Aggressive, not fecking around, had to playmake like 50% of the time, very good performance, even if it's just against Cambridge, you can't say the same thing about rest of our players.
16
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 26
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 6
He is deceptively tall. He never looks like a big presence on the pitch for some reason, even though he's not exactly short. Still, I normally expect centre backs to maybe be a few inches taller than he is.
Was very good tonight. The sort of muck and bullets game that suits him. Would have suited Phil Jones too if he hadn't put his boots on the wrong feet.
Vidic-esque character.
I think its the hair, I see a picture of him and think he's short too. Then you see him play and not many are taller than him.
Perceptions regarding Rojo's lack of stature can be misleading.
Marcos Rojo : 187 cm
John Terry : 187 cm
Ricardo Carvalho : 183 cm
Laurent Koscielny : 186 cm
Nemanja Vidic : 189 cm
Jamie Carragher : 184 cm
Jan Vertonghen : 189 cm
More than adequate height for a central defender. Plus Rojo's rather athletic with an Ayala-esque leap ergo he can add another couple of inches in an aerial duel.
Marcos Rojo : 187 cm
John Terry : 187 cm
Ricardo Carvalho : 183 cm
Laurent Koscielny : 186 cm
Nemanja Vidic : 189 cm
Jamie Carragher : 184 cm
Jan Vertonghen : 189 cm
More than adequate height for a central defender. Plus Rojo's rather athletic with an Ayala-esque leap ergo he can add another couple of inches in an aerial duel.
Tough fecker and good on the ball too. Happy we signed him so far.
Impresses me almost every time he plays. I like him and he's had a good start to his United career.
Improving every game. Good to see.
Was up for the battle tonight, against a physical Cambridge side. Thought he was solid. Really good performance from Rojo.
Very good again tonight. Cements my idea that him and Smalling could form a really good partnership if he can stay fit. He's only going to get better too.
I think we've found the long term successor to Vidic. Sadly, I don't think any of our other CB's are up to the task of replacing Ferdinand.
Rojo and a new CB could be the foundations for a brilliant pairing for years to come.
Rojo and a new CB could be the foundations for a brilliant pairing for years to come.
I was thinking, having a young Rio Ferdinand would help a lot. I think having a ball playing defender next to him would see a really good partnership develop and provide good balance especially as there is so much space to exploit. Thats why Jones had so much space, but he cant really kick the ball, or pass, or cross, or shoot.
He has a mistake in him ala Vidic. Needs someone next to him who isn't a complete liability like the rest of our defenders. Partnered next to someone like Godin and our central defence would be perfect.
Slowly emerging as the best performer of the summer gaalacticos.
I don't think he has world class potential but he can still do a job for us
He's not really like Vidic. Vidic's main quality was being a one-man-team against crosses into the box. He'd win everything and protect the skies.
Jones makes more clearances, Smalling wins more balls in the air
Where Rojo comes out on top is making more tackles and more importantly, playing a lot of passes. Which is more Rio than Vidic.
Jones makes more clearances, Smalling wins more balls in the air
Where Rojo comes out on top is making more tackles and more importantly, playing a lot of passes. Which is more Rio than Vidic.
You never know tbh. Vidic hardly looked like world class potential in his first season but yeah he was more of an exception.
I'm pretty sceptical of Rojo too but it is his first season in a foreign league and a fluctuating defense, so I'm willing to save my judgement on him till next season. That's not to say he gets a free ride till then but I hope people don't write him off and be patient with him. Though, not to Anderson levels of course
I liked the fact that many thought the "long ball style" and big lumps of Cambridge would cause Rojo a problem. If anything he actually enjoyed that style of defending more!. He won so many tackles cleanly it was great to see, just needs to cut out the pushing with his arms when attackers are holding the ball up.
I have been pleasantly surprised by him. A lot stronger in the air and the tackle than I was expecting and of course very comfortable on the ball.
He still has the "David Luiz" factor in the sense that he can be a bit erratic but if he continues at this level then he is our best centre half in my opinion. Of course its still early days and Jones/Smalling/Evans all looked similarly good when breaking through.
He still has the "David Luiz" factor in the sense that he can be a bit erratic but if he continues at this level then he is our best centre half in my opinion. Of course its still early days and Jones/Smalling/Evans all looked similarly good when breaking through.
I understand this argument about Rojo, but remember when Ferdinand was around about that age? He had the odd blunder in him as well. He was a phenomenal defender on his day but had a goof up or two in him in his younger days. In comes Vidic and the moment he turned 27, he looked a totally different defender. Safe on the ball and powerful in the air.
Rojo has the potential to be this. He's really powerful physically and has a good spring on him. Not to mention he's excellent in the tackle and is especially good with one on ones. L'est we forget that he's really, really quick for a CB. He has the potential to be a monster of a defender for us. Remember, it's his first season in England! He's done remarkably well for a new lad at this level.
With Rio it was concentration problems. He'd switch off and get caught out with is more like Jones than Rojo.
Rojo's trouble is with decisions. Not passing the ball to the opponent. Not trying to dribble an opponent in a situation where, if he wins the ball he's got 1 defender to beat and hes onto the goalkeeper. His actual defending has almost always been fine, its the suicidal moments where he puts a chance on a plate for the opponents that have ruined his season
For me he's gradually got better with his defending and defensively I now trust him more than Jones who continues to make the concentration errors every other game. But he still needs to prove he can be trusted not to gift wrap attacks to the opposition players like he has done previously. When other teams play us they'll look at Rojo (and Jones) and say this guy will give us chances if we pressure him and that'll spur them on.
