How good is Chris Smalling?

Did well last night and im delighted to see him get game time. Hes also had some poor outings at right back as well. Really needs games at centre half...

For his age he's played a very limited amount of first team football. That bit has always concerned me with him. Hes 24 in a couple of months.
 
Decotron said:
Did well last night and im delighted to see him get game time. Hes also had some poor outings at right back as well. Really needs games at centre half...

For his age he's played a very limited amount of first team football. That bit has always concerned me with him. Hes 24 in a couple of months.
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this is what worries me, he is not a kid anymore and should be really getting more playing time. The problem is he has the best CB partnership in the league's history ahead of him. I am sure his time will come though eventually, brilliant defender!
 
Ballache said:
this is what worries me, he is not a kid anymore and should be really getting more playing time. The problem is he has the best CB partnership in the league's history ahead of him. I am sure his time will come though eventually, brilliant defender!
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You also have to bear in mind at what age he broke through - so 24 is no alarm for me.
 
One of my favourite United players. That injury (when was it, at the beginning of last season or the season before? knee i think) really set him back a bit.
 
Rossa said:
You also have to bear in mind at what age he broke through - so 24 is no alarm for me.
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The age he broke through at isnt really the issue at this stage its the amount of consistant first team football hes had since then that concerns me.

There were points last season where he was very rash in the tackle. Which isnt his natural game at all. The longer he doesnt get games consistantly it'll cost him in the long run imo.
 
he is a good defender - but he is not one for the clever, disguised passes :)
 
We've played 5 different right backs already this season :lol:
 
He's had a horrible 2013, but this was his best performance for us this year. Obviously, his limitations - attacking wise - don't help us, but defensively he is a beast. BTW, this is his second game for us this season. He came on as a substitute for Rafael in the Community Shield.
 
Very pleased for him, good game even though he was played out of position. Defensively he was joke, their players just couldn't do anything against him whole game.
 
Feed Me said:
I was taking this season into account only, to be honest. It's certainly not a help to Valencia's form when Jones is playing behind him.
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Agreed, but his problems go back further than this season. I think the fact that Smalling was excellent and midfield was far more solid helped to free him up though. Long may it continue...
 
Good performance from him and Vidic. Actually the entire team worked their socks off, especially the defence. Unlucky about the goal.

Thought he was Motm.
 
Certainly nowhere near motm for me, Vidic far better at CB. A few moments, one with his passing again, but overall a good game
 
He was alright, not great. Can't believe he was losing headers to a player about 8 inches shorter than him. Almost had an own goal and an assist for them too :(
 
Ekeke said:
Certainly nowhere near motm for me, Vidic far better at CB. A few moments, one with his passing again, but overall a good game
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I thought Vidic was better but talking about moments, Vidic had 2. One resulted in the goal (unluckily, not his fault really) and another, he gave away a dangerous FK.

Rafael was great too, but he was beaten 2-3 times which resulted in dangerous play. Smalling hoofed a couple, but other than that, he hardly put a foot wrong.
 
Ish84045 said:
I thought Vidic was better but talking about moments, Vidic had 2. One resulted in the goal (unluckily, not his fault really) and another, he gave away a dangerous FK.

Rafael was great too, but he was beaten 2-3 times which resulted in dangerous play. Smalling hoofed a couple, but other than that, he hardly put a foot wrong.
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Vidic did like 80% of the defending, he got caught out once and got himself booked to make sure they didnt score directly from his error. The goal was a nice ball in, both Carrick and Vidic could have done a bit better but it wasnt easy.
 
Ekeke said:
Vidic did like 80% of the defending, he got caught out once and got himself booked to make sure they didnt score directly from his error. The goal was a nice ball in, both Carrick and Vidic could have done a bit better but it wasnt easy.
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Yeah I guess my Smalling-loving blinkers are on again :(
 
Ish84045 said:
Yeah I guess my Smalling-loving blinkers are on again :(
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Nicely said, I wish a few more people didn't have to be 'always right'. And I've got Smalling-blinkers too!

We won't see the best of him 'til he has a a good run in the middle, preferably with the same partner, but in my view his best could be very good indeed. Still did well today anyway though.
 
