A footballer who can't pass the ball.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
I think people really need to stop equating his ability on the ball with his ability at defending. It is becoming tiresome. Yes, we get it. On the ball he is crap but that hasn't diminished at all from his ability to defend and first and foremost the CB's need to be able to defend. It is unfortunate that he hasn't been able to strike up a proper combination with any other CB yet and the merry-go-round continues with Jones, Rojo, Bailly until we can fix these problems with either some serious squad surgery or on the training paddock.
He's been our most consistent fit defender by some distance, only some short patches from Bailly (including a seriously promising spell for the future) and Jones have come anywhere near him. It needs to be mentioned and not the continuous bleating that he is crap on the ball.
He's been our most consistent fit defender by some distance, only some short patches from Bailly (including a seriously promising spell for the future) and Jones have come anywhere near him. It needs to be mentioned and not the continuous bleating that he is crap on the ball.
Rojo was our best defender last season. He pocketed Kane, Costa, Lukaku and some of the more physical strikers like Rondon and Carroll. Just because the English media didn’t have a wank over him doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
You are massively overrating Smalling. And those awards mean nothing at the end of the day. It’s the trophies that count.
That season, we only won the FA Cup and guess who got sent off in the final and nearly cost us the entire thing? I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t Rojo.
A defender Southgate didn’t even wants him on the bench. Manchester United manager believes he’s good enough to starts for the club.
I agree with the criticism of Smalling but seriously who the feck is Gareth Southgate? A man who took a job that nobody wanted. His opinion can't be allowed to influence discussion here.
While he is one the least of our concern, it is a problem with his inability to play. Why? Because with him, coming back into game after conceding is harder as everyone and their dog know that just let him have the ball while containing his passing options, he would make bad choice (not incomplete pass) thus it's extremely difficult for us to build up play. For most part, we wouldn't concede much or being led, so it's no problem. However, we have no control on that, so we don't know when we concede silly goal so as to when start Smalling for all his defensive quality.
This game though, his defensive quality is not that good. His main task was to mark Kane and every here and there Kane was free to turn , or run off our defense with Smalling looks scared to close him down. He didn't make direct mistake that cost us the game, but hinder us from fighting for result. Of course he is not the worst of the bunch or scapegoat for our defeat, just calling his performance how it is. There is no winner in the race to bottom which many of our players today sadly are very bad. A game to forget.
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Either we get a defender who can compensate for his ball playing deficiencies or we get rid. Not that hard to understand, at least he's a proper defender.
It's frustrating having him in the team. Forget his poor positioning and awareness, he was inviting the Spurs press every time he got the ball. Maybe now his fan club can see what the rest of us see. He was lucky Jones had such a mare and shifted the focus away from him.
Mourinho ridiculed Smallings ability on the ball last season, so you can be sure it is the talk of the dressing room that the players know he is not up to scratch as a ball playing defender.
What I don't understand is why we didn't sell this glorified lamp post in the summer. His weaknesses are obvious to the point the opposition rub their hands at the prospect of playing against him. Oppo managers will just tell their team "right boys, go out there and put pressure on Smalling and Bob's your uncle- guaranteed goal or the very least a calamity".
The man plays as if he is on the verge of having a panic attack with a permanent deer in the headlights shell shock look on his face whenever a ball is placed into his feet.
I'd rather have shawcross playing in our defence than this guy
What I don't understand is why we didn't sell this glorified lamp post in the summer. His weaknesses are obvious to the point the opposition rub their hands at the prospect of playing against him. Oppo managers will just tell their team "right boys, go out there and put pressure on Smalling and Bob's your uncle- guaranteed goal or the very least a calamity".
The man plays as if he is on the verge of having a panic attack with a permanent deer in the headlights shell shock look on his face whenever a ball is placed into his feet.
I'd rather have shawcross playing in our defence than this guy
The thing is there is no prime Rio or Nesta around. The so called ball playing specialist CBs of today an't that good defensive which mean the pairing balance out and ain't improvement from what we have. We actually have Blind and Lindelof who pretty good passing for example.
Smalling best use should be in the 2 legged cup tie, where being defensive astute would improve our chance to proceed. That's a great option to have.
However, when trailing or trying to attack to win game, he is less ideal than other CBS we have which evident in our best attacking football under Mourinho coincides with him not being in part of any pairings.
Creates a sense of panic, also has to position his whole body in the direction of the pass he wants to play, very frustrating.
Its a big part of been a defender at a big club that your comfortable on the ball, Smalling is clearly not. He's been at the club since 2010 and is no better player now then he was when he first arrived. Its not his fault he keeps getting picked though.
