He made mistakes which could have let in 3 goals, of course the full backs too , but his defending dint help.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
He made mistakes that could have led to three goals?
Last edited:
He's very gifted at a lot of things in terms of defending but it seems there's a huge lack of confidence and organization in the back 4 in tough games(not talking about basel) when he's playing as one of the CB's. I think he will look much better in a back 5 when we play that way in the same way John Stones looks a new player in that role due to having far more protection.
Apparently.
He's been good so far this season, no complaints. He also seems to be putting more behind his passes in the last couple of games.
Very true. Look at the state of Michael Keane at Everton this season compared to how good he looked in a defensive setup under Dyche at Burnley.
I actually think Smalling has generally been ok this season and I'm far from his biggest fan. He's overrated by some on here though and nowhere near a 'top class' player.
He's been excellent this season. I use to be of the mindset that he was a liability and always prone to a mistake, but in hindsight I think part of this is based off some of the posts on here and not any actual proof.
The last time I can remember him doing anything stupid was the red in the FA cup final.
The last time I can remember him doing anything stupid was the red in the FA cup final.
To rewrite Smalling’s good form now is u fair. Also, to summarise his tenure here as only having had a good spell under Van Gaal is also false.
I often encourage posters to read back themselves in situations like this. The threads are all there, all archived. You, the people, called it differently before.
I’d still like to know the exact point where Smalling became a poor or average defender on here. Seemed so sudden the sea change in opinion. At one stage, the consensus was that he was quality, and ‘Arsenal can feck off’ (they kept sniffing for years), and then all of a sudden I started reading what a liability he was - all without any real incident to support this. If I were to guess, I would say it must have coincided with the obsession of ball-playing defenders in recent times. I think this change in mentality has highlighted Smalling’s weaknesses, while also emphasising and placing greater value on the strengths of the likes of Stones. I also think there is an element of being ‘old news’. When you have been a good player for a long time, I think you just start becoming less good to people. They stop appreciating. I do a lot of work in the music industry, particularly UK rap, and a saying there is that ‘it’s better to be new than good’. Michael Keane has never been a better defender than Smalling for example, but he benefited from being ‘newer’ for a while.
Last edited:
Shrewdly put.
An example being all the "best eleven" lineups posted at the start of the season which had Bailly and Lindelöf as the CBs.
I have no issue with him. I never bought into the whole him being 'world class' lark, though. He's definitely a good player to have around and better than the likes of Cahill and Lovern. He's both over and underrated on here in equal measures as there are two rather extreme pro and anti Smalling camps. I have always been somewhere in the middle; I have been harsh on him and thought he has looked useless and also thought he's been excellent at times.
Meh, Keane was just another flavour of the month. They come and go.
Good post.
Could have given away 3 goals against Basel. Statements like that reek of an agenda and a desire to hold him to a higher standard than the rest. Rojo had a good game but make risky tackles in the box that could have lead to pens, not being forensically analyzed as Smalling often is.
I believe that fans generally expect far too much from defenders, close to perfection, even the best that Utd have had in recent times, Rio, Vidic, Stam were culpable for plenty of goals, but playing in better teams allows more leeway. Also think that most goals come from a series of small mistakes and adjustments rather than one obvious individual error. The Basel goal involved a number of errors, Matic was very poor to start with, Darmian beaten too easily, ball then goes through Smallings legs, evades the slide from Rojo and to top it off Blind was a step slow at the back post. Those small errors happen constantly through any game but generally the next up will deal with the situation, working as a unit.
I believe that fans generally expect far too much from defenders, close to perfection, even the best that Utd have had in recent times, Rio, Vidic, Stam were culpable for plenty of goals, but playing in better teams allows more leeway. Also think that most goals come from a series of small mistakes and adjustments rather than one obvious individual error. The Basel goal involved a number of errors, Matic was very poor to start with, Darmian beaten too easily, ball then goes through Smallings legs, evades the slide from Rojo and to top it off Blind was a step slow at the back post. Those small errors happen constantly through any game but generally the next up will deal with the situation, working as a unit.
