Blind Faith - The Importance of Daley Blind

Though you're probably tired now of hearing about Manchester United's transfer dealings this summer, I'd like to speak about the signing who seemed to be ignored - Daley Blind. Clearly the big name signings of Di Maria and Falcao are huge and show the pull of Manchester United still exists, but you have to have a base to allow the quality they have up front to shine, and Blind provides that.

Whilst it's too early to draw conclusions from the 4-0 home victory against a, let's face it, lacklustre QPR side, there were some hugely positive signs. Where previously this and last season United had struggled to control the midfield, they dominated large portions of the game, and most of this was down to Blind's impressive performance. Dutch experts had suggested for a while now that Blind was a perfect fit for a top team in England and it appears they were right.

So just what does Blind add that United lacked before? The main one is defensive awareness, the ability to break up play and shield the defence that Cleverley, Fellaini and Carrick lacked, which will help the young defenders like Jones and Blackett to develop their own game and gain confidence. Whilst Blind may lack the size and build of the colossal Marouane Fellaini, he is still a very strong midfielder. He makes up for the size difference with tenacity and athleticism that had been missing from a pedestrian United midfield before.

Daley Blind's passing is as good as any other midfielder at the club, too. Michael Carrick was lauded for his ability to control games through his vision and range of passing, but Blind can easily match him in that, but with a more complete defensive and also attacking awareness. He has a Busquets-esque quality to him, in that he quietly goes about his job, making intelligent decisions that can easily go unnoticed. Like Busquets, he is a wonderful player with and without the ball at his feet and will be invaluable to a side aiming to control games, as United should. 

At under £20m, United may have pulled off a real coup and Blind could be the most important of all the summer signings they have made. However, time will tell whether Blind can perform as well against better teams or whether the power of teams like Chelsea and Man City will be too much for United's midfield.