Burnley 0:1 Man Utd
Continuing as he did against Stoke. Just looks off his game at the moment, like a mistake is coming.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
He needs to watch Barnes because he's on the deck as soon as hands are put on him and Chris has to grab hold all the time.
He really needs to change his profession, only footballer I have seen who is shit scared of the football.
Good defender. But such a poor all round footballer. Really lacks composure on the ball.
My personal take is that when Bailly is fit that Jose's preferred central defenders will be Bailly and Jones. At best Smalling will fill in when one or the other is injured (which I freely accept could be quite often). I certainly do not see him as anything more than backup for Bailly and Jones. If Bailly and Jones continue to prove to be 'fragile' then I would not be surprised if we do not search for another central defender in the summer given that Lindelof has not kicked on as was undoubtedly hoped.
Smalling will always have a use given that he is probably the best aerial defender in the league. That is valuable, even as ugly as his game can look when he is not at his best.
Beast in the second half, he and Jones. Clowns up front wasting so many counter chances to kill the game.
very good today, usual nonsense posted here I see
First half he was Chris, second half he was Mike.
Sloppy first half half but both him and Jones were immense in the second.
He was a bit shaky for the first 20 minutes of the match, after that he stepped it up and was a solid wall at the back.
Yup.
When it's backs to wall and we're defending deep, Smalling is very good. The question is why is that happening and when we're not playing like that, does he contribute enough?
1) It's mostly on Mourinho's tactics and team selections. Then it's partly because of Smalling's total inability to handle any pressing and lack of composure on the ball.
2) When we control the game, anyone who has some defensive nous and passing ability is a much better fit than him.
He's a 2nd choice CB at best and that's nothing to be negative about but let's not accept this is good enough for Utd.
He was ok, he looks calmer with Jones than when he's paired with Bailly.
Started badly but got better. Did some good defensive work overall.
Won a really good header toward the end. Terrible on the ball as usual but we kept a clean sheet. So credit where credits due.
As clumsy and nervy as he can be, he is still extremely important to this team. His ability to win headers against lumps like Vokes and Barnes will always make him an asset in the PL.
Great defender. Gets shit for very little and will leave here throughly underappreciated.
Both he and Jones were brilliant today, because the bloke behind them played like a fool and so did the players infront.
Both he and Jones were brilliant today, because the bloke behind them played like a fool and so did the players infront.
He had good game but again too many stupid fouls . I just don't trust him
He's a good defender. Not top notch and never will be. Certainly good enough as backup for Jones and Bailly and would walk into a good number of premiership teams. Quite happy that he wears the Utd colours.
How can anyone accept what Ferguson, Moyes, Van Gaal and now Jose seem to disagree with? Just because some fans don’t rate him, really doesn’t mean jot. Until we have a defender who’s a patch on him in the air, he’ll be a regular in the side.
When he bossed games under Van Gaal, people then also proclaimed that it was only due to tactics, which made defenders look better than they were. We mostly played possession-based football with high-line defence. Being aggressive and on the front foot - intercepting using his physique made him boss games. Using his pace for recovery runs collecting balls in behind made him boss games.
He posses more qualities than you portray here. Yeah, he is good in the box so he is being used like that, but he is not making the team play that way. If you watch games you will see he sets the line and is always quick to push the team up the field and out of the box. Playing beside the likes of Jones, Bailly, Rojo... Mourinho has opted to use Smalling's defensive versatility to make him the deepest one while his partners the most aggressive. That doesn't mean he only is good for clearing crosses. He has proven time and again he can play to a good level in a high line defence.
Btw, intercepting well and giving quick short passes to midfield on the break like Smalling and Jones did today is way more beneficial to our attack than playing hollywood-balls when in possession. That is just one way a well-resolved defensive situation can provide in an attacking sense without actually having defenders being midfielders.
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Sums it up perfectly. Shaky first half, but absolutely great second half.
So bad with the ball at his feet.
He does a lot of good things defensively and his aerial play is second to none. But if we want to dominate and keep possession, we really need defenders who can play a ball to certain standards.
Wasn't the only player to make mistakes with the ball, but he just seems scared whenever he has it.
