Very good game from him.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
All credit to him. He was up for it. Aerial battles, blocking crosses. Super performance.
I'd also say that, other than Mata's offside goal, our next two best attacking raids in the first 80 minutes also came from Smalling winning the ball at the back.
All of our CBs are inconsistent. But at least Smalling is reliable and available throughout the season. This is the kind of team we face 80% of the time in this league. Thus, he should be the last in line when the clear out is needed.
Agreed.
Great post just before the game, and it was Smalling who dominated everything Huddersfield threw at us in the air.
Colossus.
Good game today. Dealt with most of their attacks without much threat in second half.
So he's good again?
Excellent game. When he plays with aggression he is an outstanding defender.
My take is that he is such a softly spoken meek character that it doesn't come naturally to him. That is why his form fluctuates so significantly with confidence.
My take is that he is such a softly spoken meek character that it doesn't come naturally to him. That is why his form fluctuates so significantly with confidence.
Another superb performance. Hopefully a couple of weeks of dung was just a blip and he can continue on with the form he's shown over the last two seasons.
All of our defenders are fine but almost all of them struggle to play in a combination. Hopefully we can sort it going forward.
Agreed, I'm starting to really think Valencia as well. Young is a much more astute defender of space and aware of where his CB is when defending in a line.
All of our defenders are fine but almost all of them struggle to play in a combination. Hopefully we can sort it going forward.
Smalling and Jones are definitely the chuckle brothers. Both play like very good centre backs until they meet each other and chaos ensues.
I always said He is okay when we didn't have the ball , Huddersfield had the Most possession so he had Less time to feck up with his feet , but when he had the ball , most his passing option was always to young & might put young under pressure which end up with him hoofing it . A better team would have took advantage from that.
notice how young stand deeper than shaw , which obviously mourinho instructions for him to help smalling.
"Keep it simple to young so you don't feck us" to smalling
"Stand behind to receive pass from smalling , he will pass to you all day"
To young
As results we can't build play from his side
The problem is , do you want us to dominate the game or not ? Most top teams dominate the game with loads of possession, with a defender whom good with the ball , today we have been dominated , 20 shots vs 6 shots against relegation candidate but fortunately this situation suit smalling better than otherwise
Everyone knows he is shite on the ball , not a defender for top teams , mourinho absolutely know it
he won't be playing that much if only Bailly didn't fecked his ankle & rojo didn't fecked his knee , he probably won't play against Sevilla , the more important match against stronger opposition , it shows how much mourinho actually rates him , much lower than you
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Credit where credit is due, Smalling was much improved today. He was brave and winning many of the aerial challenges. I still think his time is up at United. He should not start the next two games, way too important. One good performance against Huddersfield shouldn't gloss over how poor he's been.
Uh. No. Remember last season especially the League Cup final? One issue with him is that he can't strike long term, one solution for all partnership with any of our CBs. Any of his partnership always look like missing something and ended up being exploited.
When the game plan goes our way like today where the spot light shines on his ability to defend, soak up pressure with an early lead. He's a beast of defender which arguably individually can't be bettered by other CBs in this generation.
If Smalling had given away the free kick that Lindeloff gave away, we would hear about how shite Smalling is for a full week.
And if Smalling had given away the free kick that Sanchez gave away, we would hear about how shite Smalling is for a full week.
But even though he didn’t give away those free kicks, I am sure we will still hear for the following week how shite Smalling is. Why? Because some posters already decided Smalling is shite and want him sold.
And if Smalling had given away the free kick that Sanchez gave away, we would hear about how shite Smalling is for a full week.
But even though he didn’t give away those free kicks, I am sure we will still hear for the following week how shite Smalling is. Why? Because some posters already decided Smalling is shite and want him sold.
The difference is he’s been here 8 years. It’s not an overnight opinion that’s just come about. He’s literally the same player we got in 2010 without the potential now - a half decent CB.
Your theory is a bit off; because Lindeloff is being called shite because the ball slipped under his foot for a throw in, and the players were rubbing the ball constantly because it was so wet!
