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2015-16 Performances

View full 2015-16 profile

6.3 Season Average Rating
Appearances
55
Clean sheets
24
Goals
2
Assists
1
Yellow cards
13
Red cards
1
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His ability on the ball is fecking shocking.

I fail to see how he's been at United for six seasons playing at such a high level and has shown no improvement whatsoever on the ball. Its completely embarrassing and it will hinder him from becoming a top defender.

His poor passing, hesitation and shite touch continuously put us under pressure or waste opportunities.
 
Had a strange night.

Passing was the worst it's been in ages, but 1 on 1 he did really well. Few times he got his positioning wrong though which cost him a couple times, but had an average game really.
 
Lash said:
He's been awful the last 3 games, really not convinced he's cut out to be a top defender without someone far superior next to him. His passing is abysmal.
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I don't think he's awful against West Ham. He was one of the best player in that match.
 
Mike09 said:
I don't think he's awful against West Ham. He was one of the best player in that match.
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Meh, I didn't think he had all that much to do tbh. He just completely panics when the ball is at his feet and recently (maybe not against West ham) he's just been getting bullied; which was pretty much his only good attribute.
 
Hoping Mourinho comes in and straightens him back to the standard we're used to. Dip in form is starting to become pretty concerning.
 
Lash said:
Meh, I didn't think he had all that much to do tbh. He just completely panics when the ball is at his feet and recently (maybe not against West ham) he's just been getting bullied; which was pretty much his only good attribute.
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I don't know what game did you watch, he was bullying Sakho, Carroll and Emenike all the time and covering all Blind's defending job.
 
Horrible use of the ball and looked twitchy when Liverpool's quick little forwards were running at him.
 
Put a CB beside him that can actually pass the ball and it would hide the issue somewhat, I mean Blind isn't bad but Blind isn't a CB.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Had a strange night.

Passing was the worst it's been in ages, but 1 on 1 he did really well. Few times he got his positioning wrong though which cost him a couple times, but had an average game really.
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Exactly how I saw it too.
 
Leg-End said:
Put a CB beside him that can actually pass the ball and it would hide the issue somewhat, I mean Blind isn't bad but Blind isn't a CB.
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Eh? Blind is actually quite good on the ball. How about Smalling not be as thick as rock?
 
Anyone else notice him grt caught out just ball watching several times tonight?

Think he would be so much better with a top quality partner alongside.
 
Hes a great penalty box defender imo. His ability on the ball is terrible, and tonight there were times he just...stopped. He looked shattered after 55 minutes as well.
 
His distribution is the worst of all the CBs I have seen playing for us, including O Shea, and that says something.

So unnerved when he gets pressed, I am amazed.
 
He is simply not intelligent enough to play as a CB. For all the right physical attributes, he lets himself down by his poor decision making, panicking, and reading of the game. Yet I am often astonished by the praise he gets here. He is neither commanding, communicative nor intelligent enough to be a starting CB for a top club. He's a bit like Liverpool's Sakho
 
Eto'odinho said:
He is simply not intelligent enough to play as a CB. For all the right physical attributes, he lets himself down by his poor decision making, panicking, and reading of the game. Yet I am often astonished by the praise he gets here. He is neither commanding, communicative nor intelligent enough to be a starting CB for a top club. He's a bit like Liverpool's Sakho
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I agree Smalling is not the most intelligent defender out there but what does he do that doesn't classify him as intelligent?

Smalling does very well in 1v1 and counter attacking situations, probably the best in the league in that regard, so how exactly does he panic too much?

The Sahko comparison is way out of reach and totally unfair IMO.
 
Eto'odinho said:
He is simply not intelligent enough to play as a CB. For all the right physical attributes, he lets himself down by his poor decision making, panicking, and reading of the game. Yet I am often astonished by the praise he gets here. He is neither commanding, communicative nor intelligent enough to be a starting CB for a top club. He's a bit like Liverpool's Sakho
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He has shown this season that he can do all of the things you've said he can't do though. At his best he is a commanding and dominating defender and is far from being the problem in our team. He has has to play most of the season with a makeshift defence, almost always with a partner who is not even a centre back and with a team that is struggling and playing below the players' actual ability. With a good manager and a good partner he will be fantastic, he's already one of our best players this season anyway
 
Obiorahking_ said:
I agree Smalling is not the most intelligent defender out there but what does he do that doesn't classify him as intelligent?

Smalling does very well in 1v1 and counter attacking situations, probably the best in the league in that regard, so how exactly does he panic too much?

