Yeah I wasn't knocking Smalling or anything, I think he's our best defender, he's just not really a "prospect" anymore.
Mehdi Benatia | Signed for Bayern Munich
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to talk about United's dreadful home defeat at the hands of Big Ange's Tottenham Hotspur. Should this have been the end of Ten Hag? How long does he actually have left? And does Nik finally want ETH out?!
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Yeah I wasn't knocking Smalling or anything, I think he's our best defender, he's just not really a "prospect" anymore.
Defenders mature later, plenty of time for Smalling who started in the profession a little later than usual to come good. Had a lot injuries last year, will be coached by one of the best next year.
What FromTheBench said, there's a certain irony to this whole conversation don't you think? You can't judge these things purely on age, Smalling was relatively late getting into top flight football as it is, and his miles on the clock as a top flight centre half are still pretty few. He'll come good, very good.
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Fair enough.
Actually i rate Smalling as the weakest of our 3 defenders right now wrt overall play and in terms of potential too, but he has had late start to his top level professional career and in terms of coaching too so might mature a bit late and hasn't really had consistent a run at CB for United in recent times.
Actually all 3 can use a consistent injury free runs without being shifted to RB/Midfield etc..too much.
Good one!
No he's not. But i'd love to be proved wrong.
Varane is supposed to be the king of hill - still havent seen that either. Similar style to Smalling, but Smalling's more commanding in the air. Varane's a pussy-cat.
Smalling & quite a few others in the squad, are more interested in being a United player on paper & their website / wiki, rather than earning the right to play for United..
That really is a load of drivel regarding both players.
No he's not. But i'd love to be proved wrong.
Varane is supposed to be the king of hill - still havent seen that either. Similar style to Smalling, but Smalling's more commanding in the air. Varane's a pussy-cat.
Smalling & quite a few others in the squad, are more interested in being a United player on paper & their website / wiki, rather than earning the right to play for United..
No he's not. But i'd love to be proved wrong.
Varane is supposed to be the king of hill - still havent seen that either. Similar style to Smalling, but Smalling's more commanding in the air. Varane's a pussy-cat.
Smalling & quite a few others in the squad, are more interested in being a United player on paper & their website / wiki, rather than earning the right to play for United..
Varane is 4 years younger and already twice the defender Smalling will ever be. Totally disagree on Smalling being more commanding in the air but its irrelevant anyway as Varane can actually play football, pretty important for a top side.
You cant beat reflecting on historical posts eh Solius?
I hope this comes back to haunt me by the way
Explain?
Benatia would rival Kompany as the best CB in the league.
If you don't rate Varane then there is nothing to explain. He's absolutely quality for his age.
Varane is superb and his ability in the air is one of his main strengths. Are you basing your statement purely on his missed header the other day?
And I'm not sure where you've got that impression from Smalling. On the contrary he seems quite a quiet lad. I remember a couple of stories about him on nights out but it's ridiculous to suggest he's big headed and taking his career for granted on the basis of that.
He was significantly better than Kompany last season. IMO he'd become the league's best centre half by some distance. Really hope he doesn't join City as that looks the most likely destination.
No he's not. But i'd love to be proved wrong.
Varane is supposed to be the king of hill - still havent seen that either. Similar style to Smalling, but Smalling's more commanding in the air. Varane's a pussy-cat.
Smalling & quite a few others in the squad, are more interested in being a United player on paper & their website / wiki, rather than earning the right to play for United..
If posts were written rather than typed, I always imagine yours would be in crayon.
You cant beat reflecting on historical posts eh Solius?
I hope this comes back to haunt me by the way
Still think he could be. His performance against Costa Rica was immense. He's got the talent.
Did you miss my point about Smalling being not that great?
Varane's 3 years younger by the way & you need to cop onto the difference between potential world class & actual world class.
Its laughable & cringey to hear he can actually play football too.. Thanks for the heads up on that one!