Its unreal, would like to see an aerial shot of what the opposition do when he's on the ball. More often than not his first touch puts him into trouble and is closely followed by a long ball.
Unbelievable how awkward he is with the ball at his feet.
People don't get it.
I don't care how good he is defensively, a Manchester United first choice CB has to be better on the ball than he is.
It's now becoming clear teams are targeting him. Every time, he got the ball,Spurs pressed that much higher just to squeeze him and it worked every time.
It's also not the first time I'm noticing it.
I don't care how good he is defensively, a Manchester United first choice CB has to be better on the ball than he is.
It's now becoming clear teams are targeting him. Every time, he got the ball,Spurs pressed that much higher just to squeeze him and it worked every time.
It's also not the first time I'm noticing it.
Because the midfield is overrun.
We were beaten due to tactics, Mourinho should have adapted quickly.
Yesterday, Smalling had one tackle that saved a certain goal. The match before, he had a sliding tackle that prevented a certain goal. These are never mentioned in here. What the actual feck is wrong with this forum these days? There is just so much negativity concerning our own team, and so much wanking over other teams and players. I'm out soon if this continues. Just not worth it.
You do know that exact logic should then apply to DDG, right? Think about it, he hoofs the ball all the time instead of finding the simple pass to a midfielder or a defender. And when he does hoof it, the results are varying at best. DDG is actually, I dare say, quite rubbish with his feet, yet few are calling him out on it. Teams are targeting him as well. Try pressuring Ederson or Lloris and you run yourself empty; pressure DDG and you may face an open goal - Tottenham could have, and probably should have, scored from one of his wayward clearances yesterday.
Smalling's passing is poor, but he was far from our only poor passer yesterday.
I certainly don't understand it, but every little sanity helps when reading so don't go. It's also that thing where people are mad a player they like gets criticised so they turn and do the exact same thing on other players, now all of a sudden they have a problem with something or some player completely based on nothing at all, except deflection. Like every fan has to love either Rash or Martial, which side are you on. It's rather fascinating, but also kinda sad.
Yeah that's a fair point really. Average defender himself back in his day and not too many defenders in the pool of players for England that you can speak of highly.
Bailly is undisputedly our best centre back, although he was terrible yesterday I'd have to say second best is Jones, he has had a good season despite yesterdays display. After that I don't know who I'd rate as our next best central defender. I wouldn't be surprised if Mourinho buys another player for the position really, they've all gone through their peaks and troughs.
Southgate leaving him out after the likes of Mourinho, van Gaal, Fergie, and even Wenger believing he is good enough is apparently a proof that he is not good enough.
Feel a bit sorry for him. He is what he is. A defender with a decent amount of pace who wins headers and reads the game pretty well. He's been 100% committed to the club since his arrival. Yes, it's painful to watch him turn and pass with the mobility and finesse of an oil tanker, and he's not going to enter the pantheon of all-time greats, but all in all he's done pretty well. Under the previous managers, for a while, he was the one who kept us afloat, chasing down and intercepting dangerous attacks. Now that we're chasing silverware, his limitations are exposed.
Smalling is everyone's whipping boy because his weakness is clear to see. They ignore the fact that he's actually a very good defender and instead go with the fad that all defenders have to pass the ball like Iniesta (Peps fault). If you've got a team pressing one player like Smalling then it's opening up space elsewhere on the pitch and it's up to Jose and our coaches to take advantage of it. Problem is we don't.
Personally, i'd much sooner our defenders are capable of actually defending. There are other players in the squad who try to play and make errors that lead to shots on goal. Those are the type of players who do great against teams that are shit, but do badly against organised teams that can take advantage of such errors and have the firepower to convert shots to goals. Both types of players are useful, but we don't actually have a player that ticks both boxes, our closest one is probably Bailly.
Rojo had his best season in red for United last season and it still wasn't a patch on Smallings best season. All those strikers you mentioned, Smalling has contained them too. He kept Kane off the score sheet yesterday, made several blocks and last ditch tackles. Kane has only scored once against United and its Smalling who he's come up against more times than our other CBs. You're the one massively overrating Rojo, likening him to Sergio Ramos. How ridiculous is that?
He is behind Jones in the pecking order here, he was a younger player under Fergie, van Gaal played Blind at CB and I dont need to say anything about Wenger.
I’d like to know where is he supposed to pass the ball to? Is he meant to hit a 40 50 yarder up field and hope someone gets on to it. Because for the most part his passing options are either lump it and hope Lukaku gets a flick on. Sideways to Valencia or Young who often sit back, then just pass it back, back to Jones, back to DeGea or Matic who will often drop in to a 3rd CB back position to pick up the ball then ummm lump it long.
