Jose Mourinho Once Identified Victor Lindelof's Biggest Weakness And Cameras Perfectly Proved His Point

Jose Mourinho once explained Victor Lindelof's biggest weakness was aerial duels - with cameras showing the Manchester United man miss a header moments later.

Lindelof has become a stalwart in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's backline alongside captain Harry Maguire and United sit second in the Premier League.

But many have commented on the Swede's lack of physicality in aerial duels and it's something Mourinho, who signed Lindelof from Benfica while Red Devils manager, picked up on.

He provided punditry for Sky Sports prior to a clash with West Ham United and explained: "He [Lindelof] can be bullied one-on-one in the box.

"He's not especially good in the air and [Harry] Maguire has that presence and physicality that's very important."

Seconds later, Sky's footage cut to United warming up and Lindelof completely missed a header after leaping high in the air.

Maguire watched on as the 26-year-old got up and back into position to continue their drill.

United would go on to lose that game 2-0 thanks to goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Aaron Cresswell.

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The clip has reemerged following United's 2-1 win over Brighton on Sunday evening, with the Seagulls going ahead thanks to Danny Welbeck.

He managed to head home after Lindelof misjudged the cross and Aaron Wan-Bissaka failed to provide cover from right-back.

Fans have reacted to Mourinho's analysis and they believe he could be right.

Lindelof has been struggling with a back issue but still boasts 23 Premier League appearances this season.

He revealed back in December: "I've been struggling a little bit with my back in the last couple of months but I'm always trying to do my best to help the team on the pitch and, overall, I think it's been all right.

"I want to help this team win trophies - that's why I play football. If the team needs me, I'm going to do my best to be there and try to perform at the highest level. Even if I have some pain, I still want to go out there and do my best.

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"I've been having a lot of pain and I still have problems with it. I'm in every day trying to sort it out but the schedule is very, very tight so I'm just trying to keep it under control.

"It's been difficult, particularly after games, but I'm trying to be as smart as possible with it when I'm playing, when I'm doing my recovery and having treatment."

Topics: Victor Lindelof, Jose Mourinho, Football, Manchester United, Premier League

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

@DanMarland_