Smalling should be an automatic first team inclusion, partnered by one of Jones, Evans, Vidic or Rio.
I fully concur with this movement personally.
How good is Chris Smalling?
- Thread starter Plechazunga
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I fully concur with this movement personally.
Do you mean movement is in him leaving or the #SmallingPlusOne campaign?
If it's the former, I don't like you.
If it's the latter, I like you a lot.
Its because he's not the best on the ball, and plays the game with minimal fuss. Lazy observers would only rate him if he was flying in to last ditch tackles, looked silky in possession and was scoring goals at the other end.
Whilst I absolutely agree with that, this 'campaign' sounds like something made up by a group of 14 year olds.
Anyway, its a stupid lazy story. 'Easily surplus to requirements' is nonsense as he's been pretty much first choice centre back in the last few months unless he's been injured or filling in at right back. I'd swear some people must have only ever seen his games and right back and not noticed he's a really good centre half.
Nothing to see here.
Nothing to see here.
We need to make him our first choice CB next season. Bring someone into partner him and maintain the partnership, Smalling is a quality defender and just needs a run of games to gain confidence and full fitness, alongside someone with experience or a top class young CB then it will be a blossoming partnership.
Jones is too rash for me at the moment, the potential is there, no doubt but he seems to think he has to make every ball and it leads to reckless decisions and him being caught out of position, not to mention increasing the chances of him getting injured.
Jones is too rash for me at the moment, the potential is there, no doubt but he seems to think he has to make every ball and it leads to reckless decisions and him being caught out of position, not to mention increasing the chances of him getting injured.
The latter of course. Smalling is an excellent defender and the best natural defender at the club now with Rio and Vidic regressing.
Keep Smalling and Jones, and then sign a Center Half who is capable of playing the pass in to feet in to the midfield areas. Dante wouldn't be a bad option as there really aren't that many of these types of players who are available in the summer IMO.
Just checking. I would progress further into the Moyes out camp if he ever did sell Smalling, especially to arsenal.Smalling won't shine or impress many neutrals at RB, but he has bags of talent and seems a very natural CB.
He is still very young for a defender, so who's to say his doggy appearances at RB won't help him far more in the long run, as he is having to work on aspects of his game which are lacking.
I hope he and Jones can stay injury free and build a strong understanding at the heart of United's defence next season.
He is still very young for a defender, so who's to say his doggy appearances at RB won't help him far more in the long run, as he is having to work on aspects of his game which are lacking.
I hope he and Jones can stay injury free and build a strong understanding at the heart of United's defence next season.
There's this ill-conceived perception among a lot of pundits and opposition fans alike that Smalling is actually a right back. That in itself leads me to not take a blind bit of notice of their opinions. Smalling will continue to excel when played at the heart of defence, as he has 90% of the time he's played there so far in a United shirt.
Lots of people base this opinion about Smalling (plus and Evans and sometimes Jones, too
) on their mistakes and forget about all of the good things they do.Non-Utd. supporters tend to focus on Smalling's poor showings at full back along with all of the matches where he played and we conceded 1/2 goals (1-6 against Man. City or 1-3 against Bayern, for example), even if he did well at central defence. Lots of these people forget the lack of protection they get from the defensively-weak central midfield. Even our great central defenders in the 1990's played several matches where we conceded 2+ goals because Sir Alex went attack-minded and left our defenders with no protection.
Smalling has shown great promise and ability, as a central defender. His only weakness, currently, is his ability to deal with crosses, which he's also improving on and is a weakness for many of the top clubs' central defenders.
I wouldn't say that's one of his weaknesses at all, if anything I'd say he's the best at clearing crosses in the squad. He's fantastic in the air and often gets in good clearances too.Lots of people base this opinion about Smalling (plus and Evans and sometimes Jones, too
Non-Utd. supporters tend to focus on Smalling's poor showings at full back along with all of the matches where he played and we conceded 1/2 goals (1-6 against Man. City or 1-3 against Bayern, for example), even if he did well at central defence. Lots of these people forget the lack of protection they get from the defensively-weak central midfield. Even our great central defenders in the 1990's played several matches where we conceded 2+ goals because Sir Alex went attack-minded and left our defenders with no protection.