Lingard, Pogba and Martial are often sitting in a congested position which would be near impossible to pick out or are trying to anticipate a flick on from Lukaku. Blind and Lindelof the two best passers often have to lump a ball. It’s not like they are coming out with slick play and picking out the non existent runs. The system is a failure, the two men sitting is a failure, so much needs to change with Jose’s tactics to get the best out of this team. The people that keep bringing up his poor passing on the ball to me are just showing their own naivety or stupidity. It’s one or the other.
I’d rather he not stupidly punt the ball and just lose possession.
Lingard, Pogba and Martial are often sitting in a congested position which would be near impossible to pick out or are trying to anticipate a flick on from Lukaku. Blind and Lindelof the two best passers often have to lump a ball. It’s not like they are coming out with slick play and picking out the non existent runs. The system is a failure, the two men sitting is a failure, so much needs to change with Jose’s tactics to get the best out of this team. The people that keep bringing up his poor passing on the ball to me are just showing their own naivety or stupidity. It’s one or the other.
I’d rather he not stupidly punt the ball and just lose possession.
Problem is he’s awful defensively and really doesn’t use his brain that much. Rewatch Jones own goal from when attack originated and pay close attention to Smalling and Kane, if that cross goes past Jones it’s a goal anyway. Smalling always reacts late and doesn’t have the ability to read the game.
Yeah, Southgate is the real deal.
Not saying he is.
Some blame goes to our fullbacks who are awful outlets. At least when Shaw plays he never passes it back to the CBs, he only ever looks to work the ball forward
That's plain rubbish. You expect a professional footballer to pass the ball., Especially when he is playing for United. Smalling can't pass the which is the basic skill expected. What's even embarrassing is there has not been any development in that area all these years.
Pussy attitude.
He couldn't handle Tottenham's press. I think he unsettled Jones along the way.
But if you are going to play both Jones and Smalling, then you need another midfielder or a third CB against a team like Tottenham.
But if you are going to play both Jones and Smalling, then you need another midfielder or a third CB against a team like Tottenham.
Yeh. Look at all those goals that were caused by Smalling this season. Zero. Nada. You might push it with Morata's and Vardies goals, which he had to marked two players. Coincidentally, it was both Jones faults by leaving his post.
Jones fault are you crazy? Haven't you heard, Smalling unsettles Jones thats why he makes those mistakes. Jones will always be a class defender no matter what + It doesn't matter if Smalling doesn't causes goals himself, he can't pass the ball 5 yards! Because he's still just a nonleague footballer who hasn't progressed because of his pussy voice and pussy attitude. Man Utd, a family club
Smalling was dragged out by Alli but when Trippier had the ball Smalling was already in the position. Had Jones missed it Smalling would have cleared it.
https://www.clippituser.tv/c/wykrld
People should stop blaming Smalling for everyone's mistake.
Forget it. I even think some fans are just relishing the opportunity of a United loss so that they can come here and whine about Smalling, or Fellaini, or Mata, or Young, or Lukaku or now Pogba. Did I miss someone? Oh, Lingard, Rashford, and Lindeloff. They kinda forget that fans are supposed to support the team.
I shudder to think what would happen (at Redcafe) if Smalling ever commits a mistake that directly leads to goal, like other defenders like Bailly, Jones and Rojo almost habitually do!
exactly , fans should support the team, not the player, if they didn't play well, every fans should criticize them because we support the club , we only want the club to win. anyone who defend a player when they play badly is a fake fans, it means they are okay with a shite performance and club losing
smalling can defend but can't play football, if we want to have a free flowing football, we can't have defender like him in this team
I for one don't complain/criticize players much. However, Smalling is not good enough. He never has been, and never will be good enough for this club.
When you compare him to the quality of defenders we've had in the past, he is pathetic. Some of our fans have become used to mediocre shite over the past few years.
I think when SAF bought him from Fulham, there was hope that he would learn his trade. He was very raw and hasn't improved much since then. The boy has all the physical attributes but lacks the mental and ball playing ability to become a true UTD centre back.
Think Bruce, Pallister, Stam...I'm not even going to mention Rio and Vidic, heck David May had more about him than Smalling.
When you compare him to the quality of defenders we've had in the past, he is pathetic. Some of our fans have become used to mediocre shite over the past few years.
I think when SAF bought him from Fulham, there was hope that he would learn his trade. He was very raw and hasn't improved much since then. The boy has all the physical attributes but lacks the mental and ball playing ability to become a true UTD centre back.
Think Bruce, Pallister, Stam...I'm not even going to mention Rio and Vidic, heck David May had more about him than Smalling.
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