Totally agree with you. Chris Smalling is a very decent defender and not as bad with the ball as many suggest.
Delighted that Victor is showing us how good a player he is becoming.
Starting to look quite cheap. Well done young man.
2
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 40
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
Totally agree with you. Chris Smalling is a very decent defender and not as bad with the ball as many suggest.
Delighted that Victor is showing us how good a player he is becoming.
Starting to look quite cheap. Well done young man.
Give him a good partner for next season. His career is going up up and away. 
Smalling is 'okay', the issue is Manchester United need far more than okay: we need top class players in every position, and Smalling can never be top class. Harry McGuire keeps him out of the England squad! He would never get a game for City, Liverpool or Spurs, IMO. Our central defence requires big changes, and, though we can argue about who should stay and who should go, we need a couple of really top signings.
We really need to be ruthless now and stop making excuses for any average players wearing the shirt. This is Manchester United, and the best is demanded.
Lindelof has been good though he was beaten by Alli for one of Ali's chances far too easily which just serves as a reminder that there's still work to do before we pin all our hopes on him (plus another)
Well done indeed.
Went from the worst "established" CB I had seen at the club when he came to now being a actually good defender that can play in the modern way.
Best of our lot by far in this form.
Went from the worst "established" CB I had seen at the club when he came to now being a actually good defender that can play in the modern way.
Best of our lot by far in this form.
Lindelof Bailly
Jones Rojo
Plus one new CB in the summer
Time to call it quits with Smalling. We have to sacrifice him as a non playing CB to change the way we play. The following season Jones can be moved on.
Jones Rojo
Plus one new CB in the summer
Time to call it quits with Smalling. We have to sacrifice him as a non playing CB to change the way we play. The following season Jones can be moved on.
I'm not saying Smalling should definitely be first choice going forward. But it wouldn't make sense to let him go while keeping a player who is far more inconsistent and far more injury-prone (and that description fits perfectly with any of Bailly, Jones and Rojo). He's comfortably better than all three of them, so if we are going to sell some of our defenders it may as well be them while the dependable Smalling provides the cover.
Not flawless, but again very good tonight. Reminds me of Ricardo Carvalho - not flashy, but reads the game well and generally is a very clean tackler. Unfortunately, like portuguese he is average in the air too
Fair enough, we agree we need changes as we go forward, but we just have a difference of opinion on Smalling. Personally I would prefer to keep Bailly instead, provided he can stay fit, but, if not, I would have Smalling ahead of Jones until we can recruit better.
Oh I do. How often did we see a Spurs player collect the ball in the space he's supposed to occupy, have time to turn and then play a pass? It's asking for trouble. Of course there are other problems, but he's definitely one of them.
His improvement has been massive but that 2nd half was anything but a competent defensive performance (same applies to the whole back 4).
Off the top of my head Alderwerield , Kane and Alli all lost him for a great chance.
He’s been good recently and was again in the first half , but not in the 2nd
Off the top of my head Alderwerield , Kane and Alli all lost him for a great chance.
He’s been good recently and was again in the first half , but not in the 2nd
He has been great so far and hopefully he can be better and better again. But clearly he needs a powerful commanding partner just like how he was in benfica & NT team and hopefully we can get a new CB like that, Koulibaly is my dream signing. Right now, Smalling is the best partner for him when he is back. Feck, Jones is really not good, many times he lost Kane, not good for the health of my heart..
Lindelof has been outstanding of late. Still needs to finish strong this season but I'm hugely encouraged by him. Thought the club was too big for him at times but he's really stepped up and looks to be growing in confidence every week. Mourinho does deserve credit for signing him not quite giving up on him like some had - He made the comparison to Carvalho and I'm starting to see it.
Smalling has been fine. He's a good option to have and more reliable than Jones or Bailly.
Jones seems to be stuck in a time loop. His career is a tragedy. Always has a spell where he looks good in a season, always gets injuries, always goes through phases of calamity. He needs to go this summer.
Bailly just hasn't kicked on. He was a great talent but is beyond reckless. Never matured as a player - Injuries a problem as well and have probably stunted his development. Rojo is the worst of Jones and Bailly combined. Love the guy but he's not good enough. Probably one will kept on as a squad guy but I think we need two new CB's as well as two new Full backs.
Smalling has been fine. He's a good option to have and more reliable than Jones or Bailly.
