How good is Chris Smalling?

Hes a centre back.

Great defensively but offers nothing going forward.

Frankly I would have Rafael, Fabio and probably Valencia ahead of him in the pecking order. I do think his ability to play there can be useful when playing against a "big" team though, to give additional aerial presence when defending set pieces, so he would still have a role to play there.
 
Monster header of the ball. Made a brilliant clearance from one of their corners right at the end of the match. Definitely a centreback and a much better one than Evans.
 
He's doing a good job defensively at right back, he just doesn't have an attacking style and seems to be smartly hanging back a lot of the time and pacing out his breaks forward as they mostly come to nothing.
 
That was a good performance against Everton. I think he has the potential to become better than Evans.
 
Playing at right back for a run of games seems to have given him some confidence to bring the ball out from the back, as he showed last night. Made some sensible charges from the back with the ball. His positioning and anticipation to get tight and sense the danger was very good too. Good performance from him.
 
I really think he and Evans need to be given a good run, Vidic is captain and still capable of top displays but more and more he looks like that loss of a yard of pace isn't causing him issues, Smalling of all our other players seems to have that added physicality/menace that Vidic had and Evans has become a very assured defender and I think they compliment nicely. We might have the odd bump with them but I think it will still help us in the longer term.
 
His performances at right-back (wrongly) influence my opinion of him and his potential.

I use to rate him so highly, for quite some time I thought he would be better than Jones. Then, after seeing him play lots of games at right-back I started to lose confidence in his potential ability.

Unfair really. Especially since more recently he's had some strong performances from right back too.
 
Don't think he and Vidic is balanced enough. Neither are particularly good at carrying or passing the ball. For me it'd be between Smalling or Vidic partnered with Evans or Jones. Yeah that's right, Ferdinand is 5th choice.
 
Well to be honest I think he should be the first name on the teamsheet, with regards to centre-half anyway. I trust him most to deal with extremely fast or extremely strong attackers. He's physically the best, and he's being held back I think. With consistent games, he'd be a monster.

I personally think he's England's best centre-half at the minute. I think Roy thinks so too, but just can't justify playing him regularly when he isn't doing so for us.
 
Rozay said:
Well to be honest I think he should be the first name on the teamsheet, with regards to centre-half anyway. I trust him most to deal with extremely fast or extremely strong attackers. He's physically the best, and he's being held back I think. With consistent games, he'd be a monster.

I personally think he's England's best centre-half at the minute. I think Roy thinks so too, but just can't justify playing him regularly when he isn't doing so for us.
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I agree with all of this. He's looked excellent defensively this season, even at RB. Reads the game better than Jones, and is physically more imposing these days than our other defenders. I'd have him starting ahead of the rest in current form, espcially with Vidic having struggled physically with Lukaku.
 
Rozay said:
I personally think he's England's best centre-half at the minute. I think Roy thinks so too, but just can't justify playing him regularly when he isn't doing so for us.
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Why not?

Roy certainly did the reverse for years, calling up Smalling while Rio was starting for us... ;).
 
Alock1 said:
His performances at right-back (wrongly) influence my opinion of him and his potential.

I use to rate him so highly, for quite some time I thought he would be better than Jones. Then, after seeing him play lots of games at right-back I started to lose confidence in his potential ability.

Unfair really. Especially since more recently he's had some strong performances from right back too.
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Can't blame you - he simply isn't a right back at all. Even in his autobiography, one thing Ferguson stated about him was that he genuinely loves defending, which apparently is getting rarer these days. As has been said by many people here, he isn't a good right back and there are 2/3 players I'd rather have there instead of him for us.

But, interestingly, I think it may actually benefit him long run. He's still young for a CB, which means what you have with him is time on your side. By playing at right back, he'll learn a skill which you wouldn't if you only ever play CB and that is he'll be much more confident on the ball, and be better at bringing it out. I think that can only benefit him in the long run, because to me it's clear he is a defensive talent. He's strong, tall, ready to get stuck in, throws himself at the ball to win a challenge. He has good positioning, and he isn't exactly slow. I do think he loses concentration sometimes, but I think that'll come with age. Now he can add the ability on the ball to his skill-set.

So maybe it'll work out better for him in the long run. I do think that it's time now we play him at CB. I think with Jones, he is very useful in other positions at the moment, and he is younger. We can afford to still use him as a rotation at RB, and in the centre of the park. But agian, in the future he'll also need to start getting more games at CB.

Honestly, I'm confident about these 2. They are young so it's unfair to judge them on their ability to defend just yet. Remember, not many defenders were ever world class at that age, not many at all. They both look like they're getting more confident, better bringing the ball out. Also remember they've both been affected by injuries in recent times too. I really hope I'm not wrong and I'm not looking at this with tinted glasses. Genuinely see something in these two.
 