In fact, virtually every player is being balled shite because redcafe are in 'fix it' mode, where they are crafting up how to win the quadruple next year using their tactical insight.
Mut be JM just can’t tell a good defender from a shite one, or maybe he needs to come here to read this thread.
Complete garbage. When he came in he had a lack of experience and couldnt play a good match without Rio or Vidic holding his hand. He's had several very good seasons at the back for us and a few not so good ones and right now he's improved at everything including his weakest area, passing.
Or the fact he can’t take over a squad and replace 25 players over night. But he will take Smalling out of the team, it will happen eventually.
Eventually like this summer? Why keep playing him then? Jones & Rojo were available.
He played Schweinsteiger here and there. He gave Mkhitaryan minutes not too long before he departed. Rooney played many games.
You use the players you have. When Bailly is fit he’s first choice RCB. Any other defender will partner him as they remain in the squad.
But I’m not Jose Mourinho so I won’t put a date on it.
FYI as I said he’s a half decent player, slightly superior to say Jonny Evans because he can off some physicality when he wants to. But over a 38 game season, Chris Smalling is not the mainstay of a defence challenging for titles in 2018.
I’m not gonna sit here and say Smalling is the reincarnation of Vidic, as he is not. But over the last few years, he has been one of our best defenders, and Mourinho seems to rate him, and he continuosly keeps picking him over Jones, Lindeloff and Rojo. Unless JM criticizes him or drops him from the lineup for a good number of games, I will take it JM considers Smalling a good defender. And when it comes to defenders, I would say Mourinho knows more than anyone posting here.
Can Bailly play on the left though? Everytime I see Smalling on the left he's looked really poor. Give him a good run of games on the right and he can be really solid.
Smalling has always been a curious case. Was decent today but still did not erased that horror show back at newcastle.
But with Bailly back probably he will be more consistent. Fingers cross.
But with Bailly back probably he will be more consistent. Fingers cross.
He did .after smalling shite show against Chelsea in 4-0 defeat last season . he was dropped till someone else got injured
Mourinho didnt have any choice but to play him since Bailly injured his ankle. Remember our multiple 4-0 wins in earlier of this season ? Smalling wasn't part of that team
The fact that mou played him today instead of saving him for sevilla game should gave you clue how much he actually rates him
By that logic, Mourinho then doesn’t rate Matic, Lukaku, Mata, Alexis, or Young, and you wouldn’t expect them to play against Sevilla?
But let’s see if, as you suggest, JM drops Smalling for the Sevilla game which is a must win for us.
Another terrific performance from him. My MOTM. His heading ability is par excellence and the best in our by quite some margin.
Talk about clutching at straws! Schweinsteiger only played made 4 apps (one start) under Mourinho, all in cup games. He signed Mkhitaryan and Rooney was the captain and highest paid player in the team. If he didn't trust or rate Smalling he wouldn't play him this much even when others have been fit. More
You're showing how clueless you are again but nice to see you come out of hiding after Smalling's great performance. Against Chelsea in the 4-0 loss Smalling played with a broken foot and he was back in the fold when he regained fitness. Smalling wasn't a starter at the beginning of the season indeed, when we had it easy, but since then he's the only CB that has featured against ALL our top 6 rivals even in times when the other CBs bar Bailly were fit. Why is that? Also, do you think Mourinho will suddenly drop our only match fit defender for a crucial game? Rojo, Jones and Lindelof haven't featured much in the last few games and Bailly is just coming back. You can bet your last penny on Smalling plus one for the Sevilla game. I actually think it will be Smalling and Lindelof again.
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Beast mode or Colossal, shade of his 2015 form.Carry on with this gear next games please~
Nice. Fulfilled our minimum expectations today. Great game.
He's never gonna be on the ball so I'm not gonna focus on that, I thought he had a very good game. Specially in the air, not forgetting that superb block either.
The 'shite show' against Chelsea was because Smalling played while injured, which in hindsight was a mistake from both him and the coaching team. He then was 'dropped' because of injury. Once he came back from that injury it did take a little while for him to get back into the team again as the two we were using were doing well at the time. But it didn't take too long before he got an opportunity again, and he went straight back into the team and stayed there.
