He's just getting the Jonny Evans treatment now. He was better defensively than both Jones and Rojo
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 36
- Clean sheets
- 18
- Goals
- 2
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His defending was fine, unlike Rojo and Jones who both made errors. He did put a few aimless punts into touch. And he did a nice chipped pass forward to Zlatan. Nothing to complain about from a centre back.
You thought our back four played well then? Or "did alright"?
I thought all 4 of them were shite and were a big reason for us being the worse side. I even agree with Lou that Jones and Rojo were probably even more shite, but Rojo gets a pass for me because well, we all know he's shite at LB and it made zero sense to move him back there.
yeh. Just imagine if any of the goals was actually his fault.
The others were below par. Darmian I didn't notice doing much.
The entire back four was jittery on the ball and we struggled to get any kind of play going, Hull were certainly the better side.
Twas exactly what I expected when I saw the teamsheet though in fairness.
Playing Rojo left back made perfect sense. Hull's main threat was set pieces so he played to add extra height. He picked up Maguire from set pieces which is preferable to Blind or Darmian doing it. It was either that or start Fellaini so Rojo with Smalling coming in was a good option.
United were clearly set up to play very compact and hit on the break through Lingard, Rashford and Pogba. The defence was really solid and didn't look likely to concede at all until Hull's late rally when the game was already won.
The defence had nothing at all to do with United being the worse side. It was the lack of quality from Lingard and Rashford (who amazingly was voted best player on here) that led to United failing to be a threat in the game.
I agree with your assessment until the bolded part.
The defense is far from solid. Smalling was the best CB this game, not that he's in his beast mode, but made the fewest errors. Jones was all over the place this game, while Rojo & Darmian couldn't pressure Hull crosser in regular play enough.
As a team we failed to turn up as attacking force for most of the game bar the period on second half until our 1-1 equalizer. You can't single out Rashford and Lingard for lack of quality when the players behind them were shocking building up/ distribution, which led to the point that Smalling arguably one of the worst in this aspect.
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When playing on the counter attack, it's less about build up and more about the players with speed using the space to run at the defence and cause problems. Neither Lingard nor Rashford did that well. I do agree they weren't the only ones who under performed but in that set up they were key players.
Apart from the spell right at the end of the game when Hull threw everything at it, there was never a point in the game where I expected Hull to score. I thought United handled them very comfortably.
It was a really odd game. The penalty made the game seem even more strange.
I disagree. Our out ball was not consistent good, not to say shocking this game.
Lingard I never trust him in game where we need to ruthlessly take the few chances we can create. He did fail to control the ball, pick out some key passes, but his movement was very good as usual. Rashford did very well causing problem for Hull. Darmian was his usual lackluster attacking, but strangely Rojo didn't help much for Rashford, neither. Our attacking wide men was left doing thing on their own this game. He still needs to hone his decision making, mind.
We defended the crossing well which Smalling took huge credit as he was our best defender for the game. However, the way we let Hull (!) to play that well and put that much ball into the box spelled out our team underperformed. If some other teams who have more quality and they were afforded the same freedom/edge to play like this game, I feel we would be exposed and probably concede more. Hull deserved the victory in this game, shite penalty call or not.
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Good post
Man Utd 4:0 Wigan
Good movement for the goal
More of those please. He's a big lad and should be getting more goals.
Gets more than any of our other CBs, by a large margin
Need a replay of the goal if anyone has, looked away when we scored... (at fiancees grandpa's birthday party...)
Absolutely pleased for him, he played well, looked much more comfortable in possession and of course got a goal.
Mike, just leave out the ball playing marlaky and you'll be fine
Great athleticism for his goal but looked unsure of himself when Wigan pressed onto us in the first half.
Yeah, our CBs really need to improve the amount of headed goals they get. Would be a huge bonus.
Better performance than against Hull anyway.
looks like he starts to believe in himself again, there's noway you can shit your pants while playing for MUFC, goal will help him too, I am sure with a good run of games for him can get him into that form he had in the first part of the season, which would make him certain starter so could make beasty pairign with Bailly, woul be very harsh on Rojo, who looks our best centerback this season and was great again..