Smalling is the one CB we have that opponents will not want to play against because he doesnt give you that chance. Yeah he might give the ball away with his passing more than another CB, but not in a terrible situation.
Rojo and Jones might win the ball more often over the course of a game, but as a striker you'd gladly trade losing the ball a couple of times to tackles from Jones and Rojo, for when they cock up and give you a good chance to run at the goal and shoot. You only need that one chance to do your job.
Rojo's trouble is with decisions. Not passing the ball to the opponent. Not trying to dribble an opponent in a situation where, if he wins the ball he's got 1 defender to beat and hes onto the goalkeeper. His actual defending has almost always been fine, its the suicidal moments where he puts a chance on a plate for the opponents that have ruined his season
For me he's gradually got better with his defending and defensively I now trust him more than Jones who continues to make the concentration errors every other game. But he still needs to prove he can be trusted not to gift wrap attacks to the opposition players like he has done previously. When other teams play us they'll look at Rojo (and Jones) and say this guy will give us chances if we pressure him and that'll spur them on.
Smalling is the one CB we have that opponents will not want to play against because he doesnt give you that chance. Yeah he might give the ball away with his passing more than another CB, but not in a terrible situation.
Rojo and Jones might win the ball more often over the course of a game, but as a striker you'd gladly trade losing the ball a couple of times to tackles from Jones and Rojo, for when they cock up and give you a good chance to run at the goal and shoot. You only need that one chance to do your job.
You never know tbh. Vidic hardly looked like world class potential in his first season but yeah he was more of an exception.
I'm pretty sceptical of Rojo too but it is his first season in a foreign league and a fluctuating defense, so I'm willing to save my judgement on him till next season. That's not to say he gets a free ride till then but I hope people don't write him off and be patient with him. Though, not to Anderson levels of course
Yes, we need patience. I think he's generally been offorded it because he's made a lot of errors this season. On the other hand he's done very well but I don't think people will turn a blind eye to some of his mistakes next season, if he doesn't stamp them out. All and in all he's been a big positive.
Like?
I would hardly call less than 5 mistakes in half a season LOADS.It'd be interesting to know how many mistakes each of our defenders have made, and possibly how many each has covered for someone else's mistake. Wouldn't be surprised if Rojo was nowhere near as bad as loads of people seem to thinkLike?
It'd be interesting to know how many mistakes each of our defenders have made, and possibly how many each has covered for someone else's mistake. Wouldn't be surprised if Rojo was nowhere near as bad as loads of people seem to think
According to Squawka hes made 3 defensive errors and Evans has made 4. Jones and Smalling 0... not sure how true that Jones and Smalling at 0 figure is tbh
Jones passing the ball to the opponent at least twice every game does not count then?.... Those stats mean feck all
Have we been watching the same Chris Smalling?
The one ive seen spoils a run of good games with one absolute howler. You can even see it in his face. I cant explain it but he seems to go back to Maidstone in his head and is half a second off the pace with everything he does. Most opposition fans i know relish playing against him on the off chance he has one of those games, im sure players do too.
Rojo is comfortably our best defender at the moment imo.
Its a shame Smalling can't stay fit, as I think Smalling Rojo would form a great partnership.
They did. It was our only real consistent run of good attacking and defense. They are both very athletic which helps, and being opposite feet gives good "balance".
Think he's probably been our best CB so far this year. Looks a decent signing, think LVG likes him too.
He's made about 3 howlers in 5 years at the club. He's very anti-howler, he's a consistant good CB
Agree that Smalling isn't error prone at all, particularly compared to our other centre halfs. He's a steady solid defender.
And that's why he and Rojo looked like such a quality partnership. Hopefully Smalling can get over his injury problems, if they get a good run together over the rest of the season then we might not need to go for a world class CB, and instead buy promising players as backup if we want to replace Evans/Jones (or buy no-one, sell Evans/Jones and trust Blackett/McNair as backup... lol).
I think you misunderstood... he doesn't make Evans style errors, but every now and then he'll have a game where the opposition strikers run rings around him.
Only at RB where he's clearly a fish out of water
He's the complete opposite of what you describe as a CB. Players have already said he's the worst player to have to train against and Smalling has rarely ever let us down in his real position. He's very consistant. Up until this season he was also available more often than Jones and Evans but this season he's had a couple of injuries.
I get it, he's not flashy. In fact he's the very basics when we have the ball. And he's not going to be a top class CB like we hoped he might be, as a replacement for the aging Ferdinand. And this season he's had a couple of injuries and got himself suspended with a mistake against City. All valid critisisms of him
But making howlers? No. Being a player that opponents want to play against? No. Having rings run around him? No. Just no, not in this reality.
Don't agree with this either. The only times i've ever been let down by Smalling was in his games at RB when his distribution and ball carrying let him down which is understandable as its not his position. The only other time was his sending off against City which was totally out of character, and frustration i have at his tendency to get injured which again you can't really blame him for.
He's a solid and consistent, albeit unspectacular and quite limited performer.
Would back him against Costa... in a fight at least...
Considering he has had an injury set back since arriving, I think he has settled well. Still slightly rough around the edges, but given his lack of hype when he arrived, he is up there with Blind as the best purchase under LvG.
I hope he can cement his place in the LCB position and I think LvG likes him there.
If memory serves, he and Smalling were looking almost competent together before the latter crocked?
I hope he can cement his place in the LCB position and I think LvG likes him there.
If memory serves, he and Smalling were looking almost competent together before the latter crocked?