Smalling / on loan to Roma 1 year

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Ideally we should have offloaded players like Rojo, Jones, Darmian and others before Smalling but on the other hand, you can only offload players who are wanted by other clubs.

Also this should be great experience for Smalling, not many English/British players play outside PL, so he can enjoy different style of football, if everything works out then he can make it permanent.

From player point of view, we are anyways not challenging for the league, still in rebuild phase. He will be 30 in November, played 9 seasons for ManUtd, won everything at club level except CL. So he can at least try new leagues.
 
All these people saying he is a good CB they are correct he is good but not good enough for a PL winning side. But with VAR out now he is a massive liability with all his shirt pulling that is probably why they got rid of him.
 
Amir said:
I don't really get it. I could have understood it had it been a permanent deal, if we want to get rid of a centerhalf and he's the only one someone wants, but what's the great benefit of a loan deal? We lose our best backup at centerhalf - for me anyway - but still keep the player, who could be back next year. If he's ours, might as well keep him at the club.
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He's not going to attract much interest not doing anything. Better to have another club pay his wages and letting him play in a strong league every weekend in order to get good money for him as we're not going to be able to make a permanent deal with so little to go.

Everybody wins with this kind of deal. We still have Jones and Rojo and honestly there's no a significant difference between the three.
 
Bastian said:
Do you not think we have tried doing that? We're not sending him over there to get sharp for next season.
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I think we've tried it with foreign clubs who still have their window open.

We rejected an offer while the premier league window was open, so seemingly we wanted to keep him at that point. Maybe the plan changed recently.
 
Ekeke said:
I think we've tried it with foreign clubs who still have their window open.

We rejected an offer while the premier league window was open, so seemingly we wanted to keep him at that point. Maybe the plan changed recently.
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Are you referring to the Everton loan offer or was there actually an offer to buy from someone?
 
Relevated said:
If you search old threads regarding smalling, you will see he was a good defender for years but unfortunately all good defenders eventually run out of gas

I think we should have sold smalling and its the right time to part ways permanently so I'm bugged this is a loan.
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Hello @Relevated 's dad. :)
 
Smalling was pushed out of the England squad by Southgate due to his ball handling ability (or inability). Maguire replaced him in the England setup. As soon as he saw the club buying Maguire, and Ole pushing him to the stands, he knew his time was up. He must have felt disrespected by Ole and pushed for the move.

Can’t blame him, as he is a better defender than Maguire. Just not good at playing out of the back.
 
ForlanFletcherPee said:
A better CB? Wait for the season to end man, 3games he's already getting the stick, You will see he's just an expensive Smalling, He's no better than Smalling, only for This new stupid fact of passing shit everyone going berserk for, Hope u saw with your Lindelof and Maguire Crystal palace had 3shots and scored two all to defensive errors, u would soon see that we have been robbed with Maguire,
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Yikes.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
Just not as shite as Rojo and Bailly.

He’s the best of a bad bunch as back up CBs, obviously we can’t get anyone to take Rojo off of our hands, and Bailly went and got injured so we can’t sell him.

We needed to get rid of at least one CB, so that’s a positive, but there are others who are very lucky to still be at the club.
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I agree, him being shite doesnt mean the other two are not complete dogshit.
 
im getting really confused. are we getting rid of players just for the sake of it?

I know smalling isnt that good and isnt united class but behind lindelof and maguire he is probably next best.

bailly is made of glass he doesnt count.
Rojo i like cause he actually tackle but others dont like because he is rash as feck (remember in mourinhos first season it was the pairing of him and jones that looked best) and see above made of glass.
jones can be great but he is a disaster waiting to happen cant be trusted

tuan is still a kid and unproven at this level.

meaning to me smalling probably is our best replacement even though is also made of glass and a pudding with the ball. but he can actually defend abit he has also captained the side abit so must be one of very few leaders.
 
LVGSdive said:
Smalling isn't a player I consider to be deadwood. He is better than Jones, Bailey and Rojo. I think he and Lindelof are around the same level. Therefore, deadwood is Jones, Bailey, and Rojo not Smalling. Although other posters clearly don't rate Smalling.
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This
 
roonster09 said:
Ideally we should have offloaded players like Rojo, Jones, Darmian and others before Smalling but on the other hand, you can only offload players who are wanted by other clubs.

Also this should be great experience for Smalling, not many English/British players play outside PL, so he can enjoy different style of football, if everything works out then he can make it permanent.

From player point of view, we are anyways not challenging for the league, still in rebuild phase. He will be 30 in November, played 9 seasons for ManUtd, won everything at club level except CL. So he can at least try new leagues.
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Jones and Rojo could have easily been offloaded by us refusing to give them new contracts. Rojo was also close to join Everton on loan but we refused
 
devilish said:
Jones and Rojo could have easily been offloaded by us refusing to give them new contracts. Rojo was also close to join Everton on loan but we refused
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We don't really know what happened with the Rojo loan and judging by pre season, Rojo is rated by the manager.

