How good is Chris Smalling?

I miss Rafa. Smalling shows everytime he's at RB he'd be much better off playing alongside someone like Vidic or Evans.

Looks lost
 
Snow said:
He didn't tackle him at all. Long ran into him. Was probably going for a good 'ol shoulder barge but there was no shoulder to receive his own so he fell over. Didn't think a penalty was an issue at all. Thought he wanted a corner.
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I only had one look at it tbh as I started to watch the match a little late.Are there videos or gifs available ? What was Long arguing about anyway ?
 
He's just back from a long injury. It will take time for his touch and confidence to get back up to top-notch.

Right-back isn't his long-term position but he's showed in the past he can play there well, and he will again.
 
He's not good enough at bringing the ball forwards to be a good right back. Our fullbacks aren't supposed to just defend.

He's a useful fill in when Rafael and Jones are inevitably both injured, but dont think he'll ever be more than that. I'm hoping he'll eventually end up being too important to the middle of our defence to be worth shoving out wide anyway. It always seems like a bit of a waste seeing him play there.
 
Very good prospect at centreback, one of the areas he still needs to improve is his tackling which is exposed more when he plays fullback.
 
Put in a good shift but doesn't offer much in attack. Definately a centre back playing out of position but its always nice to see how versatile our young players can be.
 
I hope we won't have to play him on the fullback again, it's sad to watch such a talented CB struggling on fullback position.
 
Amar__ said:
I hope we won't have to play him on the fullback again, it's sad to watch such a talented CB struggling on fullback position.
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I am a massive Smalling fan but I agree, he just isn't good enough at right back. I can't see where his opportunities to play at CB are going to come from though.
 
He reminded me of a O'shea on a bad day. There is really no excuse for so many poor passes which is only going to be even more dangerous when he plays in center.
 
Hopefully Jones returns soon to cover for Rafael at RB. Smalling can play there if required but he looks out of place and doesn't have the attacking threat.
 
I'm not sure i would go as far as saying he is not good enough to be a RB, he is out of form and had a injury hit season last year. In his first season he played their a lot very well and seemed like he had made the position his for England at one point untill injury.
 
His passing's rubbish at right back. Jones' is far better.
 
Has the potential to be a fantastic center back. Not so much fullback, but that's what we have Rafael for. Our back 5 should be sorted for years to come IMO.
De Gea
Rafael Smalling Evans/Jones Fabio/Buttner

Plenty of time for all of them to get used to one another as well, playing together, and building up a nice partnership. Hopefully Fabio progresses as Rafael has.
 
Helped out with set-pieces very well. Didn't get close enough to Cole though.
 
Funny how we never try Evans at RB. He has played quite a bit for NI at LB.
 
Sojiro said:
thought he lost a few more headers than he won, which struck me as odd because I felt he always used to win the majority of headers.

RB is definately not a strength for him but he'll help with rotation
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Was surprised by that as well. Normally he's one to win every header, but yesterday he was a bit shit aerially.
 
His big issue is that he can't seem to pass down the line very well, he has the ability to be a good passer from centre back but it just falls to pieces on the right flank, constantly mishitting it out of play and unable to get involved with quick passing combinations.
 
At CB: Smalling>Jones
At RB: Jones>Smalling

I'd say that would be the general consensus, right?
 
Hernandez - BFA said:
At CB: Smalling>Jones
At RB: Jones>Smalling

I'd say that would be the general consensus, right?
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I agree with that. I still see Jones as a future CB though.
Apart from that one cross early in the game that Chicha just couldn't get on the end of to tap in, Smalling offered very little going forward at RB.
 
Playing a Right back in front of him wasn't doing him any favours either. Thought the whole formation on the right was dumb yesterday. Why not play Raf in position and play someone else at RW?
 
Smalling impressed a lot when he played at right-back earlier in his career for us. I remember him putting in some great crosses and overlapping well, whilst always being very solid.

It's gone a bit pear-shaped for him there this season, and he's certainly better at centre-back, but I expect we'll see him more at full-back just to give him game time and rotate the squad.

