Victor Lindelof emerges from tough baptism to kickstart Manchester United career

Victor Lindelof has had a turnaround of sorts at Manchester United - Victor Lindelof has had a turnaround of sorts at Manchester United
Victor Lindelof has had a turnaround of sorts at Manchester United Credit: Getty Images

It was a nip-and-tuck affair the last time Brighton and Hove Albion visited Old Trafford in the Premier League 15 months ago, a game that, in Ashley Young’s opinion, swung on one moment in the 55th minute. Victor Lindelof’s Manchester United career to that point had been bookmarked by errors, equivocation and increasing questions about his suitability following a £31 million move from Benfica, a club record fee for a defender.

But a crunching 50-50 challenge on Anthony Knockaert, from which he won the ball fairly yet with such force that the Brighton winger was left in a shell-shocked heap on the ground, instantly forced the Old Trafford crowd to stand up and take notice. 11 minutes later, United had broken the deadlock.

“Everyone in the stadium went, ‘Wow, where did that come from?’” Gary Pallister, the former United centre-back, reflected this week. 

“They weren’t used to seeing that from Victor. As much as tackling has changed an awful lot, you’ve still got to hold your own, you’ve still got to be physical in the Premier League and I think that showed signs that he was getting an understanding of what it was all about.”

It would be overstating things to call it a turning point for Lindelof at Old Trafford. His teething troubles would not end there and then – Brighton beat United 3-2 in August, when Lindelof struggled – and, even now, he has a way to go to convince his doubters he can cut it in the long haul. Yet that tougher side to the Sweden defender’s character has become much more visible in recent weeks and, as United prepare to welcome Brighton back to Old Trafford today, a less-heralded footnote of the team’s dramatic resurgence under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been Lindelof’s growing stature and confidence.

The defender with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - The defender with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The defender with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Credit: Getty Images

“As a player, he’s fairly complete,” Patrik Andersson, the former Barcelona, Blackburn Rovers and Sweden defender, said. 

“He’s adaptable, two-footed, calm and comfortable on the ball and good one against one. I remember the game against Juventus in Turin in November when he did very well one-on-one against Cristiano Ronaldo.

“He has it in him but, as a defender, you need to be playing regularly, have confidence from your coach and a regular partner but, due to injuries and a lot of changes at the back at United, it’s not been easy for him, and in his first year you could see the impact of all that on his confidence.”

United’s priority in the transfer market is to sign an imposing, high-quality centre-half – Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly is a target – and no wonder, given how persistent injury problems to Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo have robbed Lindelof of a regular partner. His 28 league starts as a centre-back for United have involved seven central-defensive partnerships, either in a three or four-man defence, and Pallister, like Andersson, believes the Swede would benefit from someone dependable next to him. 

Pallister formed one of the Premier League’s great centre-half partnerships with Steve Bruce, but it did not happen overnight.

“I played a different way to Brucey and, at the start, he’d be running up like Tony Adams and going for offside and I’d be dropping back like I did at Middlesbrough,” Pallister recalled. “There would be 10 yards between us and he’d be shouting for offside, so it shows you’ve got to get used to a partner and unfortunately Victor has not had that chance.

“You look back to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, that was the go-to partnership, and I still don’t think we know what the go-to partnership is now.”

In that regard, Lindelof’s progress of late is all the more impressive. The 24-year-old has not had the benefit of a Virgil van Dijk figure alongside him and yet, while he still needs to be more commanding dealing with high balls, quicker to smell danger and shut down space, the improvements are obvious. He has become much more vocal. 

Marcus Rashford got an earful during the 2-0 win over Newcastle after failing to return a pass. He is also far more robust physically and there is greater conviction to his distribution, which has been helped by the move to a more attack-minded approach under Solskjaer after what Andersson called Jose Mourinho’s “chance” football, which began with a long ball from the back.

Off the pitch, too, Lindelof is more settled. He married his partner, Maja Nilsson, shortly before the World Cup finals in Russia last summer, when he excelled for Sweden, and the couple are expecting their first baby.

Pallister is well placed to talk about the difficulties that come with joining United for a record fee at a time of great turbulence. Sir Alex Ferguson was under huge pressure only a few months after Pallister’s £2.3 million move from Middlesbrough in August 1989 and the defender struggled early on. He sees obvious parallels with Lindelof.

“It was a tough baptism for me and I think Victor went through that, too,” Pallister said.

“When I arrived, the club hadn’t won a title for 22 years, the manager had decimated the squad, brought in a host of new players and we didn’t exactly hit the ground running. The fans were calling for Fergie’s head so when you’re trying to cement your position in the team in amongst all that, and you’ve signed for a record transfer fee, it’s hard.

“You’ve got to be thick-skinned to deal with the stick and Victor has taken a bit of that. There have been people saying he’s not up to it, the league’s too physical for him, but you either melt and fade away or stand up and prove people wrong and that is what Victor has been doing.”

Andersson is convinced Lindelof is a “future Sweden captain” in the making and others doubtless share that view. Roland Nilsson, who spent eight years with Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City, is now in charge of Sweden’s Under-21s having played 116 times for his country. He can recall conversations with Sweden coach Janne Andersson about Lindelof’s initial struggles yet there was always a quiet confidence he would emerge a stronger player for them.

“We have discussed Victor back and forth, about why things were going in a certain way but, for me, it was only a matter of time before he started to do well at United in addition to the national team,” Nilsson said.

“Hopefully, now, Sweden and United can start to see a world-class player playing week in, week out.”

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