Jones seems to be stuck in a time loop. His career is a tragedy. Always has a spell where he looks good in a season, always gets injuries, always goes through phases of calamity. He needs to go this summer.
Bailly just hasn't kicked on. He was a great talent but is beyond reckless. Never matured as a player - Injuries a problem as well and have probably stunted his development. Rojo is the worst of Jones and Bailly combined. Love the guy but he's not good enough. Probably one will kept on as a squad guy but I think we need two new CB's as well as two new Full backs.
Confidence.
Must be nice to have 350 million in your pocket like that..
He keeps getting better.
After Rashford, Lindelof is one of the most improved player under Ole.
New centre backs certainly, but Shaw is really is proving his worth at left back, and Young Dalot could prove himself at right back. A new right back to help Dalot mature would be good.
He's looked brilliant and is only going to look even better once we buy a competent partner for him. So happy for him.
Shaw has been awful since getting his contract. Our worst player today too.
This is what Carragher said few months ago.
Now I dont doubt him anymore. Just he really needs better & stronger partner than current CBs we have.
I'd never heard that before. Save a wing for me too, I'm really happy to see how he's improved this season.
Don’t understand how he improved so much. Fair play to him.
What about Pogba? He is playing like the player we though we had bought from Juve.
Regarding Lindelof he is getting better and better, really comfrontable on the ball and fast. I think him bulking up has really helped him, needs to be better on the air though but I can see a top player developing.
I thought Shaw was very solid today.
Had been playing well under Jose.
Pogba's improving too. Although people already know what Pogba can do with the right setup. It's not that surprising, at least for me.
Nah.. many wouldn't be bother if he was sold. But now, he's proven at least a very good squad player.
Definitely improving, but let's not get carried away. It felt like every time Spurs chucked the ball into the box there was a chance and they also had our 2 CB's all over the shop on a few ocassions from simple play. He should be kept, along with Smalling and Bailly, but we need reinforcements for sure. Jones and Rojo can go.
Absolutely fantastic today, and starting to show the form and consistency he showed at Benfica. Probably more comfortable on the right, too. He and Koulibaly next season, with Smalling and New centre back as back up and we're set.
Not sure, you know. Lindelof was putting in very good performances under Mourinho.
I'd certainly put players before Lindelof. Pogba being the obvious. Matic and Rashford other candidates.
Not sure, you know. Lindelof was putting in very good performances under Mourinho.
I'd certainly put players before Lindelof. Pogba being the obvious. Matic and Rashford other candidates.
Has come a long way but the under appreciation of what Smalling has done for the club is beyond weird at this point. He is not the symbol of our decline just because he has featured the most. I know Lindelof is our new exiting toy, and it does look like he's coming on leaps and bounds but he has not been close to the level of Smallings best performances for this club yet. Hopefully he can get there soon.
He's not responsible for the whole defensive unit. Not sure we'd have conceded 3 or 4 as we were defending the lead. If Spurs had scored to level it up, I'm sure our attitude would have been different in response...
Nothing positive to say about his performance then?
https://www.whoscored.com/Players/100008/MatchStatistics/Victor-Lindelöf
A noticeable improvement after the Liverpool game.
In second half yes, but in first half I think Herrera, and maybe also Matic, did a fantastic job keeping Eriksen out of the game. The last quarter it was like the whole defensive midfield collapsed a little, but at the same time Tottenham is a great offensive team. I might be wrong, but this was the second match in more than a year where they did not score.
Lindelof had a good game, not amazing but good. I like that he sat us calm and try to play out the ball.
But I wonder about the official stats. It says he had zero tackles tonight but I am pretty sure I saw one or two. It also says he won 3 aerials and lost zero, but I am sure he lost one to Llorente.
I agree that he hasn’t progressed to that level. But he’s our best defender when compared to the current squad and when talking about actual defending
According to official stats he was best on the pitch in the air. Won 3 lost 0.
To be fair Tottenham could easily have conceded a few more goals as well.
He's getting more and more physical on strikers which is a very welcome upgrade on his game. His reading of the game was already fine but now he's adding that little agression and strength to his game, he's on his way to becoming a top class CB.
He did not lose Alderweirald on his own. Rashford was at the near post where Toby flicked it on. There was no way Lindelof would have got to him before the flick because Rashford was blocking his path.
He played a good game
He played a good game
- Status