[Dr Baltar]

I don't think he's really improved too much defensively. He's managed to say fit and piece all of the raw materials together, but all of the good things he does are things he was always capable of.

Depends where you stood before this season, I suppose. I wanted to let Rio go about two seasons before he left because I liked Smalling so much. For me, he's just reaping the benefits of regular football and a little bit of trust.

The injuries were an issue but his positioning wasn't as good as it is now & he used to make a lot of mistakes. Dropping too deep, silly fouls, rushing into tackles etc.
He definitely has improved. Maybe the standard set by Rio & Vidic didn't help when he first came here but people that say he's always been great are re-writing history. Second half of last season & this season he has been very good, before that he wasn't anywhere near the level he is now. Jonny Evans was preferred to him for quite a while & rightly so. They're a similar age & whilst Evans didn't improve at all from 21-25, Smalling has improved a lot which is why one plays for West Brom & one captains us.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

He's a colossus.

 

[Halftrack]

The injuries were an issue but his positioning wasn't as good as it is now & he used to make a lot of mistakes. Dropping too deep, silly fouls, rushing into tackles etc.
He definitely has improved. Maybe the standard set by Rio & Vidic didn't help when he first came here but people that say he's always been great are re-writing history. Second half of last season & this season he has been very good, before that he wasn't anywhere near the level he is now. Jonny Evans was preferred to him for quite a while & rightly so. They're a similar age & whilst Evans didn't improve at all from 21-25, Smalling has improved a lot which is why one plays for West Brom & one captains us.

I think the people who always rated him, such as myself, saw that he had all the tools needed, and that most of his faults were of the kind that usually goes away as a player gets more experienced. It could certainly have gone either way for a while, but he never really managed to establish himself as a clear CB choice, either through injury or by being shunted out on the right. For that reason, I always felt that he deserved more time and proper run as CB to prove himself.

 

[Walrus]

I didnt think he was any worse than normal today. I dont think he is as well suited to a back three though, as it necessitates better ballplaying abilities from the central CB I think.

 

[togg]

He's becoming our Rio and Vidic. The guy has grown in stature amazingly this season.

 

[diarm]

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This is brilliant. I didn't think it had got so big that he'd know about it yet!

 

[Sylar]

Hes shocking with the ball at his feet

Not that we should have to rely upon him of course, and hes a beast at the back. But wish he wouldnt get a nose bleed once he travels to half way line with the ball.

 

[Bwuk]

PSV clearly targeted him as the weak link in possession and we're happy to let him have the ball.

He's improved leaps and bounds and defensively he's great. Some of his defending tonight was great.

LvG needs to do something about this, because playing the ball is never going to be his strong point, and neither Blind nor Schweinsteiger were available enough for him to play the fast simple ball to get us moving again.

 

[Cheesy]

Hes shocking with the ball at his feet

Not that we should have to rely upon him of course, and hes a beast at the back. But wish he wouldnt get a nose bleed once he travels to half way line with the ball.

He's not particularly elegant with it as such, but I quite like it when he goes forward: he seems to have a purpose and directness that our other players often lack. He sometimes felt like more of an attacking threat than Schneiderlin in the second half.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

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This is brilliant. I didn't think it had got so big that he'd know about it yet!

Yet to see a shirt with "Mike 12" on it yet though...

 

[Devil may care]

Good defensively and works well under pressure more so than any other player we have.

 

[Sylar]

He's not particularly elegant with it as such, but I quite like it when he goes forward: he seems to have a purpose and directness that our other players often lack. He sometimes felt like more of an attacking threat than Schneiderlin in the second half.

Apart from one really good pass forward (think it was to Memphis), he does this thing where he runs and either does a long ball or passes it backwards. Im not saying he should be bursting through like Rio used to (or Jones does) but wish his passing was better (and kinda like deer in headlights)

 

[Born2Lose]

Apart from one really good pass forward (think it was to Memphis), he does this thing where he runs and either does a long ball or passes it backwards. Im not saying he should be bursting through like Rio used to (or Jones does) but wish his passing was better (and kinda like deer in headlights)

Agreed, it's why I was very glad to see Blind getting a chance this season, especially so in games where teams park the bus.

Smalling really needs to develop this side of his game to really be up there with the best.

 

[Walrus]

He's not particularly elegant with it as such, but I quite like it when he goes forward: he seems to have a purpose and directness that our other players often lack. He sometimes felt like more of an attacking threat than Schneiderlin in the second half.

I thought this as well. He reminds me of me when I was playing - shite on the ball, but if there is space in front of you then you carry the ball forward until someone actually comes to stop you.

 

[Cheesy]

I thought this as well. He reminds me of me when I was playing - shite on the ball, but if there is space in front of you then you carry the ball forward until someone actually comes to stop you.

It kind of reminds me of how David Luiz can be when he's playing in defence sometimes. With the difference being that Smalling's very reliable in defence at the moment as well. He's playing with a lot of confidence too, which certainly helps.

 

[Bwuk]

He's able to carry the ball forward because opposition don't feel the need to press him because his lack of ability on the ball. If the likes of Blind went charging forward he'd be closed down.

Teams keep there shape and make it hard for us to do anything because we play such a slow possession game.

 

[Amar__]

Hes shocking with the ball at his feet

Not that we should have to rely upon him of course, and hes a beast at the back. But wish he wouldnt get a nose bleed once he travels to half way line with the ball.

He used to be, but he really isn't know.

He was probably better with the ball than either of our midfielders in second half.

 

[ZDwyr]

I didn't think he was too bad on the ball actually. He had one or two bad passes but aside from that he was positive. He was driving the team on at the end and looked like he wanted to win. Improved after a slow first-half I thought.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

He used to be, but he really isn't know.

He was probably better with the ball than either of our midfielders in second half.

