We saw in the World Cup that it took far, far worse than anything Smalling does in that situation before VAR actually gave a penalty. There was one softer one where if that becomes the norm he would have to be a bit more careful, but it was very much the outlier.
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Could be wrong but my memory from the World Cup is bar a choke slam on Harry Kane penalties were being given left right and centre for even some borderline stuff?
Not for holding opposition players from corners. There was one fairly soft one which was similar to what Smalling does. Otherwise there were far worse than what he does happening in pretty much every game without being given. It was taking some truly ridiculously bad fouls in those situations before the VAR gave it.
Some were outright wrestling matches that did not get reviewed
Any news on him? Not even sure if he was in Dubai.
I think he was there as I’m sure I saw a picture of him on the plane so if he went he must be able to train. Just can’t decide if Ole will put him back in for this game or continue with Jones for my team picks.
If he’s fit I expect him to start. He’s thought of very highly in the club, everyone has always said he’s he hardest to play against over the years he’s been here, and probably the one centre half who is rarely ever on the bench if fit.
I think Ole wants Lindelof to play right side so that will make it a bit tougher for Smalling to get back in
I think Smalling is the first choice centre half at the club, he won’t be dropped based on his partner I don’t think.
Smalling has also played on the left for us when teamed with Bailly, Smalling has consistently been our best CB for the last 4 years so can imagine if he is fit Ole will fit him in. It’s just will he put him in a baptism of fire situation against Kane and co or give him another week or so.
Whilst I wont dispute that, this also coincides with us being defensively at our worst for a long time (bar last season, which was papered over a lot by DDG - and yes I know its DDGs job to save shots, but he was being exposed time and time again).
I like Smalling as part of our squad but not sure yet what Ole thinks of him in terms of the way he wants to play. Will be interesting to see how he does of course once hes back in. I do however think Lindelof should take priority over him right now (and if that means Lindelof Right and Smalling not playing cos he cant do LCB as well as others, then so be it).
I never really thought about it before, but Bailly must really have a shite left foot since he is preferred at RCB to all of our centerbacks. Lindelof was doing great at RCB with Jones to the left and when Bailly got his chance Victor was shunted to LCB. And as you say it happened with Smalling as well.
He was good under LVG and I would say he was quite good under Jose as has been covered by even his most ardent supporters he isn’t the long term answer I don’t think there is anyone who thinks that. I think most agree he’s a bit like Lingard in that he is or should be a squad player eventually.
Right now I agree that Lindelof should probably be the priority player and given that right hand side however Smalling is still better on the left than anything else we have so if he is fit I would start him there. It’ll be intresting to see what happens when he comes in if it effects us that much or will his ability defensively give us that sort of cover we’ve been lacking in recent weeks as we have looked like we have a soft centre.
It's unfortunate that this game has probably come too soon for him, as more than any other it would likely have been this match that he would have made the most difference. He generally dominates Kane, whereas we never know what we're going to get with Jones. Have a bad feeling he's going to struggle with Kane.
I actually think Rojo is the only one who can play LCB @Andersons Dietician but he plays like 4 games a season 
.
Imagine if Darmian and Lindelof is the solution :P
I reckon Jones plays today due to him having played with Lindelof so far and theyve been decent together overall despite brain farts here and there especially by Jones ha
.Imagine if Darmian and Lindelof is the solution :P
I reckon Jones plays today due to him having played with Lindelof so far and theyve been decent together overall despite brain farts here and there especially by Jones ha
Lindelofs ability to play LCB as well sadly means him being shunted there when he is paired with someone that is considered not to be able to play there at all.I actually think Rojo is the only one who can play LCB @Andersons Dietician but he plays like 4 games a season
Imagine if Darmian and Lindelof is the solution :P
I reckon Jones plays today due to him having played with Lindelof so far and theyve been decent together overall despite brain farts here and there especially by Jones ha
Lindelof is better to the right and should start there IMO.
Jones is fine at LCB as well as long as he doesnt injure himself.
Even if its not his preferred position.
It will be Victor at RCB and Jones at LCB this afternoon I am guessing.
Agree about Lindelof/Rojo being probably the most natural pairing in possession, it would make us even more vulnarable at set pieces and aerially in general though.
Well that’s not true. We have have been in the top two defensive records in the league for the last few years I’m sure. It’s only that everyone is continually reluctant to give any of the credit to our defenders during that period. It was either ‘yea, but it’s because Van Gaal sets us up negatively’, or ‘because De Gea saves us’.
Smalling has been an excellent centre half for us for years. Not ‘since Fergie retired’ either, but very much while Fergie was still here too.
Hopefully he is back, but am always wary about players coming back from injury in big games. Especially defenders.
Feel the same, I think we’ll probably go with Lindelof and Jones and maybe Smalling is on the bench but I think it isn’t the best game to bring him back in to and well Jones as we all know can have very good moments(mostly when he is correcting one of his mistakes) but he can occasionally put it together so let’s just hope today is one of his good days.
Rojo might be the most comfortable there on the left but for me despite the CAF putting him on a pedastool after 4-6 weeks of good performances he’s a rubbish defender so in that I’d rather have Smalling over him there. Although I would be intrigued to see how he’d get on in a high line and could he contain his Rojo-ness long enough to not start running around abandoning his position.I actually think Rojo is the only one who can play LCB @Andersons Dietician but he plays like 4 games a season
Imagine if Darmian and Lindelof is the solution :P
I reckon Jones plays today due to him having played with Lindelof so far and theyve been decent together overall despite brain farts here and there especially by Jones ha
If you don’t put in the spacer between Rojo and ness you get RoJoness
Smalling all the way.