Smalling has shown great promise and ability, as a central defender. His only weakness, currently, is his ability to deal with crosses, which he's also improving on and is a weakness for many of the top clubs' central defenders.
Agree about the strangeness of the criticism he gets though. Every time he's played at centre half he impresses, every time he plays at right back he looks unsure. Yet everyone loves to point to the poor show is at right back. I really hope he can steer clear of injuries next season because he absolutely will prove them all wrong.
Strange thing to highlight as Smalling's main weakness. In fact, I'd be inclined to say that one of Smalling's biggest pros is how aerially dominant he is and not a player to lose many 50/50's in the air.
I didn't mean it to be about his aerial ability. After Vidic, he's the best player, aerially. I'm talking about his positioning in the box when a cross is set to come in and how forwards are able to peel away from him.
I've honestly had a tough time thinking about his weaknesses, and even this may be a bit of a stretch, but I honestly think he, like Rio nowadays, isn't the best at dealing with crosses coming into the box, and I'm not talking about the lofted, high crosses. I'm talking about the Robben cross to Muller, or the cross to Cisse that Lindegaard saved, amazingly. Even then, he's improved massively in that regard (in comparison to, for example, his showing in the 1-6 drubbing 3 years ago, even if we were 1 central defender less). Plus, many central defenders, nowadays, have a tough time dealing with crosses that aren't lofted and high up in the air.
I must say, he has impressed me when played as a centre back this season, should not be used a right back though.
I saw a story in some rag that we were going to sell him to Arsenal for 15m. Sounds like bollocks to me.
Mostly in the Premiership a defender only gets noticed when...
1. They make a huge feck up.
2. They Score a goal.
3. They smash into a striker with a solid challenge.
Terry, Vidic and Kompany are all applauded because they make great highlights for football shows.
However when Smalling has a good game it goes completely unnoticed, due to his style being best described as calm and solid.
1. They make a huge feck up.
2. They Score a goal.
3. They smash into a striker with a solid challenge.
Terry, Vidic and Kompany are all applauded because they make great highlights for football shows.
However when Smalling has a good game it goes completely unnoticed, due to his style being best described as calm and solid.
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Agree with the sentiments of the above post, but unsuprisingly, the games in which he has been physically assertively and won everything in the air, he is given plaudits from the commentators.
Him being shit on the ball is a big worry though, and it would make his career here a bit more difficult if we sing another good CB. About the second part, I fully agree, a lot of people seems to rate more CB who make last ditch tackles (which in most cases are because of their errors on the first place) rather than those who are great at reading the game. For example, I would have chosen a Rio/Nesta on their primes everytime before a Terry on his prime.
You've got to feel that Moyes actually rates him at right back, because he keeps playing him there. A couple of times when ahead of Rafael when he was fit and on the bench, always over Fabio and now when Jones was available.
He's awful at right back because his touch and passing simply aren't good enough. It's OK at centre back because you're deeper and under less pressure - you can open up your body a bit and you've got your full backs and CMs as passing options. As a full back you have push up to the halfway line when the centre backs and centre mids have the ball to offer an outlet. When he's hemmed in against the touchline, his touch isn't good enough to control the ball quickly and he just ends up turning back. He's gangly as well so he needs that extra radius. And when he gets forward, he often loses the ball because of his lack of ability, which is a recipe for disaster and just allowed Everton to pick us off on the counter attack when he was caught far up the pitch.
With Vidic is leaving, you'd think that you would give the second/joint most aerially dominant centre half a run in that position to see whether he can replace him effectively. He's not going to develop as a centre half having confidence-sapping displays at RB.
He's awful at right back because his touch and passing simply aren't good enough. It's OK at centre back because you're deeper and under less pressure - you can open up your body a bit and you've got your full backs and CMs as passing options. As a full back you have push up to the halfway line when the centre backs and centre mids have the ball to offer an outlet. When he's hemmed in against the touchline, his touch isn't good enough to control the ball quickly and he just ends up turning back. He's gangly as well so he needs that extra radius. And when he gets forward, he often loses the ball because of his lack of ability, which is a recipe for disaster and just allowed Everton to pick us off on the counter attack when he was caught far up the pitch.
