Great minds...
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
Great minds...
Man Utd 2:1 Arsenal
Very good today. Handled Auba and Welbeck well and outpaced both. Very important for us when we have to do some actual defending. Should have scored though!
One slip I saw but again solid as usual.
Good as usual. Our most consistent CB tbf. I expect him to put at least 6 or 7 out of 10 performance each match which is a plus.
Can't remember when is the last time Mourinho started a game without him. He is rotating our all CBs every game while Smalling is playing all the time.
Apparently, he is the first one we should get rid.
Apparently, he is the first one we should get rid.
Good game, I wrongly thought he could have done better for the arsenal goal but he wasn’t at fault. Looked good and tracked welbeck toward the end really well and made a good challenge.
Slipped about three times. Needs to get his boots sorted.
Had a few beast Mike moments this game which i liked. Should have at least hit the ball on his chance tho, would've been a nice goal.
Anyone know what's up with Smalling and England? He's still 3/1 to go to the world cup. Which seems outrageous considering the competition. Jones is basically evens and is half as reliable.
Does Southgate just not like him?
Does Southgate just not like him?
Should have done better on that chance that Martial created for him, but once again the question has to be asked - why is it our centreback who seems to often be the most likely to get into the right positions in dangerous areas. It's understandable when the ball is in the air, but our attackers should be hitting those kind of positions when it's on the ground.
Hope he doesnt go with England and comes raring and fit for next season .
Yep, couldn't care less for England these days as the circus is just nauseating, even more so now than it was in the past when Rooney was getting vilified for being rushed back after an injury.
Played well - should of scored but since he’s a CB and we won you’ve sort of got to forgive him for that.
Did our defense sit higher up the pitch today? Three times Smalling were forced into footraces with Nelson, Aubameyang and Welbeck. He won all three, thus disproving that he has lost pace as some suggested. The reason I bring this up is because we normally sit so low that we hardly ever see Smalling having to stretch his legs. Today was different. If the tactic changed, that was brave of Mourinho considering they have runners up front. On the other hand, when was the last time we outplayed Arsenal in midfield that easily? Granted, they hardly brought their first team, but we were very solid and compact in the middle today.
Especially since he´s bagged a few lately, but perhaps he prefers not playing at home?
More proof today of my theory that professional footballers aren't actually that good at kicking a football. Decent performance though.
Would be one hell of a defender if he could play with the ball at his feet.
Watching him adjust his body before playing the ball is comedy.
Watching him adjust his body before playing the ball is comedy.
Solid as usual. Disappointed he didn't finish his chance, following Martial's cross, though.
I would have put my house on him scoring with the form he's been in, in front of goal of late.
I would have put my house on him scoring with the form he's been in, in front of goal of late.
It really is. Watching him turn like a tractor before passing is painful. He has to turn and swivel completely to the direction of the pass and always plays into the feet of the receiver and not the space. You can do all of that in one movement. Smalling has to break it down into stages. It's quite funny sometimes.Would be one hell of a defender if he could play with the ball at his feet.
Watching him adjust his body before playing the ball is comedy.
It's even more funny watching him break out from defense with a purposeful run, only then to turn and play the ball backwards. I giggle thinking wouldn't it have been easier to play that ball in the first place?Would be one hell of a defender if he could play with the ball at his feet.
Watching him adjust his body before playing the ball is comedy.
He should be on the WC squad. He's defensively one of the best England has got and i don't see England playing out all the way from back.
I feel really sad that after the season that he has had he can't even make the England squad, I understand what Southgate wants but this guy is seriously better than some of the people being selected
Would be one hell of a defender if he could play with the ball at his feet.
Watching him adjust his body before playing the ball is comedy.
Everything physical move is exaggerated with Smalling.
I always grin at the 'I'm doing it! I'm going to take on their team myself from the backline!...nah actually just pass it sideways' move he does. It takes so much effort to get the ball out of his feet, it looks like the behaviour of the average midfielder when they're making a penetrative run.
One thing is for sure Jose rates him..
He plays every game for us. Both Lindelöf and Rojo have been ready for a while and Bailly has been fit for a month.