We just have to accept that in a game of possession and a game where top teams score a lot of goals through pressing rather then hoof ball, passing and dribbling ability is more important then heading, especially when we already have one of the best players in the league in the heading department. Smalling is not underrated just by some United fans, but also by a couple of United managers, the England manager and virtually every non United fan i know.

Also, i doubt that Ole wants to get rid asap of Smalling, but it's more of a case of the player being told he is 3ed/4th choice and not accepting that. This is fair enough on both the club and the player. I think it's similar to the Lukaku situation actually; decent player but not good enough for first 11 that wants to play every game so the only viable solution is a transfer.
 
I like Smalling. Was hoping we'd offload Jones, Rojo and Darmian. Smalling would be a decent backup for Lindelöf and Maguire. Smalling and Tuanzebe aren't bad names to be challenging for a shot in the XI.
 
LVGSdive said:
Smalling isn't a player I consider to be deadwood. He is better than Jones, Bailey and Rojo. I think he and Lindelof are around the same level. Therefore, deadwood is Jones, Bailey, and Rojo not Smalling. Although other posters clearly don't rate Smalling.
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We have 7 players for 2 spots. And nobody wants the others and many can't afford to pay their wages. Its sad to see him go before bailey and rojo but under the circumstances its understandable. Those two will do a sanzhez happily before going, watch this space.
 
Not sure I agree with this one. While eventually replacing him should be the goal, I would have him around our third choice defender. I'm not sure how Axel has suddenly sprung up a lot of peoples lists, as he has what a few preseason games under his belt for us. While he has looked decent, he still has a long way to proving himself in the PL.

I would have been happier to keep Smalling, and off load some of our other CBs
 
Beagle said:
Best time to offload him. VAR will be his arch enemy.
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He played few games when VAR was used, he barely even conceded a foul. Last week Martial was wrestled to the ground and penalty wasn't given. This VAR and Smalling thing will never end though. Let's see how many penalties he will conceded in Serie A.
 
He is the last one i would like to see leaving the club out of the Deadwood Gang. However, I also understand that there might not be a market out there for the likes of Smalling and Rojo but Smalling is a decent performer.

Hopefully this means that Tuanzebe gets promoted and Jones etc. will remain far away from the squad.
 
Nice swap for him and the club. But just in loan. We still have Maguire, Lindelöf, Tuanzebe, Rojo, Bailly and Jones as CB. That are still two too much. Hope we get rid of two more.

Then our squad in defense is a little balanced and we can add some midfielders and attackers next transfer Windows.
 
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slir32 said:
All these people saying he is a good CB they are correct he is good but not good enough for a PL winning side. But with VAR out now he is a massive liability with all his shirt pulling that is probably why they got rid of him.
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Not this again...

He's played plenty of games under VAR, against some very good players, and not been found out.

We have too many defenders now with Tuanzebe not going on loan and Maguire being brought in. We probably had one too many even before that so needed to move some on. Smalling is being loaned out as he actually can stay fit and is a decent defender if not the best on the ball.

Fair fecks to him, could easily have stayed in his comfort zone picking up his wage with us like plenty of others but looks like he's open to moving for game time.
 
charlenefan said:
Ok so Smalling is considered good enough for the 1st team but Bailly, Rojo, Jones aren't? Piss off. They're all the much of a muchness in terms of ability. Is Smalling the best of the lot? Possibly. Is it worth the hysteria that he's leaving? No
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Bailly has one leg at the moment and will do for around 6 months yet you include him in our CB options shows me the genius I'm trying to have a debate with . Jones have proven he is totally injury prone and Rojo is a complete disaster . So if you think losing Smalling isn't a bit of a disaster like you said piss off
 
Snow said:
He's not going to attract much interest not doing anything. Better to have another club pay his wages and letting him play in a strong league every weekend in order to get good money for him as we're not going to be able to make a permanent deal with so little to go.

Everybody wins with this kind of deal. We still have Jones and Rojo and honestly there's no a significant difference between the three.
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There absolutely is, Rojo is complete pish. And a perma crocked nut job who's constantly on the edge of getting sent off on the rare occasions he actually plays. And Jones is also a perma crock. Smalling is still our 3rd (2nd?) best centre back by a margin unless you're Gareth Southgate or now seemingly Ole.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Does it really @Ole90+3?

FOUR senior central defenders and Darmian haven't even made a matchday squad yet and getting rid of one is "Glazers trying to get as much off the wage bill to maximise profit margins"... come one people ffs.

