Fair play to the iceman. I was one of his harshest critics, but he has really looked the part since Ole came in.
2
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 40
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
Bailly has been poor for the majority of the last 12 months, and has arguably been poor more often than he's been good during his entire career with us. Plus he and Lindelof aren't suited to play with each other.
For now it is easily Smalling and Lindelof. The rest of them aren't even close. After this season I'm sure we'll sign at least one central defender and those two will then compete to be the new guys partner. Or we may sign two new guys.
He was fantastic. Spurs had to play it in from wide for a reason.
He stopped every run and pass through the middle.
Fantastic performance.
He stopped every run and pass through the middle.
Fantastic performance.
When, when, when will people stop having a pop at Chris Smalling? He’s held our defence together by thread for years.
Anyway, credit to Lindelöf. I saw absolutely nothing in him for a long time, but he’s showing there’s a player in there.
Anyway, credit to Lindelöf. I saw absolutely nothing in him for a long time, but he’s showing there’s a player in there.
If Bailly can keep focused then he’ll be a good partner with Lindelof but Smalling is the best out of the bad bunch of CB’s we have at the moment. We really need to invest in one quality CB this summer. We can let go of Rojo and Jones.
Thought he was class today, just need to find a permanent partner for him now!
He struggled physically when he first arrived. But I noticed that he is now able to exert his presence a lot better. It's not a case of him bulking up either. It's more to do with his positional sense, timing and intelligence. Very happy to see his name on the teamsheet now
I agree, I thought he was vidic-esque today, getting right up amongst their midfielders.
As a complete defender he needs to be very good in air too. He is improving though. Quite promising.
That spurs player got Brown'd..
It's easy to laugh in hindsight but even with teething issues he did look dreadful at times last season, no two ways about it. He took a very long time to get used to the physicality of England. That said he looks to have finally have settled and looks a player, be interesting to see how he'd do with a better partner next to him.People that wrote this guy off
Smalling has his flaws but he has plenty of redeeming features too. I much prefer he plays alongside lindelof than Jones
The tackle on Winks I think was in the 2nd half, showed that he was was up for it. It was like a tackle Vidic would've made, brilliant.
Played well again today.
Of course, nobody wants Jones to play at all.
Another brilliant game.
The biggest compliment is that his name was on the team sheet and I didn't immediately think "heck" like previously.
Smalling - Lindelof for the rest of the season when Mike is back.
Whoever suggests Bailly as first choice hasn't seen him play I think.
Whoever suggests Bailly as first choice hasn't seen him play I think.
My thoughts exactly
He's done really well to turn it around and now looks like a United player, albeit with some limitations.
But yeah, he wasn't incredible today, but still, good.
Nah he got some very harsh undeserved criticism last season. For instance I remember a goal we conceded vs West Brom which was 100% Smalling's fault but Lindelof got the blame because he slipped despite the fact he wasn't going to stop it and was only in that position as he had to cover for Chris. It felt last season people wanted to blame anything on Victor if something went wrong at the back. He wasn't good mind but he certainly wasn't as bad as some people made out.
It was clear as day he's a good defender when hes higher up the pitch and playing on the front foot. Today was a big test of how he performs under pressure and forced back towards his own box.
Was our best CB today, but De Gea bailed out our defense. We again looked weak in the air.
Really changed my mind about him. Looking like a proper defender.
Meh, he had some good tackles and were good in possession, but him and Jones gave the Spurs-players way too much space inside the box. We need to sign a dominant CB in this window.
He’s ironing out his weaknesses bit by bit each game. We all know he’s phenomenal against good opposition that play the ball on the ground - see juve, Chelsea and today spurs
The criticism he received was OTT. He was always going to take time to settle in, he’s a young guy coming into one of the biggest clubs in the world and a new country. I have always thought he would be a success here.
The progress just got to another level with him. Superb today.
It is usually his partner that is consistently dueling with the opposition's striker. Understandable performance.
It's was an absolute onslaught at times. Eriksen and co were given time and acres of space to control the ball and pass it within 20 yards of our goal. There's no defender in the world who isn't going to concede chances when that happens. Lindelof did spectacularly well to keep those chances to a minimum. This is why it's so important for us to bring in a player who can protect out centrebacks better than Matic, someone with mobility.
At least we only need one CB now.....
Lindelof has had a better season than Smalling so far. However, Smalling should be first choice this season too, and hopefully be upgraded in the next one.
Jones and Rojo will hopefully leave. Bailly has been shit since his first season but more likely that he will turn out to be good than the other two.
Lindelof is making his doubters eat their words.
No, thats exactly what happened. Our best CB today yes but with better finishing and not having De Gea in goal, who made the most saves of any keeper this season, we would have conceded at least 2 or 3. Especially in the air Spurs got a lot of joy in the 2nd half.
That's how centre back partnerships are supposed to work. Now we need to find a partner for him who isn't an absolute liability in some area of their game.
Love him he’s really starting to shine now under Ole. Needs a proper defender beside him. Jones is a mess.
I don't know what happened in the eve of the home game vs Juve but it changed him completely. Has hardly had a bad game since then and started looking commanding and confident.
Having seen him at Benfica I’ve always said there is more to come from him as he was playing nothing like he did there but seriously if we get him a solid partner we could be on to something. Looked solid and that tackle in the 63rd minute summed up his game, he was all in for this and played really well. Hopefully continues to improve. I might have given him MOTM if it weren’t for DeGod which is weird when Spurs had so many chances.
Same. Ironically, Vidic had a sinilar tavkle against Spurs at WHL
He's really turned the corner. The last two games have been immense for the guy. If he can maintain this form I'd be over the moon.
I think it could be the Phelan factor. He's worked with some of the greatest CBs in history and it looks like Lindelof's transformation might at least in part be down to the Assistant Manager. You can see him being a lot more aggressive and proactive with his defending.
I think it could be the Phelan factor. He's worked with some of the greatest CBs in history and it looks like Lindelof's transformation might at least in part be down to the Assistant Manager. You can see him being a lot more aggressive and proactive with his defending.
Good performance against a very good attack, but I think many are overrating his performance, and he will have to up his game even further. Seeing how much he has improved this season, I have faith in him that he can do that. Keep it up.
And I want to see him with Bailly still.
And I want to see him with Bailly still.
He really was though, he looked very nervous and off the pace and always made schoolboy mistakes in every game. There was a reason he and his girlfriend stopped their social media antics for a good while.
- Status