Rock today, was disappointed with the comments in this thread over the last few weeks, forgetting that he saved our bacon time and time again in the first half of the season.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 55
- Clean sheets
- 24
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 13
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Absolute animal today (didn't see the first half). A few times when City were piling on a bit of pressure he was the one back defending everything and I was sat watching giong "honestly.. Where is Blind...!?" must be horrible to play beside somebody who is positionally very poor.
Should have been off for a second yellow mind, but we are due a bit of luck this season.
Should have been off for a second yellow mind, but we are due a bit of luck this season.
I love Smalling and think he has been fanastic recently despite the criticism. But he didn't deserve MotM today due to the rashness.
He's immovable against the big strikers but players of the Aguero ilk can sometimes cause him problems. If I were an opposing manager I'd sit one of these players on him but there aren't many left in the league (Vardy, Long?). Good job he's rapid.
He's immovable against the big strikers but players of the Aguero ilk can sometimes cause him problems. If I were an opposing manager I'd sit one of these players on him but there aren't many left in the league (Vardy, Long?). Good job he's rapid.
Beast mode. Should have probably got sent off, but because the ref didnt give us a pen, he didnt have the balls to send Smalling off.
Should have been sent off but other than that had a very go game, him and Blind have to do a lot with no legs in the DM role and dodgy fullback either side.
Lucky not to be sent off but other than that a great performance and deservedly MOTM
Not sure he was lucky not to be sent off. The first yellow was a weird one for Oliver to give considering the way he didn't give out another yellow for worse offenses after that. Blind is a good partner but, can see him becoming even better with another top defender along side.
Kinda lucky today. I actually thought his first booking was harsh compared to the one he didnt get. He was chasing Aguero too much but other than that, he was rock solid. Made some really important blocks and read the play in the box really well.
Could have seen red alright. Good performance and a much needed one as I don't think he's been that good lately. Our defence as a whole is still poor; if Aguero hadn't of had such an off day and Bony wasn't complete shite, we could well have been easily beaten.
The first yellow was ridiculous considering Mangala didn't get one when tossing Rashford out of the pitch on a break. Silly ref.
quite stupid to get that yellow early on but he was immense for the rest of the game, did great to stay on his feet and tackle aguero to get the ball from him in the box in added time..
vintage mike
vintage mikeDidn't think he was anywhere near as good as some, and Aguero got by him one time just far too easily.
Really needs to improve on the ball.
Really needs to improve on the ball.
He was immense
One of his best games all season, can you imagine when he is paired with a solid CB next season how much more he would shine?
Is he growing out a Hitler stache? Or am I the only one who noticed that bum fluff
Must be a fancy dress party coming up.
in last few games he started following strikers very deep and that opens our defence big time....other then that he was good.
Surprised at the comments today. I thought he had a poor game owing to the fact that he should have been sent off in the first half. That said, he defended pretty well although City were dire in attack from pretty much the moment we scored.
There were also times when he pursued Aguero right back practically over the half way line. If City's other attackers had better movement they could have potentially exploited that.
There were also times when he pursued Aguero right back practically over the half way line. If City's other attackers had better movement they could have potentially exploited that.
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That has to be directions. It was extreme against Liverpool. Not only does it open our defence, it removes the defender who is usually sweeping up the mess.
What?
Maybe that was the plan? As long as we've got a handle of Aguero, the rest of the team can easily handle the rest of them. Turns out it was the case.
He was my man of the match.
Yeah, but he wasn't and that doesn't negate the other good things he did rest of the game.
Really feels good that we have a player that can be considered one of or own looking good enough to carry the mantle and become a regular. A team always needs these players who grow with the team like Vidic, Evra, Carrick ... . That next batch of Cleverley, Anderson, Jones have been disappointing to say the least but at least one of them should be a regular for us and ensure some sort of identity in this team.
Perhaps its just from me spending too much time in the Fellaini thread listening to "should have been sent off" type comments every week, I dunno. I find it hard to say a player had a good game when they only remained on the pitch due to the ref utterly bottling it.
Fair point, was very lucky to remain on the pitch and I was frustrated with him for parts of the game, but I think he managed to make up for it overall with his resilient defending towards the end.
Easy. Think of a forward that could have been sent off that goes on to score a couple of goals or a goalie making a great save. Might not be MOTM performance for you, but harsh to brand it a poor game based on something that didn't happen.
Would have been a bit soft for him to be sent off, really. His second foul wasn't that bad at all and it actually looked relatively accidental. You see players get away with much worse all the time, like Mangala did in the same game.
I believe it's to instructions. Other teams have noticed it and have been exploiting it, doubt the coaches haven't. I cautiously celebrated when he took the early yellow because it meant he'd have to restrain himself.
Man Utd 1:0 Everton
Better in the second half but a bit careless on occasions in the first.
Terrific performance today! Had Lukaku in his pocket once more and made some vital interceptions. Lukaku simply gave up in the end. He has to be aggressive because Blind can't (Blind had a good game, so nothing bad about that performance), and therefore he may look a little careless as he is pretty much all over the pitch defending, but he shut down their play so often. Great performance - highlighted by the Norwegian commentator actually - not often a defender gets that much credit.
Looks like Smalling is finding some form again.
Looks like Smalling is finding some form again.
Both he and Blind had a good game. The latter did even better when you consider how frequently Lukaku tried to isolate him.
Yeah back to more or less his best today. Good time to find form!
My MOTM, he was fantastic.
We talk about De Gea, could you imagine what this season would've looked like if he was injured for any lengthy period of time?
About time him and Blind are both performing at the same time.
It's usually been one or the other.
It's usually been one or the other.
It's patently untrue to suggest Smalling aggressively man-marked Lukaku while Blind just sweeped up behind in this game. Michael Cox's take on it was almost the complete reverse:
"Lukaku spent much of the first half positioning himself up against Daley Blind, who has become a regular at the heart of United’s defence but lacks the traditional physical qualities required for a battle against the striker. Nevertheless, Blind was superb until he departed through injury with 10 minutes remaining, and unquestionably came out on top against Lukaku."
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/apr/03/manchester-united-daley-blind-romelu-lukaku
He and Blind have nailed their spots, for me.
Not like they have any competition anyway!
I mean for next season and maybe future
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