[snk123]

Unusually calm and composed today. Brilliant touch, drove with the ball and that chest control

One of the best games I've seen a CB play for Utd in the last two seasons.

 

[beergod]

Excellent match by him today. My MoM. Now he needs to kick on and do this regularly.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

This is bang on. I remember someone saying Rio didn't get the plaudits he deserved from other fans because he was never caught out of position so never had to make last ditch tackles. Smalling is the same.

Truth. Smalling often does get caught out of position. He recovers quickly with this pace, but he rarely dives in. Usually he'll catch his man and just put his body in the way. Again, it's unspectacular to watch, but he makes it look simple. The Rio comparison is a sound one. Smalling has a similar was of just positioning his body properly and putting himself in the right place. He is severely underrated.

 

[MadDogg]

Does anyone know off hand how tall/heavy he is? Hes really weak challenging for aerial balls at times. Today he was either beaten to it or headed it about 6ft at most.

He's 6'4". No idea about weight.

I missed the first half, but sounds like he had a good one. Very glad to hear, as I've always been a huge fan of his. The potential he has is scary if he can just stay bloody fit.

 

[Cutch]

Just caught up with the game. Smalling was outstanding, best i've ever seen him play i think.

 

[jeff_goldblum]

Yeah he was great against Sunderland, including his passing. He has a weird gait which makes him look clumsy but he was really confident on the ball today.

 

[ThanksBoss26]

Excellent match by him today. My MoM. Now he needs to kick on and do this regularly.

Exactly. This is my issue with him. Against Hull and Stoke earlier this season, he was fantastic. Then went off
injured again next game. I always feel the next injury or below-par display is just around the corner. He can be miles ahead of Jones and Evans if he could put some consistency together, both in form and fitness.

 

[mazhar13]

His performance on the ball was amazing today, and every time Sunderland would knock the ball forward, he would win the ball almost every time and help us start attacks again. He really is a great and composed defender, and his presence on the pitch makes us very solid, defensively.

He still has those moments where he panics in the box and loses his man, but if he cuts those out, he can be our main starting defender every match.

Plus, his through pass to Blind was just . Off to the GIF thread for that one!

 

[NoPace]

Best performance on the ball in recent memory. We'll see if it continues.

 

[Distracted Steward]

Toward the end he was.even putting good crosses in.

It was nice to see less recovery, hero mode defending. He was a big part of that.

 

[ZDwyr]

My MOTM by a mile; was class. He just handled everything brilliantly. His passing in particular was really impressive. If he gets dropped for Jones I will be furious. Jones can feck off. Smalling is our best central defender. It is not even up for debate. You hear me, Louis?! Smalling plays. End of.

 

[ChrisG11]

Easily earning his place in the starting line up with performances like this. He's been in good form for a couple of months now but I'd say this was a level above the standard he's been playing recently. Encouraging stuff.

 

[Pexbo]

He had an air of confidence about him that bordered on arrogance that I think Van Gaal will have appreciated. He played the ball out of the back brilliantly and unlike Jones when he advanced into midfield, he had his head up and picked out a pass.

 

[Shimo]

Was brilliant today but, it's going to be hard for him to kick on because LVG keeps chopping and changing. He needs to be a starter when fit right now along side Rojo as I think they compliment each other well.

 

[Skills]

His ball playing are confidence related. Once he gets a few run of games he seems to be a different player on the ball.

If it weren't for his fitness record and us fecking him around at RB, he should/would be by now the best defender in English football. That is just how talented he is.

 

[arthurka]

Our best cb bar none. Great performance.

 

[golden_blunder]

Funny, I read in the Evans thread that Evans was caught out on a few occasions by people running at him, yet on those occasions Evans was isolated, smalling was nowhere to be seen. It's all well and good smalling bursting forward but Sunderland really should have scored first. This thread would have been different then

 

[DWelbz19]

Funny, I read in the Evans thread that Evans was caught out on a few occasions by people running at him, yet on those occasions Evans was isolated, smalling was nowhere to be seen. It's all well and good smalling bursting forward but Sunderland really should have scored first. This thread would have been different then

Those were one on one scenarios Evans almost always struggles in. Smalling did leave him isolated once or twice, but Evans is always so slow and easy to commit against an attacker. If it was Rojo or Jones (instead of Evans) they'd have dealt with it better.

