Could do with him against Wood and Barnes
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Agreed. Play him instead of Jones to deal with the physicality of Burnley. Hope him and Lindelof can strike up a good partnership at least untill the end of the season.
He has not being missed. I think we will be fine with Jones and Lindelof. We should aim to monopolize possession like we did against Cardiff rather than worrying about their long balls.
Yep. We should really start looking at our CB-setup from an offensive setup firstly when playing teams like Burnley. Especially at home.
Playing Lindelof and Jones means that Victor can stay at RCB where his offensive output is much better than being shoved to LCB to accomodate Smalling or Bailly.
We should really not be caring about Burnley first, that type of Mourinho-attitude needs to go and OGS is doing just that as well.
I think he's been missed. He's much, much more solid than Jones and should form a partnership with Lindelof.
I know he is better than Jones, but our defence has been solid in the past eight games without him. Jones is much better on the ball instead and offers us another dimension while being more comfortable on the left.
There is no way Lindelof should be moved for him. If Smalling wants to play, let him okay on the left .
From memory when the two of them used to play together it was Smalling who used to move over to the left. It was only the last year or two where that changed and he stayed on the right and Jones went to the left. I could be wrong, but I think that's accurate. Smalling also plays on the left when he plays with Bailly. So it's definitely a possibility he plays on the left with Lindelof staying on the right.
Lindelof was moved for Bailly on Friday
I suspect both Smalling and Bailly will have to wait till Jones inevitably gets injured before one of them gets a run of games, until then they'll be waiting for the FA Cup ties
Smalling has been class on the right side for the past few years, but I think he usually look shaky when paired with Bailly, and I assume that is because he has to play on the left. Jones on the other hand looks at home on the left.
Lindelof''s passing is essential to our game. Difficilt for him to do that on our left. If it means we stick with Jones, so be it. Until he gets injured as you say.Lindelof was moved for Bailly on Friday
I suspect both Smalling and Bailly will have to wait till Jones inevitably gets injured before one of them gets a run of games, until then they'll be waiting for the FA Cup ties
I think Lindelof did well on the left last game and he had a few good passes. He is our best passer on that side. Smalling can play there but he wont make passes there, he can do that on the right side though. Better to have 2 good outlets than one great and one non existent. I don't think Jones is better on the ball than Smalling really, he just looks more confident on it. I cant remember seeing Jones play a pass between the lines where as I can remember Smalling doing that.
I do think he was missed in the Spurs game but that’s probably the only game. It’s obvious watching their duels over the years that Kane much prefers to take on Jones than Smalling.
I know Smalling is terrible on the ball, but is Jones really better? I never think of Jones as a particularly good ball player either.
Smalling is a much better defender IMO.
Smalling is a much better defender IMO.
Yes. It's not the types of passes that are being played that makes Jones better it's the passing technique/speed. By looking at Smalling trying to pass you can tell he came up through non league. If him and Jones were to play the exact same pass Smalling would take longer to make it because of his poor technique. He has a sort of 'winding up' motion when approaching to play a pass which inadvertently slows down our build up but also telegraphs the pass.
He did spend time in Millwall academy no? He just played for Maidstone while taking his education in case football didn't work out. He then went on a trial at Fulham, and not long after got his move here. I don't think 'coming up through non-league football' is the right stick to beat him with. He has the same problem as most CB's, even those coming through from a better academy. In his younger days he was even labeled as a ball-playing defender by some. He just hasn't evolved in that particular direction. I think it is very easy to say what you said, but I don't think it is true.
It might be slow at times with the technique he uses but the same technique makes him better at shielding the ball than Jones, and making the right pass too. He should have learned to turn that on and off, but again if making passes as a defender is not your strength and playing at the highest level you should probably stick to what works for you and at least minimise risk. He is very safe, too safe. You can say he sucks on the ball but it is not costing us directly, that means something. If he was giving the ball away I wouldn't give him that. If he becomes a bit more risky under Ole I can forgive a couple of misplaced passes, but it can't lead to goals against if he doesn't provide more with his riskier passing.
