Good luck with that.
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran are here to talk about a frustrating 2 points dropped at Crystal Palace. They then discuss the regeneration of Old Trafford. Finally, Nik is joined by special guest Michael Statham from the Football Oranje podcast - who gives us a more in depth look at our EL opposition FC Twente, and then runs through the (many) Dutch connections currently at United.
This again. Next I'll be reading Lindelof and Bailly are our clear first choice partnership and Smalling will be 6th choice like experts in the summer said.
Van Gaal recycled possession for the sake of it. Guardiola uses possession differently, so much so that I'm baffled at numerous people linking the two. They're as similar as Pulis is to Mourinho.
This season, both Stones and Otamendi have been instrumental at actively providing themselves as outlets for Ederson to release the ball (thus bypassing the press), or serving as conduits to switch the play. Replacing either one with Smalling would degrade the team's ability to withstand the press and create overloads, which would negate any positive qualities Smalling brings as a defender in a more traditional setup.
Every sane person would choose Aguero as a striker over Jesus, devoid of context. But in a Guardiola team, the latter fits better. Same concept with Smalling IMO.
Fair enough. Agree to an extent but i think their defenders have rigid instructions on how to position themselves in those situations, which i think would also help Smalling and could maybe even remove some of Smalling's pondering on the ball etc as i believe his lack of composure is caused by a confidence-issue. Him having clear instructions might help. But of course is his passing limited even if it did improve his composure, but i don't think its even that bad. Probably too bad for Guardiola, you are right
If we swap ozil for mike smalling then ed Woodward is clearly some kind of genius.
He’s our worst defender in my book.
But I think everyone knows my opinion on him.
I’d take the cash and invest it in a world class CB to partner Bailly.
But I think everyone knows my opinion on him.
I’d take the cash and invest it in a world class CB to partner Bailly.
He's one of the players who's played the most minutes for us this season so its unlikely.
That's a good point actually. I don't think he's lacking technically, there's not much of a focus on having him play the ball that much with our low block.
That'll be silly move.
Miki & Sanchez deal was indeed a smart swap since Miki isn't our main starter, and we swap attacker with a better attacker. But why would you want us to make a straight swap deal between our regular centre back who can defends better than Arsenal's defense with an attacking midfield who only has 4 months left in his contract?
They can feck off. Mike is ours
Yeah, that’s not happening 
Wenger’s been a fan of Smalling for years though.
Wenger’s been a fan of Smalling for years though.
That works on the presumption that a world class centre back becomes available. Just selling him with the hope of signing a better player would be risky. Look at lindelof, people were raving about him but he looks pretty average really.
Not sure a thread is needed based on a tweet from Graeme Bailey. Wishful thinking from some, Smalling is a very reliable defender and those are hard to find.
No chance I'd sell him right now, summer however could be a different story.
Why the feck would you be delighted? With our CB injury history? Jesus wept
Lindelof was always one for the future.
I still think David Luiz alongside Bailly and Rojo would be quality. If we add Sandro to play the LWB role, even better.
But I’m not getting into a big discussion about it.
Well, I'm not anti smalling but ozil is a better player and we'd actually sign him rather than face competing for him in the summer window which is typically mayhem. If it was a choice then I'd rather give them mata.
This.. Our only CB that has top class arial ability..
Defensively this guy is very reliable, and centrebacks that have that trait are a big asset. Smalling would cost Wenger more than he'd be willing to pay for him.
He'd be a beast of a CB if he wasn't so crap with the ball at his feet.
I would imagine Wenger fancies Smalling for a couple of reasons.
1) He's very fast and can recover should someone get in behind him. Arsenal plays a much higher line than United. Koscielny is also fast, but the rest of their centre backs are not.
2) He's great in the air, and bar Mertesacker, none of their defenders are brilliant there.
3) He doesn't make many mistakes compared to most defenders and keeps things simple.
4) He seems to have gotten over his worst injuries
We would be mad selling him. There's this new norm on here that "we support the team and not individual players", but the negativity on here is toxic concerning our own players. He has been our most consistent defender this season, yet people want to slag him off at every opportunity, yet failing to praise him when he does well.
Considering he would be perfect for Arsenal's high line, and he did so well under LVG's high line, I do wonder why Mourinho persists which such a low line. There is too much space between our players, and our stretched team does little favor to that. All our first choice defenders are very fast, so I don't see many attackers getting away from them. Different discussion.
1) He's very fast and can recover should someone get in behind him. Arsenal plays a much higher line than United. Koscielny is also fast, but the rest of their centre backs are not.
2) He's great in the air, and bar Mertesacker, none of their defenders are brilliant there.
3) He doesn't make many mistakes compared to most defenders and keeps things simple.
4) He seems to have gotten over his worst injuries
We would be mad selling him. There's this new norm on here that "we support the team and not individual players", but the negativity on here is toxic concerning our own players. He has been our most consistent defender this season, yet people want to slag him off at every opportunity, yet failing to praise him when he does well.
