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I thought for that one it might have been on Bailly. Smalling had just been contesting Jesus for the ball on the edge, won a couple of tackles, ball goes out to the left, swung in and Smalling was just getting back. Aguero drifted off the back of Bailly.Scored a goal. Shocking defending for Kompany's goal. Very poor for most of the first half. Not great late on either, as he should be beating Aguero to headers in our box.
Is that the late one where De Gea saved us? If so, Smalling had moved up aggressively and won two challenges earlier in that move and was having to rush back to cover the attacker who nobody else had bothered moving to cover. Somebody else (not sure who) should have moved into that position when Smalling had stepped out.Not great late on either, as he should be beating Aguero to headers in our box.
Two if we're replacing Smalling with one.Terrific goal, but we need another starting defender.
Cant play football but was able to win the game for us with our best finish in the game. The state of our fans who cant even appreciate our own players.Regardless of his goal did you guys see how comfortable City defender passing the ball around when our players pressing them high?
Smalling shit himself whenever he got pressured, put Young under pressure with his pass, forcing young to either hoof or back pass to De Gea to hoof it as well, we keep losing possession in our half because this guy can't play football, he isn't the defender for team who are in possession.
He can't play football in the sense that he is bad with the ball at his feet. He is our worst CB when it comes to ball playing, and that is saying something considering they are all pretty bad at it.Cant play football but was able to win the game for us with our best finish in the game. The state of our fans who cant even appreciate our own players.
You guys are our version of the City fans crying because they didnt get to win the league today
Was the ball at his feet when he scored the winner today?He can't play football in the sense that he is bad with the ball at his feet. He is our worst CB when it comes to ball playing, and that is saying something considering they are all pretty bad at it.
One finish doesn't change that.
Has the ball been at his feet the three gazilion times he has refused to play it out from defence and failed to spot or execute a forward pass?Was the ball at his feet when he scored the winner today?
Many of our players go sideways instead of foreward. Seems bizarre to blame your best CB for that when only 2 or 3 players are always looking forwardHas the ball been at his feet the three gazilion times he has refused to play it out from defence and failed to spot or execute a forward pass?
You base your opinion on Smalling's ball playing skills on one finish? I guess Valencia is a great crosser also then, after all he got one assist from a cross this season.
Being our best CB has nothing to do with being a good ball playing CB.Many of our players go sideways instead of foreward. Seems bizarre to blame your best CB for that when only 2 or 3 players are always looking forward
Yes. And Smalling is one of the best defending CBs in the league.Being our best CB has nothing to do with being a good ball playing CB.
Vidic was a great CB, yet Alderweireld is the better ball playing CB. Doesn't change the fact that Vidic was a LOT better than him as a CB though.
So you'd prefer Lindelöf, Rojo & Jones to stay even though he's been our best center back for years now ? Come on, do you want us to weaken the team just for the sake of getting him sold. Please rethink !Fair play to him, he gave us all a wonderful moment today and I'm grateful for it.
But he still needs to go. Maybe he has been our best centre back this season - but that's the problem: Chris Smalling is our best CB. We'll win nothing major whilst we're in a position where he's a regular starter.
Yes, I've made up my mind on him not being a good ball playing CB. So have everyone else with a pair of eyes to be fair.Yes. And Smalling is one of the best defending CBs in the league.
If Smalling tried more forward passes he's likely to go down from his 85% pass accuracy and give the ball away sometimes. Guess what happens? You and your ilk will come here and say "See, he gives the ball away too much. We need a new CB".
For you, Smalling is damned regardless of what he ever does on the pitch. You've made your mind up. But thats a you problem, not a Chris Smalling problem.
Neither was Vidic. Great CB though.Yes, I've made up my mind on him not being a good ball playing CB. So have everyone else with a pair of eyes to be fair.
Fairly good pure CB though, but not good enough to lead our defence.
You are aware that the actuall ball playing CB isn't some mythical creature, but actually something that City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Juventus, Bayern, Real Madrid, Napoli and Barcelona amongst others use, right?this mythical "ball playing CB" that apparently we need, while everyone else gets by without one.
Put anyone else in his position and they would score as well , it was perfect ball from Sanchez. Smalling still can't play football , He is liability for our build up play. He saw opposition player came pressing him and shits himself all the time , it's not just against City , it's also against anyone else. I will only use him as squad player next season when we need to see the game out which Jose planning to do since he is gonna buy a CBCant play football but was able to win the game for us with our best finish in the game. The state of our fans who cant even appreciate our own players.
You guys are our version of the City fans crying because they didnt get to win the league today
I agree Smalling is by far the better header of the ball we have, that does not mean our other CBs would have 'surely' lost that header against Kompany today. Its basic stuff not to allow opponent header to come in front of you, and Smalling did. He had to anticipate Kompany is going to make a run, and had to make sure kompany dint get ahead of him. It was not a case of strength to strength header, but more of a positioning issue. If we had other CB there, maybe they could have done better.Smalling should have done better for Kompany's goal. In saying that, he's far better than any of our other options in that regard, so nobody else would have done any better (and any of our other options may have done worse at other times as well). He should still have done better though, he started off a bit passive in that movement which allowed Kompany to get that step or two in front of him that he couldn't recover from.
It's basically the same thing as what happened against Liverpool. Kompany and van Dijk are two of the best headers of the ball around (as is Smalling himself). As such it's very unlikely that given enough opportunities that he will be able to win every single time. Likewise at the other end, if we create enough opportunities it's likely that he'll get the better of them at some stage. We saw both today, although for some strange reason it appeared Ottamendi was the one marking him (if that were the case then it was poor organisation by whoever decided that for City).