He adds great strenght in the aerial game, which we need not only defensively but also offensively, which neither Lindelof nor Jones add. Regarding the playing off the back its clear Smalling its not the man for the job, but we have Lindelof, Shaw and Young who are way more comfortable on the ball.
I hope when he is fit he returns to the starting XI, it will be good to see how we function with him under Ole.
I hope when he is fit he returns to the starting XI, it will be good to see how we function with him under Ole.
Under Ole the last thing we need is a defender who shat his pants trying to control a ball and went backpass and sideways pass when he had the ball. We don't need to concern about Burnley long ball since we will play on front foot unlike Mourinho. I feel sick looking at Pogba and Matic has to drop down so deep to play the ball from the back because this guy just ain't capable to do so. Don't fix something that ain't broken , Lindelof + Bailly/Jones till we lose before he get his chance. Ole has shown that aerial ability is the last thing he valued by making Fellaini benchwarmer.
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Smalling was the main CB under Van Gaal.
Smalling is awful on the ball and uses his hands too much at times but I think if he was playing every week at a club in 15th he'd produce most weeks and his flaws would be hidden like they are for defensively strong but limited guys like Duffy or Tarkowski, and he'd cost 25M and some forum fans would want him. He should probably be a big buy for a team like Newcastle who are relegation threatened every year but have a defensive manager and would finish 2-3 places higher a year with Smalling getting 30 games (always hurt a bit).
If he stays here, I think he could still really help us just by being a good option for the last few minutes of games or when there are injuries. Our offside trap rarely looks as shambolic when he's out there compared to Jones, who seems to destabilize things (though I'd trust matchgoing fans on that as it can be tough to accurately guage that on TV).
If he stays here, I think he could still really help us just by being a good option for the last few minutes of games or when there are injuries. Our offside trap rarely looks as shambolic when he's out there compared to Jones, who seems to destabilize things (though I'd trust matchgoing fans on that as it can be tough to accurately guage that on TV).
Looking forward to our best CB making his return against Burnley. He'll probably come on for the last 20 or so minutes
Not been missed at all and this is coming from someone who was a fan untill recently.
The way i see it we want to move to a more technical style of playing out from the back and he doesnt quite fit it.
Southgate clocked this.
Even though hes been a good servant for us im actually glad we are moving away from these type of players.
Smalling,Fellaini and co.
The way i see it we want to move to a more technical style of playing out from the back and he doesnt quite fit it.
Southgate clocked this.
Even though hes been a good servant for us im actually glad we are moving away from these type of players.
Smalling,Fellaini and co.
So did Fellaini was pivotal for LVG. You can't separate Fellaini and Smalling, His inability to play from the back force him to pass back whenever pressured, and it force De Gea to hoof more often than not , no one else better than Fellaini as hoof ball target, domino effect that caused our slow and lethargic football under both LVG and Mourinho. I am quite sure Ole rated Lindelof , Bailly and Jones above him. Others need to be down injured or having poor performance before He could start. With our current style, it's Lindelof + 1, and we sure wish that 1 is Bailly instead of Smalling or Jones
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They are the about the same height. That is about it man. Fellaini plays in midfield. Smalling is a CB. You can definitely separate between the two.
One of the reasons Lindelof is perceived to be undoubtable our first choice right now is because he has stepped up and improved his aggressiveness in duels. Heading the ball is more important for a defender than a midfielder. Saying Ole doesn't care if his defenders can't head a ball is one of the most half-baked things i've read on here. On the contrary, lately Ole has been very clear about him setting us up to defend as a team and let the attackers attack. You don't think he'd want a superior defender in that team to make it easier to go forward
Only because our attack has been so good.
We've still looked a bit crap defensively.
How's He superior ? Ole said that or it's just your personal opinion ? With him as defender our build up was slower , Pogba would hate having him in this team since he couldn't stay forward, if i was Ole i would only use him in the last 10 minutes to shut the shop and deal with opposition pumping long ball to us. Which i am sure that's what Ole is thinking currently.You don't think he'd want a superior defender in that team to make it easier to go forward
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Based on watching games, I presume. Isn't everything just an opinion?
