Thought he'd fight for that first XI like he's done in the past.
I'm genuinely sad he will be wearing other shirt than United. One of the best pure defender I've seen at United.
Good Luck Mike Smallenbauer
- Thread starter Andy_Cole
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I'm genuinely sad he will be wearing other shirt than United. One of the best pure defender I've seen at United.
What is wrong with people?
I am witnessing Danny Welbeck levels of post transfer hysteria here
Yeah just because there are no buyers for the dross, we aren't allowed to sell lesser dross.
Mediocrity is what you lot deserve.
What happens if Salah breaks a leg? What would have happened if Hazard broke a leg last season?
Under the right manager, his passing ability wasn't such a big issue. He and Blind could even play such a high line against rapid attack.
Good luck, Mike.
I have always rated him but he isn't a starter for us but ahead of Rojo and Jones all day. I respect he didn't just stay to collect a cheque and wanted to earn a living unlike some....
Thought it was pretty telling when he didn't get any game time in our last preseason matches, think Ole's made up his mind
Ole has made a few head-scratching decisions. I thought Maguire and Smalling would be a very good pair.
But hopefully this will work well for both parties.
Good luck in Serie A. Dont be an Ashley Cole, be an Aldair. The English Aldair.
Still not convinced Lindelof is better than him. Wish we paired Maguire & Smalling just once so we can see a back line that's close to invincible in the air & a pair of centre backs that offer a goal threat. Smalling's speed can cover for Maguire better than Lindelof too.
Anyway he's gone now. Be interesting to see how he fairs over there. Like for like replacement for Manolas? Good pure defenders, limited on the ball, excellent in aerial duels.
Anyway he's gone now. Be interesting to see how he fairs over there. Like for like replacement for Manolas? Good pure defenders, limited on the ball, excellent in aerial duels.
Why is Chris leaving in comparison to some other centrebacks? Can't really understand this. My favourite 4 are maguire, smalling, lindelöf and bailly. And also in this order.
But from this loan move you can see, that he seems to be the only one who really wants to play instead of waiting and getting paid.
Good luck to a very loyal employee of the club. Rojo and jones would have been my favorite leavings because of the higher probability of injuries and the quality in the pitch.
But from this loan move you can see, that he seems to be the only one who really wants to play instead of waiting and getting paid.
Good luck to a very loyal employee of the club. Rojo and jones would have been my favorite leavings because of the higher probability of injuries and the quality in the pitch.
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Wtf have I missed?
Looking at the twitter comments all those green and gold - Glazer Out accounts are all celebrating him leaving. The actual fans with real identities are showing him the respect he deserves which is good to see.
He was great under Van Gaal and actually one of the few players who has worn our shirt with pride the past few years. Wish him the best.
Hopefully Roma get to see Mike & not Chris!
He was great under Van Gaal and actually one of the few players who has worn our shirt with pride the past few years. Wish him the best.
Hopefully Roma get to see Mike & not Chris!
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Same here. Not entirely convinced by Lindelof and him being better than Smalling who has been our best CB for years. With Lindelof, although he's improved , there's always doubts about how physically dominant he is (or isn't).
I think Smalling came around about 10 years too late. I've always liked him, and I hope he has a good season in Italy.
If you include the metatarsal fracture, it's 126 vs 165 days, though in both periods he missed 29 games through injury (for a total of 58 over 9 seasons.)
I guess my point is that Smalling was never injury prone. Wayne Rooney was never considered as such, and he spent about as much time as Smalling out injured. In the seven seasons they were both here, Rooney spent 258 days out injured, missing 57 games. Smalling spent 256 days out injured, missing 50 games. He was unlucky and had a couple of semi-serious injuries within months of each other a couple of years back, which cemented his status as 'injury prone', but he had that reputation before those injuries as well.
Apologies for latching onto your post with this little rant, I just saw you mention his reputation of being a sick note, and it's something that has annoyed me to an irrational extent at times.
If you exclude the metatarsal fracture, he's spent more than twice as much time injured over the last three seasons as he did in the preceding six, 126 vs 60 days.
If you include the metatarsal fracture, it's 126 vs 165 days, though in both periods he missed 29 games through injury (for a total of 58 over 9 seasons.)
I guess my point is that Smalling was never injury prone. Wayne Rooney was never considered as such, and he spent about as much time as Smalling out injured. In the seven seasons they were both here, Rooney spent 258 days out injured, missing 57 games. Smalling spent 256 days out injured, missing 50 games. He was unlucky and had a couple of semi-serious injuries within months of each other a couple of years back, which cemented his status as 'injury prone', but he had that reputation before those injuries as well.
Apologies for latching onto your post with this little rant, I just saw you mention his reputation of being a sick note, and it's something that has annoyed me to an irrational extent at times.
It's also a case of being the only one of those Ole doesn't favor that anyone would conceivably want. Phil Jones exists in a perpetual state of injury, something Rojo also aspires to, if his injury record is anything to go by, while Bailly is out of commission for the next four months.
