Second goal was his fault and he was caught out. His teammate was clipped as he was going backwards or chasing the ball towards the Roma goal..that was just a bizarre sequence
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How is he doing in general this year? I didn’t watch any Roma matches this season
My personal opinion: He did good first half of season. He was dominant and had a good effect on the defence. Think he also benefitted from a league with less pressure on the back line.
Around Christmas and forward, he hasn’t been very good. Making mistakes, poor positioning, etc.
If Koulibaly is in the market, can we offer Smalling the way Pool are offering all ten. Surely our Mike is better than Lovren
Seen it mentioned again in a different thread how he’d concede tons of penalties due to VAR. when will united fans stop spreading this nonsense? It’s been proven to be nonsense
I think he has two VAR penalties in Italy but could be more. Both handball.
Which is fine, it happens. I’m talking specifically about the man handling forwards at corners etc that people keep banging on about with VAR
Ok. I have seen almost every game with him in Italy and can’t remember any situations of that kind. He’s making many mistakes lately however and not been so good after Christmas.
That's true but he isn't as physical as he used to be; gives tons of space to the attackers and still gets his team to concede goals. Fairly poor defender when he can't use holding the opposition player any more. Still gives away penalties none the less.
Reminded me of a guy telling me Rashford had poor shooting technique referencing his shots from distance that went wide, then he scored against Chelsea and he said it was luck if he can't finish inside the box. However now that Rashford has hit 20 goals he is back to saying he can't be a good player because he has stopped hitting the long-shots and that's all he had.There is just no way to win for some players.
Smalling isn't as physical now after to adjusting to VAR, and so he doesn't hold players anymore which is what "fooled" people into thinking he was good, so now that he can't do it he is just the poor defender he always was, and on top of that he still gives penalties away, how does he do it he is so bad.
He never "fooled" me or his managers that always looked to replace him. A lot of revisionism from some. I wonder if Lingard will be seen as this good AM once he leaves and has some half decent time in Italy or somewhere else.
There is just no way to win for some players.
Smalling isn't as physical now after to adjusting to VAR, and so he doesn't hold players anymore which is what "fooled" people into thinking he was good, so now that he can't do it he is just the poor defender he always was, and on top of that he still gives penalties away, how does he do it he is so bad.
This is my take on this.
Smalling fans are here saying he is having a fantastic time etc.. mentioning Lindelof and Maguires mistakes, ignoring the mistakes Smalling has made in Italy.
Italian football is slower, it suits Smalling. He is playing for a team playing 6th in the Italian league and doing well, does not mean he is good enough to start for us.
We need to move on from Smalling, he is a good defender but does not suit our style of play.
He started well but has dropped off since then. I would guess after the pace of the PL he found Serie A very comfortable early on, but now he has slowed down to that level himself and his poor positioning and reading of the game is coming out.
It has happened to all of our Italian exports. Lukaku especially has gone right off the boil since Christmas.
Looks like he will sign full time with Roma. A decent pro that gave his best for United. He wants regular first team football now so best of luck to him.
Thank feck for that. Average player now finding his level. Now on to Jones next. Smalling and Jones? Feck me, can't believe that was actually a thing?
Would rather keep Smalling than Rojo or Bailly.
He’s been a good player, never the best clearly, but he’s been our best CB in the post Fergie era.
Out of the four of them only Smalling has any value, which is why we are selling him. Someone might take a punt on Bailly, but no one is paying any sort of fee for Rojo or Jones.
Spinning that line for the last 7 years has been more an indictment of United rather than a glowing endorsement of Smalling. There's no reason for having to keep Smalling as some kind of last resort. If the guy ain't good enough, you simply just move him on and buy better.
It's also a pretty flawed argument that just because he is the most 'valuable' CB, you're able to sell him. I thought the whole idea was to be keeping your best players? Jones will find a club if they can be convinced as to his fitness.
That's why he's leaving. Not why we're selling him.
I'd rather have Smalling as back up than any of our current back up options but if he wants first team football then no problem, I respect him for that. Good defender and he was a good servant. All the best Mike.
