He scares himself when the ball is at his feet.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 36
- Clean sheets
- 18
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 0
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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He excelled the past two years because the safe sideways football covered him, his pace made up for any little error that did creep in.
Now that we are much more adventurous he is shown to be our worst CB of the four, not necessarily a bad player but no way near to being our best as was thought beforehand.
Now that we are much more adventurous he is shown to be our worst CB of the four, not necessarily a bad player but no way near to being our best as was thought beforehand.
A reminder of his performances from last season. Watch a bit of that and tell me you still believe he was 'protected' by safe football. He was proactive as hell. I remember he even said LVG encouraged him to get more aggressive
Yeah that's nonsense really, we kept the ball so much that the whole team drifted up the pitch.
Usually Smalling was defending counter attacks on the halfway line and equipping himself extremely well.
Seems to have regressed though.
Usually Smalling was defending counter attacks on the halfway line and equipping himself extremely well.
Seems to have regressed though.
Our best defender of the game. Wonky with the ball in his possession as usual. Jones was shocking and all over the place. Darmian was discipline for most part but having the tendency to clear the ball into opponent running from deep, and as usual weak in 1 vs 1 while offer nothing going forward. Rojo was decent but not comfortable at LB. I believe Rojo style meaning he tends to nick the ball so he requires other players to pick up the loose ball. As CB he has our midfielder, LB, CB partner and DDG to aim these nick ball to. Playing as LB he only has 3 options: winger, LCB and partly a midfielder to help thus he tries to dominate and win the ball more which is harder than simply contain and nick the ball which he did better as LCB. Also didn't offer much as LB in attacking sense bar the shot. Has been improved in set piece though and nearly score. However, he or Jones (wtf is with Jon Moss) was at fault for this stupid penalty that those 2 Hull players running into themselves. I leave the midfield and attackers for another thread.
Glad that we made into the final in normal time, than dragging it into extra time or risk an upset. Forgettable game. Wouldn't read much into this game.
Glad that we made into the final in normal time, than dragging it into extra time or risk an upset. Forgettable game. Wouldn't read much into this game.
I've been critical of Smalling for a while now so perhaps I'm biased, but given that we have Rojo, Bailly and Jones playing at a high level, and Tuanzebe and TFM on the fringes, do we need Smalling anymore? It's always helpful to have four capable centre backs, and Jones and Rojo could regress as quickly as they rose, but I just really don't rate Smalling one bit.
I think he's fine defending most of the time, but he's prone to errors (as are most of our defenders to be fair) but I think out of all our centre backs he's by far the least composed.
So often he will kick the ball out for a throw in/corner under absolutely no pressure, and in the box he's a penalty waiting to happen.
I wouldn't just sell him now in January, but if Jones/Rojo/Bailly show the consistency they have done, whilst Tuanzebe and TFM continue to develop, then If I was Jose I'd sell him this summer.
That said I'm not Jose, and I could be eating my words this summer after Smalling steps up and becomes our best centre back.
I think he's fine defending most of the time, but he's prone to errors (as are most of our defenders to be fair) but I think out of all our centre backs he's by far the least composed.
So often he will kick the ball out for a throw in/corner under absolutely no pressure, and in the box he's a penalty waiting to happen.
I wouldn't just sell him now in January, but if Jones/Rojo/Bailly show the consistency they have done, whilst Tuanzebe and TFM continue to develop, then If I was Jose I'd sell him this summer.
That said I'm not Jose, and I could be eating my words this summer after Smalling steps up and becomes our best centre back.
Yes he looked very awkward on the ball for some reason today but, he defended well and I know people keep saying he'll be gone in the summer but, Mourinho likes defenders that defend first, he is our most dominant in the air and he still has him as his 3rd captain for a reason.
Is TFM really on the fringes though? I thought he was favouring a denfensive midfield position. We have seen how good Smalling can be and if he is fine being a fourth choice CB i have no problem with keeping him especially since Jones and Rojo have been fairly injury prone. I do find it interesting that you didn't even mention Blind though, i think he will go before Smalling, he appears to be behind Rojo at LB and hasn't got a chance at all to play in midfield.
He always does look awkward. I don't understand you think it's just today. And his defending is shaky to say the least.
A penalty that never should be. Now imo none of our defenders was particularly good or bad yesterday, i think Smalling is a decent CB but honestly i had much higher hopes for him. There was a period during LVG's first season where he looked terrific for a long period and everyone thought he finally had matured into "the next Rio" or whatever.
My biggest problem with him right now is not his defending, but his panicky clearances every time he wins the ball.
There's a guy on another thread that reckons if we had a central midfield crises then we don't need any signings as smalling is best suited to fill in!!haha.