Considering he would be perfect for Arsenal's high line, and he did so well under LVG's high line, I do wonder why Mourinho persists which such a low line. There is too much space between our players, and our stretched team does little favor to that. All our first choice defenders are very fast, so I don't see many attackers getting away from them. Different discussion.
He's ponderous with the ball, not crap. His passing is safe and he rarely misplaces the ball. He can even make some pretty nice forward passes, but he does take too long, and he looks uncomfortable, not meaning that he necessarily is. Against Burnley he actually gave them the ball twice because of poor touches, but that very seldom happens. It happens more often with out other defenders, bar Valencia.
Not a chance Jose will sell him
If this would happen I would expect Jose to sign an established CB in the summer. We've got 5 as is, not including Tuanzebe who surely wouldn't go on loan if Smalling was sold. Excellent in the air, strong, but poor playing from the back. Sometimes great, sometimes shoddy. Not sure what to think about this really.
I love Smalling I'd be gutted if we got rid of him
Keep Smalling get rid of 'a penalty waiting to happen' Rojo.
Hope not.
Give us Ozil in return and you got a deal
We can sign Ozil in February if he actually wants to play for us. We are allowed to talk to him in February since he's going to be out of contract in the next window. With Sanchez now in the team & Bailly is still injured, I think we need Smalling now more than Ozil. Defense has been Arsenal main weakness & Smalling will only improve Arsenal's defense.
We should never do such a business that end up weakened us and strengthened Arsenal!
There aren't half some weapons in our fan base.
The people who want rid are probably the same people who were slagging off Jones until this season. Smalling has been here 8 years, SAF said himself if he could go back and replay the Barca games he'd stick Smallling on Messi ffs. Yet people would rather get rid of him before Lindelof, who is atrocious, and Rojo who has had about half a good season in four years (and that spell he should have been sent off twice). Probably our best pure defender and the only one who can head the ball.
The people who want rid are probably the same people who were slagging off Jones until this season. Smalling has been here 8 years, SAF said himself if he could go back and replay the Barca games he'd stick Smallling on Messi ffs. Yet people would rather get rid of him before Lindelof, who is atrocious, and Rojo who has had about half a good season in four years (and that spell he should have been sent off twice). Probably our best pure defender and the only one who can head the ball.
I'd argue Wenger is a poor defensive coach so it wouldn't make a huge difference. Attack is our main weakness, we don't score enough and ozil would be a real assist machine for us in the way we all hoped mata would be.
Our discussion was about you think it's a genius move if we swap Smalling with Ozil. Not if we swap Mata with Ozil.
Letting go our regular centre back for a player with only 4 months left in his contract to a team who has been terrible in defense isn't a smart idea.
He is better than all their current defenders, by a considerable margin.
But he is a long way from being good enough for a title challenging side, his reaction times and decision making sometimes are abysmal.
But he is a long way from being good enough for a title challenging side, his reaction times and decision making sometimes are abysmal.
It is if you get mesut ozil, one of the best number 10's in world football for a just decent centre back. Do you disagree that ozil is a better player than smalling?
Do you think we play in the semi-final of the CL or against a top club every other week? Do you seriously think that every single squad member has to be World class? Not a single club, be it, PSG, Madrid, Bayern or Barcelona attain this mythical feat of every single player in their squad being world class. Smalling is a very good squad player and he has held his own this year.
Harry Maguire, smh
Pointless.
Tuanzbe is going on loan. Lindelof still has a lot to prove. Jones could break down any second. Bailly is injured. Rojo is hit and miss.
He gets a lot of criticism but Smalling is our most reliable defender.
Tuanzbe is going on loan. Lindelof still has a lot to prove. Jones could break down any second. Bailly is injured. Rojo is hit and miss.
He gets a lot of criticism but Smalling is our most reliable defender.
LOL he's not even a squad player like Fellaini, he's a pivotal player at the back. Its nice to dream though
Rojo and Lindelof can't even get ahead of him but haters still hope Smalling will be sold every transfer window LOL. Most reliable CB we have by far
It's not about who's better. It's about who we needs the most. What's the point having a lot of quality attackers if the defense is so weak? He's our regular centre back right now, with Bailly is still far from his recovery, we can't afford to lose one of our regular centre back if we can't replace him. With Sanchez is now with us and replacing Miki & Mata's spot, clearly we need Smalling more than Ozil at the moment.
Jose is even thinking about whether he should let Tuanzebe go on loan or no depends on Bailly's injury. And you think it's a good idea to let go our regular centre back right now?
We should be looking to keep all our current CBs. For the first time in a decade or more, we survived the annual defensive injury crisis without being unduly hurt by it. They all play well when they step in, and we just look like a really solid unit. The stats back that up too, fewest conceded and most clean sheets in the league.
With the wages we pay, there's no reason any of the current lot should be easily tempted away. Unless Arsenal offer big money - big enough to buy an impressive replacement - we should tell them where to go.
With the wages we pay, there's no reason any of the current lot should be easily tempted away. Unless Arsenal offer big money - big enough to buy an impressive replacement - we should tell them where to go.