He's good at center back but I fear his lack of any ability, at all, on the ball will restrain him to becoming the player he potentially could. He's a liability every time he gets the ball to his feet, and center backs at big teams like United have the ball very often. I get nervous every time the ball is passed to him to be honest.
 
711 said:
Nicely said, I wish a few more people didn't have to be 'always right'. And I've got Smalling-blinkers too!

We won't see the best of him 'til he has a a good run in the middle, preferably with the same partner, but in my view his best could be very good indeed. Still did well today anyway though.
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Yeah, I desperately want him to make it here. Good outing tonight though. The rotation of the CB's is also not necessarily helping the team settle. HE needs to improve his distribution though.
 
He was decent, helped by having a Vidic in beast mode tonight. Is it just me or was his passing better before? Or am I just imagining things?

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His distribution isn't great. But it was a decent performance from him.
 
He reminded me of Michael Lee from The Wire when he walked off today for some reason. Maybe if we paired him up with Young/Marlo Stanfield down the right we could get something going there.

*Or not...that's probably the most ineffectual wing combination we could actually field.
 
Obviously, he played a peripheral role yesterday but if the Noggie commentator got it right, that was his 42nd win in 51 league games for us. Premiership record?
 
Agreed, looked uncomfortable in that position in the first half. England were attacking so much he was having to play as a proper attacking fullback, which obviously doesn't suit him.

Superb in the second half mostly because we had more defending to do, so he was a bit more of a 'wide CB'. There were times when he was everywhere, turning up to be the man to halt every Poland attack. Good sign when a player can turn his game around like that.
 
There's really no better time for Smalling to earn a place in United's starting 11, especially with Rio looking out of sorts.

Terrific defender.
 
I thought he was very good tonight. There seems to be a lot of folks on here talking about Carrick & Welbeck's performances, which I thought were both average, whereas Smalling was possibly in England's top 5 performers for me.

He was caught out a bit in the first, but he was fantastic in the second half when everyone else dropped off a bit.
 
I've never really been a fan of his at rightback, due to his limitations going forward. That didn't matter quite so much tonight, due to the amount of defending that England had to do. For United though, where we're much more likely to be the dominant team throughout the game, I'd prefer to see him in the middle. For England, I think the battle between him and Walker depends on the opposition, and whether we're going to want our fullback to go forward a lot or not.

I think it was at the end of the 2010/11 season that he had a long run as a centreback, and I still think that's the best form I've seen him in. I'd love for him to have another good run there, because that's where his future is, but he's behind Vidic and Evans imo (but ahead of Jones and Ferdinand).
 
Didn't see the game but it's good to hear he had another good performance.

Hopefully Alan Hanson was watching.
 
His defending was great for the most part tonight. He's never a full back in a million years though.

Hopefully he gets a good shot at claiming a central spot at united with Rio and vidic making big defensive errors consistently this season.
 
I'm a big fan of Smalling, and I think he'll be one of the best in the world; but for now Evans is a better CB. While I think United CB pair should be Smalling and Evans for years to come. I really don't rate Jones as CB.
 
Townsend saved his bacon in terms of possession. Having such a quality dribbler in front of him meant he wasn't expected to contribute much on the ball.
 
Minkaro said:
I've never really been a fan of his at rightback, due to his limitations going forward. That didn't matter quite so much tonight, due to the amount of defending that England had to do. For United though, where we're much more likely to be the dominant team throughout the game, I'd prefer to see him in the middle. For England, I think the battle between him and Walker depends on the opposition, and whether we're going to want our fullback to go forward a lot or not.

I think it was at the end of the 2010/11 season that he had a long run as a centreback, and I still think that's the best form I've seen him in. I'd love for him to have another good run there, because that's where his future is, but he's behind Vidic and Evans imo (but ahead of Jones and Ferdinand).
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I don't think there will ever be a battle between him and Walker for England tbh. Walker is a fullback and should and will play there ahead of Smalling when he's fit.
 
I thought he struggled the first half, was caught out of position a few times and committed a couple of fouls in dangerous positions, but he did a lot better the second half.
To be fair he isn't a full back, and should never be chosen there if Johnson and Walker are available.

He would be useful in a back 3 with 2 attacking full backs in operation.
 
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