He looked a bit dodgy to begin with but gained more confidence as the game went on and played very well.
he looked comfortable in possession because wigan decided to not pressure him but did it to stop rojo schweini and all from passing it out. maybe they realise that he wouldnt do much with the ball anyway
but was commanding today aside from a couple of jitters early on and later due to tuanzebe. could have conceded a penalty for shirt pulling though.
but was commanding today aside from a couple of jitters early on and later due to tuanzebe. could have conceded a penalty for shirt pulling though.
Was far better today than he has been the last few games. Although defensively he's usually good anyway, just lacking a bit of composure and hoofing the ball out of play at every opportunity. He had the highest passing accuracy on the pitch today at 94% (not counting Pereira in goal for us when he came on, and Tunnicliffe who came on for Wigan).
So much praise for Rojo lately, but today he just hoofed the ball forward at least 10 times. If it was Smalling doing that, it would have been brought up numerous times on here by now.
So much praise for Rojo lately, but today he just hoofed the ball forward at least 10 times. If it was Smalling doing that, it would have been brought up numerous times on here by now.
As said in the match day thread... The fact that he has to position his whole body in the direction he wants to pass the ball is really quite funny.
Anyway, good game, great header.
Anyway, good game, great header.
Lovely shouldered finish from big Mike. Should help his confidence
He does it in every game. Never gets mentioned for some reason
people dont give him shit for hoofing the ball. smalling does it when he has no one pressuring him and can well take a touch and recycle. Rojo hoofs when he is under pressure.
Nice goal and some signs of him bringing the ball out today like he did last season
Fair play as he's the only scoring CB we've got but still not the level we need. The problem for him is he's neither a Rio type nor is a Vidic but a kind of poor mans version of both. We need a commanding CB with the presence to go with it. I think Jose will look for that type of player in the summer I reckon....
13th goal for United and a tidy game from Smalling. The haters can lay low for now
He's not alone in hoofing the ball forward, however he looks ungainly and awkward, which exaggerates the issue and can breed uncertainty. His defending is more than fine. An extended run in the team would help boost confidence, but will he be given that opportunity?
Thought so too, is it the Rojo effect? As Jones also looks better on the ball next to Marcos.
Much better from Smalling all round today.
Jones probably looks better on the ball when he's next to Rojo because he gets to play on his stronger side. I imagine it was just a coincidence for Smalling today, or the fact he wasn't really getting pressured.
Why would it be?
Don't think it has anything to do with Rojo, he just got more touches on the ball and was given license to run further forward and play forward passes.
Fellaini & Schweini passed the ball to Smalling a lot particularly in the first half, and Rojo semed to play more back passes to the goalkeeper or sideways to Shaw, Smalling or Schweini when he would drop back.
Much better today. Glad to see.
"looked better on the ball today" hmmm
I would like nothing better than for him to succeed, but he look to me like a rabbit in headlights when he gets the ball and when it looks like it might be coming his way, he waves it off to someone else..
Zero forward passes or movement with the ball, always backwards or sideways - ok, safety first is a decent way to defend and probably high on José's list but against Wigan...
On the plus side a nice goal and an excellently timed tackle on the right touch at the end of the match.
I would like nothing better than for him to succeed, but he look to me like a rabbit in headlights when he gets the ball and when it looks like it might be coming his way, he waves it off to someone else..
Zero forward passes or movement with the ball, always backwards or sideways - ok, safety first is a decent way to defend and probably high on José's list but against Wigan...
On the plus side a nice goal and an excellently timed tackle on the right touch at the end of the match.
Disagree with the above, I think playing with Rojo brings the best out of our RCB's... who'd have thought that just 4 months ago 
You didn't watch the game because he played the ball forward most of the time, nothing flashy or Beckenbauer worthy, but he certainly improved this aspect a lot.
So you didn't watch the game. Good to know
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