For the dive. The overall performance wasn't terrible. Newcastle barely threatened us, the game was lost in midfield and by poor finishing.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
For the dive. The overall performance wasn't terrible. Newcastle barely threatened us, the game was lost in midfield and by poor finishing.
I've been playing drink every time Smalling makes a forward pass for a year now. I've been teetotal for a year too
I feel you lot might be right in saying he won't be good enough first choice for us, as much as I remember what he did for us in LVG's first season.
Still, I think Rojo, Blind and Lindelof should go first with Smalling as backup to Jones and Bailly.
We have 5 centre backs and all of them are either injury prone or shite. The state of it.
Still, I think Rojo, Blind and Lindelof should go first with Smalling as backup to Jones and Bailly.
We have 5 centre backs and all of them are either injury prone or shite. The state of it.
It's looking increasingly clear that run of form he had in LVG's first season was a blip. He was magnificent during that period.
And, in conjunction with the other Chuckle Brother Jones, we are constantly giving the ball straight back to the other team.
Back 4 are as always, easy targets. Pogba and Matic got humiliated by Jon Joe Shelvy.
Inspiring.
I don't care about the dive or whatever, but i still insist that if we want to transform back in to a top team, defenders comfortable on the ball is crucial. I defended Smalling before it was popular, but i was also saying that he needs to improve on the ball. I think time is running out and this is as good as he gets. Decent option if we want to keep him in the squad, but shouldn't be a starter.
No, he wasn’t. Smalling fans always said that season he played well. I always said it was down to De Gea brilliance to saved his mistakes. He was at HIS best that season but still not up to United standard.
The team with much less possession usually have high tackles and header numbers.
Liability. No composure on the ball. Prone to making awful decisions, like diving today, two first half yellow cards in the derby, grabbing a Palace players leg in the cup final. Guy is just a moron of a CB and not Utd standard. West Brom is his level.
Every good movie needs a comical relief, and Smalling gives us that in plenty. Like when he man marked Valencia in the match against I think Stoke. That's some funny stuff. 
You're most likely right.
I suppose i'm judging it against league 2 that i watch regularly, where there's tonnes of long balls, so to hear of a centre back only making 2 headers is amazing to me!
Had a shit game today by all accounts
He’s come to symbolise everything that’s been wrong with the club since 2013 to me. Can’t wait to see him replaced.
Simple - not good enough for Man United...
We should have conned monsieur Wenger again, and exchanged him for Ozil. Shame, too late now.
This is mostly right. He was very good for a few weeks, but otherwise just a part of good defensive system, of which De Gea was by far the biggest contributor.
In the penalty box hes fantastic. Outside he gets a nose bleed. Its conference stuff, but he was signed from there where he learned it all.
Its not a surprise.
Its not a surprise.
He's not good enough defender to take us forward, let's be honest and realistic.
Good squad option but that's it. He lacks too much in his game to become a main CB in a top club.
Good squad option but that's it. He lacks too much in his game to become a main CB in a top club.
But but but he’s tall and Mourinho is obsessed with height so we need Smalling. He is our best and most consistent defender so this is surely a one off performance which he can rectify against lower opposition than Newcastle 
If we sell him today, that's were he will end up in a year or two no doubt in my mind.
Don’t understand how anyone can think he’s good enough.
Woeful. It’s embarassing how poor he is on the ball for a player at this level. Probably one of the worst CBs on the ball United have had since before Ferguson.
Woeful. It’s embarassing how poor he is on the ball for a player at this level. Probably one of the worst CBs on the ball United have had since before Ferguson.
He had zero headers against Spurs, so you should think that they have an agenda against Jones or that he is simply shit/not much involved when it comes to headers.
I think he’s at the top of the pile in terms of most frustrating footballer I’ve ever seen in a United Jersey. I just can’t watch him now with any joy whatsoever, and if he doesn’t get dropped after today I might just have to check the scores instead of watching the games until I cool off a bit, he’s absolutely gash and nowhere near the required quality for a premier league defender.
@Summit
Taking that stat into more context, how many tackles did he attempt? I don't recall many tackles made in that game, Newcastle's CBs made a lot, way more than our defenders. According to whoscored Smalling made just one, one attempt at a tackle and he didn't win it, he's also a player who seldom tackles overall. Jones by comparison also made just one attempt at a tackle and won it. So basically this is a lot of hurrah about nothing.
He’s a player you might bring on with 5 minutes to go if you are winning 1-0 and under the kosh. Not bad heading a ball out of defence.
