Chris Smalling | Roma player

Relevated said:
If, with the vaccine, this thing is still transmissible but it lessens the effect for the one vaccinated, then who is he harming except for himself? You guys need to chill out being angry by everything and go get a booster shot.

I am fully vaccinated before anyone calls me vegan or whatever.
Click to expand...
The vaccine also lowers the probability of getting the virus, so by not vaccinating you are increasing the chance to get it yourself and passing it to other people.

Saying it doesn't matter if you get it or not because you might as well get infected even if you have it it's the same as saying you shouldn't wear a condom because you might get pregnant as well.
 
Carl said:
There are several legitimate things to criticise Smalling for but choosing heading is a bit of a weird one given its one of his strongest attributes.
Click to expand...

I agree. Great at winning defensive headers.

Quite poor at directing those attacking headers though. Scored most of his goals with his feet, which is odd for a 6ft5 centre back.
 
Carl said:
There are several legitimate things to criticise Smalling for but choosing heading is a bit of a weird one given its one of his strongest attributes.
Click to expand...
The guy had a 50p head, literally headed up or backwards but never forwards. Really poor technique.
 
r3idy said:
He really isn't. I get it Maguire going through a bad patch but it's pure fantasy to suggest Smalling was / is the better defender. The guy could not head a ball for shit, clumsy in the tackle and positionaly awful
Click to expand...
Purely in terms of stats in both of Jose's 2 full seasons with Smalling in the defense we conceded less than 30 goals in the league and we haven't done that since
 
r3idy said:
He really isn't. I get it Maguire going through a bad patch but it's pure fantasy to suggest Smalling was / is the better defender. The guy could not head a ball for shit, clumsy in the tackle and positionaly awful
Click to expand...
Did Smalling ever pull down his own teammate trying to clear the ball?

Not once but twice.
 
smallish is well within his rights to ask questions and decide against the jab. i have an acquaintance who had his booster jab in the run up to christmas. he had no side effects from his first two shots in the summer and was seemingly fine after the third. that changed on christmas day. according to eye witnesses he was his usual jovial self all morning. he opened up his present from his nan and discovered a ps4 controller she had bought him for his new xbox. “i hope it’s the one you wanted.” she said, like she didn’t feed off the misery she knew she had created.
 
Ixion said:
Purely in terms of stats in both of Jose's 2 full seasons with Smalling in the defense we conceded less than 30 goals in the league and we haven't done that since
Click to expand...

So with a manager who plays a defensive style of game we conceded less goals? Wow...I'm shocked
 
r3idy said:
He really isn't. I get it Maguire going through a bad patch but it's pure fantasy to suggest Smalling was / is the better defender. The guy could not head a ball for shit, clumsy in the tackle and positionaly awful
Click to expand...

Smalling really isn't. Don't try to re-write history.
 
Carl said:
There are several legitimate things to criticise Smalling for but choosing heading is a bit of a weird one given its one of his strongest attributes.
Click to expand...

Do a lot of caf people really watch football. I sometimes wonder.
 
SadlerMUFC said:
So with a manager who plays a defensive style of game we conceded less goals? Wow...I'm shocked
Click to expand...
Our football under Ole was largely as negative.

The only main difference between them is that De Gea was playing like he was superman during the majority of Jose's reign.
 
Ayoba said:
No he isnt
Click to expand...
r3idy said:
He really isn't. I get it Maguire going through a bad patch but it's pure fantasy to suggest Smalling was / is the better defender. The guy could not head a ball for shit, clumsy in the tackle and positionaly awful
Click to expand...

It's a joke to suggest Smalling couldn't head the ball when he was statistically one of the best in the league in the air. He also scored 18 goals for united with a good number coming from headers. Your memories don't serve you right. Maguire has nothing on Smalling at his peak for united.

Don't forget Smalling earned the player's player of the year award in 2016 under LVG ('Mike Smalling' season) and became Mourinho's main trusted CB the season next when we won the EL after Jones and Rojo proved unreliable.

No other centerback has reached those heights in the post Fergie era. Smalling-Blind was our meanest partnership, and Smalling helped keep us under 30 goals conceded for two seasons straight.

With Maguire we conceded 36 and 44 in his first two full seasons here. Look how terrible we've been defensively this season with thus far with Maguire being the absolute worst. He's actually getting worse with each passing season. We've struggled to defend set pieces the entire time he's been here. Smalling snuffed those out effortlessly
 
Last edited:
Andersonson said:
So vegans generally dislike anti vaxxers then?
Click to expand...

From being on forums a few years ago, there's a sharp split between "rational"/"skeptic" vegans (many brand themselves specifically as that) and what they would call more "woo"/"natural" vegans. People who came to it primarily as a health-enhancing diet (rather than an ethical decision) would be more likely to be anti-vax, though there'll be some of that sentiment across the board. Weirdly enough the two most famous human carnivores- Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson - have their own special thoughts on vaccines/mandates/restrictions.

I think Smalling has shared both reasons (health/ethics), but I could be wrong.
...
Also he was a reliable header of the ball and a decent scorer too, something he's continued at Roma.
 
Last edited:
United in sin said:
It's a joke to say Smalling couldn't head the ball when he was statistically one of the best in the league in the air. He also scored 18 goals for united with a good number coming from headers. Your memories don't serve you right. Maguire has nothing on Smalling at his peak for united.

Don't forget Smalling earned the player's player of the year award in 2016 under LVG ('Mike Smalling' season) and became Mourinho's main trusted CB the season next when we won the EL after Jones and Rojo proved unreliable.

No other centerback has reached those heights in the post Fergie era. Smalling-Blind was our meanest partnership, and Smalling helped keep us under 30 goals conceded for two seasons straight.

