[Rossa]

As said in the match day thread... The fact that he has to position his whole body in the direction he wants to pass the ball is really quite funny.

Anyway, good game, great header.

That is so true! He looks so cumbersome when passing the ball, and he always needs to take that extra touch. His short passing is actually pretty good with decent speed on the ball and accuracy is good; it just looks weird.

I do think people put way too much emphasis on him looking awkward or nervous with the ball. He very rarely gives the ball away on basis of a poor first touch. He looks much more awkward than he probably is.

Good game - very solid defensively and a class header. As the game progressed, he started winning aerial battles with that skyscraper of a man they had for centre back as well.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

"looked better on the ball today" hmmm
I would like nothing better than for him to succeed, but he look to me like a rabbit in headlights when he gets the ball and when it looks like it might be coming his way, he waves it off to someone else..
Zero forward passes or movement with the ball, always backwards or sideways - ok, safety first is a decent way to defend and probably high on José's list but against Wigan...
On the plus side a nice goal and an excellently timed tackle on the right touch at the end of the match.

Not true in the slightest. His passing was good today, even when Wigan had a good spell of pressing. Played some decent forward passes, and certainly looked more assured in possession than he has in the past couple of games.

The quality of the opposition can obviously pointed to, but their closing down was troublesome and they caught a number of our experienced players out with a spell of high pressing.

 

[arthurka]

He is just awful on the ball... He will be out this summer or a bench player, not commanding or leading.. He has been my main guy when it comes to defending our players but he isn't first choice under Jose by a country mile and never will be..

 

[arthurka]

He is just awful on the ball... He will be out this summer or a bench player, not commanding or leading.. He has been my main guy when it comes to defending our players but he isn't first choice under Jose by a country mile and never will be..

 

[Isotope]

That is so true! He looks so cumbersome when passing the ball, and he always needs to take that extra touch. His short passing is actually pretty good with decent speed on the ball and accuracy is good; it just looks weird.
.

Yeh. His passing is pretty good today. I think whether receiving or passing the ball, his body always on position of shielding the ball. Maybe an unconscious style as a CB to not let the opponent steal his ball while in possession.

 

[Isotope]

He is just awful on the ball... He will be out this summer or a bench player, not commanding or leading.. He has been my main guy when it comes to defending our players but he isn't first choice under Jose by a country mile and never will be..

He has 94% passing rate. Compared to Rojo who maybe had about 10 long balls that went giving them to the opponent.

Mou would be stupid to sell his best CB aerially and in terms of defending.

 

[Ultimate Grib]

Wigan is about his level so I expected him to be ok.

 

[Sylar]

He was better second half (much like most of the team). But he still does that thing where he gets the ball, runs with it into all the space, and then for some reason turns around and passes it sideways or backwards even if theres a good option to pass it forward, though less than usual today. I am actually surprised when he completes a forward pass over 5-10 yards haha.
Happy for him with the goal.

 

[Loublaze]

He is just awful on the ball... He will be out this summer or a bench player, not commanding or leading.. He has been my main guy when it comes to defending our players but he isn't first choice under Jose by a country mile and never will be..

Did Mourinho tell you this? You do realize that Smalling and Bailly were Mourinho's preferred partnership before they both got injured-allowing the overlooked Jones and Rojo a chance to impress- right?

 

[DWelbz19]

Wigan is about his level so I expected him to be ok.

Absurd comments on here, I swear.

 

[Ultimate Grib]

Absurd comments on here, I swear.

Why is that so absurd he is our worst central defender by far. If we don't cash in on him for a huge English premium fee before everyone sees how poor he really is we are going to kick ourselves forerver!

 

[Ekeke]

Why is that so absurd he is our worst central defender by far. If we don't cash in on him for a huge English premium fee before everyone sees how poor he really is we are going to kick ourselves forerver!

You'd deserve it if you did that.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Why is that so absurd he is our worst central defender by far. If we don't cash in on him for a huge English premium fee before everyone sees how poor he really is we are going to kick ourselves forerver!

He joined us 7 years ago, Whatever level he is I think people will have already noticed given the amount of time we've had him, its not a case of we've been harbouring a shite player for 7 years but nobody noticed so we can sell him for 60 mil, his level is pretty well known even if somewhat contested on here.

 

[Ødegaard]

But... He wasn't bad against Wigan, he was good, at least for what i saw.
Could be getting back into form, could be me not noticing the bad, and could be just because it was an easy game.
Either way, I found him to be good today.

 

[Ultimate Grib]

He joined us 7 years ago, Whatever level he is I think people will have already noticed given the amount of time we've had him, its not a case of we've been harbouring a shite player for 7 years but nobody noticed so we can sell him for 60 mil, his level is pretty well known even if somewhat contested on here.

