Big Chris is the gawd
Last edited:
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 29
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Red cards
- 1
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to talk about United's dreadful home defeat at the hands of Big Ange's Tottenham Hotspur. Should this have been the end of Ten Hag? How long does he actually have left? And does Nik finally want ETH out?!
Very good today. Our best defender.
He is lightening quick, he can dribble the ball forward easily, and defensively he is by far our best.
Smalling-Bauer made an appearance, was good to watch, he, Lingard and Kagawa were the only subs who can hold their heads high today.
Excellent as always in his defensive anticipation and tackling today. It will be difficult for people not to have noticed him as the standout in the second half.
Very convincing performance, shame he conceded twice but it wasn't entirely his fault. Hopefully he'll continue to prove the naysayers (who base Smalling's ability from his RB position) wrong.
My gut feeling is that he will become the best player of the Jones, Evans, Smalling trio.
Surely LVG can develop him to the next level, like he did with Vlaar at the world cup. Our best defender today, should stay in the middle of the back 3.
With the point of staying as the CCB, not only does it make more sense for his aerial superiority, but he also is put in far less awkward angles if he's playing on the right side, and that gives him more confidence to actually play with the ball as we saw tonight.
Underrated by United fans and massively underrated by other fans.
Great performance tonight, best CB performance out of him, Jones and Evans so far.
I've always rated him highly though, and if he's in the middle of a back three he'll thrive
I've always rated him highly though, and if he's in the middle of a back three he'll thrive
Did well today, was nice to see him playing in a position he's comfortable in.
I've always felt that he has the natural instinct to be the best of the three. Evans and Jones are better with the ball, but I think Smalling has a knack that's something which is harder to teach. I really hope he can stay fit this season and gets games in the right position, I'm pretty sure Van Gaal isn't an idiot and won't be playing him as a right back
When he's not played at right back he's very good.
Ashame a lot of people judge him because he's a shit right back. Put Rio and Vidic there and they would be terrible.
Ashame a lot of people judge him because he's a shit right back. Put Rio and Vidic there and they would be terrible.
He'll like the back three. the RB stint will of helped that. Did well.
Very good tonight. Let him do what he does best, defend, and we'll have a top player on our hands. Reads the game well and he can actually tackle. He also didn't shy away when given the captaincy. Hopefully he'll stay injury free and get a consistent run.
It was good seeing him step out of the back 3 and attack the ball, which the back 3 allows him to do. He's very quick off the mark and seemed to catch them out a few times where he bombed out and nicked the ball away. He was a big presence. Great mobility.
Explain to me why he's better than Jones.
Make the effort to look around before posting, please.
I did have a look around before I posted, sir. But I obviously missed the fact someone had already started a new thread for him.
Thanks for the post, god bless you sir.
I can't delete the thread, so mods please do so.
No problem. 
Twitter is worst. They have no clue, they laughed at a player's great performance just because conceded 2 goals. Oh human, they are so easy being tricked by stats and score.
I've always liked Smalling and he's currently our best CB behind Evans. I only rate Evans more because his ability on the ball is certainly better than Smalling's and Evans is generally more consistent. Defending-wise, I think the two are on a similar level.
He played well tonight, really took on the leadership role with the two less experienced CB's and I think it helped them.
Yup. Keane and Blackett had good games and they were definitely helped by Smalling's confidence and composure back there.
Agreed, he had a sort of "I got this" approach anytime there was a need to take charge of the back-line and that allowed the younger two to settle into their game.
Exactly. There's a reason he was given the armband when Cleverley was taken off.
Yes as he wasn't the next in line seniority-wise. Really looking forward to seeing how he does with a full season as a CB.
Me too. If van Gaal brings in Hummels (long shot) then Evans and Smalling would definitely be the other 2 CBs whenever we'd play with 3 at the back. If not, then he and Evans should play with each other as much as possible.
Absolutely. For all the Jones love due to his style, Smalling is easily the better CB.
Glad to see some positive posts in support of Smalling, seems on the twitter thread theres a movement wanting him out of the club. Hoepfully this is a big year for him & he can cement a place as a centre back at United. Has all the attributes you'd looks for, physically imposing, fast & can read the game very well. Van Gaal can help him develop & wont be playing him as a right back!
Looked rather commanding and we know he is really good defensively. He really has to improve his ball playing ability though, looks really awkard and starts pinging balls randomly or losing possession easily at times... Think we might have inadvertently stalled his and Jones progress as a centre back. If only him and Jones could have had a consistent run in the first team as centre-backs last season. There was a time when I thought we had the heirs to the pair of Vidic and Ferdinand, now it looks less likely but still possible nonetheless.
Man Utd 3:1 Liverpool
Our best defender easily. He has all the attributes to become world class: athletic, strong, very good tackler, and very good aerially. His composure when bringing the ball out is fine, but his long passes are generally poor. Needs to improve on that, but other than that, he's done very well.
Very strong performance. His ball playing skills are looking somewhat hit and miss. At times he looks very comfortable with it making great passes, and other times he looks so erratic and chucks it as fast as he can.
Our best CB, simple as that. He's a rock at the back, and with slow improvement to his passing and preventing injury will be great for him.
It's a shame his long passing is poor but he's our best CB. If he can keep his passing simply rather than playing more difficult balls then he can go onto become a really good player for us.
Our best defender during the pre-season tour. Has pace, strength, good reading and just about every core ingredient that a good centre back needs. If only he can improve his on the ball ability...
On pure defensive attributes, he is more or less very accomplished in most areas - athletic, strong, aerially dominant, good awareness & positioning and good in 1 v 1's. He is our most inherently talented defender. His distribution and composure - on the ball as well as dealing with danger - remains an issue, but he has the makings of an excellent defender.
Smalling's athleticism and strength give him a great advantage when players are running towards him. Most of the time, he'll either make a great tackle or he'll out-muscle his man. In the box, when dealing with crosses, he's generally excellent. His passing skills, however, are average. I don't feel comfortable with him making long passes, and that's why we need our full backs and midfielders to provide good passing angles.
Though he's not great on the ball, when he does play as a CB, he demonstrates good valiance in moving with the ball through the centre of the field. He's first choice quality, and hopefully this is the season where many fans can judge him fairly (in his natural position).
Obligatory videos:
Though he's not great on the ball, when he does play as a CB, he demonstrates good valiance in moving with the ball through the centre of the field. He's first choice quality, and hopefully this is the season where many fans can judge him fairly (in his natural position).
Obligatory videos:
I think he's one of our best choices for captain. On last season's performances he's the one CB that should be in the team every week