Stadjer
Full Member
Atleast Smalling can defend.. if Smalling would have been on Hazard instead of Jones at the moment Fabregas made the pass it wouldnt have been a penalty for Chelsea.
Pretty much 50/50 between them. Both were far better than anyone else.Matic was much better
He had 80% pass completion at half time, trying to do way too much. Did better in the 2nd half though, as did Ander, when Matic stopped trying to do everything himselfMatic was much better
Gareth Southgate seems to rate Jones above Smalling Very worrying...Aye, you can really understand how people pick Jones over him can't you?
Fcuking morons.
Mediocre England manager manages mediocre England side out of the tournament once againGareth Southgate seems to rate Jones above Smalling Very worrying...
Matic did feck all. He tried but what did he actually do to impact the game? Pogba was our best midfielder.Matic was much better
Yeah because it’s so easy to stop Eden Hazard one on one..He played well against a team that didn’t press and had little desire to attack, so yes Smalling looked good. Surprise, suprise!
This type of game is not Smalling’s issue.
By that logic Bailly isnt good enough to be in the squadHe did well today, but I'm hoping our defensive pairing is Bailly and Alderweireld(I may have just butchered both names there) next season onwards. Smalling is a good player, just not good enough to be first choice going forwards.
Gareth Southgate seems to rate Jones above Smalling Very worrying...
Not sure he rates him higher, but he's said he wants his defenders to be able to play with the ball. I doubt Jones will start, by the looks of things it could be Walker (yes, at RCB) Maguire and Stones.Mediocre England manager manages mediocre England side out of the tournament once again
Just give credit where its due. Smalling marshaled Hazard handily when they came up against each other. At one point he beat Hazard to the ball in a foot race. Compare and contrast to Jones who shit himself everytime Hazard got close to himHe played well against a team that didn’t press and had little desire to attack, so yes Smalling looked good. Surprise, suprise!
This type of game is not Smalling’s issue.
Smalling dealt with Giroud for the majority of the match. There were only three or four times where Giroud managed to get onto Jones instead, and he didn't really get any more luck from him.He was good cause he had so little to do. For some reason Jones was in charge of Giroud, despite being well shorter than Smalling.
His job was really to watch Hazard's runs. Because Chelsea committed all of 0 men forward in the last 65 minutes of the match. Rio could have laced up and gone down there and been fine.
Sorry but you’re missing the point, we need a football player in the defence otherwise we’re dependent upon midfielders dropping in to pick up the ball and then the whole team is too deep and the opposition is set up ready for our attempt at attacking.Yeah because it’s so easy to stop Eden Hazard one on one..
I don't think Bailly could content physical Giroud. I also don't think he'd fare good against the trickery and experience Hazard.He did well today, but I'm hoping our defensive pairing is Bailly and Alderweireld(I may have just butchered both names there) next season onwards. Smalling is a good player, just not good enough to be first choice going forwards.
You keep saying this but it doesn't always matter because in many situations you just need a defender who can actually defend. Smalling is one part of a unit of a back line and his ball playing ability is not as big a hindrance as you're making out. Perhaps we should've started with Lindelof and Jones?Sorry but you’re missing the point, we need a football player in the defence otherwise we’re dependent upon midfielders dropping in to pick up the ball and then the whole team is too deep and the opposition is set up ready for our attempt at attacking.
Dude, we have 67% possession. What we do when having the ball is the real problem.Sorry but you’re missing the point, we need a football player in the defence otherwise we’re dependent upon midfielders dropping in to pick up the ball and then the whole team is too deep and the opposition is set up ready for our attempt at attacking.
We didn’t need that type of defender today, Chelsea offered zero threat as they basically said, screw you jose you’re going to have to attack us, in this instance we need to be able to add numbers to an attacker, which includes the defenders, Smalling and jones tbf can’t do this.You keep saying this but it doesn't always matter because in many situations you just need a defender who can actually defend. Smalling is one part of a unit of a back line and his ball playing ability is not as big a hindrance as you're making out. Perhaps we should've started with Lindelof and Jones?
That’s exactly the problem.... we had 67% possession because Chelsea were set up ready for any attack and we simply laboured in their half, if we had defenders that could intercept the ball and play a ball out to a midfielder or heaven forbid even an attacker, we might actually be able to counter or if their defence is in situate involve the defenders in the attacking play.Dude, we have 67% possession. What we do when having the ball is the real problem.
So you blame a CENTERBACK of not able to ping passes, because midfield and attack have problem scoring goal, or create enough meaningful chances. Make sense.That’s exactly the problem.... we had 67% possession because Chelsea were set up ready for any attack and we simply laboured in their half, if we had defenders that could intercept the ball and play a ball out to a midfielder or heaven forbid even an attacker, we might actually be able to counter or if their defence is in situate involve the defenders in the attacking play.
You can’t have players at the very top level that are quite literally scared of having the ball.