Maybe not £60m because he's not that young but we risk getting Welbeck money for him if we wait too long. Arsenal paid same amount for Chambers as they did for Welbz. We should strike the iron while it's hot. Push a January transfer through on the back of this performance against the mighty Wigan!

 

[Red_toad]

Maybe not £60m because he's not that young but we risk getting Welbeck money for him if we wait too long. Arsenal paid same amount for Chambers as they did for Welbz. We should strike the iron while it's hot. Push a January transfer through on the back of this performance against the mighty Wigan!

And depend on 3 players for the multiple competitions we're in for the rest of the season, 2 of whom are prone to injury and one who has recently returned from a bad injury.
Some really ill thought though and just plain silly posts on here. Smalling (if he goes) will improve the team he joins and will join. One of our rivals, as he's a very very good defender, who is amazing badly underrated on here. I certainly don't want him gone in January as we simply will not be able to get better to replace him.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Maybe not £60m because he's not that young but we risk getting Welbeck money for him if we wait too long. Arsenal paid same amount for Chambers as they did for Welbz. We should strike the iron while it's hot. Push a January transfer through on the back of this performance against the mighty Wigan!

The iron is not hot! I was being glib with 60m. Smalling in the current market right now would fetch 25 I think, it would be the same in the summer. No other team is looking at the goal hes scored and thinking we need him, you don't sign centre backs just for their goals.

 

[Steven7290]

I know it's just Wigan but I like what he showed today. Brought the ball up well, pass with intentions, came up with a goal as well.

 

[Yagami]

You didn't watch the game because he played the ball forward most of the time, nothing flashy or Beckenbauer worthy, but he certainly improved this aspect a lot.

Definitely. Some of his passes between the lines were very good. I think it's mainly a confidence issue with him because I've seen him pull off these passes before, but most of the time he hesitates and ends up going backwards/sideways which isn't terrible as you can't always go forwards, but he does tend to do too often.

He hasn't been great this season, and it was only Wigan, but I still really like Chris so hopefully he builds on this performance and gets back into Mike-mode.

 

[Loublaze]

Why is that so absurd he is our worst central defender by far. If we don't cash in on him for a huge English premium fee before everyone sees how poor he really is we are going to kick ourselves forerver!

He's our best and most experienced defender.He hasn't hit top form this season but he's proven himself over a longer period than both Jones and Rojo ever have. People have short memories. Smalling made 55 appearances last season and was one of the best defenders in the league. He was played to death. Rojo and Jones can only dream of playing that many games in a single season without going injured. You do realize that Jone's latest run of games this season has been the longest run he's managed without injury in the last five years don't you? He'll have to have at least one standout season like Smalling 2015/16

 

[Robbie Boy]

Rojo and Bailly please.

 

[Loublaze]

Rojo and Bailly please.

Strange post for a preachy poster who likes to lecture others on how to debate. Wrong thread perhaps?

 

[Marcelinho87]

Did Mourinho tell you this? You do realize that Smalling and Bailly were Mourinho's preferred partnership before they both got injured-allowing the overlooked Jones and Rojo a chance to impress- right?

He actually started with Bailly and Blind at CB.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Strange post for a preachy poster who likes to lecture others on how to debate. Wrong thread perhaps?

Thanks, I teach others to post the correct way, I'm glad I'm a help to you

Your undying love and bias for Smalling knows no bounds. Anyhow, I don't have any favourites like yourself and your agendas, but I just feel Rojo and Bailly would be the best partnership right now. I know plenty agree but if you don't then that's absolutely not a shock to me as Smalling isn't included and that won't sit well with you.

 

[Rossa]

Thanks, I teach others to post the correct way, I'm glad I'm a help to you

Your undying love and bias for Smalling knows no bounds. Anyhow, I don't have any favourites like yourself and your agendas, but I just feel Rojo and Bailly would be the best partnership right now. I know plenty agree but if you don't then that's absolutely not a shock to me as Smalling isn't included and that won't sit well with you.

Hmm, was it not you who criticised me for saying people had agendas?

 

[Robbie Boy]

Hmm, was it not you who criticised me for saying people had agendas?

Yup, it's the most overused ridiculous saying on here but it gets thrown around in this thread like confetti so I might as-well jump on board.

Anyhow, it's clear that good ouel Lou has absolutely no objectivity when it comes to Smalling. This is the same chap that basically said the Rojo gave the ref a decision to make (the pen against Hull) all in the name of defending Smalling. It's hard to take him seriously when it comes to anything Smalling related.

 

[Loublaze]

He actually started with Bailly and Blind at CB.