I hope Southgate takes Cahill, Stones and that plank from Leicester to the WC so Smalling can take a breather and be fit for our next season.
He plays every game for us. Both Lindelöf and Rojo have been ready for a while and Bailly has been fit for a month.
I hope Southgate takes Cahill, Stones and that plank from Leicester to the WC so Smalling can take a breather and be fit for our next season.
Smallings contract is up in 2019 so he'll either get a new one inside the next month or will be shipped out, hopefully its the later. We'd probably get about £20m for him too.
£20mil for one of the best defenders in Europe? Having a laugh right. 50 mil minimum he’d be captaining Real no bother.
Yeah, that's a great idea. We can invest that in our new website and buy few pair of boots to our players.
Throw in Jonny Evans as well, who loads of Caftards now reckon is better than Smalling.
Smalling has been here 8 years, hasn't improved that much during the time, still prone to mistakes and is easily the poorest of our 5 centre half's in possession. Its hardly a bizare suggestion that I want him replaced. Bailly & Jones are clearly more talented whilst Lindelof is only here 12 months and Rojo has recently signed a new contract. Someone has to leave if Mourinho wants to bring in a new centre half and Smalling's contract is up in just over 12 months.
I agree with everything you've said. Just can't see Smalling leaving as he's usually fit compared to the rest. I'm not convinced that we'll be in for a CB. I think we lack a real leader at the back. I want a pairing but doubt we are going to see it anytime soon. I just simply can't see us winning the league with Smalling playing all season. He's had a better season and some good performances of late but a mistake is there. He gives away so many pointless free kicks from having his arms around an attacker, it's almost a signature at this point. He's terrified on the ball and this is a constant with him. Goes for the negative option or just passes the responsibility to the rest of the backline with passing. This is a big issue for the transition from defense to attack. He's not entirely to blame but he's been at the club a long time, lacks leadership and responsibility on the ball. His concentration on tracking his runner in a set piece is poor. I think Jones is a much better player but injury prone. For all the criticism Jones got from the Spurs game in the new year, Smalling escaped it. He's made mistakes throughout the season like Leicester, Newcastle, City and got lucky with others. In fairness he can pop up with a goal and he's good in the air. I just don't want him playing every week, think as a club we need better to win the big trophies the way Jose sets up.
Smalling has his limits and at times it frustrates me so much as I’m other aspects he is fantastic. To think he won’t be in this England World Cup squad in incredible though. Seems almost like Southgate just wanted to make his own statement. Comfortably better than Cahill for example. Also stones is a very average defender benefitting from a club side in fantastic form
Jesus Christ talk about exaggerating.
I'm no Smalling detractor but lets not be deluded here! He's a very good CB on his day, no issue with him being here. But he's not world-class, in the slightest.
I did try to heavily douse the comment in sarcasm.
Looking around Europe there aren’t many truly great CB’s if any. The ones that were are on the down slope. So for me at what he does certainly one of the best in Europe.
There's no exaggerating there. Smalling is one of the top defenders in the world, is in his peak years and playing for one of top teams in the world.
Relative to the Van Dijk, Stones, Laporte, Rudiger, Lindelof fees, Smalling should go for nothing less than £50m.
It really is. Lose our best CB for peanuts. Are you a Liverpool fan?
Surround him with players willing to take and distribute the ball and he’s fine - adding Alderweireld to be a better version of what Blind was to him previously will take him up to another level.
All of the hate he gets is weird when he’s one of only a few consistent players in the team - people prefer Bailly giving goals away every game with his kamikaze positional play and general chaos.
All of the hate he gets is weird when he’s one of only a few consistent players in the team - people prefer Bailly giving goals away every game with his kamikaze positional play and general chaos.
Call me old-fashioned but I'll keep the centre-back who actually plays regularly thanks.
Smalling is defiantly good enough for England.
Don’t even get me started on this mate. Old parrot nose will massively feck up by not taking him as part of the squad.
Let’s hypothetically say that England are winning one nil in the World Cup final (I know I know
). There’s ten minutes to go and you want to bring on another cb to shore things up. Smalling is the perfect option for those scenarios. Not taking him would be ludicrous imo.- Status