Monday 18 January 2016

Shrewd Schneiderlin continues to impress in vital Anfield victory

Since signing from Southampton for £24 million in the summer the Frenchman has played a key role in defensive midfield for the Reds but does not get the credit he deserves.

So much of his work goes unnoticed: all the talk at Anfield was about David De Gea's saves, Wayne Rooney's winner and Daley Blind's sterling defensive duties but Schneiderlin was as good as anyone in Red.

He has made 20 appearances for United and, of those games, we have only lost once with him in the team (at Swansea) but even then, he was not actually on the field at the time of the Welsh side's winning goal.

This underlines his continuing importance to the side. 

There were doubts about whether he would be good enough for United despite having developed into one of Southampton's key men under Mauricio Pochettino and, latterly, Ronald Koeman.

Those doubts have been dispelled though and not only is he more than good enough for us, he is arguably now one of our most important players. 

Schneiderlin's former side Southampton visit Old Trafford on Saturday and it was thought to be his quietly effective showing in last season's fixture that attracted the interest of United. 


He was immense at Anfield on Sunday, energetically snapping into tackles, breaking up play, putting in a superb shift and starting the move that led to Wayne Rooney's 78th minute winner.
He excelled in another superb away win at Goodison in October when he scored his first United goal but he did not play against Arsenal in our next match as we were outplayed and outmuscled at the Emirates.

Despite being only 26, Schneiderlin has nearly 300 games worth of experience, over 100 of those coming in the Premier League, and he has made a seamless transition from the South Coast to Manchester and has showed that his transfer fee was money well spent.

Despite his unimposing stature, Schneiderlin is strong in the tackle and deceptively quick, and his reliable and secure presence set the platform for Marouane Fellaini to push forward for the winner at Anfield.

At times, particularly when Liverpool had much of the play in the first half, he was almost like a third centre-half he was so deep.
He moved slightly further forward in the second half and established control and, as the match went on, so did United. 

He did so much of the dirty work and laid the pivotal platform for the team to build victory.

Maybe now, after this, Schneiderlin might start to be getting recognition for his performances. 







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