You seem to have read more into this than you should have.
You are right it’s damming on Utd, but that’s not Smalling fault, and yes he’s better than any other CB on that time. Hopefully Maguire will take that mantle now. But without doubt he’s been better than Jones, Bailly, Blind, Rojo. Subjectively he’s been better than Lindelof.
Do you think Jones or Rojo have any transfer value? I don’t. Bailly, maybe due to age, but he’s been awful for three years.
Smalling is not first choice, and I never said he was. He is however head and shoulders above our non first team centre backs, and we can’t have 7 CBs, and outside of Lindelof and Maguire, he’s the only one who we can sell.
We’ve tried to replace Smalling, and spent a fortune on CBs - it’s clearly not just as easy as spending money on players. If it was, how can you explain spending big on Rojo (his overall package, including the Nani loan and paying His wages is horrendously large) and Bailly. Nether are better than Smalling.
I disagree. I think that both Lindelof and Blind were better than him.
In all honesty, while they might have been past their best, I don't think that either LVG, Mourinho (or Ole) are total fools. There was a reason why Smalling started from the bench pretty much every season post-Fergie. Of course, unlike our other CBs (except Blind, Lindelof and now Maguire), he was not made from glass which was the reason why he was put in the first XI.
As I said subjectively when it comes to Lindelof, which is a moot point in any case as he’s first choice. Still, he’s head and shoulders above the other three, and whilst I liked Blind as a centre back, it was Smalling who made that work.
That is where I disagree (and I disagreed back then). Smalling was playing good (and our defense was decent) only when he was partnered with Blind. Blind later has shown that he can do a good job with other defenders too, but Smalling hasn't.
I think the general impression from many was that Smalling was doing the hard work, but I disagreed all alone (though I admit that I was in a minority). It was Blind who was coordinating the defense, who was passing the ball. Sure, Smalling was the more aggressive one and won more headers (though Blind was respectable in that department too, I remember him keeping Lukaku on his pocket, and for some reasons, Smalling getting praised), but Blind was every bit as good as him.
Not tall enough for Mourinho though.
The fact that people still compare him with the likes of Rojo, and Jones just shows the level of agenda people have against him. Not only performances wise, quality wise and injury wise,, but even his loan to Roma clearly proved that he is far bigger professional than any of them(and many other players that rooted here and picked money in the meantime despite not playing much) and deserves far bigger respect than he gets.
Also Lindelof better than Smalling
Imagine Lindelof and Blind, we would probably have 2 aerial duels won monthly
Also Lindelof better than Smalling
Imagine Lindelof and Blind, we would probably have 2 aerial duels won monthly
A fun statistical fact is that when Smalling was at Lindelof’s age (26), he didn’t win more headers than Lindelof does now (2.7 aerials per game).Imagine Lindelof and Blind, we would probably have 2 aerial duels won monthly
Smalling’s PL stats:
20 years old - 3.1 aerials per match
21 years old - 1.2 aerials per match
22 years old - 2.0
23 years old - 2.5
24 years old- 2.8
25 years old- 3.5
26 years old - 2.7
27 years old- 3.7
28 years old- 3.1
29 years old -4.3
Probably because he played a lot as a fullback.
Smalling was 26 in 15/16 where he didn't play a single game at fullback. Infact the last time he played right back for us was in 13/14.
Says something when he's the player most likely to leave this summer and probably for the biggest fee.... But should be playing for us. He's not worse than these two plonkers. Quicker than both, good in the air and defensively he's fine.
Ole made a bad decision going with Lindelof as the partner for Maguire. Smalling looked better suited. His pace would be the perfect foil for Maguire.
Ole made a bad decision going with Lindelof as the partner for Maguire. Smalling looked better suited. His pace would be the perfect foil for Maguire.
He's not great on the ball though and that's what counts apparently.
Surely he would easily fit right in if we play 3 CBs system, would nullify his poor on-the-ball ability.
Ole just don't fancy him at all.
Would be good to have him back, I miss our CB scoring and Smalling is the likeliest one (other than Mag) who can score.
He did that quite often too in big games especially City.
