Despite having a name that appeared designed for headlines, Daley Blind’s Manchester United career has been an extended exercise in ceding top billing to others.
When he joined United on transfer deadline day, his move was anticipated. The shock was that the striking superstar Radamel Falcao was also a signing.
When Blind was unveiled at Old Trafford, few of the questions were directed at the amiable Dutchman – not when the top table also contained the ever quotable Louis van Gaal and Falcao, the forward with the Hollywood looks.
When he debuted, it was also the home bow of Angel di Maria, the most expensive player in the history of British football.
Blind excelled against QPR but Di Maria scored and the spotlight lingered on the Argentine.
Even when Blind opened his United account to rescue a point against West Bromwich Albion on Monday, his was not the tale of a goalscoring midfielder that captured the imagination – not when the misfit Marouane Fellaini finally found the net.
Factor in some typically entertaining comments from Van Gaal who, with his idiosyncratic use of English, suggested Sunday’s game against Chelsea represented “another biscuit” and it was easy to overlook Blind.
Especially as Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, allies with supersized personalities, go head to head on Sunday.
Yet Blind is arguably United’s most significant player.
The policeman in front of the porous defence, the in-form Oscar’s immediate opponent, the sentry in the zone where Eden Hazard does much of his best work, the man who may be charged with stopping Cesc Fabregas’s piercing passes becoming penetrative, his tasks are many and varied.
United's fixture list has been sufficiently friendly since their £152 million (Dh898m) refurbishment was completed that the focus remained on the attacking. Now it switches.
Back-to-back games against Chelsea and Manchester City bring a requirement to stop the two title favourites.
It scarcely augurs well that Blind struggled to contain West Brom’s speedy, unpredictable Stephane Sessegnon and that the Dutchman might have been expected to halt Chris Brunt when he sent Saido Berahino through to score.
In fact, Blind was overstretched and outnumbered, which can be an occupational hazard for a United player on defensive duties.
Mourinho’s tactical prowess means Chelsea are experts in isolating and overpowering opponents, while United’s propensity to commit players upfield means they are liable to be counter-attacked. This makes the defensive midfielder pivotal.
Chelsea have the division’s best nullifier in Nemanja Matic.
United have Blind, a very Dutch player, equipped with a fine footballing brain that allowed him to operate successfully in three positions for Van Gaal’s Holland.
A passer is more a constructive than a destructive player and this is the difference between a defensive and a deep-lying midfielder.
The oft-heard comment in the last nine years is that United have never replaced Roy Keane but, for much of that time, they have not tried to.
Alex Ferguson put his faith in distributors, not destroyers, in his final few years at the helm.
Blind is no warrior, either. He helped Holland finish third in the World Cup, but it was in a more cautious set-up.
Perhaps Van Gaal will adopt a policy of safety in numbers, bolstering the midfield with Fellaini, Michael Carrick or Darren Fletcher, or he will ask Ander Herrera to drop deeper.
United’s season has consisted of a series of experiments: the lopsided diamond was jettisoned against West Brom, then Falcao, the supposed scorer supreme, was removed against Everton because he was not tracking Leighton Baines.
They are signs Blind and the beleaguered back four have required help against lesser opponents.
Now, as the league leaders visit Old Trafford, the risk is that he again finds himself overburdened and overshadowed by Chelsea’s intelligent attacking midfielders.
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