Cost us the game today. We had a few shakey moments early on but generally controlled the ball very well and matched City in general. And then Chris smalling goes ahead and does something utterly daft and after that it was just damagw control really.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 29
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Red cards
- 1
Do you have anyone in mind? Please don't say someone like Shawcross.
Still can't believe the two bookings he picked up completely idiotic. The sort of thing you see at pub level!
G
What was the point of the first one? Shouldn't he be running back to get in a defensive position? fecking hell, our defenders are daft.
If he stayed fit and built a partnership we'd be better off. Smalling, Jones and Evans have never been considered world class and have shown top form in fits and spurts. That's not good enough.
Unbelievably naive block the first one then move on. Don't stand and let Joe "head the ref" Hart kick it off you and get booked you idiot! That reeks of inexperience and then diving in once you've been booked for the 2nd booking reeks of inexperience also! Holly feck not happy with him today!
Poor today but still our best natural defender. We look better for his pace and strength imo.
That said, in the side that LVG is cultivating, with CBs having so much of the ball, I don't really think he's ideal. Annoying that our best defender is our worst ball player.
That said, in the side that LVG is cultivating, with CBs having so much of the ball, I don't really think he's ideal. Annoying that our best defender is our worst ball player.
Inexperience? He's not some kid, he's been in the Prem long enough for that to not be any excuse.
Think you are misreading my tone Hed Z I'm having a go at him as he is not inexperienced! So we agree
Think you are misreading my tone Hed Z I'm having a go at him as he is not inexperienced! So we agree
Fair enough.
Stupidity for the first yellow, reckless decision making for the 2nd, the key problem being both these traits are exactly what you hope defenders do not possess. Without a doubt, his sending off cost us the game.
That being said, he remains a talented defender still with abit more potential to fulfil before he reaches his maximum capacity. I don't agree at all with posters saying he should never play again, nor that he should be sold .... he simply had a nightmare, it happens ... with Rooney once a season, Rafael cost us a few seasons back vs Munich in the CL, there are many examples.
Given our defensive situation, there is no good from throwing him under the bus or disowning him. We desperately need him to stay fit til January and put together a string of performances. He is very capable, he simply needs to acquire consistency; in form and concentration.
Im hoping Van Gaal plays him as soon as his suspension is over and Smalling learns from this and kicks on. Who knows, maybe it will be the making of him.
That being said, he remains a talented defender still with abit more potential to fulfil before he reaches his maximum capacity. I don't agree at all with posters saying he should never play again, nor that he should be sold .... he simply had a nightmare, it happens ... with Rooney once a season, Rafael cost us a few seasons back vs Munich in the CL, there are many examples.
Given our defensive situation, there is no good from throwing him under the bus or disowning him. We desperately need him to stay fit til January and put together a string of performances. He is very capable, he simply needs to acquire consistency; in form and concentration.
Im hoping Van Gaal plays him as soon as his suspension is over and Smalling learns from this and kicks on. Who knows, maybe it will be the making of him.
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With our injuries I don't think he has a choice, lucky for Smalling
Honestly, I can see Smalling becoming a class act. At his prime, Rio was arguably the best and most complete centre back I've seen, so I doubt that he can emulate that class. I don't really see any centre backs at the moment who are there. On a good day, Kompany is thereabouts, but ultimately lacks a little pace in comparison and has plenty of brainfarts.
Smalling doesn't make all that many mistakes; subsequently, I think you are far too harsh on him. As a centre back, he has mostly produced quality appearances with assured defending but ultimately lacking in finesse, compared to the likes of Rio. Compared to Vidic, on the other hand, I would say that Smalling's ball playing attributes are at least on par to what Vidic could produce when he came to United, and he did improve his game considerably during his stay; there is little to suggest that Smalling cannot do the same.
His red card isn't typical for Smalling, and thus we shouldn't be too harsh on him for that. It was a terrible tackle and a stupid first yellow; he can really do little but apologize for that.
Why does it go for a lesser degree for Jones than for Smalling, btw? Jones makes many more silly mistakes than what Smalling does and is often prone to brainfarts, unlike Smalling who is mostly solid in his defending. That's where your agenda shines through; you criticize Smalling for things that he rarely does wrong and lets Jones have a free pass. I agree on Evans though; he has too many mistakes in him for my liking, even though he is very competent on the ball.
Great post, mate! 100% agree.
Cost us the game today with 2 stupid mistakes (first one especially). It's bad enough losing a man but to do so in such a ridiculous manner is hard to take.
Regardless of his idiotic performance today, the writing is on the wall for him. He'll be gone by summer.
Agreed, he'll be gone next summer and he won't be the only defender at this club that we'll be saying that about. This, hot on the heels of his disastrous performance at Leicester (admittedly he wasn't alone that day), and it doesn't bode well for Smalling.
Not consistent enough, both in fitness and quality, to be a top defender in my opinion.
Only an idiot would sell our best defender.
Really disappointed that he didn't build on that Chelsea performance because he needed to, imo. I would give him until January 2016, he and Jones, to see if he can turn his United career around.
too much common sense.
he made a couple of mistakes...and yes. it did cost us the match. but sell him?
van Gaal fortunately is not an idiot.
Agreed. And if, for some idiotic reason, we do sell him, it better not be to a direct rival.
Sell evans before smalling.
I can see why people want to persevere with him. Personally, I've lost patience myself but I totally agree with not selling him to a direct rival. Wenger has always been a fan and would be sniffing round him if he's available. Just like with Welbeck, it's not a good idea to sell him to Arsenal in my opinion.
I don't know what he was thinking with the first booking. There was no other outcome to what he was doing than a yellow card, its infuriating.