Same thing happened at the beginning of this season. Smalling was suspended for the first few games, which meant we started the season with Bailly and Jones. They did well so Mourinho rightfully stayed with them, although Smalling continued playing regularly in every cup game and also when we played a three man central defence. Then once a spot opened up he stepped straight into the slot, and he's now played significantly more games this season than any other central defender.
Oh, and that run of 4-0 and 4-1 wins earlier in the season? Smalling played in four of those seven matches.
Rojo is fit for more than two months now.
Despite the fact that he played him in almost every game for couple of months now?
3-0 vs Basel - Smalling played full 90 minutes
4-0 vs Burton - Smalling played full 90 minutes
4-0 vs CSKA - Smalling played full 90 minutes
4-0 vs Crystal Palace - full 90 minutes fir Smalling
4-1 vs Newcastle - Smalling played full 90 minutes
What a load of shite, you should just stop posting im this thread completely because you are constantly talking shite.
@Damien and other mods, can you ban these posters like him from this thread? This thread is turned into a worst thread on the forum because of @Antonedwin and people like him.
Games like this is why we shouldn't sell him. He's amazing in the air and when he's on it he can physically dominate. Would have loved for him to kick on and improve more than he has but he's worth keeping around.
Squad player . Great to have Bailly back from injury I hope he starts Wednesday.
Mike Smalling made a nice cameo.
His defending was top notch, can't ask for better than that. Positioning was spot on every time, got his head on nearly every cross and made plenty of blocks. He played like a prime Vidic.
His passing and bringing the ball forward was actually much better too! a few times he dribbled it forward and played the ball into somebody's feet. Simple changes but it made a big difference.
Well done Chris! keep Jones away.
His defending was top notch, can't ask for better than that. Positioning was spot on every time, got his head on nearly every cross and made plenty of blocks. He played like a prime Vidic.
His passing and bringing the ball forward was actually much better too! a few times he dribbled it forward and played the ball into somebody's feet. Simple changes but it made a big difference.
Well done Chris! keep Jones away.
I probably would have Jones and Bailly as our first choice CB pairing but some of the posts on here are mind-blowing. Smalling is a top-notch premier league defender who we would need to spend circa £40 million in my view to obtain a like for like replacement. Having him as first choice back up is an amazing position for any club to be in. CB simply is our least problematic position.
Giving away a free kick on the halfway line in the Newcastle game is not something for which he should be criticised. Defenders do it all the time and the fact it was a dive rather than a foul makes no difference. We had all the time in the world to then set up to defend the set piece and the fact Matic and Pogba both decided to let the Newcastle player have a free header and someone else allowed Ritchie to run entirely unmarked is not Smalling’s fault. His performance in that game was actually perfectly acceptable. He was then immense yesterday - I felt he edged MOTM just ahead of Lukaku.
As for the suggestion that he shouldn’t play in our next two games, are people really suggesting that a non match fit Bailly, the reckless Rojo or Lindelof (yet to show himself in any way capable of playing in a CB two) are better options in the biggest matches in our season so far? In my view, Smalling is an absolute certain starter against Sevilla and probably against Chelsea as well. I’d be amazed if we see Lindelof or Rojo as a starter in either of them.
Giving away a free kick on the halfway line in the Newcastle game is not something for which he should be criticised. Defenders do it all the time and the fact it was a dive rather than a foul makes no difference. We had all the time in the world to then set up to defend the set piece and the fact Matic and Pogba both decided to let the Newcastle player have a free header and someone else allowed Ritchie to run entirely unmarked is not Smalling’s fault. His performance in that game was actually perfectly acceptable. He was then immense yesterday - I felt he edged MOTM just ahead of Lukaku.
As for the suggestion that he shouldn’t play in our next two games, are people really suggesting that a non match fit Bailly, the reckless Rojo or Lindelof (yet to show himself in any way capable of playing in a CB two) are better options in the biggest matches in our season so far? In my view, Smalling is an absolute certain starter against Sevilla and probably against Chelsea as well. I’d be amazed if we see Lindelof or Rojo as a starter in either of them.
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