The Sahko comparison is way out of reach and totally unfair IMO.
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His 1 v 1 is not bad but for a premiership defender he gets dragged out of position too often. Both him and Blind have a tendency to go for a stroll when we are being attacked.
The number of times a midfielder has to drop into defence to cover for them is abnormal, no wonder the CMs look clueless half the time.
Does it not baffle people how other defenders manage to mark strikers without engaging in a wrestling contest or chasing them into their own half. The more battles he engages in the more chaotic the defence becomes. Too busy defending as individuals those two and complicating things for the 5 players around them.
 
KikiDaKats said:
His 1 v 1 is not bad but for a premiership defender he gets dragged out of position too often. Both him and Blind have a tendency to go for a stroll when we are being attacked.
The number of times a midfielder has to drop into defence to cover for them is abnormal, no wonder the CMs look clueless half the time.
Does it not baffle people how other defenders manage to mark strikers without engaging in a wrestling contest or chasing them into their own half. The more battles he engages in the more chaotic the defence becomes. Too busy defending as individuals those two and complicating things for the 5 players around them.
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Firstly, his 1v1 defensive work is a lot better than 'not bad' - he rarely loses duels. Secondly, having a RW as your RB, or a kid who has barely played a game, or a signing who looks absolutely lost, is going to mean you have to cover for them. Similarly, having a CB partner who is not really a CB means you are probably going to accept extra responsibility and try to help him out a lot. He needs a solid three defenders with him before we can judge if his positioning is that bad.
 
KikiDaKats said:
His 1 v 1 is not bad but for a premiership defender he gets dragged out of position too often. Both him and Blind have a tendency to go for a stroll when we are being attacked.
The number of times a midfielder has to drop into defence to cover for them is abnormal, no wonder the CMs look clueless half the time.
Does it not baffle people how other defenders manage to mark strikers without engaging in a wrestling contest or chasing them into their own half. The more battles he engages in the more chaotic the defence becomes. Too busy defending as individuals those two and complicating things for the 5 players around them.
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He gets dragged out of position because he is often covering ground for his other teammates, these are unfortunate circumstances that are always going to happen when our defense consistently gets involved in the attack.

As for your statement about "marking", we should keep in mind that 1V1s are part of the game. When a defender loses his man, or gets beaten off a run, or we are on the counter attack they are inevitabe. The fact that Smalling is always there to bail our other defenders or our players is pretty damn good and I can bet my life we would have been screwed had he not been in position to stop those attacks.

Our defensive organization has not been perfect, much like Smalling's form right now, and his ball playing skills still need to improve, but lets not act like he isn't one of the main reasons we have conceded only 27 goals in 29 games in the league.
 
Like the rest of the team he has been shit for the last few months, but impossible to blame him considering that the team has more problems than just individual players playing badly.

What I can blame him though, is that he is just a terrible footballer. While a defender's first job is to defend (and Smalling is actually quite good at it), his all round play (passing, running with the ball not in out) it is really shocking for a player who has been playing in this level for half a decade.
 
Sahko btw was at fault to all 3 goals Liverpool conceded today vs Southampton(Surprise Surprise!!) and prevented a Liverpool goal because he was unnecessarily offside.

Lets not compare a championship defender to Smalling again please.
 
Man City 0:1 Man Utd
He is having poor second half of the season but his movement and our defensive shape lately is ridiculous, I seriously think it's down to the tactics, they are instructed to chase various players and leave their positions all the time, there's no way he is doing it because he thinks that's the way he should defend. We had some ridiculous defensive shapes already and we are just 13 minutes into the game.
 
Amar__ said:
He is having poor second half of the season but his movement and our defensive shape lately is ridiculous, I seriously think it's down to the tactics, they are instructed to chase various players and leave their positions all the time, there's no way he is doing it because he thinks that's the way he should defend. We had some ridiculous defensive shapes already and we are just 13 minutes into the game.
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Defensive shape I agree but he has looked great second half.
 
Has he fecked a member of Michael Oliver's family?
 
His brainfarts annoyed me but he was very solid for large parts, excellent towards the end.
 
Yeah really good today... he's been due a strong performance... though he was a bit lucky to not see red.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Yeah really good today... he's been due a strong performance... though he was a bit lucky to not see red.
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Think he has all the physical skills and he needs to up his game intelligence. Thought he was getting that red after tripping Kun Aguero. Needs to play smarter and he will be fine.
 
Watching his interview illustrates hes a pretty intelligent human being. I dont understand how he can be so stupid on the pitch, at times...
 
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