ISSYNAZAR said:
Don't think he and Vidic is balanced enough. Neither are particularly good at carrying or passing the ball. For me it'd be between Smalling or Vidic partnered with Evans or Jones. Yeah that's right, Ferdinand is 5th choice.
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Don't feel harsh for saying it, Rio is done at the highest level and most of us know that. If I was going into a big game I'd still pick Vidic and Evans personally.
 
ISSYNAZAR said:
Don't think he and Vidic is balanced enough. Neither are particularly good at carrying or passing the ball. For me it'd be between Smalling or Vidic partnered with Evans or Jones. Yeah that's right, Ferdinand is 5th choice.
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Probably. Both are enforcers with not so great distribution and technique. All of Smalling/Vidic/Jones need an Evans or a Rio next to them.
 
ISSYNAZAR said:
Don't think he and Vidic is balanced enough. Neither are particularly good at carrying or passing the ball. For me it'd be between Smalling or Vidic partnered with Evans or Jones. Yeah that's right, Ferdinand is 5th choice.
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To be fair I'm certain even Rio knows his time is up. Lately he's been putting a lot more emphasis on his other outlets such as working in the Media, setting up a talk show etc. Rio has probably been one of our best defenders ever, but when your time is up your time is up, there is nothing you can do about that. But as I said, I think Rio knows this more than anyone.
 
He is so, so much better passing the ball out from centre-back than he is when he plays right-back. He looks twice the player when he plays centrally.
 
Twice the player when he plays as a CB.

edit: what gazza said basically.
 
Honestly he is going to become our best centreback in the coming years. Solid and very dependable in the air. Rarely makes mistakes and is beginning to strike up a good understanding with Evans. I still think Smalling and Jones are the future of our defence. If only we could get our act together and sign a proper midfielder to allow Jones the chance to play in defence again.
 
Great game, looks so much more assured when we play him in the centre. Calmly taking balls down with his chest and palming them off. We need to give up with this RB rubbish and just play him at CB. Him and Evans are striking up a great partnership, to the point I'm happy to have Vidic sit out for the moment and only come in for the occasional game.
 
He's starting to look a bit more composed on the ball as well, and he's not risking back passes to De Gea when he isn't completely sure, and is just hitting it out. Good to see. Smalling-Evans has probably looked like our best defensive partnership when they've played, but to be completely fair I'm not sure if they've been properly tested yet. We'll see in the coming weeks.
 
Carried the ball forward today in a manner very similar to his debut season. He's very reminiscent of Rio in almost every aspect of defending.
 
Joemo said:
Carried the ball forward today in a manner very similar to his debut season. He's very reminiscent of Rio in almost every aspect of defending.
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Still more of a Rio-Vidic hybrid for me. More pace and early cut-outs than Vidic, more steel and aerial game than a young Rio.

What's clear though, is that he has to play in CB. Smalling and Evans are the future. What a triplet to have in Jones, Smalling and Evans. Any 2 out of the 3 is good enough for almost any opposition.
 
Rozay said:
I'll say again, Smalling plus one.
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I think both Jones and Smalling play better along side Evans, to me it should be Evans plus one. It's good that we have options all the same.
 
has all the attributes, just needs that run of games in the centre.

Much prefer to see Fabio deputise at right back then Smalling.
 
His distribution troubles are much better masked when he's playing in the centre since he has more options on and can't get squeezed near the touchline. Needs to work on that side of his game, regardless. In terms of comparisons to Rio, he's got his languid style and calmness in defensive situations but he's definitely got more than a touch of Vidic in his aerial dominance. I think he could be a bit more of a bully physically at times, sort of the way Kompany is and doesn't seem that much of a natural leader like Rio and Vidic are.
 
He's truly a brilliant defender! I cannot believe that this thread is so silent. People should be applauding him, instead there is a massive discussion on Anderson who didn't even play.

Smalling's distribution is still patchy, but he is such a good defender that I think he can truly become that world class CB we are all hoping he can grow into. He is brilliant in the air, very fast, strong, reads the game well, but as mentioned, he needs to work on his passing.
 
His passing was up a notch from his regular level against West Ham. He even hit a couple of cross field passes!
 
Agreed, he's one of my favourite players. Goes about his business quietly. Has the odd blunder, but he's still young for a centerback. Jones gets a lot of credit, and deservedly so - but Smalling has an incredibly bright future in my opinion.
 
Beast in the air. I think he could do with a bit of nastiness in his game. Maybe nastiness isn't the right word. Ruthlessness perhaps. He's a big, feck off, massive unit. He's huge in the air, but on the ground he seems to be pushed aside a little to easily for someone his size. I'd like to see him get a streak of Vidic in him, and become a little more commanding. As good a defender as he is, I don't think strikers fear him like they do Vidic, or arguably even Jones. For a lad of his build, he should be dominating just about anyone. I'd like to see him physically impose himself a little more.
 
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