Pogba said that or it’s your opinion?
Victor can play LCB decently. I disagree though, I rather would see us focusing on playing our best players at their preferred positions firstly. Which means that Victor staying at RCB.
I am not sure if I would define Smalling on the right as a "good outlet" either. Closer to non-existent IMO even at RCB.
So using your terminology I would prefer great/non-existent to non-existent/good. But thats just me. I personally think it would be interesting to see how Smalling handles himself to the left as well together with Lindelof.
Have we really though?
I sincerely think we have looked quite good defensively.
We are playing an entirely different defensive game than under Mourinho with completely different challenges.
Since we are playing higher up the field it has been much more about defending the counter-attack and defending the ball over the back-four. Under Mourinho we always had at least 6 players behind the ball and always sat back low with the back-four as soon as the opponent was in any form of controlled possession.
Conceding three goals in 8 games is quite excellent, especially since its a new system where much of the defensive focus actually is on not allowing counter-attacking in the first place.
It should just get better with time as well.
Username checks out.
I think that Blind was our main CB in LVG's second season. Smalling was lucky that Jones was injured early in the season, he wasn't supposed to be a starter that season.
While I might be wrong, I thought back then that actually Blind was performing better than him.
In LVG's first season, Smalling was easily our best CB and from August to November or so, he was playing the best football of his life. Since then I think that he has regressed, let's hope that with Ole he goes back to his best.
We've has the best time in defense this season, though it has more to do with Ole than lack of Smalling.
I think though that our attack might suffer when Smalling returns. His inability to play from the back should not be overlooked even if he is marginally better than our other defenders bar Lindeloff. Him being fit most of the time unlike the others likely mean that he is our second main CB.
Off the top of my head, We looked pretty shaky against Brighton - particularly for that last 30 minutes. Spurs had however many chances against us, and we weren't great against Reading. We also let Huddersfield score against us... Huddersfield!
Jones is hardly Baresi on the ball in fairness... and I know who I'd rather have at the back between Jones and Smalling.
You have a point here, but I would like to add that there is a common issue here; especially considering the Brighton and Spurs game. It happened when we lost our pressing game, got pushed down low like we always were under Mourinho, and tbh we didnt look comfortable sitting low then either even if it was the plan.
I think we will be fine as long as we avoid this as much as possible and if it happens towards the end of games; players like Smalling and Fellaini will come in handy from the bench.
I really would like us to focus on a pro-active game defensively. Keep possession and press the ball when losing it like we have started to do.
He isn't great at passing but is competent at doing it. Smalling isn't, and after almost a decade here, it isn't justifiable. As a defender, I agree though, Smalling is better.
Having Smalling back is a positive option. He'll come handy in the coming fixtures, and I'd feel much safer with him in the starting line up instead of Jones.
We are playing higher up the field and we need to keep it that way. The best way to defend against long ball teams like Burnley is to push up, not sit back and put a big man in there to head it out of our own box. You give them less time to pick those passes and you remove the risk of a flick on into our own box.
Smalling is a good option to have in case we really do get pinned back but the way we need to play, high up the pitch, does not suit him at all. Sitting deep was a Mourinho tactic that we have hopefully seen the back of.
Not sure why this myth of Smalling not suited to playing high up the pitch came about. Just because he's been our best under Mourinho with a deep-lying line, and he's our best in the air, doesn't mean that's the only way he can play.
His best ever season (which was also easily the best any of our defenders have had since Rio and Vidic) came in the season that we played the highest line since he's become a first teamer. He has always played at his best when he's defending on the front foot, aggressively dominating strikers with his power and pace, rather than sitting deep and letting them come to him. None of our other defenders have ever come remotely close to how well Smalling played that season.
The defensive high line will suit Smalling perfectly. The only question of course is related to his lack of ball-playing ability. Also the fact that he may be expected to play on the left (or that Lindelof will have to move to the left).
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