He deserves credit for not fecking around with him and letting him play at CB. So far he is the only Manchester United manager to realise you shouldn't waste the most talented English CB around as a RB.
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He deserves credit for not fecking around with him and letting him play at CB. So far he is the only Manchester United manager to realise you shouldn't waste the most talented English CB around as a RB.
I don't know, if not for Phil Jones' blood clot Smalling would have probably started the season as a sub. That was certainly the way it seemed to be heading during pre-season.
As founder of the #SmallingPlusOne movement I'm claiming this one. Been saying he's our best centre half since before Rio and Vidic left. Since his first season he's been unbeatable.
He's definitely looked the real deal since his first season, it was only his fitness/RB stint that held him back imo.
Haha but I made the 'Smalling is the best in the league' thread. However I only turned at the end of last season. So happy for him though. He was the world class centre back signing we all wanted in the summer.
Again, people forget his age. SAF left when he was 23 and we still had Rio and Vidić in the team, so him playing there wasn't a huge problem, especially as he had injury problems (one was an impact injury when he got a concussion and one was tonzilitis, where both kept him away for a long time).
Whom did LVG played yesterday as a RB? Jones, isn't it?
Actually a great point. When speaking about the best CBs in the world even though defending isn't glamorous it's usually a joy to watch someone who has perfected the art. Last time I think I enjoyed watching a defender was Vidic.
I think it's half and half, LVG isn't responsible for Smallings ability or development so much but he is responsible of using his strengths to get the best out of him. Smallings key strengths is to bully 1v1 situation outside the box from standing, jumping or running with/after the ball and the way LVG has changed United's play from possession and team positioning means that 90% of Smallings defending is 1v1 outside of our box.
Rio was playing regular football as a CB at 23. His RB stint damaged his confidence and peoples perception of his ability, which he's still fighting against now. He was ready at 21 and should've been trusted, and we would've seen this a lot quicker.
At the age of 23 Rio was starting in World Cup 2002. Smalling missed out in place of the likes of Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's a bad defending in the box, he's bloody brilliant but I think he's best art is the 1v1, there's been countless times this season where he's made clean shit of a player 1on1.
He's so good one against one. Dreading the day he gets injured because he's just too important now.
Of course, I do agree, I am just saying that he is also good in the box.
Emphasised by the way we play. We camp in their half and as such are often faced with a counter which sees Smalling tracking one player. As you say, he relishes this.
I'd be surprised if any player in the world can dribble faster than he can run so it's incredibly difficult to get the better of him in a 1v1 situation.
Has a bit of Rock of Kampen about him these days. Rio and Vidic are more recent players, but Smalling's game resembles the Dutchman's the most out of the three. More of a stopper, maybe not as great of a passer as Rio; but he has Stam's quickness (quicker still?), is a tower of strength (not as frightening though), seems natural in 1v1 marking (Stam obliterated just about everyone if they dared to face him head on), and is radiating this aura of being an unassailable 'one man defense' - as Cruyff termed Jaap. Very happy to see the progress he's made. Has Stam's no-reaction look on his face too, just stands there nonplussed after making a fool out of opposition attackers for the umpteenth time.
His anticipation is also Rio esq, he always knows exactly the right time to make the tackle when he's being dribbled at. Never forces it, just waits for the right moment. There was a great example yesterday and the one against Chadli in the season opener was about as ice cold as it gets - in his box, end of the game
His attitude and mentality is the most impressive part of his game for me. Sent off vs City, came back like nothing happened. Dropped unfairly in pre-season, no strop whatsoever and has forced Van Gaal into making him unstoppable.
During a game as well, if a striker rarely gets the better of him it never seems to phase him. I remember Ings gave him a bad time for about 40 minutes vs Burnley last season. Then from about 50 odd minutes, he got a hold of him and basically took him and their attack out the game.
Wouldnt it be nice now if Phil Jones can turn into a rock as well so we can just plug them both in there at CB for the next 10 years or so? Is that asking too much?
6 years or 7 years at a push seems more reasonable.
