Physicality is the only reason why he starts most of the matches under Mourinho. Unless, we upgrade on him and Jones, we are never going to challenge for the title.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 36
- Clean sheets
- 18
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 0
- Status
We should take anything above 20m for him.
I think we might get Varane since DeGea is going the other way.
Exactly. It's actually a tough decision who deserves to play alongside "the new guy" but we sure as shit need someone else in the mix.
Jose is a miracle worker. How we have the best defensive record or just 2 goals more conceded than the best teams in the league with Smalling and Jones in defense.
nothing short of a miracle. Smalling is an embarrassment and Jones is a liability.
nothing short of a miracle. Smalling is an embarrassment and Jones is a liability.
I would be glad just to stop paying him wages if he goes for less. He should not play for us again. Today his mistakes only cost us a single goal and not the game.
It might even be a CB that gets a few groans here, but it will be someone with some composure and grit I think, as far as who deserves to be the partner, I'd say this season Rojo has made the strongest showing to stake a ciaim at first crack.
Varane would be a huge upgrade on Smalling in terms of on the ball ability but he makes at least as many defensive mistakes as Smalling. I'd personally argue he makes more. Don't really think he'd be much of a leader either.
He failed with his clearance, but Bailly's attempt at winning the aerial duel was equally pathetic as he crouched down and made himself smaller. I'd still keep Smalling over Jones and add another CB.
And I hope so too. I have no bias against Bailly or Smalling. I just gives dues and blames based on what I see. Smalling fecked up today, no doubt. But he was good up until and after that point.
Smalling and Rojo have been bailing out Bailly and Jones A LOT lately. However they have their own weaknesses. I'm not seeing Smalling as the new Maldini.
I just roll my eyes when fans wait for the (inevitable) mistake after a run of good performances to start with statements like:
- he's not a footballer
- we'll never win anything with him
... and other such rubbish. When the fact is with a better striker and some clinical finishing this team would have been near the top of the table. With Smalling in it.
Pretty much this. Jones' attempt on making a clearance was pathetic, and I'm being kind. He was also beaten fairly easily too many times today. Bailly's performance was a roller coaster; some parts were very good, but he also made some silly decisions. Today, it looked like Bailly and Valencia struggled a little to find a rhythm.
When we were forced to defend as much as we were, it is only natural that our defenders will be beaten once or twice. And although the attempt of making a clearance prior to the goal was awful, the ball basically fell right to him. If one of our strikers had been unable to convert that to a goal, we wouldn't think half as bad of it as people are blaming Smalling now. The important part is, we won and the mistake wasn't costly. As you said, it was a collective meltdown towards the end. I don't think Mourinho's tactics worked either; there were simply too many defenders, and they pretty much got in each others way. Perhaps Jones should have been pushed in front of the defense when Rojo came on?
Also it looks like the players (CBs) dont like playing with 2 more. Whenever we had 2 center backs, their performances seemed a lot more composed. Too many cooks I think.
Poor attempt at the clearance but, did a very good job otherwise especially since we were bombarded and couldn't be bothered to stop balls coming in. Said it in the post match thread, look at Alderweireld for Spurs today - he couldn't make a routine clearance and it led to a goal. Players get their feet muddled at times in games because the ball comes to them quickly and unfortunately today it led to a goal. Baily should have cleared that first of all and him and Jones were the ones that had a poor game overall.
Some need to be prepared to see him for a lot longer, because Smalling is obviously favored by Mourinho and at least right now IMO rightfully so as he is the best of what we have right now and he will be here starting next season too. I think Rojo should be starting next to him in a back 4 as he has also been very good this season but, Mourinho for some reason sees him more of a back up CB still and a alternate LB
Some need to be prepared to see him for a lot longer, because Smalling is obviously favored by Mourinho and at least right now IMO rightfully so as he is the best of what we have right now and he will be here starting next season too. I think Rojo should be starting next to him in a back 4 as he has also been very good this season but, Mourinho for some reason sees him more of a back up CB still and a alternate LB
Four certainly were one or two too many.
All our CBs are around the same level and all have different flaws. That's bad for Mike, cause he's 28. I can't decide who I'd rather keep between him and Jones. He probably just shades it.
Today was probably him in a nutshell for most fans. First half, he was a rock. Probably our best player bar Lingard/Rashford and maybe Fellaini. Second half, he has the back-header brainfart but at least it was away from any opposition player. Then, he is the unfortunate one to feck up and cost us a goal, so ultimately his fault. Though, I feel like inviting so much pressure was the fault of the manager, coaching team, and most of the players. We had numerous opportunities to try and push up and clear the ball earlier (Rojo, Jones, and then Bailly all had an opportunity to clear and didn't do enough). Then, of course Smalling makes the fourth mistake out of all of the four CB's to cost us the goal when he can't sort his feet out, thus everyone will highlight his mistake more and rightly so. Basically, we were asking for it.