Right, because Smalling was injured in preseason and suspended for the first league game anyway. Once Smalling was available for selection he came on as a late sub against Southampton and Hull City. He sat out the City loss then went on to start 9 straight games, partnering Bailly 8 times leading up to his foot injury before the Chelsea game (the game he played with pain injections) and subsequently being out again allowing Rojo and Jones to take their chance after Bailly himself got injured soon after

 

[Loublaze]

Thanks, I teach others to post the correct way, I'm glad I'm a help to you

Your undying love and bias for Smalling knows no bounds. Anyhow, I don't have any favourites like yourself and your agendas, but I just feel Rojo and Bailly would be the best partnership right now. I know plenty agree but if you don't then that's absolutely not a shock to me as Smalling isn't included and that won't sit well with you.

Im the one with an agenda yet you're the one posting 'Bailly and Rojo please' on the Smalling thread with nothing else to add. Right

 

[Robbie Boy]

Im the one with an agenda yet you're the one posting 'Bailly and Rojo please' on the Smalling thread with nothing else to add. Right

Lou if you're trying to tell me that you have no agenda when it comes to Smalling, then just

My little comment about Rojo and Bailly was a little bait for you as I saw you were active in here once again. You took the bait predictably. Just a little bit of Monday morning fun

 

[Loublaze]

Lou if you're trying to tell me that you have no agenda when it comes to Smalling, then just

My little comment about Rojo and Bailly was a little bait for you as I saw you were active in here once again. You took the bait predictably. Just a little bit of Monday morning fun

Anything for shits and giggles on a Monday morning to keep things moving yea. I feel you. Groovey baby!

 

[Robbie Boy]

Anything for shits and giggles on a Monday morning to keep things moving yea. Groovey baby!

Touché

 

[Rossa]

Yup, it's the most overused ridiculous saying on here but it gets thrown around in this thread like confetti so I might as-well jump on board.

Anyhow, it's clear that good ouel Lou has absolutely no objectivity when it comes to Smalling. This is the same chap that basically said the Rojo gave the ref a decision to make (the pen against Hull) all in the name of defending Smalling. It's hard to take him seriously when it comes to anything Smalling related.

Just to be a little bit pedantic seeing as I'm a bit of an arse, isn't that being hypocritical no matter how you spin it, though?

I agree about the Rojo bashing to defend Smalling is way over the top. However, Smalling was very good against Wigan and sort of adressed all the criticism he got playing against Hull, so it was a weird comment of you to make after the Wigan game. Hopefully, he can earn his place in the squad. At the moment, we are very well stocked in the centre back positions. Who would have thought...

 

[Robbie Boy]

Just to be a little bit pedantic seeing as I'm a bit of an arse, isn't that being hypocritical no matter how you spin it, though?

I agree about the Rojo bashing to defend Smalling is way over the top. However, Smalling was very good against Wigan and sort of adressed all the criticism he got playing against Hull, so it was a weird comment of you to make after the Wigan game. Hopefully, he can earn his place in the squad. At the moment, we are very well stocked in the centre back positions. Who would have thought...

Aye, I said he played much better than he did against Hull (in this thread). To be honest, I was just looking for a little rise out of Lou to cheer me up on this Monday morning..

 

[Rossa]

Aye, I said he played much better than he did against Hull (in this thread). To be honest, I was just looking for a little rise out of Lou to cheer me up on this Monday morning..

Whatever can cheer us up on a rainy Monday morning is well worth a shot in mye eyes! I'll retract my criticism and rather spend it when you are seriously in the wrong, if that is OK with you?

 

[Robbie Boy]

Whatever can cheer us up on a rainy Monday morning is well worth a shot in mye eyes! I'll retract my criticism and rather spend it when you are seriously in the wrong, if that is OK with you?

I mean, it's a wet and miserable Monday morning here in Dublin, I just went in with some bait for Lou who lapped it up and then some. Me, in the wrong? You'll be waiting, but I'm happy enough to go with that

 

[Rossa]

I mean, it's a wet and miserable Monday morning here in Dublin, I just went in with some bait for Lou who lapped it up and then some. Me, in the wrong? You'll be waiting, but I'm happy enough to go with that

Good! Have a great, sorry day in rainy Dublin - raining in Norway as well - winter has gone byebye.

 

[Godfather]

The way he went up for that header was great I thought. Absolutely battered the defender. Great leap as well.

 

[Amar__]

I would try Bailly and Rojo too but it looks to me that Mourinho obviously rates Smalling, considering he gives him lot of playing time whenever he is fit. I have no idea why some people think he will sell him considering Mourinho doesn't show any lack of trust in him.

 

[King.of.Red]

good performance but I still prefer RojoNes or RojoBailly. he is good CB backup.

 

[POF]

Played very well vs Wigan. Grew in confidence as the game went on. A confident Smalling is good news for United.