Otherwise he’s a mistake waiting to happen and a fanny. His dive today was truly pathetic. People say the result wasn’t about The Chuckle Brothers today, but they breed nervousness and are not good enough to carry the ball out of defence comfortably. I’ve said it since 2012...he’s turd...and he needs flushing.
Otherwise he’s a mistake waiting to happen and a fanny. His dive today was truly pathetic. People say the result wasn’t about The Chuckle Brothers today, but they breed nervousness and are not good enough to carry the ball out of defence comfortably. I’ve said it since 2012...he’s turd...and he needs flushing.
He's fantastic at winning headers when defending. All of our other defenders really struggle in that regard. He's being criminally under rated in here, as he failed to con the ref. Yes he's far from perfect, but he's been here under 4 managers, but apparently they all know nothing and he belongs in the conference. i mean what do Jose and Sir Alex know about decent defenders.
Its really the opposite. He's covering up for where Valencia, Young and others are deficient. It'd be a joy to play next to him for most top CBs because he takes care of a lot of the defensive work, allowing you to concentrate more on ball playing and less on having to be in position to snuff out every attack. Unfortunately those other players havent always shone despite him covering their weaknesses and we didnt end up signing Hummels who was a player who could have.
Instead we played with Blind and he didnt look bad next to Smalling and now we have Lindelof who has looked out of place in a duo and better in a 3.
Jones, Rojo and Bailly are all rush-of-blood aggressive and rash CBs but arent amazing playing the ball out of the back themselves, just slightly better than Smalling. And then we have Lindelof who didnt look amazing on the ball himself, and was a mess defensively but improved in a back 3.
I would honestly say we haven't improved much since we used Smalling and Blind at CB. It wasnt perfect defensively but neither are the combos we use now, but Blind played some great passes out from the defence which everyone seems obsessed with. He's the player for that, nobody else has done.
Very poor and shaky today, an accident waiting to happen.
Yeah he covers for others weaknesses by not winning a single challenge/tackle. Loads of rubbish I'm sorry.
Probably my least favourite United player ever in nearly 30 years supporting the club.
Jones made 1 tackle, Valencia made 1 tackle, Young made 0 tackles
He made 1 less than they did. Its almost as if a defender does more than just make tackles.
Smalling averages 1.3 per game, Bailly 1.4 and the rest of our CBs all less. Jones 1, Lindelof 1, Rojo an amazing 0.3 and constantly beaten by attackers
Heres our most dribbled past players list. Notice who is missing from the top 17 players?
Here's the other half :
So the truth is that Smalling is beaten the joint 4th least of all our outfield players, matching or bettering any of our defenders. When you consider that he's kept that up over more than double Bailly's games, then perhaps he's even our least beaten CB. He also makes the most interceptions by a large distance, a lot of clearances (Rojo slightly more but hes the only one) and the most headers in the team.
But ya know, dont let facts get in the way of your agenda and witch hunt. Clearly being a supporter of a football team means lying about the players to some people.
Everton Keane?
Smallings biggest problem is pass appreciation. Some Of his passing puts us in trouble even when he is moving the ball Along the back line to the other CB. His touch can be very heavy when he carries the ball into midfield, defensively I think he is fairly strong and has great recovery ability. I’m not sure he will Be first choice when Bailey is back; I quite like the idea of Roho and Bailey together.
I've been a fan of Smalling but I've started to accept he's simply not good enough if we want to get back to the top.
Should be sold in the Summer.
Should be sold in the Summer.
I suppose it's just the nature of the Premier league at times.
No headers in a whole game for a centre back is a pretty amazing stat though. Surely even the most ball playing pure football team will at times have to take long goal kicks, or have set pieces and corners, the likes of which you'd expect your centre backs to eat up.
Why do people think we will solve all our problems, or any particular problem, just by selling some players? It's like under van Gaal and Moyes when we sold all of our decent player and didn't find any decent replacement.
Apparently selling our only reliable defender who isn't injured all the time is a good idea.
Apparently selling our only reliable defender who isn't injured all the time is a good idea.
It seems to be a tough area to get top quality In.
We can see that from City, having spent a reputed 42m on Mangala, similar on Otamendi, 50m on Stones, already having Kompany there, and still having to spend 60m on Laporte!
We've tried to improve there, but we still end up fielding Smalling and Jones together.
You know the café by now. A player is either the best or the worst, no middle ground.
Today, it's the worst, despite being almost totally untroubled by Newcastle's attack.
- Status