Komany - Benatia would be the best partnership in the world on paper
No offence mate, but i can take a slaggin about anything, but i'm none impressed about being slagged from a guy who cant even cap the 1st letter in his name.
Seems like a rush job to be honest. God only knows (the poor fella) what you were up to when you registered on here...
Eddie - are you ok.. are you ok... are you ok Eddie...?
What's laughable is how you describe Varane. The way you compared him to Smalling made it seem as if you considered the latter superior.
Smalling isn't potential world class, Varane is. That's the difference. Varane will likely go on to be the best CB in the world in a few years, how one earth can you describe him as a "pussy cat"? You must be one of the very few people who don't rate him.
He's exceptionally fast, a brilliant defender and very good in the air. He's not the strongest but that's not his style of defending. No idea how you think Smalling is more commanding in the air, even though he's 6ft3 Varane jumps like a kangaroo, whereas I've seen Smalling constantly bullied despite his height. He's really quite poor for such a tall guy. It makes me think you don't watch him at all, as that's one of his biggest strengths, how brilliant he is aerially. He's easily beaten the likes of Pique on a consistent basis in this field.
How is that cringey? Smalling craps himself every time he receives the ball, Varane doesn't. That's what I mean. He's good on the ball and can play a bit, Smalling is incredibly limited, one of the worst in the league in terms of how he is on the ball. For a top side that's not good enough.
I rate him alright, just not to the level that some place him on - just because he plays for Real..
Smalling will be superb when he gets a good run of games in his best position. I think it's unfair to judge his overall quality when he's had to play so many games in a position where he really can't do himself justice. If Vidic had joined us and played as a full back I think most people would have thought he was useless too.
You're still alluding i rate Smalling & think Varane's crap.. Sweet mother of Jesus!
It's hard to imagine what qualities were identified in Smalling to see him used as a right back. But bar the fact he's slow on the turn, he's got everything else you need to be a dominant centre half. His distribution isn't the best, but that's not the be all and end all.
Erm, that's how it clearly came across? You said you didn't see it in Varane? That would generally seem to mean you don't rate the player? You then proceeded to call him a "pussy cat", I mean I don't know why you sound so shocked that I thought you didn't rate Varane.
I have serious doubts about that, but i'm always open to be proved wrong & will hold my hands up Sol.
Young players coming to the club shouldnt be given massive wage packets on a level of 1st-teamers (we've no choice now), because they then think they've made it, without even kicking a ball for the club.
Then outside attractions & the spending power they have take over & they milk Easy-street for a couple of years & then they put a shift in for a new contract.
When you join a club like United - its only one foot in the door. You have to earn the right to have both feet in.
If we can sign more players with the same attitude as Mata, DDG & Herrera, the club will seriously benefit. That why we've been scouring the world for new humble gems.
Adnan is the top result of that mantra. We just need more of him, but there's plenty of potential in the U-21's too..
Exciting times ahead under Louis - he'll love the talent we've got coming through!
That rant wasnt directed against you Sol - it was just my usual thinkin out loud daily Caf ramblings mucker
You clearly have a hard-on for La Liga & reputations of that league. If you say a player is top-notch & he plays in Serie A - thats different.
How good are La Liga CB's in your opinion?
I've seen enough of them to suggest that most wouldnt be successful in the Prem or world tournaments.
I'm still not gone on Miranda being up to cup finals every week in the Prem - nor any other CB's from La Liga connected to us in this window.
We've allegedly witnessed the best CB combo in world football in Ramos & Pique, yet they got their arse served at the WC, and thats because the Spanish mid-field werent allowed to play their tik-taka football by the opposition.
If you get past their mid-field - La Liga CB's can get very exposed & shown up. No-one rates La Liga for world-class defending - its their mid-field & forwards that make that league.
I have a hard on for thinking a 21 year old CB who gets regular game time at Madrid and has been generally excellent in the CL is very good? Alrighty then.
