[arnie_ni]

I think Man Utd played with Bailly on the right and Smalling at the center, so it was Smalling that left his area (the most important one) unprotected.

The flanks really aren't as dangerous as the center so when you're caught in three vs two with one flank exposed, it's better to just fall back than move to cover the unexposed flank. If Bailly had left his flank then Valencia would've had to move in to cover Bailly's area as well and it's difficult to get that much coordinated movement done quickly enough to not mess it up.

Baka wasnt in the flank. He ran right up the center of the pitch. Smalling had to go to him

 

[arnie_ni]

Like I already said. It is a three versus two situation. No matter what system you have in place you should always fall back and force away a shot at the near post. Everybody falls back when outnumbered.

Except they werent out numbered when azpi had the ball.

Look at a still when he receives it. Smalling should drift across to baka bailly to morata abd valencia to thr guy on the back post. Young has the right winger and jones should push azpi hard.

The only ones who done their job was young and smalling everyone else ball watched

 

[settembrini]

Can't believe there have been 5 pages on Smalling's performance vs Chelsea. He did fine, nothing amazing, nothing terrible, not much to talk about imo unless you have an agenda for or against the player. Meanwhile Jones has only a few comments in his thread since the game and he was a complete shambles.

 

[Ekeke]

Like I already said. It is a three versus two situation. No matter what system you have in place you should always fall back and force away a shot at the near post. Everybody falls back when outnumbered.

If "everyone falls back" here we play everyone onside and Bakayoko has the ball inside our box with nobody pressuring him. He then has the easiest job in the world finding a teammate or finishing himself because everyone is in play and none of our players are in a position to defend the situation.
We had a system to defend moments exactly like this, the only problem was that we didn't perform that system correctly. 2 cogs of the machine rotated while 1 or 2 other cogs failed to do so.

 

[Gusjaros]

If "everyone falls back" here we play everyone onside and Bakayoko has the ball inside our box with nobody pressuring him. He then has the easiest job in the world finding a teammate or finishing himself because everyone is in play and none of our players are in a position to defend the situation.
We had a system to defend moments exactly like this, the only problem was that we didn't perform that system correctly. 2 cogs of the machine rotated while 1 or 2 other cogs failed to do so.

I could show you a image of the goal from another angle, but I'm not allowed to upload images or media.

The Youtube user Have Hope Football Hut have a video up that shows that if Bakayoko had received the ball it would be at a narrow angle, so it wouldn't have been as dangerous a situation as Morata receiving the ball at the center.

 

[Ekeke]

I could show you a image of the goal from another angle, but I'm not allowed to upload images or media.

The Youtube user Have Hope Football Hut have a video up that shows that if Bakayoko had received the ball it would be at a narrow angle, so it wouldn't have been as dangerous a situation as Morata receiving the ball at the center.

Of course its not as dangerous as Morata having the ball in the middle of the goal. He's not supposed to. In the system we're playing Bailly is supposed to stop that happening so that Smalling can cover for Jones. But its still very dangerous and could easily have led to Bakayoko finding Morata from a pass.

 

[Rossa]

I could show you a image of the goal from another angle, but I'm not allowed to upload images or media.

The Youtube user Have Hope Football Hut have a video up that shows that if Bakayoko had received the ball it would be at a narrow angle, so it wouldn't have been as dangerous a situation as Morata receiving the ball at the center.

And did Smalling have time to find that camera angle, analyze it and make a judgement on the angle that Bakayoko would most likely have got? Smalling made a decision to follow a run - Bailly made a decision to not do much, and Jones decided on something. It was a clusterfeckup, but blaming it on the one guy who actually did some defending is a little bit weird.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

feck me, are you lunatics still dissecting to death that ONE goal from 9 days ago?

 

[Rossa]

feck me, are you lunatics still dissecting to death that ONE goal from 9 days ago?

There are some who are so determined that Smalling is responsible for any goal, no matter, that the discussion can never end. In all honesty, it was a pretty darn good goal. Had Pogba made that pass and Lukaku scored, we would be over the moon, not analyzing a different camera showing how narrow an angle this or that made.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

There are some who are so determined that Smalling is responsible for any goal, no matter, that the discussion can never end. In all honesty, it was a pretty darn good goal. Had Pogba made that pass and Lukaku scored, we would be over the moon, not analyzing a different camera showing how narrow an angle this or that made.

It's true. Only a goal where Smalling can arguably be culpable would have over a week of discussion. No other player gets micro-analysed to the same extent.

Like vs Chelsea last season, where it was decided all 4 goals were his fault. Which they weren't. And he played with a broken toe, to which his detractors claimed "shouldn't make a difference to his performance" or words to that effect.

Poor Mike. The guy will never win here.

 

[Rossa]

It's true. Only a goal where Smalling can arguably be culpable would have over a week of discussion. No other player gets micro-analysed to the same extent.

Like vs Chelsea last season, where it was decided all 4 goals were his fault. Which they weren't. And he played with a broken toe, to which his detractors claimed "shouldn't make a difference to his performance" or words to that effect.

Poor Mike. The guy will never win here.

Agreed. Also, have any of the guys actually broken a toe? I did, once, and running was completely out of the question, and if I could run, I certainly could not run very well. He's far from a flashy defender, but he is solid defensively.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Having a nightmare so far today. Been exposed a few times.

 

[Amar__]

Having a nightmare so far today. Been exposed a few times.