 

[NoLogo]

There is no doubt that he has the ability to be one of the top CB's in the league. The only thing in doubt is if he will be able to stay fit for a prolonged period of games to really get there. Only with more experience and routine he will be able to eliminate these brainfart games he has every now and then.

 

[mufcwarm92]

At 25 this really is the crucial period in his career. If he can kick on he could be a real asset for club and country, who are both crying out for a top quality centre half.

 

[ivaldo]

I said it a good few weeks ago that his passing had greatly improved under Van Gaal, hes got the full package.

 

[golden_blunder]

Those were one on one scenarios Evans almost always struggles in. Smalling did leave him isolated once or twice, but Evans is always so slow and easy to commit against an attacker. If it was Rojo or Jones (instead of Evans) they'd have dealt with it better.

I think in both scenarios Evans did well actually. The point was more that smalling left the defence isolated

 

[ScarleyUtd]

First 20 minutes pretty bad. After that got better and better. But MOTM according to many and rated best player on the Sunderland thread? No way, Young by a mile.

 

[Loublaze]

Now watch LVG replace him with a still recovering Jones on Wednesday

 

[marlowe78]

Best defender by a mile Saturday. Commanded space in the back and was very good with the ball as well. He made a couple of long-distance passes that actually shocked me with their quality.

 

[ZDwyr]

Now watch LVG replace him with a still recovering Jones on Wednesday

I will be furious if that happens.

 

[Loublaze]

I will be furious if that happens.

Same here. I was pissed when he did it after Smallings 2 goal game against Burnley. The shit just didn't make sense.

 

[Get In Scholesy]

Surprised no one has praised him. Penalty incident aside, I thought he played a great game. Easily the best Centre Back at the club.

 

[Sied]

Surprised no one has praised him. Penalty incident aside, I thought he played a great game. Easily the best Centre Back at the club.

It's normally a good sign in a game like that if a center back goes under the radar.

 

[Stobzilla]

Just come in to bump this, absolute monster after the penalty incident. He keeps us in the opposition half. IF he can stay fit, it has to be Smalling + 1 and I don't care if they have to be purchased but it has to be someone better than Evans/Rojo

Although to be fair to the former, he too was very good this evening.

 

[Escobar]

Easily our best centre back. Brings the ball out well with his sprints and adds physicality to our back 4

 

[Ballache]

He also did a nice outside of the foot pass under pressure in.midfield. I really like Smalling and he just needs to.stay fit now.

 

[Wittmann45]

Good performance. The CB positions are wide open at this point, maybe he is going to take his chance. Nice to see a defender composed while on the ball and willing to take control of a situation. Given plenty of space at times and he was willing to get forward.

 

[ZDwyr]

I thought both he and Evans were quite good.

 

[Devil may care]

I think he is progressing on the ball and is a beast physically, I'll be annoyed when he's dropped for Jones, although LvG did show him some love post Rooney hug.

 

[Ballache]

I think he is progressing on the ball and is a beast physically, I'll be annoyed when he's dropped for Jones, although LvG did show him some love post Rooney hug.

I would be absolutely livid if he gets dropped for Jones.

 

[Glanville95]

He's too good for us, should leave. White text.

 

[Sammyjunn]

The penalty incident was very rash of him, he needs to clear out these things, other than that he didnt put a foot wrong and was a beast. He could really be good enough for top side.

 

[Truedevil]

Formed a good partnership with Evans for the last two matches resulting in two clean sheets which is nice. I hope he will keep his place even if Jones is back.

 

[Joemo]

A real driving force from the back. He's so physically brilliant that we can afford to play a really high line. He's one of the first names on the teamsheet for me.