Comparing La Liga to Serie A is ridiculous. Spanish team won both the Europa and the Champions League this year, one Italian team got through the CL groups. Serie A has fallen so far its unbelievable and players playing for Juventus have a ridiculous advantage - nobody apart from Roma early on competes with them at all.
Erm, Sergio Ramos and Miranda would both walk in to any Premier League side. Spain had one bad tournament, one, and you're judging them on that, instead of the multiple tournaments they won. Ramos isn't to blame, the whole Spanish team was tat.
La Liga defending isn't the best, but that's not to say top-class defenders don't exist there. Atletico Madrid were one of the tightest units defensively in world football last year, with Miranda at the back, Chelsea managed to put a single goal past them over both legs. How many goals did Madrid concede against Bayern again? That was the same Madrid that Sergio Ramos got back in to the game via a thumping header late on.
I don't rate Pique particularly highly. I don't even like Ramos that much, but by current defenders standards they are still up there and Varane as a 21 year old to show the quality he has is excellent. What is it you've missed from him? He's shown great promise.
I wouldn't say La Liga defending was any worse than Premier League defending. The goals conceded stats back me up on that - and the performance of their top sides in Europe do as well. Yes Madrid have great cover in midfield - but Atletico's is hardly world-class, they were just very solid indeed.
Time has been stopped for United players who were young a few years ago. It is the same thing with Cleverley, followed by he's a late bloomer.
So, anything new here?
I don't like the idea of this one ending up at City. He looks like a bloody good defender to me. Wouldn't mind him at United at all if we're looking to buy someone more experienced to come in and take up a starting spot in our XI.
I don't like the idea of this one ending up at City. He looks like a bloody good defender to me. Wouldn't mind him at United at all if we're looking to buy someone more experienced to come in and take up a starting spot in our XI.
City have signed Mangala, i think for 32 million pounds. (Though not official yet.)
They are no longer interested in Benatia as per reports.
They are no longer interested in Benatia as per reports.
They've gone for Mangala instead.
Good news, I reckon.
I've no idea if there's half a chance of us being even interested in Benatia, mind. But he's a good player.
If them getting Mangala (presuming it's true) means we can get Benatia then that'd be amazing. He's much better than Mangala as well.
Haven't heard anything on Benatia other than City's interest (which will likely disappear after the impending Mangala signing). I could see him being looked at as a potential alternative to Hummels. I rate Benatia very highly, a top defender. I'd love to see him at Utd even if we did get Hummels tbh. Any reports linking him with Utd.
I'm hoping that United will sign him, but I seriously doubt it. He will probably stay at Roma for another season.
There was a tweet in the twitter thread the other day saying he was off to Bayern but there's been nothing since.
Benatia was too expensive for City given their transfer cap.
Means if we wanted him it'd be at least £35m+
Means if we wanted him it'd be at least £35m+
This is our man! He's an absolute monster at the back and is brilliant with the ball at his feet as well. We should be doing everything we can bring Benatia to Old Trafford. Personally for me, he would be just as good as signing someone like Vidal/Rues/Di Maria, In terms of the impact he would have on our defence.
He's a much more realistic target than Hummels and is a better defender, he just turned 27 so he has another 5 years at the top of his game (Baring injuries) Easily. I know I sound like I'm proper fanboying him, but I'd take him at the expense of someone like Vidal as well. Remember you can win titles with an average midfield, but there is noway you can win one, with an average defence.
We've just lost the best centre back pairing in our clubs history, they need to be replaced adequately!
He's a much more realistic target than Hummels and is a better defender, he just turned 27 so he has another 5 years at the top of his game (Baring injuries) Easily. I know I sound like I'm proper fanboying him, but I'd take him at the expense of someone like Vidal as well. Remember you can win titles with an average midfield, but there is noway you can win one, with an average defence.
We've just lost the best centre back pairing in our clubs history, they need to be replaced adequately!
I agree with your post except from having him at the expense of Vidal. If we can sign the best midfielder in the world we have too.
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