Looks uncomfortable and awkward. Terrible composure and looks dodgy with or without the ball. Physically big but barely able to stamp his authority over any attackers these days. Non existent and often terrible distribution to go with it.
How ironic you should mention this when it was Rojo who conceded a penalty and Jones was guilty of clearing the ball under no pressure whatsover a few times during the game (the first time he did it was a minute or so before he got yellow carded)
Jones was awful last night, as many have mentioned in his thread. It's hardly the biggest compliment for Smalling that.
Mentioning the ghost pen, really Lou?
It was a soft call but Rojo did foul the guy. Im just pointing out the irony
Really?
I'm amazed you would say that just to try & defend Smalling.
I don't even know of a single pundit who thought there was any foul.
The regression bad form continues.
I can understand why it is mentioned as there are quite a few who claim that Smalling is a red card waiting to happen or that he is prone to causing pens. However, stats will tell you that he isn't guilty of many red cards nor is he of giving away penalties.
He looks awkward, more so this season I think, but he doesn't give the ball away, so it hardly matters. What does annoy me is that he always has to take one extra touch to pass the ball, and that disrupts the flow of the game.
I don't think that's the case at all, he's hardly given any pens away despite the risks he takes and he's certainly never been considered a red card waiting to happen, Rojo has that title around here.
But to suggest that Smalling doesn't take a lot of risks with shirt pulling antics is more than a little "off".
Seriously I don't like him in the side, his constant hoofing and rubbish passing kills us
Had any one of our players given away that peno last night, I would have called it ridiculous. Because eh it was ridiculous.
It's kind of pathetic that some in here feel the need to try justify the peno as a means to praise Smallings performance. Both Smalling and Jones were shite last night. It's pure agenda driven even trying to claim Smalling had a good game. Some in here are relentless when it comes to absolving Smalling of any blame and trying to convince us all how great he is.
Had that peno been awarded against Smalling, the usual suspects in here would be lambasting the ref. This player favouritism lark on here is pathetic and makes debating with certain posters, about certain players, absolutely pointless.
I wonder if it's because he's gone from clearly being the number 1 centre back with Van Gaal, playing every week and knowing he was going to play every week. To falling down the pecking order under Jose, he must be 4th choice now at centre back, and knowing the new manager doesn't have the same trust in him.
There must be some reason he's regressed so much, it's not just on the ball. He seems nervous and panicky at all times.
There must be some reason he's regressed so much, it's not just on the ball. He seems nervous and panicky at all times.
Doesn't explain why he was pretty shit after xmas last year also, something bizarrely glossed over by most on here.
I will state that up until December I was blown away by Smalling myself, his form was terrific, but it was blindingly obvious that his form did not continue into 2016 and has gradually gotten worse month after month.
His ball playing skills are absolutely awful, I'd be more than happy to put up with it if he defended like Baresi, but he doesn't. He invites so much pressure onto us by always clearing it for a throw in or hopelessly punting it as far as he can.
If we get a CB in the summer, I wouldn't be surprised to see Smalling leaving.
If we get a CB in the summer, I wouldn't be surprised to see Smalling leaving.
The shirt pulling pisses me off, and he doesn't need to do it either. He's great in the air, and he does it against pygmees as well. It's just daft.
There has been quite a lot of critique against him getting red cards in important matches (twice that has happened), and the same goes with pens. Those arguments are just plain wrong. The passing argument is valid, as is the shirt pulling, but I just wish people could be a little bit more objective when arguing. At least they should be able to say they are wrong when proven so.
Of course it was never a penalty, and if that is a penalty you need to award twenty every game.
My argument about Smalling's passing is that it was no worse than the rest of the defense, so blaming him for us hoofing the ball was a little silly as he at least was the only one who did his defending bit well, and saved our arse a couple of times. Jones was all over the place and passed the ball all over the place, as was Rojo, and Darmian was just well, Darmian. This, of course, does not make Smalling a good passer.
Not sure about the bolded part though. I actually think Smalling gets too much criciticsm at times, especially after that Chelsea game.
Smalling spreads jitters the way Carrick spreads calm; the whole defence looks more jittery when he plays. It's no good saying everyone else was nervy: Smalling should, by now, be the senior cb leading by example.
Last season, I was hopeful he was coming into his own but now I am losing faith. I think his time is up. We can't build a defence around a bag of nerves.
Last season, I was hopeful he was coming into his own but now I am losing faith. I think his time is up. We can't build a defence around a bag of nerves.
Last season I always used to wonder why Smalling and Blind would appear to not be communicating with each other - often going through games seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were in fact playing alongside another centreback.... but now I realise that Smalling alone has trouble with his brain communicating with his limbs, then I guess it makes sense.