Ole just don't fancy him at all.
Would be good to have him back, I miss our CB scoring and Smalling is the likeliest one (other than Mag) who can score.
He did that quite often too in big games especially City.
Ole doesn’t fancy him because he’s shite. Maguire is an obvious upgrade. We should be looking to buy another centre half rather than turn to our old shite. Next we’ll be discussing whether we can bring Rojo back in.
Who is Rojo Backin?
Smalling gave Suarez and Messi a hard time, while Zaha gave Maguire a hard time.
https://talksport.com/football/5270...smalling-injury-highlights-manchester-united/
But it's "obvious" Smalling is shite. hmmm... so much common sense there.
https://talksport.com/football/5270...smalling-injury-highlights-manchester-united/
But it's "obvious" Smalling is shite. hmmm... so much common sense there.
There’s honestly not much difference between the two. Smalling & Lindelof was a better partnership than Maguire & Lindelof.
Smalling is a better defender than Maguire for me but he's awful in possession of the ball. If Solskjaer's philosophy is for us to play out from the back, I can clearly see why Smalling's being sold. It's evidently the exact same reason as to why he's not selected for England with Southgate.
Modern defenders need to be adept at being on the ball and knowing how to defend, the demand is that they go hand in hand. I think the plan this season was to pair Tuanzebe with Maguire but Axel couldn't have any worse luck being injured throughout most of the season in his debut season for us as a potential starter. Our defence is in need of a new addition to partner with Maguire.
Modern defenders need to be adept at being on the ball and knowing how to defend, the demand is that they go hand in hand. I think the plan this season was to pair Tuanzebe with Maguire but Axel couldn't have any worse luck being injured throughout most of the season in his debut season for us as a potential starter. Our defence is in need of a new addition to partner with Maguire.
True. So Smalling with Lindelof gave us 2nd place, and would easily be 4th last season if only DDG didn't have his worst season of his career, and Mou wasn't just looking for a big fat paycheck instead. That's with Young as right/leftback, and no Bruno as AMC.
Now, with 200m upgrade on players (and 135m on defence), we're still fighting for 4th. But "obviously", Smalling is shite. So much for common sense.
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True. But there should always be a place for a CB who can defend better than any player we have.
That is definitely the reason, and IMO, a perfectly justified reason. What I don't understand though, is why go and buy AWB if your philosophy is to play from the back. At least be consistent in these things, otherwise you end up with a team of misfits whom while might be decent players, are not suitable for what you want to do.
Smalling is terrible with distribution, but this Ole's philosophy is hardly a possession based style. Struggling big time against team sitting deep, and stay compact. A season and half, yet hardly possession oriented pattern in our play. Counter, fast break is still our best weapon with our center back and GK contributes little in the whole scheme of thing. Our defense is not exactly stable either, so what exactly this philosophy is, and whether it's worth it?
We know how Pep would rather die by his sword (philosophy) like his first season in PL, by sticking to his style of play despite Bravo, Koralov and John Stones costing them goals, and points at the back. They could still be able to play football with style. Similarly, before VVD joined and settled, Liverpool also showed that Klopp is building his system on ability on ball. The pattern of their philosophy were there for both Klopp and Pep. Even them had to spend, and when they spent big money, they spent to finish the puzzle. Can't say the same for Ole, when we spent plenty for Wan Bissaka and Maguire already then tying DDG on luxurious contract for a GK. There is nothing indicating we're continuing spending on GK, CB, full backs upgrade.
There is no any evidence Tuanzebe would become starter for us even if he stayed healthy throughout the campaign. Even when he could have played as CB, or RB, Tuanzebe was used as LB by Ole for example.
So all in all, Smalling was targeted by Ole for popular opinion, despite our team is going sideway in quality, trading one flaw for another.
He didn't target Smalling, he was told Maguire and Lindelof would be first choice and Smalling wanted to leave to play more games. Targeting means what Southgate did, when he couldn't shut his mouth. This was internal discussion and Smalling wanted to move on. He would have been first choice IMO had he stayed on. He is better than Lindelof. Maguire + Smalling would have been very good pair.
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