Football
Rob Dawson, Correspondent 7y

Victor Lindelof will be a success at Manchester United - Henning Berg

Victor Lindelof will recover from a tough start to life at Manchester United and be a success at Old Trafford, former defender Henning Berg has told ESPN FC.

Lindelof is set to make his first start of the season when United face Basel on Tuesday.

The Swede is yet to play in the Premier League following his £31 million move from Benfica this summer, but with Phil Jones and Eric Bailly serving UEFA suspensions, he will get a chance to impress in the Champions League.

Berg, United's most expensive defender when he arrived for £5m in 1997, also endured a difficult start in the England with Blackburn, and the former Norway international, who has had spells as manager of Blackburn and Legia Warsaw, insists Lindelof just needs time to settle.

He said: "Victor is struggling a little bit with getting used to English football.

"For some players it can take time but he did very well at Benfica and I am sure he will come good and take the next step.

"It is difficult because in the Premier League you don't get many opportunities and you have to be 100 percent.

"My first game in England, I played for Blackburn in the semifinal of the League Cup against Sheffield Wednesday. I played right-back and we lost 4-2. The next game I was in the stand.

"I got blamed for the first goal. It was a learning curve. Kenny Dalglish was the manager and Ray Harford was his assistant but they believed in me and gave me more chances after that when I had adapted a little bit more. You need faith from the manager.

"Patrik Andersson had 100 caps for Sweden and won the Champions League with Bayern Munich and he started the match as well. He was also blamed for two goals and he had to sit out the next match in the stand as well.

"We had a good mentality and we adapted quickly and got over that first experience. Victor also has a good mentality and you need that at United."

Lindelof's arrival has created plenty of competition at the back with Jones, Bailly, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind all options at centre-back. In 1999, Berg, now 48, was part of Sir Alex Ferguson's Treble-winning squad alongside Ronny Johnsen, Jaap Stam and David May before eventually heading back to Blackburn in 2000.

He added: "Ronny was injured all the time so it was okay for me at United!

"He could also play in midfield. Ronny was a very versatile player. I enjoyed playing with both him and Jaap Stam. They were good people to play with. We had so many matches it was good.

"Towards the end of my career at United it was more disappointing. I didn't play as much.

"I was then regarded as not good enough, and maybe rightly so, but I was frustrated and at 30 years old you don't want to be sitting on the bench."

Lindelof was part of Jose Mourinho's £150m spending spree in the summer along with Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic.

And while Lindelof has strengthened the defence, Berg, most recently in charge of Hungarian side Videoton, is impressed with Mourinho's options at the other end of the pitch.

He said: "Victor was highly rated at Benfica. He had been a bit of an unknown prior to that. He did really well in the Under-21s in the European Championships.

"He got into the Benfica team because of injury and they started winning.

"The additions United have made this summer was very good.

"They have match winners now, they have strength in depth and can handle injuries and Mourinho is a manager who knows what he is doing. He always does well in his second year. He has the right mentality.

"The first year was a learning process for all the players and maybe for Mourinho and now they know what to expect and know what to do. They have the players to be able to fight for the Premier League title and Champions League."

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