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He didn't let Herrera go. It wasn't until Ole took over that the club came in and offered Herrera a new contract, but by then it was too late as he'd already decided to leave. That was on Mourinho/Woodward.
I think it's definately a loss for us. Should have paired him up with Maguire.
Indeed. I don’t understand how people can have forgotten this.
If the Ole Way is going to be sit deep and counter attack I’m not sure why ball playing ability is such an important thing for a central defender in any case. I’d have thought defensive solidity was more important, in which case I’d take Smalling over Lindelöf all the time.
I don't understand all these comments where people have to point out that they don't hate Smalling.
Feck me, there shouldn't be any question of hating him. Why would you? He has been a loyal servant for almost ten years, never kicked up a fuss. It is like people are forgetting how good he actually was for a quite a while, especially in the SAF-Moyes-LVG transitional era. He was a beast at times. And even in recent years he has shown himself to still be a pretty astute defender, performing better than any of the other CBs bar Lindelof (for half a season) IMO. Don't really understand the decision to let him go, unless it's direct result of not being a consistent first-teamer (there's no way Rojo and Bailly are ahead of him). But I wish him the best - would love it if he did well in Italy. When he comes back to Old Trafford to play us in the CL I hope the stadium is full of actual fans, and not people that don't hate him.
Feck me, there shouldn't be any question of hating him. Why would you? He has been a loyal servant for almost ten years, never kicked up a fuss. It is like people are forgetting how good he actually was for a quite a while, especially in the SAF-Moyes-LVG transitional era. He was a beast at times. And even in recent years he has shown himself to still be a pretty astute defender, performing better than any of the other CBs bar Lindelof (for half a season) IMO. Don't really understand the decision to let him go, unless it's direct result of not being a consistent first-teamer (there's no way Rojo and Bailly are ahead of him). But I wish him the best - would love it if he did well in Italy. When he comes back to Old Trafford to play us in the CL I hope the stadium is full of actual fans, and not people that don't hate him.
From what I have picked up on over the years at Old Trafford he has received far and away the least individual criticism of any of our defenders. He certainly isn’t lumped into the same comedy category as Jones; that only seems to happen on the Caf.
will be surreal watching Roma v Inter and see Smalling against Lukaku/Sanchez
all the best Chris - would love to see him develop as a character over there - become more cynical and nasty
Rome is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been - not a bad place for a year out
all the best Chris - would love to see him develop as a character over there - become more cynical and nasty
Rome is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been - not a bad place for a year out
Personally think he's better than Lindelof
Our best defender bar Maguire. Shame he is wank on the ball but I'd rather we got rid of Jones or Rojo. Anyway hope he has a good season.
It's absolutely ridiculous! I've never seen such an obsesssion with such an average player before. I guarantee you that every time we concede a goal or Roma keep a clean sheet, the Chuckle Brothers worshippers will be baying for blood.
This
Head scratcher from Ole here. Anyway, good luck Chris. Great defender.
If this isn’t part of the reason for his departure, it should have been. He is the worst player I’ve ever seen for holding and shirt pulling at corners and free kicks. You say other defenders do it, but I haven’t seen any do it to the extent and regularity of Mike. He should be conceding a penalty at every corner.
He left because Ole said he couldnt guarantee him games, so you would imagine Roma have promised him that else theres no point
I guess you've never watched Serie A
All the best Mike! Thanks for the memories
Really surprised at this move but he is still in his prime years so be interesting to see what happens at the end of the season.
That was my point. Under no illusions that other defenders do it but he's got to be one of the worst in the league for making it so bloody obvious.
Good luck fella, seems like a nice bloke but obviously not bringing what ole wants to the team.
Best of luck to him and hope it works out really well
Woah I was never his biggest fan but that was as a first teamer. As a squad player I have him ahead of most of our other CBs. Even the ones he isn't better than he does certain things better than them. It's like Ole got feedback backlash from fans for not being ruthless enough and clearing the dross and swung to the opposite extreme.
Chris (Mike) seems a great guy. He always gave his all. He was promoted from lower league obscurity relatively late on his career. He is one of the last links to the SAF era. I will always regard him with fondness. I wish him the very best in the future. Adios, Chris Smalling.
That's really surprising. I remember him seemingly never being fit during his early years here, to the point where I thought it would hamper his chances of reaching his potential. He just seemed to always have a knock.
I think people massively over rate him. We've sold Blind, Evans and Keane while he's been here who are all better players.
Met him on the train shortly after his Fulham move;dressed in his Utd blazer. He said how proud he was to be appearing for us and what a dream it was. He was genuinely sincere.
Personally I don't think he's let us down. He is what he is: a fast athletic defender who maybe didn't read the game as well as he could have. However this is down to the management of the club. CBs need to complement each other,and us not buying a leader to partner him and form a world class pairing is not his fault.
Good luck to him and hope he has a great time in a great city