It's a good part of footballing education in any case, and will make him more adaptable.
 
Kraftwerker said:
Smalling impressed a lot when he played at right-back earlier in his career for us. I remember him putting in some great crosses and overlapping well, whilst always being very solid.

It's gone a bit pear-shaped for him there this season, and he's certainly better at centre-back, but I expect we'll see him more at full-back just to give him game time and rotate the squad.

It's a good part of footballing education in any case, and will make him more adaptable.
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So long as it's not costing us then this is very true! Any game time even in the wrong position will help Chris mature and develop.
 
Kraftwerker said:
Smalling impressed a lot when he played at right-back earlier in his career for us. I remember him putting in some great crosses and overlapping well, whilst always being very solid.

It's gone a bit pear-shaped for him there this season, and he's certainly better at centre-back, but I expect we'll see him more at full-back just to give him game time and rotate the squad.

It's a good part of footballing education in any case, and will make him more adaptable.
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Indeed. Most people really are goldfish, remembering nothing but the latest bits and pieces. Although I think Smalling is clearly better as a CB, he isn't wasted playing right back.

On several occasions he showed great pace and some nice runs going forwards. However, we didn't really use much width in the match - nothing happened down our left side - Evra more important than many would have it? - and very little transpired down our right flank either. Rafael played more centrally than as a winger also.

Smalling does look a bit clumsy at times, but he has a tendency to stumble the ball forwards. His passing needs some tweaking though, especially considering yesterday.

One question though: Is Smalling playing as a fullback because he has pace, just like Walcott plays as a winger because he has pace?
 
I don't remember exact details about Smalling's tenure at right back in the past but I remember thinking he wasn't very good at it. I just don't think he has the attacking qualities to be a right back. He can be a stand in but he should always be a centre back if you ask me.
 
Rossa said:
Indeed. Most people really are goldfish, remembering nothing but the latest bits and pieces. Although I think Smalling is clearly better as a CB, he isn't wasted playing right back.

On several occasions he showed great pace and some nice runs going forwards. However, we didn't really use much width in the match - nothing happened down our left side - Evra more important than many would have it? - and very little transpired down our right flank either. Rafael played more centrally than as a winger also.

Smalling does look a bit clumsy at times, but he has a tendency to stumble the ball forwards. His passing needs some tweaking though, especially considering yesterday.

One question though: Is Smalling playing as a fullback because he has pace, just like Walcott plays as a winger because he has pace?
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The game against West Ham was a weird game to play Smalling as a fullback. With us playing a narrow diamond it put extra responsibility on our fullbacks to provide us with the width that our wingers normally would. For some reason Buttner didn't look that interested in going forward and Smalling was certainly more adventerous, but he just doesn't have the quality on the ball to be a real threat there. It would've made more sense to either play Rafael there or even Valencia.

Smalling is basically just another option to Rafael when Jones is out. He offers an aerial presense which can be handy. Plus I think Fergie is trying to get a consistent pairing in the middle with Evans being partnered by either Rio/Vidic. It means Smalling might need to play at right back a few times to get games, same way as Welbeck gets shunted to the wing a lot.
 
He's a terrific young CB and I'd much rather he plays there. However, at least he's getting playtime at right back, which will only add to his experience. I'd rather our most talented young defender gets games at right back, than nothing at all.
 
We were always going to struggle down the right against west ham with Rafael playing as a winger in front of smalling. Each time I've seen Smalling at right back, he doesn't give that forward threat like Rafael and evra do. So with Rafael who is more used to arrive late and having the support of a winger in front of him, rather exposed and by himself on the wing was never going to work. Need to get Rafael back at RB in the next game and just rotate Smalling at CB instead of trying him at RB all the time when we rely on wingbacks that get forward.
 
Smalling's problem is that he's not particularly good at playing in tight spaces. Give him space, and he can pick out a good pass or cross.
 
Top player our Chris, I genuinely think he can be a Vidic/Ferdinand hybrid.
 
He was brilliant today. The way he handled the 2 vs 1 situation in our own box was fantastic.
 
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