Keep him in the squad for certain games, but let's get Lindelof or Bailly in there to start with Phil.
Wasn't the only player to make mistakes with the ball, but he just seems scared whenever he has it.
Keep him in the squad for certain games, but let's get Lindelof or Bailly in there to start with Phil.
Won 14 'aerial duels' today (averages 3.3 a game - the most in the squad).
Persisting with these pointless stats to justify the glaring deficiencies that are even more important. He's adequate and improved second half and that's about it.
Had a very good defensive game. His problems starts when he has the ball. He does not seem to know what to do with it apart from kick it upfield.
Being the best header of a ball at the back is hardly pointless. You should know Mourinho sees the value in it, hence his obsession with tall players
Whoscored had him as MOTM.
He's the perfect long ball defender, rarely loses an aerial challenge. Yes he's never going to be Beckenbauer but he's a great penalty box defender. Made a crucial block on that cross when they were about to score an easy tap in.
It's not only his aerial play. He's actually the best man marker. It's extremely rare that he'll get dribbled or put on his arse and when he goes to ground he almost always gets the ball. He makes mistakes, like every player, but usually far less than the other CBs. And on top of his defending ability, his disciplinary as well as injury record is also the best out of our current crop by some way.
We have 10 outfield players. If our last defender is an bit of an old school defender and not so good at bringing the ball out the back, so be it. That's what Jones/Bailly and the fullbacks can be for. Unless they can get on his level defensively which they haven't yet.
Pretty much. I don't want to see our CBs spraying the ball around like Rojo and Bailly do at times. Carrying the ball out is fine though. But ideally they play quick passes to the FBs or CMs.
Won 11/11 aerial duels. Him and Jones won 18/19, that's a very good record. With him we are good at clearing crosses, don't think other CBs are as good as him when it comes to heading the ball away.
Didn't think it was one of his very good performance but was solid enough.
Didn't think it was one of his very good performance but was solid enough.
He's absolutely great in the air, and his timing is brilliant. Also, why are not people on here praising his last ditch tackle that saved a certain goal, where he got his knee on the ball? He read the game brilliantly and covered the space where Jones should have been. I think Jones played brilliantly, but Smalling was also great in that second half. He was poor, even for his standards, with the ball in the first half and even gave the ball away a couple of times, which he very rarely does.
Good game. Usual idiots criticise. Rinse repeat
He was almost as good as Jones yesterday, probably the second best player on the pitch. Don't get how anyone can say he had a bad game 
Just managed to catch the game now, like most have said he was shaky in the first half -but the second half he and jones both bossed it.
That last ditch tackle near the end? Fantastic, definitely saved us 2 points.
So I suspect that Rojo & Lindelof will play on Friday to give them some minutes, and for the time being Jones and Smalling are our first choice CB’s.
That last ditch tackle near the end? Fantastic, definitely saved us 2 points.
So I suspect that Rojo & Lindelof will play on Friday to give them some minutes, and for the time being Jones and Smalling are our first choice CB’s.
Whenever we are missing someone from Bailly, Jones and Rojo people keep saying Smalling wouldn't be playing if they were fit and yet he keeps playing. 
Rojo was on the bench yesterday, even though few weeks ago there was this thing going that he'll be ahead of Smalling as soon as he fully recovers, and yet Smalling was the one who was injured and is playing ahead of Rojo again. People just won't admit that he is our most reliable defender.
Rojo was on the bench yesterday, even though few weeks ago there was this thing going that he'll be ahead of Smalling as soon as he fully recovers, and yet Smalling was the one who was injured and is playing ahead of Rojo again. People just won't admit that he is our most reliable defender.
Bang on with everything you said
Put the best CB in the world next to Smalling and your defence is sorted. He'll never be that world's best defender himself, but he's who you'd want next to him in order to be the most secure defensively.
Lucky for Smalling football is a team game and nobody plays with 1 CB, because if they did then he really wouldn't be good enough alone. But who would be?
Lucky for Smalling football is a team game and nobody plays with 1 CB, because if they did then he really wouldn't be good enough alone. But who would be?
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