Quite clearly Smalling wants this and rightfully so, it's a smart move for everyone.
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Like I've stated twice already in this thread, I think that's it's naive to expect the combination of defenders currently at the club to be able to come in to replace Lindelof and Maguire when the injuries inevitably happen due to fixture congestion and regular niggles. Rojo, Bailly and Jones have continued to prove themselves as completely unreliable. I get that no one wanted to buy the aforementioned, but it doesn't mean we should get rid of the only backup defender who has proven to be an asset throughout his time here.
 
Amir said:
I don't really get it. I could have understood it had it been a permanent deal, if we want to get rid of a centerhalf and he's the only one someone wants, but what's the great benefit of a loan deal? We lose our best backup at centerhalf - for me anyway - but still keep the player, who could be back next year. If he's ours, might as well keep him at the club.
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Have you for a single second thought that Smalling doesn't want to be fourth choice @Amir and that Ole and the management team would be absolute twats to force that upon him?
 
Ole90+3 said:
Like I've stated twice already in this thread, I think that's it's naive to expect the combination of defenders currently at the club to be able to come in a replace Lindelof and Maguire when the injuries inevitably happen when the fixture list piles up. Rojo, Bailly and Jones have continued to prove themselves as completely unreliable. I get that no one wanted to buy the aforementioned, but it doesn't mean we should get rid of the only backup defender who has proven to be an asset throughout his time here.
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I'll ask you the same question as above post mate.

Have you for a single second thought that Smalling doesn't want to be fourth choice and that Ole and the management team would be absolute twats to force that upon him?
 
sincher said:
Ok but noone has come in for Jones and probably won't given his injury record. Bailly is injured so he won't be leaving. There is some interest in Rojo and he might leave as well. Smalling is a good reliable player but we have way too many CBs and if Maguire and Lindelof are first choice and Tuanzebe first reserve it leaves a good reliable player with insufficient opportunities. So probably best all round to go on loan. Not to a bad club either. We can't do the same with Jones as understandably the interest isn't there.
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So if we can't get someone to take our worst and most injury prone defenders, we get rid of someone who is better and more reliable... Can't quite get my head around it, unless Solskjaer rates him lower than we think.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
I'll ask you the same question as above post mate.

Have you for a single second thought that Smalling doesn't want to be fourth choice and that Ole and the management team would be absolute twats to force that upon him?
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That's a fair question but it doesn't mean that the team will be worse off when current starting CBs need rotated. I think that Smalling is a better defender than Lindelof however the latter better fits Ole's 'build from the back' style of play.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Have you for a single second thought that Smalling doesn't want to be fourth choice @Amir and that Ole and the management team would be absolute twats to force that upon him?
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I think it's a little early for that. Yes, he's been out of the squad for three matches, but we've had it easy so far - one match a week. There will be a lot more matches soon and Tuanzebe hasn't played one minutes of PL football yet in his career, so we can't be sure about him. Things can change very quickly.

So I doubt Smalling, after so many years, just gave up, three matches into the season. Unless he's even lower in the pecking order than fourth, which would have been absurd.
 
roonster09 said:
He played few games when VAR was used, he barely even conceded a foul. Last week Martial was wrestled to the ground and penalty wasn't given. This VAR and Smalling thing will never end though. Let's see how many penalties he will conceded in Serie A.
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Do you mean the Martial foul which was debated for a red card?

On Smalling and VAR, it's a bit of a tongue in cheek comment really. Maybe he won't be so grabby in Italy, but over the years some of his defending on dead balls would surely have resulted in penalties being given. Maybe not all but a fair few of them.
 
Amir said:
So I doubt Smalling, after so many years, just gave up, three matches into the season. Unless he's even lower in the pecking order than fourth, which would have been absurd.
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You doubt that Smalling, who has been first choice for 6 years, is a bit peeved at clearly being relegated to fourth choice at best?

I'm fairly certain Smalling is not at all happy about the situation and it's not about "giving up", if you see yourself as a first team starter and you've been made fourth choice, you look for a move if you're ambitious.

Smalling is doing the right thing here in my opinion if he does complete this move.
 
Amir said:
I think it's a little early for that. Yes, he's been out of the squad for three matches, but we've had it easy so far - one match a week. There will be a lot more matches soon and Tuanzebe hasn't played one minutes of PL football yet in his career, so we can't be sure about him. Things can change very quickly.

So I doubt Smalling, after so many years, just gave up, three matches into the season. Unless he's even lower in the pecking order than fourth, which would have been absurd.
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He's 29 years old so the likelihood is that the 2020 Euros are his last chance to play in a major tournament for England. He wont make the squad as 4th choice for United, gambling on injuries for game time.
 
Yeah this probably comes from him more than anything. I'd love to see him on loan at Roma, I think he could do well and maybe get his England squad place back.
 
Ole90+3 said:
It makes the club look like they are performing financially better when the yearly turnover gets publicly released.
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Not really, the financial reports include more than the turnover line and the people interested in the club's finances look at all the figures and their context.
 
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