved unstable and simply not good enough for a top-tier team, whilst United’s attacking midfielders and forwards failed to do their job of tracking back defensively.
Missing just 16 matches in his six years at the club, Lindelof has been a consistent presence, an assert to be truly appreciated, particularly as the Red Devils have often struggled seriously when he has been sidelined.
Despite United not being set up as a possession-based team, he is United’s fourth most successful player for short passes (805) and sixth most successful for long balls (55).
A key factor that many do not realise about the 27-year-old, is that he has crucial attributes as a right-sided centre-back in the team.
From providing vocal leadership to De Gea and Aaron-Wan Bissaka, individuals who have flaws technically, to adapting his game to Maguire, who likes to proactively defend with aggression and leaves a lot of space behind due to his lack of pace, Lindelof covers a large amount of space.
With the current downfall of Maguire, who has been horrific on and off the ball this term, it won’t be long until captaincy is removed off the England man to ease his burden and help him focus on performing well again.
Once there is a consistent style of play and regular dominant performances from the whole team, Lindelof will finally be recognised as one of the best centre-backs in the Prem.
This could lead the former Benfica defender landing the role of skipper.
Lindelof already has captaincy experience for his national country, where his ice-cold mentality and strong personality come to the fore.
Overall, once there is a consistent style of play and regular dominant performances from the whole team at Old Trafford, Lindelof will finally be recognised as one of the best centre-backs within the Premier League.
And he will also be one of the most key players to whoever becomes manager for next season, be it Erik Ten Hag or Mauricio Pochettino,