He's probably one of my favourite players at the club, and I am losing patience myself. But that's all relative to injuries, nothing else. I would be more than willing to let any of our senior CB's depart (bar Rojo, of course), provided we replace them aptly at this point.
Smalling our best defender? Deary fecking me. I know we aren't blessed with the greatest of choice but he's nowhere near Evans - and even he isn't up to standard.
When he got that first yellow card, I said to myself "this is like the stupidest way to get a yellow, especially for a defender". Did not surprise me at all that he made another brain dead decision to slide tackle Milner and get that second yellow. I'm not going to be as dramatic as some people here have been, in regards to his future at the club, but there should be serious consequences for what he cost us today. He shouldn't be involved in the starting lineup for a while, providing that we have other, healthy centerbacks to take his place. But knowing our luck with injuries, that's basically impossible, and we'll be forced to play Smalling again. Unless Smalling gets injured himself in training again, which may be the most likely outcome.
I don't see a best defender at the club. That's the problem. I'd play Jones as much as possible (if that will ever amount to a good run, given his injury record) as he's probably got a higher ceiling for development.
But our best defender? We don't have one. We've got players who sometimes play well and sometimes play terrible. We really do not have a solid and reliable defender.
But our best defender? We don't have one. We've got players who sometimes play well and sometimes play terrible. We really do not have a solid and reliable defender.
Tackle for the 2nd yellow looks worse every time you see it.
He should be sacked!! I hope Paddy McNair can seize this opportunity
That's true. He was feck-up prone. The difference, however, is that Rio's talent was unquestionable to a degree Smalling's simply isn't. With Rio it was a matter of ironing out some creases here and there before he could emerge as a world beater - with Smalling it still remains very much unclear whether he will actually cut the mustard for a club like United.
And then there's the general defensive situation. Smalling's creases wouldn't have worried me at all if we didn't have to rely on him - as in, him being spoken of as our best CB, which sadly ain't far from the truth.
Completely agree.
If there is one of our young CBs who can be material for LVG to turn into the next Holger Badstuber (pre-injury), I would say play him on as long as Smalling is off the pitch. I'm sure LVG disowned somebody to make the space for Badstuber, so it's not impossible to do it again.
There's no such thing as a best defender right now, so I wouldn't mind letting the McNairs, the Thorpes and the Blacketts of this world taking more game time. It should be quite a strong message for the likes of Evans, jones and Smalling to take.
There's no such thing as a best defender right now, so I wouldn't mind letting the McNairs, the Thorpes and the Blacketts of this world taking more game time. It should be quite a strong message for the likes of Evans, jones and Smalling to take.
Tbh we're arguing over who's the least rubbish. That's not how it should be at Utd and it's been like this for too long now. I think all three ultimately need to go unless there is a sudden step up in composure, footballing intelligence and confidence on the ball. And I don't see that happening any time soon. McNair already looks a better player to me. And Blackett too. But obviously we need experience to go with them.
I'm not sure that Jones does make more silly mistakes than Smalling though. I would say they're on a par for heart-in-mouth moments. I also wasn't criticising Smalling just for today – as I have said. And I wasn't letting Jones have a free pass at all, only in that he is younger than the other two. That said, I think all Jones needs to sort is his panicky rashness. Whether he ever can is my doubt about him. I think Smalling is far more limited as a player and there doesn't seem to be any progression.
Really stupid from him today. I do like him though, so hopefully he is back in the team soon.
Absolute idiot today, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is the first time he's made that big of a feck up. Vidic made a few.
This Jones/ Smalling who's the best/ least shit argument is nonsense. We're all only guessing. Until this surreal rollercoaster ride of injury and suspension ceases and we actually get to see them get 5 or 6 games under their belt, I feel like we're only making up their attributes at this stage. I can't remember what they're like. If it wasn't for the faces, I don't think I'd remember what Phil looks like. Mental stuff.
Thing is, it's not just the red card that is Smalling's problem. He gets injured far too often, much like Rafael, Evans and Jones. We can't rely on any of them. Our defense gets rotated practically every match and we can't get a stable back 4 or anything. All of them are also prone to lapses in judgment. When Smalling gets his chance to impress, what does he do? Gets sent off in the most ridiculous manner. Ignore his late tackle that led to his second yellow, wtf was the first yellow about? What the hell was he thinking there? As soon as he got that first yellow, I had the feeling that he would get sent off.
You can't do these things in such an important match and you definetly can't do them when you're facing players like Aguero.
I say - sell the entire defense or use them as squad players at most. They are all too unreliable and that's what pisses me off. Sure, Valencia might be shit when he plays, but at least you can count on him to play when you want him to play. I prefer that than to wonder when is going to get injured again.
Edit: Smalling basically cost us the match. I really think we could have gotten at least a draw out of there, but...
You can't do these things in such an important match and you definetly can't do them when you're facing players like Aguero.
I say - sell the entire defense or use them as squad players at most. They are all too unreliable and that's what pisses me off. Sure, Valencia might be shit when he plays, but at least you can count on him to play when you want him to play. I prefer that than to wonder when is going to get injured again.
Edit: Smalling basically cost us the match. I really think we could have gotten at least a draw out of there, but...
I have a question. I'm not defending Smalling here by the way, I think he was very foolish today but under what rule was the first booking? I'm not criticising the ref I genuinely don't know the rule. I mean it's not a dead ball. The Goalie has to get rid of the ball. Why does Smalling have to get out of his way. Why is he allowed have effectively a free kick just because he caught the ball?
Smallin has been judged a bit harshly , in fact I think some of the criticism is a bit over the top. Both yellows were deserved but I understand why he was sucked in for the second one. Milner was not fully in contol of the ball and has seemingly pushed the ball to far. I think he thought he had a chance to win that 50/50 ball. Milner was just a bit quicker. A deserved yellow card but quite understandable!