he was brilliant and even there is always a chance that his ball will go to the row zee due to his strange ball technique he made some decent through passes as lampard was pressed.. always great in the air and made some nice crunching tackles. He has a pass in him I think succes of it really depends on his confidence.. of course hes no Evans but not as bad as I thought sometimes. Him and Cahill had both brilliant match as CB, Jones as well at RB
How good is Chris Smalling?
- Thread starter Plechazunga
- Start date
He was fine against an average Costa Rica side playing at half intensity.
I like him. He's very defensively sound, as we all know, but he still doesn't come across to me (through his body language and the way he approaches the ball) as if he truly feels he should be playing at the top level.
Someone like Varane has that added confidence. If Smalling somehow gets it and plays with proper conviction, he'll be one of the best around.
I can see him having a good future here, but it depends quite a bit on this, in my opinion.
I like him. He's very defensively sound, as we all know, but he still doesn't come across to me (through his body language and the way he approaches the ball) as if he truly feels he should be playing at the top level.
Someone like Varane has that added confidence. If Smalling somehow gets it and plays with proper conviction, he'll be one of the best around.
I can see him having a good future here, but it depends quite a bit on this, in my opinion.
That confidence thing is so overrated, look at what he does, not how he looks like. Phillip Cocu was a brilliant player, without any form of showing confidence. People are also saying Courtois is the best keeper because it looks like it's calm, that's irrelevant. Bonus but not something we should look at.
Needs better concentration, distribution and to become stronger in the tackle to be a top CB. He has the pace and build to become more dominant.
This.
It's holding him back in my opinion. There's an old video on Youtube floating about with Smalling's performance at the U21s against Spain. He plays with a serious conviction that I haven't seen from in a while, and he looks better for it. It translates to the rest of the team too. It helps set the tone.
The way he looks like is holding him back? Explain? Maybe the media talking this about him is holding him back but not the thing itself.
Looks to be symptomatic of the ever increasing malaise that infests english players ie can't play football. In the first half he sliced the ball into touch after fighting with it for 10 yds without any pressure under the guise of trying to control it. The forum I was on someone wrote "call the police, this is criminal".
Championship standard at best.
Championship standard at best.
Aye, good shout. I bet he was even jumping and heading for the ball with his eyes closed.
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I think he'll be a starter under LvG for the years to come. I know there's been some talk about Martins Indi but Smalling looks far more developed defensively, and has the similar sort of physical stature about him. van Gaal will also make him (and the rest of our back line) far more confident on the ball and be able to play with it. It's really not that big a deal. The idea that he will never play again because he can't weave past players and pick a top pass is a bit silly.
I find it bizzare really, barely put a foot wrong, won everything - even in a few challenges he really had no right in winning. He even distributed the ball well which is something he gets slated for but still it isn't enough people because he doesn't like right... 
A lot on here echoing my opinions of Smalling, which is why I'm always shocked to hear so many United fans at work repeatedly slate the guy. All I heard today was how he is rubbish in the air, the only example of which they can give is the game at City 2 years ago.
It was painfully obvious that he should be starting instead of Jagielka
Don't think supporters of any of the clubs that finished above us would say they'd have Smalling in their side. Jones either for that matter.
He was being destroyed on twitter during that game with many saying he isn't even Premier League standard.
He was being destroyed on twitter during that game with many saying he isn't even Premier League standard.
It really wasn't. And I doubt Jagielka would have done much worse today against an average Costa Rica playing at half-pace.
It was obvious before the tournament and he's been found out during it.
It was obvious that he wasn't a top centre back, or good enough for England to use as a proper solid base. But it certainly wasn't obvious that Smalling was a better choice.
Agreed. Not only Smalling superior, he's used to playing at higher levels against higher levels of opposition. The Everton duo looked in awe this tournament.
of course it was, he was our best CB this season. Jagielka's form wouldnt have seen him be the best at United. Distin carried him
He's a good defender capable of putting in occasional excellent performances. He will also improve further still as hes still only in his early 20's.
However its not outrageous to say he will never be one of the top CBs in Europe. His potential has its limitations and if this club aspires to get back to the very top of club football anytime soon then we will most likely need better than him as first choice.
Its going to be interesting to see what Van gaal makes of him long term.