With Vidic is leaving, you'd think that you would give the second/joint most aerially dominant centre half a run in that position to see whether he can replace him effectively. He's not going to develop as a centre half having confidence-sapping displays at RB.
Should play at CB or not at all.
If I were him, and the Arsenal interest was real, I'd hand in a transfer request.
I just worry about why he is playing rightback when we have other options, does Smalling ask or is Moyes pushing the situation. Why play a technically limited Smalling at RB, when he would have had a better chance aerially vs Lukaku, while playing Jones at CB who is actually decent at RB as he shown in the champions league. Baffled.
He's just not a fullback. SAF started this nonsense and Moyes is continuing it.
Moyes putting him as a rightback again and again is bizarre. Someone needs to tell the man that Smalling has been shit at playing there all season long and only really shines a CB.
It's not only that he has problems with small agile wingers he also offers zero going forward.
It's not only that he has problems with small agile wingers he also offers zero going forward.
Probably our best CB. Awful at right back. David Moyes plays him at right back.
Aye. SAF was fecking wrong and Moyes has continued his idea of being a diluted Sir alex.
To be fair, Fergie did the same thing.
I can't believe something so obviously wrong keeps happening time and again. Jones is a CB too but miles better at RB than Smalling. But of course, Moyes sold Fabio in January for reasons unknown.
Yep. Exactly my thoughts.
Does he get played at RB just because he's so fast? I really hope not.
He's started more at RB than he has centrally this season
You have to laugh.
You have to laugh.
Moyes seriously needs to be held accountable for this decision. As soon as I saw it I had a bad feeling. I would like an explanation behind it.
He is literally the last of our CBs that I would play at RB. He offers nothing going forwards and isn't really fast enough to defend against the quickest wingers going past him.
I'm not sure what Fergie (and now Moyes) were thinking when they decided that he would be better there than (a) buying a new RB, (b) Valenica, )(c) Jones or (d) even Evans. I'd put all of them ahead of him, as they can at least move forwards with the ball.
His only good attribute for the position is his height - to guard the back post.
Other than that, I have no idea....
I would, at this point, seriously consider promoting Varela or playing Valencia there for the rest of the games, than wasting our time with Smalling.
I'm not sure what Fergie (and now Moyes) were thinking when they decided that he would be better there than (a) buying a new RB, (b) Valenica, )(c) Jones or (d) even Evans. I'd put all of them ahead of him, as they can at least move forwards with the ball.
His only good attribute for the position is his height - to guard the back post.
Other than that, I have no idea....
I would, at this point, seriously consider promoting Varela or playing Valencia there for the rest of the games, than wasting our time with Smalling.
I agree, and I'd definitely play Jones at right back with Rafael out. Offers more of a threat going forward and is more comfortable defending from a wide position. It's like playing Vidic at right back - it obviously isn't going to work. His only attribute at full back is pace, which isn't really important if you can't contribute with crosses.
And it's such a shame because it's damaging his reputation and confidence, as he's a cracking centre half. It's extra baffling when we saw how well it worked with him in the middle and Jones wide against Bayern.
He's finished if this keeps on going, by the end of the season he'd forget how to play CB, he spend his best years developing playing as RB
Well fecking done
Well fecking done
100% agree not getting why he is not 1st name at centre half as he is our best by a mile. Plus I'd rather play Valencia at full back than Smalling also.
Everything a out his says CB, its the only position he can play, it hurts my eyes when he gets the ball in space on the right, its just so utterly pointless.
He's far too short on technical abilities to play right back, his entire game is based a being a destroyer in the middle of a back four, play him next to a ball playing CB and he will excel. I really feel sorry for the lad, besides United fans people don't rate him anymore based on his performances at right back, it seriously hurts his England chances.
He's far too short on technical abilities to play right back, his entire game is based a being a destroyer in the middle of a back four, play him next to a ball playing CB and he will excel. I really feel sorry for the lad, besides United fans people don't rate him anymore based on his performances at right back, it seriously hurts his England chances.