I thought he was excellent today , total composure and reads the game so well
3
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 38
- Clean sheets
- 19
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 9
- Red cards
- 2
- Status
It's him plus one other for the long term centre back partnership. He is absolutely brilliant.
He's so so good. Born defender but oozes class on the ball too. Brilliant signing.
Just so strong, fast and dependable.....
As good as Jones/Rojo have been Bailly looks a class above.....is Smalling his best partner?
As good as Jones/Rojo have been Bailly looks a class above.....is Smalling his best partner?
I like him next to Smalling. Bailly is proactive and Smalling reactive, which always makes for a good partnership. Once or twice today Bailly was a touch too keen - understandable at his age - and left gaps, and both times Smalling was there, perfectly positioned to tidy up.
Plus I think Smalling is quietly getting back to his best. He was immense today in his own right.
Plus I think Smalling is quietly getting back to his best. He was immense today in his own right.
Both possess great speed and physicality but I'd probably prefer to see Smalling on the right.
That's the one slight difficulty. But I'd rather we partner those two - in my opinion comfortably the most gifted in our CB stable - and one of them has to learn to be left-sided, than include Rojo - a perfectly respectable defender as he's shown, but not a match for either Bailly or Smalling on their day - just because he's naturally left-sided.
I want to see what happens when we finally partner him up with Rojo at the back. It will probably look like the wall that Trump wants between US and Mexico.
Don't know how Jones isn't included in this conversation, as he's been our best defender this season over an extended period of time.
He did. Bailly confirmed he spoke to Yaya who asked him to come to City. Drogba convinced him to Josev and United.
They look like a menacing pair together. They look like the stereotypical Jose Mourinho centre half partnership you imagine. 6'2" and 6'4" centre half pairing.
Love his ability to play a direct ground forward pass. It's very effective in advancing our play.
One of those special/unique players that's hard to come by. Still erratic at times, but overall already high quality.
He is a monster of a defender! Best I have seen since Vida-Rio. To do it in his first season in EPL, at United is something else too. Nothing seems to fazed him and he just relishes the challenges. Credit to Mou and United scouting team to unearthed this gem. How much was he now? Getting to be like a bargain in today's market now.
loved watching this guy play.
What's amazing is I feel like he's not even in top gear, just cruising along.
What's amazing is I feel like he's not even in top gear, just cruising along.
'Hey, Eric. Come play with me at City. It's gonna be great as long as you don't fuss about a birthday cake.'
You know how that can put off a man, having no cake on his birthday.
He turns 23 in April.....whoa!!
Best defender I've seen since vidic... And he is only 23! I hope smalling does enough between now and the end of the season to justify a starting place along bailly
So glad to have Vidic back
on the ball, he's better than Vidic. And he has all the attributes to be as good as Vidic. So excited to see him develop as a player.He should go for a header instead of trying clear the ball with high boot. Great player overall.
Love this guy. Head and shoulders the best defender at the club and it won't be long before people start thinking of him as the best in the league.
He'll have a couple of rough spells though, all defenders do at some point, but he'll come through them ok.
He'll have a couple of rough spells though, all defenders do at some point, but he'll come through them ok.
Love how aggressive he is when defending and how composed he is when on ball. His dribbling ability when attacker is in him was good.
His aggression and ability on the ball really help us play with a higher tempo. Top player in the making.
Hopefully we get a long term partner for him in the summer.
Hopefully we get a long term partner for him in the summer.
I enjoy watching him defend which is remarkable because whenever we actually need to defend I'm a bag of nerves.
You were to build an archetype modern centreback he'd look very similar to Bailly. Strong, fast, good in the air, aggressive and technically gifted.
One of those that makes defending look fun.
I honestly can't think of a CB better than him this season. He's great with the ball at his feet, strong as an ox, can pick a pass like a midfielder, fast as feck and so composed. The man is 22 for feck sake! Scary potential.
£30m, what a steal.
£30m, what a steal.
He's going to be brilliant, isnt he?
So much this.
22 years old.....What!!
I know I'm getting ahead of my self, but I honestly cant think of many defenders who are better than this guy.
Don't remember when this was during the game but I loved it when he dribbled at one point like a winger. He's incredible, a favourite.
Through the right centre of midfield? It looked like a poor touch but then you realised he just pushed it past someone and powered forward 40 yards through a couple more.
One who cried over birthday cake, or a lack of. Who plays for a manager that turfed him out of his old club and started the season on the fringes of the team from the same manager.
The other who'd run through a brick wall for his old manager.
Only one winner, I'm just glad he didn't end up at Arsenal or Liverpool, he'd have sorted their defences out by a mile.
I don't think so, he's very talented but he also has the benefit of excellent defensive direction from Mourinho, something that Klopp and Wenger aren't very good at.
He's almost as interesting to watch from a defensive standpoint as Rio was - completely different players, but both make/made defending fun to watch.
He more or less (barring a couple of instances) bosses it at the back. His smoothness on the ball, threat assesment, pace, power and physique are all at a level you'd want in a potentially world class defender. Add to that his karate-kid styled way of clearing balls and literally giving zero-fecks on the field have made him one of my favourite players.
Destined to be a United great if he can stay here long enough alongside Mourinho.
Destined to be a United great if he can stay here long enough alongside Mourinho.
What a boss. Still can't believe he's only 22
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