Daley Blind – The New Roy Keane?

Daley Blind has been awesome since he arrived at Manchester but then those who didn’t see Roy Keane play or only saw the latter part of the Irishman’s career have been quick to liken the new boy with the reliable Irishman. This is not to undermine Blind, he has been the club’s most reliable midfielder this season and if it was not for David De Gea’s breath-taking saves last month, no other player could have beaten the former Ajax man to the club’s Player of the Month’s award, but to compare him with the good old Keane, I think that is taking it a little too far.

Daley Blind has been very combative in the midfield and of a truth after Keane’s retirement, none other have been able to replicate such for the club. For a few years, Darren Fletcher delivered such performances, but they came in occasions and not usually in the games where the Red Devils needed them, although this could be due to the fact that the Scott couldn’t manage to displace either of Paul Scholes or even Michael Carrick in the middle of the park. Many feel Blind’s combativeness earns him a sit at Roy Keane’s table but the Dutchman appears to be much more cautious. He was quoted to have said:

‘Let’s not go overboard. It’s going quite well, but we have only just started. I can’t say I have settled in quite well. In England it is not very usual to start the build-up from behind. United do. This is where my Ajax background becomes useful. Starting the build-up there is our second nature.’

For a player who admitted that he hasn’t settled in quite well, do you not think it is too early to call, whether he is of Roy Keane’s quality or not? Anyways, Roy Keane is retired and what the club has now is Daley Blind who while passing comments on the ruggedness of the Premier League stated that: “I have become used to Champions League football, the rhythm of playing every three days. The Premier League is physically very tough, but I can handle it. We’ve got lots of injuries, but I am ok.”

Many fans will want to see the kind of partnership that will be forged between the duo of Dale Blind and Michael Carrick and if Louis van Gaal eventually gets Roma’s Kevin Strootman, then the best is certainly yet to come as the Dutch boss will now have five reliable midfielders. For a league where over 85% of the matches are won in the middle, then Manchester United’s tittle credentials may have been bolstered with the quality of players finding their way into the club.

Finally, Daley Blind is only 24-years-old, so whether he might be better than the legendary Roy Keane or not, the Dutchman has a handful of years to prove himself.