Man Utd 1:0 Brighton
‘At least he’s good at defending’. Taxi for smalling.....
Oh, someone dribbled last a defender.
No..... he completely left him wrong turned. Oh and it’s a Brighton player....
So? Zaha is a crystal palace player and dribbles more successfully than anyone else in the pl. it was poor of Smalling, but to come in just to post that when he is rarely dribbled past says perhaps more about you?
He's nowhere near as good as he was under van Gaal.
I could have come in here much earlier given his distribution this match but I believe it’s widely accepted that’s crap. So not much point.
Defended brilliantly (as usual) second half.
Really! He got completely turned inside out and needed to step up to prevent the ball to feet for the their forward but other than those basics, yes he was great. Lindelof was actually the better defender, which really says it all.
He did. It was very, very obvious. He cleared everything last twenty, which you will have wilfully ignored.
He was very good other than that one take on he lost. Solid yet again
I’m not saying he didn’t do somethings on the pitch that weren’t good but as defender you get judged on not making mistakes for 90+mins and he cannot do that, be it getting turned inside out, poor passing or poor intelligence/positioning.
Makes less than the others
Good as usual this season.
He's having a very solid season so far.
He's having a very solid season so far.
He was ok today bar a couple of moments.
I am never as confident in him when he plays from the left, but bar a moment or two was solid enough again. Dread to think where we would of been this season without him given the form and fitness of our other cb's.
I'm not Smalling's biggest fan and would have him as our fourth CB and even then I'd have Blind up there too but we'll leave him out. So in saying that he is fourth CB, why do people want to get rid of him? What team has a fourth CB as good as Smalling? When you have two CBs injured and you have Smalling to come in then that is hardly a problem. Other teams would crumble when two CBs are out.
Most CB's playing in a back four with forward thinking fullbacks will get caught out at times.
What high profile costly errors has he made against teams with top players in recent times? There was the city red card a few seasons ago and the 4-0 loss to Chelsea last season (played with a broken foot). I can think of two other big losses he featured in, both 3-0 losses to Spurs and Arsenal where he wasn't directly to blame for any goals or completely exposed by a 'top' player in a lead up to a goal.
Didn't let those tricky speedy Ajax players with their ground passing wizardry get past him in the Europa league cup final did he? It's very disingenuous of you to say Smalling is only useful against teams that rely heavily on aerial attacks. Smalling doesn't have the best distribution and technique but thats it. The other CBs are not miles ahead of him in other aspects of actual defending. If anything they are very close. Your last statement about form can also be applied to Jones throughout his United career. Between the two its Smalling who's had a much, much longer period of sustained fine form (the LVG season of course, over 50 games played and voted player of the season by his teammates.)
Broken toe, but yeah everything else I agree with
Add in Rojo to that, had about 5 months of acceptable form in his 3 1/2 year Utd career Utd career but people act as if is an automatic first choice and proven.
This. Many were even excited about Lindelof being Smalling's replacement before he even kicked a ball. Every transfer window it seems Smalling is the first one out apparently.
He made mistakes which could have let in 3 goals, of course the full backs too , but his defending dint help- prtk0811
This is about the weakest attempt at 'criticism' i've seen on this board in a while. Talk about clutching at straws.
Yes, that perfection thing again. The way people pick at defenders you would think that the only competent performances are ones in which the opposition do not have a single moment of danger, or god forbid a half chance.
But what were they, all I here is he got out dribbled once which has happened to him loads of times but that one in particular is really bad?! It's also happened to every defender, and no one bats an eyelid when it happens.
Watford 2:4 Man Utd
That tackle the one time Richarlison came past Lindelöf- pure class.
Agreed. Mike is back.
Yeah it was. Looked majestic so far. Honestly he’s criminally underrated on here. That back 3 combination looks solid. Bailly might have his work cut out for him when he returns.
- Status