Not really, that attack after the goal they did well playing their players offside but Valencia's positioning was terrible, but it was obvious Smalling was going to be blamed for that.

 

[Rossa]

Not really, that attack after the goal they did well playing their players offside but Valencia's positioning was terrible, but it was obvious Smalling was going to be blamed for that.

Spot on.

 

[arnie_ni]

Not really, that attack after the goal they did well playing their players offside but Valencia's positioning was terrible, but it was obvious Smalling was going to be blamed for that.

Valencia never gets out. He always plays people onside.

Id need to see the goal again but young was nowhere and smalling had to drift across to defend the full back.

 

[Amar__]

Valencia never gets out. He always plays people onside

Yep, does it more often than our any other player.

 

[Amar__]

Better movement than Lukaku.

 

[Loublaze]

My boy!

 

[Kapardin]

He was a bit shaky defensively. Maybe its' the international break or the stress of playing alongside Lindelof.

Always praised him for his goal scoring abilities though. As a CB, he gets around 4-5 league goals a season which is very good.

 

[DWelbz19]

He's been fine defensively. Great to see him score too.

 

[Isotope]

He was a bit shaky defensively. Maybe its' the international break or the stress of playing alongside Lindelof.

Always praised him for his goal scoring abilities though. As a CB, he gets around 4-5 league goals a season which is very good.

For all the talk about Smalling, I do think that any of Jones or Bailly to partner Lindelof, would be much far worse.

 

[Mike09]

Having a nightmare so far today. Been exposed a few times.

The only reason why you think he has a nightmare is because he's playing by himself at the back at the moment. He's trying to cover everyone mistakes. Valencia, Young and Lindelof were all over the place and not helping at all.

 

[Hammondo]

Still easily our best defender

 

[peanuthead]

I want a gif of that clearance with Shelvey. Our best defender in the first half, notice how he always wins his headers with so much determination, love to see that.

 

[11101]

He's chasing the ball again and getting drawn out of position. Goal will do him good though.

 

[arnie_ni]

He's chasing the ball again and getting drawn out of position. Goal will do him good though.

So you didnt want him to try and close down the wingback after young was caught out of position?

 

[Gusjaros]

Having a nightmare so far today. Been exposed a few times.

The defense have performed superbly. The 2-1 is produced by Smalling and Young. Even Lindelöf is contributing, take a look at the highlights and his pass to Lukaku.

 

[el3mel]

Very good game. Didn't put a foot wrong second half and great goal.

 

[iKeano]

The other 50% of a complete liability of a partnership. Sooner he’s gone the better

 

[Loublaze]

The other 50% of a complete liability of a partnership. Sooner he’s gone the better

I bet you thought he'd be sold the last three transfer windows huh? He's easily our most reliable CB at the moment

 

[MadMike]

The other 50% of a complete liability of a partnership. Sooner he’s gone the better

I can't work out if it's simply an agenda, or a lack of ability to understand football

 

[K2K]

Still easily our best defender

Has glaring deficiencies too though.

But then he has things he does so much better than everyone else. He's a mixed bag but I'd definitely keep him.

He's had a good season too.

 

[breakout67]

Smalling is definitely not our best defender! A defender must take risks and read the game to influence the game going forward. We are not in the 90s where defenders must only be in the box and hoof it when it gets near them.

Jones and Bailly are better defenders easily.

 

[Devil may care]

Him and Young started off like a feuding married couple but like the team he settled into the game, and it was good to see him get a goal.

 

[fanutd]

Couldn't believe it was him who was hitting perfectly weighted passes infront of the players rather than behind them. I was impressed by his ball playing, all but limited, skills. Long may it continue.

 

[Acole9]

He was really good today, not a liability at all.

 

[Rozay]

Smalling is definitely not our best defender! A defender must take risks and read the game to influence the game going forward. We are not in the 90s where defenders must only be in the box and hoof it when it gets near them.

Jones and Bailly are better defenders easily.

Pretty certain that isn’t in the job description.

Smalling is our best defender for me, and I probably don’t express enough on here how genuinely baffled I am at the growing theses that he is apparently no good and should be sold.

My only explanation for it is the growing obsession for defenders to be #10sbin their spare time. While I can’t deny that Smalling is average on the ball, he’s fecking good at defending.

Lukaku is average on the ball, but is still effective at his job, and gets praised. This is just because his contribution is far more easily quantifiable than Smalling’s.

 

[Mike09]

Pretty certain that isn’t in the job description.

Smalling is our best defender for me, and I probably don’t express enough on here how genuinely baffled I am at the growing theses that he is apparently no good and should be sold.

My only explanation for it is the growing obsession for defenders to be #10sbin their spare time. While I can’t deny that Smalling is average on the ball, he’s fecking good at defending.

Lukaku is average on the ball, but is still effective at his job, and gets praised. This is just because his contribution is far more easily quantifiable than Smalling’s.

This is a good point. A defender who can defend but average on the ball with a striker who can score goals but average on the ball. Two terms that have similarity.

 

[RedCurry]

I like Smalling. He’s limited but he’s reliable. He’s one of those battering type of centre backs who will put his head to everything. But he does need a partner who can compliment him by being calm and composed on the ball and none of our other CBs are capable of it.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Can’t state enough how much I rate this man. England’s loss is our gain. He’s consistent and I think he’s having a better season for us than he did in 15/16 under LvG so far. The only one of our defenders that can do those Vidic-esque towering headers.