Other than that though, I thought Chris was good today, as was almost every player.
Other than that though, I thought Chris was good today, as was almost every player.
There's no point doing good things for major parts of a game but then fecking everything up by making costly mistakes. I can assemble an aeroplane perfectly but if I installed the engine wrongly and it comes off mid flight and people die, nobody would be letting me off, citing how good a job i did on the plane itself.
I'd give Bailly time, something both Jones and Smalling have gotten plenty of. We'd do well to get a top class non project centre back and cutting our losses on either Jones, Smalling or both.
Alderwiereld did the same thing today, what exactly is your point? We won the game, he still had a good game as well despite the mistake.
My point is, we'd do well to get a top quality centre back to start games for us.
We have one
I'd keep him and get rid of Jones if we are look to upgrade our CB options.
I think Jones is even more culpable of the occasional defensive mistake. On top of that he is an expert at getting himself injured all the time. Even worse, he injures his teammates in training!
Smalling will never be a top level defender in the modern game just because of his composure on the ball and his passing but he is a very good squad option. He is also good to have on the bench and throw on in the last few minutes of holding onto a lead because he is very commanding aerially.
I think Jones is even more culpable of the occasional defensive mistake. On top of that he is an expert at getting himself injured all the time. Even worse, he injures his teammates in training!
Smalling will never be a top level defender in the modern game just because of his composure on the ball and his passing but he is a very good squad option. He is also good to have on the bench and throw on in the last few minutes of holding onto a lead because he is very commanding aerially.
We have one
Serious question: Who?
He is a good CB, and should be good enough if all we aspire is to win the EPL. However, if we compare him to some of the most elite CBs in the world, he is coming in just a bit short. As a matter of fact, each of our CBs seem to have a small flaw in them that keeps them from being truly solid, world-class CB. The real question is whether Jose believes they will take that final step up or whether we will need to buy another center back this summer.
Used to love this guy but it's clear he's not going to make the jump up to that next level. If anything, he's regressed since last season.
Bang average defender, and his completely lack of tekkers means we can never build from the back.
Bang average defender, and his completely lack of tekkers means we can never build from the back.
He's basically a pacey Fellaini.
Fellaini is better with the ball at his feet.
Fellaini is better with the ball at his feet.
Fellaini is much more competent on the ball.Edit: Didn't read the last part! Yeah Fellaini is like Messi compared Smalling.
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Of course he is. One's a midfielder that received top level training and development from the age of 8, while the other is a CB that was playing non league football until he was 19. The fact that you can ignore this and still criticize Smalling for his ball skills, while not minding that Fellaini is poor on the ball himself, baffles me.
Sadly a return to form after a stellar 6+ months last year..
The biggest worry is that people are accepting mistakes
"He had a good game ... except the mistake"
It might seem harsh, but I would prefer defenders who go through games without mistakes for the majority but then has that one bad game (so we can say, hes been on a run of good form, but just had an off day). - if that makes sense?
The thing is hes now 27. He should be a leader at the back, but he just doesnt seem that at all.
When he was younger, he looked good next to a leader like Vidic or Rio. But now, he hasnt taken that next level to be the leader himself imo. I thought captaincy would help him but sadly it hasnt.
I have no doubt he would be a good defender against teams who load the box with crosses and such.
"He had a good game ... except the mistake"
It might seem harsh, but I would prefer defenders who go through games without mistakes for the majority but then has that one bad game (so we can say, hes been on a run of good form, but just had an off day). - if that makes sense?
The thing is hes now 27. He should be a leader at the back, but he just doesnt seem that at all.
When he was younger, he looked good next to a leader like Vidic or Rio. But now, he hasnt taken that next level to be the leader himself imo. I thought captaincy would help him but sadly it hasnt.
I have no doubt he would be a good defender against teams who load the box with crosses and such.
Agree, even though he flatters to deceive at times I have never really rated him.
Personally he'd the first of our CB's I'd sell this summer.
he has one clangger every match. Some we get away with. some like today we get punnished.
hope Mourinho gets a decent replacement in the summer.
hope Mourinho gets a decent replacement in the summer.
Half the people here would sell him for £12m and have Mourinho buy a supposedly great CB for £35m. Then, 6 months into the new season, they start seeing the flaws in the new CB and want him gone too.
