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Jones goes back to the keeper every practically every time. Smalling looks awkward because of his size, but he’s definitely competent and consistent.
When I watched Juventus play against Tottenham, I enjoyed watching Chiellini, as he knows how to defend. I don’t give a damn if he carries the ball forward or not, as long as he has Kane in his pocket. Smalling also did a job on Kane, but nobody even acknowledges the job he has done. The best Smalling can hope for is for a momentary respite from the many here in the CAF (and the media) calling for his head. I just think that those who want Smalling gone are the same ones who just cannot stand Jose’s style and would like to have a coach such as Poch directing our team to play that same style of attacking football.
Smalling is growing on at least me. He stays fit wich by virtue of puts him at the top of the pecking order.
See i’d Say it’s the other way around and Smalling is the excuse people who want Jose to stay use to point out why he is failing and why we can’t play a certain way. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Have Jose’s centerbacks been about ball carrying or about no nonsense defending? When I remember for example Carvalho and Lucio, they were all about no nonsense defending. I think Smalling fits that mold as well.
I’d argue that Carvalho was actually really good with the ball at his feet. He was just a really good defender. Not sure what that has to do with the generalisation tho of feeling like it’s the people that want Jose out/ or don’t appreciate his style that want Smalling sold.
How so?
I mean I explained it in the very first response. They say we can’t play the way many people talk about because we have Smalling who supposedly is the worst player they have ever seen on the ball ever. That Jose is working a miracle with players as bad as Smalling and we should be grateful for what Jose has done.
So basically pro-Jose people make an excuse that Smalling is the reason Jose’s system hasn’t worked great, and Poch/Pep/Klopp lovers don’t want Jose’s style and Smalling is exhibit number one for them. So then Smalling is a scapegoat for both camps.
In a very, very limited scope there’s some truth there. You’d struggle immensely arguing Smalling bares any comparison with Carvalho beyond that.
Pretty much although I’m sure there are some people that maybe want Jose out that don’t appreciate Smalling but from what I’ve seen the people that don’t rate Smalling seem to be the pro Jose camp mostly.
Carvalho and Lucio could play, and Smalling is in no way close to them. Smalling struggles making the simplest of passes, in isolation its "just a pass" but in the grand scheme of our build ups it hurts us a lot.
He really doesnt struggle to make the simplest of passes. Its just he doesnt try anything but that often at all.
There are so many United fans that I am sure there are plenty that want Jose to stay that don’t appreciate Smalling, as well as those that want a Poch style coach who will see Smalling as not fitting that style (Southgate logic).
Jones is the one who reads the game poorly, and ends up trying desperate tackles that sometimes work, and sometimes don’t. Smalling reads the game much better. He does resort to grabbing opponents regularly, but that’s mostly in set pieces and to gain better position when competing for headers. Most good defenders do that, as they know they can get away with it.
Many CBs do this week in week out in the PL but obviously Smalling will be called out for it more because United is scrutinized more than any other club on earth. Rojo does it often and Cahill did it to Smalling in the FA cup final twice but I doubt he got called on it. Reading of the game has more to do with anticipation and awareness than shirt grabbing during set pieces IMO and Smalling has bested his fellow United CBs in blocks and interceptions this season according to Squawka. You never see Smalling lunging into desperate challenges like Jones and Rojo regularly do
Keep your eye on him next year—if he’s still here as I suspect he’ll be. He’s night and day different deep versus higher up. Deep with it all in front of him he sees more and reads better. Further up these things drop off drastically for Mike. He loses track of people and fails to pick out runners with alarming regularity compared to how he is otherwise. For me Jones does better at this higher up than Smalling does. Jones seems to look around more.
I don’t really agree with what you’re saying at all as when we played with a high line under LVG he was great at matching runs and stopping the danger before it even happened. Even this year he has stopped many a run. Do you have examples? I’m sure there are probably 1 or 2 bound to be in a long season but for me he has always been the best one out of our CB’s at that. I even remember a game against Pool where he had to babysit Evans who was having a shocker and letting men run off him and Smalling was the one dealing with it. Even the at the weekend vs Hazard he matched a few of his runs or had dropped off when he saw him beat Jones to get in position to stop him.
Yeah. What he is saying isn't factual. I would like to know tho @Distracted Steward which single game you watched when that was the case, and you decided that is what you're going to run with forever. Im sure you have a legitimate reason for coming up with this view, but i'd argue against the number of games you have collected this data from honestly. And as said in the post i quoted, Smalling is doing the majority of work which involves stopping danger before it even happens, maybe that is why a lot of people aren't even recognising it. If he was positioning himself right, anticipating correctly and followed a run so early nothing dangerous happened, would you even notice? Based on your view of him, I doubt it.
To be fair, even I (one of his biggest fans) get annoyed with his passing sometimes. It's not so much that he gives the ball away (he doesn't), but he almost never passes the ball in front of the player to allow them to move onto it. Almost every pass goes directly to the player or behind them, meaning every single person he passes to has to stop, wait for the ball to get to him and then start moving forward again. It's fine most of the time, but every match there will be a few times where he really slows our play down because the player who was in acres of space (normally our fullbacks) can't actually attack it because they've had to check their run.
We played a high line all through LVG's last season and that is considered one of Smalling's personal best.
Please do wait, forever, to post again
Why would anyone not want Smalling here when he's been our best defender for ages. Jones drops a howler every few games and is made of glass, Bailly has been horrible since his ankle injury, Lindelof plays like he's scared, Rojo doesnt even play.
Just block me and do one. Jeez
Erm. Maybe because all our cbs are crap!?!
Oh yes, let's ship off 5 centre backs and get 5 new ones in. That'll work out well won't it.
If we want to compete with city give or take bailly and Jones (yes he’s in the wc squad and will probably start) then that’s exactly what we should do.
You want to keep Jones and not Smalling
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Smalling has had his fair share of injuries in the past.You want to keep Jones and not Smalling
He spends more time on the treatment table than playing!
People love to either overrate or colossally underrate our players.
All our cbs are crap, full backs are too, attackers aren't effective, Jose is past it, Pogba overrated... yet we're still 2nd..somehow.
Nope, Jose is the best manager available our attackers are in the main world class but we have to play defensively because our defenders are crap.... it’s not rocket science and every manager since saf has had to do the same.
If you dont want to support our club and all the players who play for it, why dont you block the club?
Right. I’m not allowed not to rate a player. Bye!
You didnt say you don't rate a player. You bumped this thread to make a toxic comment about one of our players.
