I think emotionally he is gone. He and his family had a wonderful time living in Rome and he is desperate to go back.Is Smalling done at Man United or does he have a chance to get back into the side?
I think emotionally he is gone. He and his family had a wonderful time living in Rome and he is desperate to go back.
We need far better than to be re-arranging deckchairs on The Titanic. We don't have a top class centre back at the club.Is Smalling done at Man United or does he have a chance to get back into the side?
Is Smalling done at Man United or does he have a chance to get back into the side?
Need to get both of them to be properly match fit before writing them off. They did very well last year and that wasn’t a fluke.
Maybe. Time will tell.It's only one season, though. There's as much every chance that it was a fluke.
He's better be. It seems like we won't get any new CB. So, it's another season he'll be United main CB.Maybe. Time will tell.
Regardless, Lindelof will play plenty of games this season.
He just looked half a yard off the pace all game long and his positioning was also off radar, and that cost us badly.
He needs to get his body and mind into the right place quickly.
Smalling wouldn't be a good partner because of maguire's lack of speed.
Maguire was terrible today. Three counterattacks in the second half because he's misplacing passes. Doesn't have the speed to stop the first goal. A game like this Palace were having a field day with him. Criminal to concede like we did and let Palace walk all over us in the first 15 minutes. The game played out almost perfectly for them.Maguire is good, but that was something from Lindelof. That thief he caught in Sweden must have been 90 or missing a leg.
Yes he was bad today but based on last season I think he is overall a very good CB.Maguire was terrible today. Three counterattacks in the second half because he's misplacing passes. Doesn't have the speed to stop the first goal. A game like this Palace were having a field day with him. Criminal to concede like we did and let Palace walk all over us in the first 15 minutes. The game played out almost perfectly for them.
it’s very clear that Maguire and Lindelöf are far better at actual defending than many of our fans give them credit. The bullcrap agenda against them has to stop.
Agreed. If we ever want to challenge for the title again, we need to replace 3 of the back 4. In the modern game, we need an attacking RB, an attacking LB and a mobile fast centre half to compliment Maguire. It sickens me to say but LFC’s back 4 is the perfect modern defence to win big titles and we should be looking at that albeit they have been incredibly lucky to Stumble upon TAA and Robertson at the same time.Stating the obvious here, but...United aren't going to compete for League titles, never mind the CL, with Maguire and Lindelöf in central defence. It's as simple as that. They're not good enough and never will be good enough.
Indeed, the entire defence is probably the worst I can recall since following the club. Goalkeeping options, midfield and forward line is fine, and if the RW spot can be sorted before the window shuts, then those options are more than fine. But...the defence is muck by elite level standards.
Is "elite hipster CB's" code for CB's that aren't slow and immobile as feck?
Is "elite hipster CB's" code for CB's that aren't slow and immobile as feck?
I don't think he's good in the kind of setup that United are playing. The defenders are dealing with way too many 1v1s. Midfielders and defenders lose the ball in dangerous places, we're not finishing our attacks which means we're there for the taking on the counter. Maguire is too lumpy and slow to handle players coming at them.Yes he was bad today but based on last season I think he is overall a very good CB.
Lindelof was an absolute mess but we shouldn't forget Maguire's constant passing of the ball to Palace players. He and Pogba were great at this.Need someone new to babysit our £80m captain, you can't write this shit.
Less said about Linelof the better.
Maguire has been shocking today, mainly in his positioning and awareness of the game. He has managed to avoid pretty much every potentially dangerous episode. Lindelöf has done better in that regard but it doesn't matter if you show up when you lose every single duel you have.People going on at Maguire for today? What black magic has that Swedish coward done to you lot?
Absolutely. And it had to be said that some weaknesses cannot be covered up for in the long run if you want to aim high. For example Maguire's lack of speed can be compensated by Smalling being very quick. However Lindelof's dislike for actual defending and physical insignificance, are just too much of a hinderance.CB'S have always been built around partnerships because a single defender will have weaknesses that are easy to target.
Lindelof & Maguire has been built around this 'idealistic partnership' of ball playing abilities when it hardly benefits us.
The worse thing is that the partnership doesnt help each other defensively at all and is just made solely on their ability on the ball- it's okay for one to be a more progressive tackler whilst one stays back for example.
Smalling - Maguire
Bailly - Maguire
Are all better than
Lindelof - Maguire
Because the defensive game suits each other more as a partnership first.
I’ve been active in many threads saying the root problem is the board, which is obvious to everyone on this forum. However, Ole has a real weakness when it comes to sticking with the players he likes, and this shit CB partnership is a prime example of that. There are a plethora or options for him to choose from to at least replace Lindelof (Smalling and Bailly are miles better for starters), and yet he sticks with him.
I hope we get drawn against Bayern in the CL. I imagine the Lewandowski-Muller duo would never have had to play two easier games in their lives against these two. Maybe that will finally make Ole realise that this partnership will never work, as Neville rightly said. Jones and Smalling were chucked out, only to be replaced by the new chuckle brothers.
The thing is, no matter Bailly’s fitness, he is still a far better defender than Lindelof. He might as well put me and you at CB We’ll never get near the ball but at least we won’t get injured and there’s stability (wouldn’t do worse than him last night)He is right to stick with Lindelof over Bailly atleast. He latter can't stay fit. Atleast we have had stability in defence.
As I see it it is simple as this - you can have Vidic and pair him with Evans and it can work. But Maguire is nowhere near world class CB, and add Lindelof to that story, you get this. We need at least someone as good Maguire (which is, again a little above average in terms of other world class CBs) and try to make them work.
I know this has been repeated gazillion times but we need a proper CB and another versatile midfielder (I do not even dream of getting another striker) without it, this is our season. And people will still blame Ole
Lindelof had a quite decent 2018/2019 season. Ball playing wise, when Ole took over Lindelof had that honeymoon period where he showed better ball playing ability than Maguire had shown for us. Ball playing is not all about dribbling with the ball, but also the distribution, which Lindelof did very well. Incisive, quick passing, bring the ball out of the defense, ambitious long ball. He had it all in those months.Having focussed on this aspect closely in our last few games, I am convinced that Maguire is actually better "ball-playing" CB than Lindelof. When we are camped in opposition half, Lindelof usually tends to pass sideways to Maguire or the full backs where Maguire takes the responsibility of a little bit more expansive passing down the middle or switching to the other side. The reputation of Lindelof as a ball playing CB is simply due to him not being good at tackling and heading. Hence people assuming he must be actually good at technical side of things. But he isn't.
Having said that he is better than what he showed against Palace. At his best, he can be a solid 6 and we need him to quickly regain that level as we are not getting a CB this season..
It is really pathetic that Maguire is mentioned in the same context as Lindelof who is a liability in almost every situation. I said it before and I'll say it again with Maguire we at least know what he is good at unlike Lindelof who isn't quick, is average with the ball, has no areal presence and can be bullied in almost every situation. I have no love for Maguire but I refuse to bash him as long as he has such a weak CB as a partner.