Yes, there are great world class CBs out there who are better than Smalling. The trouble is, it takes time and experience to make them great, and Bayern, Juve, RM, and even Atletico are not about to sell them. What has been available for sale is bought by Man City and other teams, and are nowhere near as good as Ramos, Chellini, etc. Those "saleable" CBs are not as good as Smalling either.
Yes, there are great world class CBs out there who are better than Smalling. The trouble is, it takes time and experience to make them great, and Bayern, Juve, RM, and even Atletico are not about to sell them. What has been available for sale is bought by Man City and other teams, and are nowhere near as good as Ramos, Chellini, etc. Those "saleable" CBs are not as good as Smalling either.
Cant, defend and useless on the ball. Basically the 2 requirements to be a United defender. Jose will sell him and Jones if he plans on winning titles here. I think Tuanzebe is getting game time robbed off him by this guy.
Probably the home-grown quota of 8 players will make us not sell Jones/Smalling/Shaw.. I think we're on 9 or something right now. Pogba counts.
Lukaku could count as one too - but if we're selling one or two of Jones/Smalling/Shaw, we'd probably look at Bertrand or similar players
Lukaku could count as one too - but if we're selling one or two of Jones/Smalling/Shaw, we'd probably look at Bertrand or similar players
Seriously, are player equaling Bailly to Smalling for the goal today. Since when a player losing a header is as much to blame as a player not being able to clear a ball that a pub player would have been able to? And then almost costing us an another goal.
Smalling can do no wrong for some people. Yeah, 'despite that he made one of the worst mistakes you're ever gonna see a defender make, and despite that he almost cost us an another goal, he was as good or better than Bailly and Jones'. Madness!
Smalling can do no wrong for some people. Yeah, 'despite that he made one of the worst mistakes you're ever gonna see a defender make, and despite that he almost cost us an another goal, he was as good or better than Bailly and Jones'. Madness!
Rojo has been by a significant distance our best CB this season. Jones has been quite good until a month or so ago, but he is still a liability giving cheap free kicks often. Bailly started good but his performances have dropped after African Cup. And Smalling has been mediocre.
We should get a more reliable CB next season and try to offload one of Smalling/Jones (Bailly has had a single season so far, and Rojo is playing great).
He will stay in the team for a while. He has been pretty good recently and deserves to play more. Maybe we can improve on him later but right now he is English, he can actually head the ball and for the most part he is excellent defensively. These are good qualities that are really needed in the team.
Anyone remember his own goal vs everton in the semi final of the FA cup? Same idiotic decision to not use his left foot to clear the ball.
I have said it over and over we should cash in while he still commands a decent fee.
Out of all other CB Smalling is not only the worst but also the oldest and less versatile. He is a calamity waiting to happen and needs to be culled before it really costs us.
People saying he was good today have different standards of judgement it seems. He did ok first half sure but Boro were hardly attacking. They had couple shots from range and a couple corners but that was it. In the second half he had a trademark brainfart moment trying to pass back to De Gea but luckily it didn't cost us. Then when the manager decided we should hold on to the lead see the game out for the last 10-15 mins we started to invite pressure from Boro. At that point he completely fell apart. In the space of 5-10 minutes he was a complete donkey at the back. It was lucky that there were 5 there to mop up and Boro couldn't take their chances otherwise this would have been a totally different ball game.
He is so prone to making stupid mistakes that he himself had to give an interview couple seasons back saying mistakes were behind him and he was ready to roar.
We are Manchester United for gods sake, a team who had rocks like Bruce, Pallister, Stam, Rio and Vidic in our defence and people are content to settle for Christopher Lloyd Smalling. Have a bloody word with yourselves.
Out of all other CB Smalling is not only the worst but also the oldest and less versatile. He is a calamity waiting to happen and needs to be culled before it really costs us.
People saying he was good today have different standards of judgement it seems. He did ok first half sure but Boro were hardly attacking. They had couple shots from range and a couple corners but that was it. In the second half he had a trademark brainfart moment trying to pass back to De Gea but luckily it didn't cost us. Then when the manager decided we should hold on to the lead see the game out for the last 10-15 mins we started to invite pressure from Boro. At that point he completely fell apart. In the space of 5-10 minutes he was a complete donkey at the back. It was lucky that there were 5 there to mop up and Boro couldn't take their chances otherwise this would have been a totally different ball game.
He is so prone to making stupid mistakes that he himself had to give an interview couple seasons back saying mistakes were behind him and he was ready to roar.
We are Manchester United for gods sake, a team who had rocks like Bruce, Pallister, Stam, Rio and Vidic in our defence and people are content to settle for Christopher Lloyd Smalling. Have a bloody word with yourselves.
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