I got a lot of stick from friends claiming that Smalling was good enough to replace Rio and Vidic, and that he was our best CB during their twighlight years. Now everyone has shut up. Have to say it feels good to be right 
This. This. This. Distinctly remember a group of 3 laughing in my face when I talked up Smalling saying he just needs time and experience. Now he's doing all the talking on the pitch.I got a lot of stick from friends claiming that Smalling was good enough to replace Rio and Vidic, and that he was our best CB during their twighlight years. Now everyone has shut up. Have to say it feels good to be right
Because he's the only manager we've had who has given Smalling a huge run of games at CB, whereas Fergie and Moyes never gave him a fair chance in his best position. Can't really blame Fergie for that, but Moyes definitely deserves lots of blame for not dropping Ferdinand/Vidic. And some blame obviously lies with Smalling regarding his fitness issues over the last few seasons. Lots of our fans tend to overlook his performances under Moyes where he was our best CB in the league IMO. Even then though, he never had this amount of dominance. He made basic positional errors and his passing was terrible. His long passing is still terrible, but Van Gaal has improved his confidence and that's subsequently had a massive impact on his composure on and off the ball. Which Van Gaal can't be credited enough for.
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Similar situation against Arsenal this season. The whole defence was sub-par but Smalling was quite good in the second half, didn't give Walcott an inch.
Do we really think he was dropped? For me, it was more that VG knew 'Mike' was his #1 defender and was fiddling about to see who would be the +1.
The scary thing is, imagine how good he could have been if he wasnt plagued with injuries and Ferguson insisting on playing him at RB in his younger years...
I actually think playing RB probably helped him
Would you care to elaborate on this? I think it was a significant hindrance myself.
Scarier still to imagine if we'd handled his development from age 13-15.
Its a different type of defending, and understanding a different type of space, but it gives you a more broad understanding of how to depend different spaces, and how to defend one on one too.
Its a little bit like a striker, playing on the wings for a bit, understanding what goes through the wingers mind when crossing, passing, looking for the striker, can improve the strikers movement.
I think he played RB for too long, also I think under Fergie when Vidic/Rio were on top of their game, playing Smalling at RB was a good choice.
I normally appreciate the value of playing a player in a different position, in terms of learning and development. I think you are partially right in that some gametime at FB was probably beneficial (in the sense of teaching Mike how to be a better CB), but as you said he was really overutilised in that role such that it stunted his development a bit.
Still get some absolute mongrels who fail to realise what a good player he is. Had a few people at work crediting Schneiderlin for our solid defence this season, despite him not actually playing that often.
Our possession game helps in regard to not allowing the opposition many chances and obviously we've got Dave in goal, but Smalling has undoubtably been the best aspect of the teams defensive game this season. He's barely given any striker he's faced and inch.
Our possession game helps in regard to not allowing the opposition many chances and obviously we've got Dave in goal, but Smalling has undoubtably been the best aspect of the teams defensive game this season. He's barely given any striker he's faced and inch.
Ability on the ball aside, I don't think it'd have made much difference. When you think about it, for a player with the lower league education that he had, his game is very unconventional of that type. He has buckets of pace and is very physically dominant, but really he only just started to utilise them. For the most part, his game - here and at Fulham - has always been about reading and intercepting play, very rarely needing to drop to the deck, and being insanely dominant in one-on-ones when isolated. It's probably why he managed to stand out at Maidstone. Other English defenders - Cahill, Jones, Jagielka et al. are way more lionheart in what you'd expect from that type of CB.
I got slated in the summer on here for saying that id take smalling over hummels and varane. Just saying
I can't think of a CB I'd rather have in world football right now, that's how good he's been this season. I actually think he's our only current defender that will get close to the level Rio and Vidic were at in their prime. Jones still has time, mind you.
The clouds of smug are making this thread hard to navigate!
I agree with your point in terms of his defending. As you've noted, it's the ball-carrying aspect of his game that I'm sure would have been cultivated much better.
I don't agree with the idea that he needs to be exceptional on the ball to be world class in this climate. Even so, I doubt he'd be uncomfortable on his left side, for instance, if he'd come through. It's silly to think about it now anyway considering the form he's showing.
It didn't. It almost bought him a one way ticket out on his arse to somewhere like Leicester.
The only reason Smalling has improved is because he's playing regular games at centre half; a run of games he should have had aged 22, not when almost 26.
Ferguson was too busy rotating the old guard to really force the issue and allow Smalling the trust his talent merited. I argued this back then and I still maintain it now.
Yes!
He looked like an excellent defender very early on and it wasn't exactly the prediction of the century to believe in him!it wont be long before there is a similar LVG thread
Spot on - he isn't getting injured and is playing where he should be now - no coincidence. There's no doubt for me that Ferguson hindered his career a bit - or stinted / slowed it down anyway. Same as Jones.
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