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Don't like him at all, but he played well.
Apart from the stupid tackle of course.
Apart from the stupid tackle of course.
Even the best defenders make mistakes or give away a penalty sometime... Smalling isnt even part of 'the best defenders club' so it was bound to happen. I still think he is the best pure defender we currently have
The “he always has a mistake in him crowd”It was a shite challenge in all fairness, but him & Lindelof have been playing well recently.
This thread is gonna fill up with all the people who don't like him, venting about how crap he is, but couldn't say anything nice when he's been playing well for us.
I just don't understand the need to lunge himself like that. Very lucky not to be booked and sent off.
Give the keeper a chance to save it and if you are tackling, aim for the ball and the opponent's shin
The “he always has a mistake in him crowd”
Agreed it’s like Phil Jones possessed him, it’s not something he normally does just a brain fart of a decision.Agreed. Played well then made a stupid challenge thats not like him and yeah was half expecting him to be sent off. Lucky
The “he always has a mistake in him crowd”
Here i am. . And he does. Proved it again today. That was amateur defending.The “he always has a mistake in him crowd”
Agreed it’s like Phil Jones possessed him, it’s not something he normally does just a brain fart of a decision.
I liked how aggressive he was being earlier and even coming out with the ball and starting moves, just that dive in.
Wouldn't worry about it as Chris never lets his performances get affected after making a mistake. He always just gets right back into it. It is why he is consistent and the others aren't. He'll probably score a goal next game to really confuse us.Hopefully it doesn't knock his confidence and bring the old deer in the headlights player out.
As I said previously, he's definitely our best defender and should play ahead of everyone, but some treating him like world class or will be hard to upgrade on is baffling tbh. Very good defender, just not world class.
He's not world class, but I do think he is difficult to upgrade on, mostly because truly world class centre backs are not all that widespread. We've spent £70m on centre backs since Jose arrived and neither of them are better than Smalling. We tried to sign an upgrade on all our centre backs in the summer, and ultimately failed to get one, and it's debatable if Alderweireld and Maguire are even better than what we currently have.