With Maguire we conceded 36 and 44 in his first two full seasons here. Look how bad we've been defensively this season with this far with Maguire being the absolute worst. He's actually getting worse with each passing season. We've struggled to defend set pieces the entire time he's been here. Smalling snuffed those out effortlessly
Click to expand...
This is why I always felt that we should have been looking for a Lindelof replacement to play alongside Smalling but Ole felt otherwise.

Sometimes people forget that the main job of a defender is to actually defend and get themselves hoodwinked into believing that just because a defender can pass a sweet ball means he's superior defender.
 
Andy_Cole said:
My mistake. I know an anti vax guy and he attempted being vegan for similar motivations of being anti vax. A huge conspiracy theorist who believes the farm industry has brainwashed the public into thinking they need meat and dairy. The theory with anti vax is related to the pharma industry profiting on the vax and controlling the media/ government.
Click to expand...
Yes, it seems that conspiracy theorists hope to improve the acceptance of their claims by creating the impression of a connection to other groups with legit data. I‘m not even sure they do this with bad intent or if they are just so deeply invested in their opinion that they can‘t see their fallibility.

The data regarding meat consumption is out there for everybody to see and come to their own conclusions, if they care enough to confront themselves with it. So, if your anti vax guy wants to underline his anti vax stance with a vegan stance, he should be flipping his approach and claiming that the more meat you eat, the better. He should be aiming to be as anti-vegan as possible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: oates
Gums said:
Yes, it seems that conspiracy theorists hope to improve the acceptance of their claims by creating the impression of a connection to other groups with legit data. I‘m not even sure they do this with bad intent or if they are just so deeply invested in their opinion that they can‘t see their fallibility.

The data regarding meat consumption is out there for everybody to see and come to their own conclusions, if they care enough to confront themselves with it. So, if your anti vax guy wants to underline his anti vax stance with a vegan stance, he should be flipping his approach and claiming that the more meat you eat, the better. He should be aiming to be as anti-vegan as possible.
Click to expand...
For the majority of the time, I find that most vegans who want to talk about how vegan is beneficial are mainly those that just want attention.

Most normal vegans don't actually mention it unless you specifically ask them about it because they know it's just too much of a hassle to try and convince people to change their diet.
 
elmo said:
For the majority of the time, I find that most vegans who want to talk about how vegan is beneficial are mainly those that just want attention.

Most normal vegans don't actually mention it unless you specifically ask them about it because they know it's just too much of a hassle to try and convince people to change their diet.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree. Not just vegans, but in general anybody who is too eager to come out and tell anybody and everybody about their personal preferences strikes me as too needy. For me personally, it dilutes their possible good intentions and drives me away from wanting to find out more about their cause.
 
It's his wife's that appears to be very anti-vax. She seems to be pretty heavy in promoting ivermectin. I did quick search around the Internet and I could find nothing on Chris Smalling's own vaccination stance.
 
Gums said:
Yes, I agree. Not just vegans, but in general anybody who is too eager to come out and tell anybody and everybody about their personal preferences strikes me as too needy. For me personally, it dilutes their possible good intentions and drives me away from wanting to find out more about their cause.
Click to expand...

Fauci says “trust the science”

 
WeePat said:
It's his wife's that appears to be very anti-vax. She seems to be pretty heavy in promoting ivermectin. I did quick search around the Internet and I could find nothing on Chris Smalling's own vaccination stance.
Click to expand...

A few English WAGs seem to be heavily into anti-vaxxing. I wonder if it’s a few of them that are and then the rest are egged on as they want to remain part of the social circle.
 
Supposedly there's a Roma starter that's not currently vaccinated. Italy has a vaccine requirement coming in on the 10th Jan and so Mourinho has asked them to be vaccinated by then so they're able to play.

General consensus is it's either Smalling or Karsdorp among Roma fans.
 
elmo said:
This is why I always felt that we should have been looking for a Lindelof replacement to play alongside Smalling but Ole felt otherwise.

Sometimes people forget that the main job of a defender is to actually defend and get themselves hoodwinked into believing that just because a defender can pass a sweet ball means he's superior defender.
Click to expand...

I agree with the last part and it's strange to see some managers forget that themselves. I also think Blind should've been kept on. Mourinho wanted players from his own scouting network but he didn't trust Lindelof (who in my opinion never proved to be an upgrade on Blind)

It's funny how Smalling and Blind both had more than their share of criticism but ended up being a very reliable pairing. You don't need both centerbacks in your pairing to channel Maldini's on ball ability
 
Go Mike Smalling, they “convinced” him apparently. Bullied into a vaccine

 
Some vaccines use egg based technology, which could deter some vegans from taking them.

The Covid vaccines do not, though, so I doubt that there's any correlation between vegan and anti-vax.
 
His wife seems like a proper airhead.

Her whole personality is being vegan. How can being vegan be your personality. It's just food ffs
 
Vaccine aside it’s crazy that we got rid of him and replaced him with a 80m player that isn’t even better
 
432JuanMata said:
Vaccine aside it’s crazy that we got rid of him and replaced him with a 80m player that isn’t even better
Click to expand...
We were right to get rid of Smalling in order to progress.

We were wrong to spend £80m on Maguire.

We got one thing right and one thing wrong.
 
Chief123 said:
We were right to get rid of Smalling in order to progress.

We were wrong to spend £80m on Maguire.

We got one thing right and one thing wrong.
Click to expand...
Actually at the time it wasn’t. We still had Jones and Rojo on the books who Smalling was better than and then you can add Lindelof and Bailly to the list of players we were wrong spending on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.