I want him gone, he simply has no footballing intelligence and seems to panic constantly. There's no place for him at the club anymore with Bailey here. I had hoped he'd turn into a world beater after his promising season with LVG, he has the physicality for the position but not the mental aspect. The fact that he looks the same defender as the one we bought seven, yes seven years ago.
He's a liability with the ball at his feet, which in itself isn't the worst thing in a Mourinho team but his positional sense is awful and at this age you would expect him to be a calming influence on the defense, however, he seems to have the opposite effect and instill panic in his team mates. The only times he really looks good are in 1v1s, a foot race or the occasional Ariel duel. As part of a unit he just doesn't work.
He's a liability with the ball at his feet, which in itself isn't the worst thing in a Mourinho team but his positional sense is awful and at this age you would expect him to be a calming influence on the defense, however, he seems to have the opposite effect and instill panic in his team mates. The only times he really looks good are in 1v1s, a foot race or the occasional Ariel duel. As part of a unit he just doesn't work.
But those other players have been criticised in their threads? Smalling clearly wasn't good last night so what's the big deal; can't we just acknowledge it. I mean, Jones was shite too, no one is saying otherwise.
I'm glad you acknowledge that it clearly wasn't a peno but there's a poster in here trying to vindicate the decision so that he can praise Smalling and slag off others. I just find that pathetic. All our defenders were woeful last night, there's no denying that.
In relation to the passing; I don't know, maybe stats say otherwise but Smallings lack of ability to pass a ball just stands out so much more than others. It's beyond frustrating given that he was actually ok on the ball last season.
Aye, and no-one has tried to deny that except a small bunch of posters desperate to praise Smalling.
It's absolutely no surprise the entire team struggled so much last night with a defence consisting of:
• Darmian, terrible on the ball.
• Smalling, ditto.
• Jones, has been crap at LCB every time, bizarre. His passing in that position especially goes to shit.
• Rojo, has never been a good left back in a flat back 4.
How on Earth can a team build anything with that? I'm desperate to see Valencia, Bailly, Rojo, Shaw and I still think we should be spending big in the summer for a new CB if we really wanna reach the top again.
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Yeah I don't understand it myself. People who criticise him are labelled 'haters' or 'agenda driven' by his fans. Funny that, because most if not everyone that is criticising him, is also criticising the others in their respective threads. I mean there's a poster in here vindicating the refs decision to give the peno, all in the name of defending Smalling. Who's the ones with the 'agenda' eh...
Aye, that back four last night was thoroughly underwhelming and completely lack any sort of ability on the ball. The back four you mentioned is the one I want to see, too.
Finger's crossed we see it sooner rather than later but I'm worried Mourinho might stick with Smalling now despite the obvious downturn in our results/performances since he came back in.
Would love to see Bonucci here, he'd surely have to be everyone's top pick considering how comfortable he is on the ball even when at LCB.
Me too, and I am among his biggest fans. Last season, he had a lot of moments where it looked like he had come a long way with his technique, passing and dribbling. It was still far from perfect, but a huge improvement. Some of his passing and moments where he brought the ball out into and through the midfield was very good. This season, he just smashes the ball when it comes near him when under no pressure, and he dribbles like you would expect a sunday league goalkeeper to. It's an incredible regression.
I still think he is a very good pure defender in terms of winning aerial challenges, making tackles and facing one on ones. Physically he is very good, but if he can't maintain any sort of composure, then he's an enormous liability. He was captain against Stoke, and the team was trying to lead him rather than the other way around.
I'm not sure his time is up yet. I think Mourinho rates him and doesn't seem to want to give up on him just yet, unlike with Schneiderlin and Memphis, who he just didn't want to play. He's got a lot of games to turn it around, but if he keeps playing with zero composure and hoofing anything that comes near him, then Mourinho might look elsewhere.
If a team offered £25/30m, I'd take it. Will soon be 28. Can't see him improving much more than his current level.
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Kit person going to have a hard time gettting those shorts white again after his continual tog-filling for 90mins!
Is on the fringes in the sense of being around the first team, I do like TFM as a centre back personally, I went when we played Watford and he was in with blind and he was fantastic.
We have seen Smalling perform well, but I just personally would rather have a younger player for that fourth spot.
Sadly I'd completely forgotten about blind, although I do think Jose sees him as a left back.
I wouldn't be surprised to see both go in the summer.
It's not that ironic really is it when I'm talking about the big picture, although if you're only capable of speaking about one match at a time that's okay too.
Jones' average score was almost a full point above that of Smalling yesterday, and to my eyes, Smalling was far superior in his defensive work whereas both were woeful in terms of distribution.
I've never understood how slagging someone off (wrongly may I add) is a just cause to vindicate someone else. If not pathetic, it is plain wrong.
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