However its not outrageous to say he will never be one of the top CBs in Europe. His potential has its limitations and if this club aspires to get back to the very top of club football anytime soon then we will most likely need better than him as first choice.
Its going to be interesting to see what Van gaal makes of him long term.
Suspect he closes his eyes when he kicks the ball as well mate.
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Don't think supporters of any of the clubs that finished above us would say they'd have Smalling in their side. Jones either for that matter.
He was being destroyed on twitter during that game with many saying he isn't even Premier League standard.
Not that this should need pointing out but judging anyone by comments on twitter is fairly fecking stupid. It's wall to wall morons out there.
Some of these people must have been watching a different game to me. Thought Smalling was immense at the back, made some excellent tackles and headers and wasnt caught out of position at all.
The hype around his passing/ability on the ball is blown utterly out of proportion. Its like everyone expects a CB to be bloody Paul Scholes nowadays. Smallings ball control is fine, as is his passing, I really didnt see what he did wrong today in this regard.
The hype around his passing/ability on the ball is blown utterly out of proportion. Its like everyone expects a CB to be bloody Paul Scholes nowadays. Smallings ball control is fine, as is his passing, I really didnt see what he did wrong today in this regard.
True.
To my first point, though, just thinking about it here and I'm struggling to see him being a starter at any of the 6 clubs that finished above us. Spurs or Liverpool maybe. Don't think any Everton fans would have him over Stones or Jagielka.
He seems to be a player like Phil Jones where he really isn't rated by anyone but our own supporters.
Of course they wouldn't be. When those two players have been played in roles outside of their own more often than in their own roles, why would one rate them for their natural roles? Some people see Smalling more as a right back and less as a central defender. Some people see Jones as more of a defensive midfielder than a central defender.
It's the same case with Rafael. So few people have actually seen him play regularly at right back that they think he's average. Ditto for Fabio.
I'd much rather Smalling than Jagielka, to be fair.
Yeah, maybe. Think he'd struggle to make the bench at City, Chelsea, and Arsenal.
I think if United were to let him go, we'd swarm all over him. He's stalling a bit but he's got massive potential.
Reckon Moyes made Smalling watch videos of Yagielka aswell?
The bench? Hardly. He could even be starting for all of them. IMO he's just as good if not better than Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Demichelis, Terry, Lescott.
Okay, the bench may have been harsh. He certainly wouldn't start for City, Chelsea or Arsenal. He'd be on the bench for Arsenal and City in all likelihood. Better than Mertesacker and Terry? Not a chance.
Chelsea have Ivanovic as their 3rd CB and just bought Zouma so I doubt they'd have him.
I think the only Everton fans who wouldnt prefer Smalling to Jagielka are those that didn't watch him play at CB for us a bunch of times.
A gooner friend of mine also rates Smalling very highly. Even @peterstorey think he could be a great player iirc. Definitely not a player only rated by his own fans.
Is it because United had a bad season or is it just an England thing? Everytime he plays fans and pundits are quick to criticise him but i never see the first choice defenders put in anything better. To me his England's best centre half (in the squad) but no one rates him. O well maybe a good season next season and pundits can all pretend he's improved beyond disbelief.
The people who don't rate him seem to have taken in a lot of games where he played right back for you, which obviously doesn't help him. When he's in the centre, he's top class potential.
It's because he hasn't played as a central defender regularly for Man. Utd. Often, he'd be out injured or playing at right back. The fact that people haven't seen him become a regular at centre back as of now for Man. Utd. makes them think he (along with Jones and Evans) are average.
The same thing also happens with Rafael and Fabio (when Fabio was with us) as people rarely saw them play regularly at full back.
Also because he was really awful in the one warm-up game that he played in.
There's nothing wrong with Smalling that going back in time and having him trained at La Masia wouldn't fix.
Seriously, though, he's fantastic at defending and if Van Gaal's staff can get him up to average as a passer he'll have a wonderful career here.
Seriously, though, he's fantastic at defending and if Van Gaal's staff can get him up to average as a passer he'll have a wonderful career here.
Smalling is a good player but needs to be playing every week at CB, and you will see improvement. He looked equal or better than Jagielka who playes every week in the same position, so imagine what Smalling would be like after a year of being the preferred CB every week.
I think van Gaal can improve him. His distribution needs a lot of work, but ball playing defenders is one of the things LvG is renown for.
Which happens when we played Vidic or Evans