Perhaps, but it also shows that he rarely gives the ball away, as some suggest. He plays it safe, which is OK if the other players can relieve him of that task. Last year, Valencia was terrible at just hoofing the ball up, which was very uncharacteristic of him. Yesterday, he looked much more composed.
If the defender is playing it safe by passing it back to the goalie to kick it out, we're just substituting one bad pass percentage (that of the CB) for another (that of the goalie). The team still turns over possession very frequently and very easily, if the goalie has to hoof it up the pitch because the defence/midfield can't find a pass. Therefore it's still a problem.
That said, I personally don't have a big problem with Smalling's passing. It goes without saying that he's not the most confortable with ball at feet and he's a bit risk-averse but he more then covers that by being the best all around defender. It shouldn't really be a problem if the DM/DLP drops in to pick up the ball from him. Many teams play that way (the CBs "delegating" passing responsibility to CMs) without a problem. The fact he
looks awkward doesn't upset me in the least and I don't see why other posters get so irate about it.
I mean yeah, I wish he was as comfotable with the ball as someone like Vertonghen but he isn't so we gotta make peace with that. We gotta accept that so long as we don't have any better defenders than him, he should be a mainstay in the defence. Because he's the only one who can keep it together when we're being sieged and the least prone to howlers by far.