Since the departure of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic from Old Trafford, Manchester United haven’t really managed to have a solid and consistent center-back pairing. This year it seems that Smalling and Blind are establishing themselves as the long-term pair in the United defense.

Chris Smalling has shown great improvements in the first few games of the season and has probably been the most consistent player of the season so far. Smalling joined Manchester United from Fulham in 2010 and has so far played a total of 153 games with the Red Devils.

Daley Blind was moved from his usual midfield position after the arrival of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin and has so far shown good signs that he can solve Manchester United’s centre-back problem. Blind joined Manchester United from Ajax last summer and made 29 appearances as a holding midfielder and occasionally as a left-back.

Since the beginning of the season, Smalling and Blind filled in the center-back positions in all the competitive matches, with Manchester United conceding only 1 goal out of 5 games.

Throughout the years Manchester United have managed to establish world-class center-back pairings. From ‘Martin Buchan and Gordon McQueen’ in the late 1970s to ‘Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce’ in the early 1990s, together with ‘Jaap Stam and Ronny Johnsen’ in the late 1990s and the great relationship between ‘Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand’ up to a couple of years ago. Can Smalling and Blind establish themselves as United’s new great center-back pair?

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