I'd have to agree. Defensively I'd have to say he is the best out and out defender we currently have at the club. He does have limitations such as he isn't the best on the ball so I'd like him and Linderlof (who is considerably better at this) to get some playing time under their belts. I think they may well make a very good pairing.
I won't dispute it using stats and I won't dispute your definition of excellent cos it's based on opinions
From what I've seen I personally think he's done a good job without being great
I would have hoped he would have been a leader but I don't see defensive organisation from him despite him pointing and stuff
I think he excels when the ball is in air or he has to defend. But for me a cb for United needs to be more
Sure having a reliable partner would help but I don't think he's great as a starter for a team we wanna be. I do think under Fergie he was great but that was when partnered with vidic.
@Andersons Dietician - with regards to rojo for me he's not reliable in terms of fitness and has to go in summer. But I'd rather see him as lcb than most of our other defenders.
Btw where does tuanzebe prefer? Would he really be worse than what we have?
But back to smalling, who knows
We might see something different from him under Ole
Personally wish he was marking Kane cos I think he tends to do it well
Jones I'm almost expecting a mistake
I'll have that worry about smalling against smaller teams cos he will see the ball more at his feet and I don't see him playing his way out like Jones and lindelof have done recently
Would be happy if be proves that wrong once he comes in (which we all know if when rather than If haha)
Strange, clearly was training in Dubai so where is he
Being in a training picture doesn't make you fit to play a PL game.
Fair comment. Pity we could do with him back.
He can’t return quick enough. He walks straight back into the starting 11 until we buy a top class CB.
Having De Gea + Smalling makes a world of difference I don't care what anybody says. I also fail to see what Lindelof and Jones provided with the ball at their feet against Spurs that Smalling wouldn't have done in this game. Not to take a shit on them I loved their effort and Lindelof was actually doing good defensively I thought, but they did not run forward, passing between the lines etc. Not much going on there Smalling can't do. His ability on the ball or lack thereof is so overstated it has become a parody. He will come back boss shit defensively and also run with the ball and people will be shocked like they haven't seen it all before.
Seems like almost all players have improved under Ole. An improved Smalling would make him one of the best CB in the league (if he's not, already).
Does anyone what the situation is with Smalling, is he back in training or is he recovering from his broken toe?
Not sure about that. Jones hasn't done an awful lot wrong. It's only a matter of time, but I don't think Ole will bench him until it actually happens.
If we aren't signing a defender in this window, we need Smalling back asap.
Jones is a disaster waiting to happen
Jones is a disaster waiting to happen
He's back in training I believe, which is why he went to Dubai - I just don't think it was worth the risk against Spurs.
I'd expect Ole to rotate against Brighton, and Smalling would be in contention to start.
If you look closely at Getty Images' Dubai training pics, although Smalling was clearly in Dubai, he wasn't training with the team. He was either doing light work in trainers with one of support staff, or pictured in flip flops/sandals, watching the action. United have a habit of taking injured players on pre-season tours so no real surprise.
I think Solskjaer will want to get Smalling fully fit for the remainder of the season rather than rushing him back. I'd be surprised if he is in the 18 for the Brighton game, though it would be possible if he returns to full training early this week. Bailly will be available again after his suspension.
Burnley on the 29th Jan looks to me like a suitable game for Smalling to return, given their strength in the air.
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I think its the ball at their feet against smaller teams.
but i agree, we needed Smalling yesterday as he cuts out a lot of the crosses put in. Jones seemed to lose every single chance against Kane. Smalling would get there first I have no doubt.
I do think Smalling should get a chance coming up (even if as a sub to begin with) to get him fit. I think he will be needed coming up.
Thanks for that, I thought he might be a long-term absentee as there has been no talk on him.
Smalling is clearly our best CB, when he's out we tend to fall to pieces. He's essentially our slightly worse Van Dijk.
Need him back as soon as possible to replace Jones. Smalling and Lindelof can form a decent partnership until we sign someone better.
Him and a fully fit Alexis would make us even better, or at least on paper. Let's hope we see Smalling back soon.
I think that's a matter for the permanent manager in summer, Ole should play Smalling as soon as he's fit as he's our best defender. If he's interested in grooming Bailly to play alongside Lindelof, which hasn't worked so far, that's one thing but he has no business playing Jones ahead of Smalling barring injury. The second point about Lindelof+, possibly at the expense of Smalling, is up for debate but I'd rather see Lindelof-Smalling than Lindelof-Jones every day of the week.
This season in the PL, Smalling has been on the pitch for just under 13 full games, during which time we have conceded 19 goals. When he's been missing 13 goals conceded in 9 games and about 30 mins. He's played slightly more difficult set of fixtures.
Last season 24 goals conceded in 28 games with him in the team in the PL. 4 conceded in 10 games when he was missing. The games he missed tended to be against modest opposition so you'd expect to concede fewer.
The season before that, 16 conceded in his 13 games in the team. 13 conceded in the 25 games he wasn't on the pitch.
Looks to me as though we have done fine without him in previous seasons but struggled both with and without him this season. Bailly + Jones had a decent partnership in the early part of last season. The previous season Rojo combined well with both Jones and Bailly, until Rojo injured his cruciate ligament in the spring.
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It's been that way for years.
He is an excellent defender when hes got one man to battle with. He struggles against clever movement and mobile strikers who move between players, he can never get near Aguero for example. When you want to be winning the league you need defenders who can deal with players like that.
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