Neither are as good as him so no.
Chris Smalling | Roma player
- Thread starter roonster09
- Start date
Neither are as good as him so no.
I remember always feeling confident and staying in my sofa whenever he was one on one with any attacker. He rarely got past either by trickery or pace.
He was poor on the ball but still safe. You can be good on the ball yet be hasty with your decision making.
His only negative was him missing half the season through injuries.
And yes, he'd be our first choice center back if he was still here.
He was poor on the ball but still safe. You can be good on the ball yet be hasty with your decision making.
His only negative was him missing half the season through injuries.
And yes, he'd be our first choice center back if he was still here.
Him and Blind were the best partnership we have seen at centre back since Sir Alex retired and we sold them both needlessly for about the same amount we spent on Bailly. I really think that should have been kept as a building block considering how many positions we have had to improve down the years.
It was stupid to sell him IMO and I said it at the time. He was our best CB and still would be (depending if Varane can settle)
He wasn't amazing on the ball but he was nowhere near as bad as people made out. He just looked very clumsy.
He wasn't amazing on the ball but he was nowhere near as bad as people made out. He just looked very clumsy.
He was always the last CB that should have left at the time of his departure, but he was easier to shift.
The result of us having zero football vision at boardroom level and having no continuity between managers. Blind wasn't a Mourinho defender.
I always felt that his limited passing ability was overstated. Most of Lindelof and Maguire's successful passes are short ones that even Smalling can make but Smalling defends better than either of them. 2-3 successful Hollywood passes a season isn't enough to justify getting rid of Smalling for Maguire.
I see, Caf having its usual bouts of amnesia in the thread.
Yes, I’ve been watching serie a this season- much more interesting and enjoyable than the prem- and Smalling has looked great for Roma. So bizarre to sell him when we did.
I don’t think I was ever as frustrated with Smalling as I am with and have been with either Maguire or Lindelof
Exactly this. He's also the only one who pushed for a move as he wanted playing time. Can't argue with that.
I liked Smalling, think he was harshly judged by our fans and given how it has gone replacing him it's easy to say in hindsight he shouldn't have been sold, but he wasnt getting any younger either.
I see Caf's memory is as short as ever...
I bet you alot of them probably haven't watched more than 1 Roma game all season.
Yep. And we almost balls'd that up, actually! It went to the last minute of Italy's transfer window before it was finalised.
He's a better defender than Maguire and Lindlelof. Not necessarily a better player given the need for centre backs to be in possession more frequently now in today's tactical game.
He is being massively overrated by people on here 
.
Feck me.
. Feck me.
Wow, now I read he was Maldini.
He is being massively overrated by people on here
Feck me.
Who is overrating him? He’s better than Jones, Bailly and Rojo. Always was. I’d have him over Lindelof too. Times not changed my opinion on him. No one is saying he’s a defending god, are they?
Correct. I will die on the 'we should have kept Blind' hill. I loved him as a player and was gutted we sold him when I look at some who are still here.
Didn't people do this with Jonny Evans as well?
Pining for an average player based on him doing well in a completely different system, rather than remembering how bad they were when they actually played for you...
Pining for an average player based on him doing well in a completely different system, rather than remembering how bad they were when they actually played for you...
Didn't people do this with Jonny Evans as well?
Pining for an average player based on him doing well in a completely different system, rather than remembering how bad they were when they actually played for you...
Not sure about pining but I would love to see a factual case for saying Linda Loaf or Maguire are better players. Should we have looked to upgrade on Smalling? Definitely. Did we somehow manage to blow a fortune on a downgrade? Undeniably.
Where?
Didn't people do this with Jonny Evans as well?
Pining for an average player based on him doing well in a completely different system, rather than remembering how bad they were when they actually played for you...
They were inconsistent with obvious flaws but they weren't bad.
I don't think the decision to sell either of them was wrong though and I was a fan of Smalling till his last season when he started to decline.
He improves under Mou.
Didn't people do this with Jonny Evans as well?
Pining for an average player based on him doing well in a completely different system, rather than remembering how bad they were when they actually played for you...
Smalling never really did badly for us.
He was also sold for peanuts after a period of poor form without given a chance to recover from. Would've been more reliable than Bailly, Rojo, Jones etcDidn't people do this with Jonny Evans as well?
Pining for an average player based on him doing well in a completely different system, rather than remembering how bad they were when they actually played for you...
Need your eyes tested mate because nobody has said that
Probably Lindelof (who I think is decent) and Maguire too.
I don't think anyone is saying Smalling is a world class defender but he is definitely a good one and we spent around 90 - 100 million pounds replacing him and Blind with Maguire and Lindelof all the while having a terrible midfield that needs improving.
Evans was decent-to-good for most of his time with us. He just had a terrible time in his last season and LVG quickly got rid of him. He's since gone on to be quite good (most Leicester fans felt he was better than Maguire when they played together), so it does seem like that bad season was the exception.Didn't people do this with Jonny Evans as well?
Pining for an average player based on him doing well in a completely different system, rather than remembering how bad they were when they actually played for you...
Overall Smalling was our best and most consistent central defender since the Rio and Vidic combo ended. His peak season of 15/16 is comfortably the best full season any have had, and in general he was more solid and had less mistakes than anybody else. So it's hardly basing it on how he's doing in a different system. In saying that, he was showing signs of declining in his last season here and he's since gone on to miss quite a lot of matches through injury, so him being the best in the past doesn't necessarily mean he would have been the best since then.
It has been circulating around (don't mean Redcafe). Even Mourinho mentioned it in his latest Sky interview
He is being massively overrated by people on here
Feck me.
I always rated him personally. Sadly he's probably been our best defender since Rio and Vidic left the club. Is he good enough for a club with our ambitions? probably only as a squad player, but fact is he's still much better than Maguire or Lindelof for example.
I'm with you on that. Had the intelligence that most of our current squad appear to lack. Unfortunately about 2 foot too short for Jose to see.
Definitely, very smart with the ball and just a lovely footballer.
I mean when people called Lingard "Lignardinho" because he was playing well no one really believed he was as good as Ronaldinho.
Bit of fun.
I'm also gutted we didn't see Smalling & Maguire in a partnership.
Not really about hyping them up as players but more about them being a bit of each others opposites like Rio & Vidic were.
Not really about hyping them up as players but more about them being a bit of each others opposites like Rio & Vidic were.
Yeah was just a weird example of us getting rid of a really good footballer who could cover multiple positions for barely any money and no apparent reason.
Stop with the fecking reviosioning he's fecking wank end of it.
I am exaggerating obviously, but there are many posts painting him as a good defender. It is like people forget after a while how mediocre he was.
Smalldini fam!!
Honestly, in terms of pure, raw defending Smalling is right up there with the likes of Koulibaly, Chiellini, Godin, etc. He's a bit weak on the ball but in a proper system he can be a world class CB for a top team.
Bait
Bait