Better than Morgan tonight TBF.

 

[711]

I felt for Smalling today, it's not his game to take the ball forward like that, but he shouldered the burden because there was no one else, and he tried his best.
Where the feck were the midfielders? They weren't there to take the ball off him, yet they weren't there supporting attack either. It was a shambles, but it wasn't Smalling's fault, he did his primary job of defending well, as usual.

 

[DWelbz19]

I felt for Smalling today, it's not his game to take the ball forward like that, but he shouldered the burden because there was no one else, and he tried his best.
Where the feck were the midfielders? They weren't there to take the ball off him, yet they weren't there supporting attack either. It was a shambles, but it wasn't Smalling's fault, he did his primary job of defending well, as usual.

Yeah it was pretty ridiculous. Only player bar the man behind him who really seems to churn out performances (I don't really want to say it but) worthy of the shirt. Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and Fellaini were all spineless and content in giving him the ball to pass forward. He made a fairly good pass to Memphis at one point, who should've done better.

 

[Jonno]

I felt for Smalling today, it's not his game to take the ball forward like that, but he shouldered the burden because there was no one else, and he tried his best.
Where the feck were the midfielders? They weren't there to take the ball off him, yet they weren't there supporting attack either. It was a shambles, but it wasn't Smalling's fault, he did his primary job of defending well, as usual.

I felt for him too. It seems the Central midfield is bypassed by our defenders coming out with the ball, its like they're only there to make 5 yard passes to each other and go backwards. Smalling looked like the quickest player on the pitch with the ball at his feet and that is very worrying.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I actually think they don't press Smalling because it would be hard to take the ball off him and stay back because they want him to make a mistake and attack the space he leaves behind i.e as he's the only one they would fear 1-on-1. It's the same with Kompany, teams invite him to go forward because they want him out of the game so to speak.

Imo if he actually had more competent defenders behind him and a team that he trusts/can rely on to retrieve/rush the ball IF he loses, he would go forward much more because his stride and ball carrying can cause a lot of problems (obviously nowhere near that level but think Lucio).

 

[Skills]

Pre-season:

4 goals conceded, only 1 with Chris Smalling on the pitch.

Season so far:
22 games (full minutes bar 20 vs Ipswich)
14 goals conceded (9 in the league, 1 in CL qualifiers, 4 in CL group stage)
13 clean sheets

 

[NoPace]

Very good defensively as always. Won't be the last time we play a team who scheme to deny Blind the ball and give Smalling tons of time and space. He shows flashes of competence but generally is poor on the ball. He needs to improve his passing to make them pay or switch tactics. Good ball to Memphis at one point but other than that nowhere near enough of it.

 

[Amar__]

I can't believe people are even mentioning his passing when even our midfielders can't pass for shit these days. Only Carrick in our midfield seems capable of quality passing yet somehow Smalling should be the one taking responsibility, even though he is playing behind Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger who are actually responsible for that. And it's not like his passing is bad, it's just isn't that creative(which is standard even for CBs who are better with the ball at their feet than him).

For example, he passed the ball 17 times to Schneiderlin which is our second highest pass combination in the game yesterday. In comparision Blind passed to Morgan "just" 14 times. Schneiderlin passed the ball 21 times to Smalling. Blind played 14 passes to Smalling, and Smalling passed it to him just 8 times. Yet somehow Smalling is the one who is uncreative. He also played just 9 backward passes. 45 forward succesfull passes. These are chalkboards of him, Schweinsteiger, and Schneiderlin, his variety of passes looks actually even better than either of those, yet somehow he is the one who is "shocking with the ball".

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/statszon...1_PASS_01#tabs-wrapper-anchor#:NQdCnAi_PqnCaA
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/statszon...VERALL_02#tabs-wrapper-anchor#:KnDBOBgZw2nCaA
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/statszon...VERALL_02#tabs-wrapper-anchor#:YUksQudJ_0nCaA


This must be one of the weirdest and most unfair complains I have seen to one of our players.

 

[Aporkalypse]

Would make him permanent captain to be honest.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Smalling did create a very good chance when he hit a ball along the ground to Memphis from the half way line, which cut straight through PSV. Memphis cut inside but spoiled it with a bit of a tame effort on goal.

Some of his forward passes were excellent. It can sometimes be a little inconsistent, but it wasn't last night. Him and Blind were our two best players by a distance.

His passing and dribbling have improved immeasurably since he first arrived.

 

[SilentWitness]

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You're all wrong...

 

[HabeasC]

Michael Owen, football genius

 

[DWelbz19]

feck, man. How can somebody be so wrong about football?

 

[Ryan7]

A beast at the back again. Did brilliantly to catch up with Vardy near the end.

 

[Cheesy]

Ridiculously reassuring. Solid game from him.

 

[Manny]

I thought he paid Vardy too much respect at points today and there were some needless hoofs clear.

Other then that a pretty as expected Smalling performance.

 

[DWelbz19]

I don't think even the likes of Douglas Costa and Neymar could take him in a one-on-one. Fantastic player.

 

[Amar__]

He is so much better in his position than our any other outfield player in their position it's embarrasing really. We would be seriously fecked if his injury problems continued this season. Surprisingly, he looks like one of the fittest players in league this season. He actually deserves lot of praise just for being reliable in terms of injuries.

 

[...aka Las Cortinas]

Best defender in the league. Comfortably so, too.

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

What a man.

 

[Godfather]

Beast. Love the lad to bits.

 

[Skills]

He is so much better in his position than our any other outfield player in their position it's embarrasing really. We would be seriously fecked if his injury problems continued this season. Surprisingly, he looks like one of the fittest players in league this season. He actually deserves lot of praise just for being reliable in terms of injuries.

Shaw is right up there too IMO.