But eventually, Terry also had to be partnered with a ball playing defender; proving that he's not that good as a passer. His lack of pace also make it difficult for his team to have high line. But he's a tremendous defender, which made him one of the best.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
The fad will die down when Fans and Managers realise that ball playing CBs are only useful if they can actually defend properly and most of them can't.
Smalling only made 66 passes today when he should be hitting the defensive league average of 78.9 passes and a passing accuracy of 96.32%. He misplaced 4 passes today which is simply not good enough, it's an absolute disgrace that he can be in a United shirt! Etc, etc, blah blah.
I mean it was Huddersfield at home and pretty safe 3 points, but limiting them to 4 shots and 0 on target isn't bad. Defense did their job well today, for once De Gea had a quiet day.
Same here, been saying it for years. It would take an absolutely to quality defender to upgrade on him. He doesn't make many mistakes, is dominant in the air and is equal to pretty much most players he's gone up against in one on one situations.
I'd sooner see Jones go out of the two, I know I'm in the minority but I think Smalling is miles better than him.
He’s a very good defender. Why does he need such a huge turning radius every time he wants to make a pass? He seems the need to do a 180 degree body shift and act like he’s about to smash the ball upfield only to then release a 10 yard pass.
He was outstanding against Huddersfield. When he plays decisively he is an absolute beast. The way he swatted aside Van La Parra (a fast physical player) in the first half was fantastic.
He played well, its the perfect game for him. Huddersfield attacks are pretty simple/linear and they don't press. He bosses those sort of games, but then id expect any of our defenders to.
Don't know about minority, but Jose and me think the same too! He is absolutely fabulous as a defender.
He'd walk into our team now and easily be our best passer at the back (not counting Blind who Mourinho never plays there). Hell, towards the end of their careers he was a better passer than Rio was (not as good as Rio at his peak, but Rio's ball-playing abilities declined over the years). Was he as good as someone like Luiz? No. But he was better than Bailly is, who until Lindelof possibly steps up in that regard is our best passer. Certainly not down with Smalling.
In saying that, I am talking about Terry in his later years. I can't say I noticed his passing ability earlier on, so I'm not sure if it was something he improved on or whether he was always that good and I just never noticed.
It doesn't make too much difference, but I'm just saying that using Terry was a bad example.
Agree. Terry looks pale because his peers were too good. However, compare Terry to the standards of the newer generation, he is not worse off while being unrivaled by today CB defensive standard.
He looks terrified every time he has the ball at his feet. I sometimes dream of a world where he passes the ball inront of one of his teammates as opposed to square on/behind. His distribution is brutal.
That's your only comment on his performance yesterday?
Look at his previous posts and you won't be surprised.
Well yes and no. See it's hard for me to say Smalling is not comfortable pushing up and pressing because as you've said (and I've seen myself), he has done it plenty of times in the past and been very good with it; he possibly is the best in that manner with his speed and athletic ability.
The problem is Mourinho's tactics are seemingly 'let them do it themselves' so it's down to the player to pick up the buck and adjust in game. In this area and most situations where there's no impetus i.e at the beginning of the game or when we're comfortable because the opposition are sitting back, I don't think Smalling has the ability and confidence to positively affect the game.
That very last bit though can be pretty much be applied to most of our players atm i.e we're not seeing any of them pick up the game by the scruff of the neck (like Alexis did) in their retrospective roles and positions.
With Smalling, let's agree to disagree, that I believe in those situations where we are supposed to be on the front foot and with no direction from the manager, I think his lack of on the ball ability has a negative impact even if he doesn't do much 'wrong' on the surface.
I think the fact that the only thing people who aren't his biggest fans keep criticising him is his passing, says it all. There isn't pretty much anything else left to criticise in his game, and yet neither of our defenders are much better than him when it comes to using the ball anyway. And even the criticism of his passing isn't really something that we should be worried about since there aren't many defenders in the world who are great passers, nor we are side that depends on defenders being playmaker or anything like that, plus he hardly makes any mistakes with the ball at all, much less than any of our other defenders. Basically only thing to criticise is that he just looks nervous with the ball and he isn't really creative with the ball, but then which defender is?
his passing is the least of my worries, I'm more worried about his positioning, he is good when he can cling onto players,
watch any game and when the opposition midfielders have the ball, focus on smalling ,he constantly either runs after a none threatening player leaving spaces in defense or he falls behind the other defenders to make the opposition player onside. he can never just stand in line with other players,thats why most of the time our defense look all over the place, there is no coordination
watch any game and when the opposition midfielders have the ball, focus on smalling ,he constantly either runs after a none threatening player leaving spaces in defense or he falls behind the other defenders to make the opposition player onside. he can never just stand in line with other players,thats why most of the time our defense look all over the place, there is no coordination
This. They really have nothing to say indeed except criticize his ability on the ball. The guy seldom makes mistakes, and when he does (as all players do and will eventually) its like the end of the world here. He had a solid game against Spurs but somehow he got more heat for his performance than Phil Jones did and he's the one who stupidly cost us both goals.
Just watched Liverpool-Spurs and Sanchez, Vertonghen and Van Dyjk all with very flawed performances. I don't understand why people like to act as if it would be easy for Utd to upgrade on Smalling and Jones, reality shows different, there are very few exceptional CB's out there.
Easy targets, Jones has one bad game and is back to being talked of as a liability despite being excellent for the majority of the season. Who are these world class defenders that should replace them?
Easy targets, Jones has one bad game and is back to being talked of as a liability despite being excellent for the majority of the season. Who are these world class defenders that should replace them?
Just the same old thing. Fans who get annoyed with a certain player after a few games and decide, everyone who isnt that player is the answer. But cant be bothered to actually watch the other players to see if they would genuinely be an improvement or if they have their own issues.
I said it in the Van Dijk people have unrealistic expectations of CBs on here.
Look at the start of the season, before even seeing him play people had decided that Lindelof would go straight into the team and were all for getting rid of established names
Yes, not many excellent defenders with pace, size and top class ball playing ability around, players with all those attributes are generally not playing CB.
Indeed. Now the same people are saying Lindelof was only bought to slot into a back three and to step into midfield. They've had to readjust their expectations but clearly they thought his signing meant the end for Smalling. He's still our most reliable and best defender
Smalling is a liability when the opponent presses.
If we are playing against a better team and we have the chance to play a back three, he would be fine in the middle of that back three. Apart from that, I'm hoping Lindelof steps up and Baily comes back.
I think with our desire to play long when there is a press, playing Lindelof would actually benefit us offensively. Defensively, i've not entirely sure yet.
If we are playing against a better team and we have the chance to play a back three, he would be fine in the middle of that back three. Apart from that, I'm hoping Lindelof steps up and Baily comes back.
I think with our desire to play long when there is a press, playing Lindelof would actually benefit us offensively. Defensively, i've not entirely sure yet.
I mean it’s pretty obvious that defensively Lindelof is not a patch on Smalling at the moment. If you’re not sure on that then I don’t know what kind of tainted glasses you’re wearing when you watch us play, but I’d suggest taking them off. There’s a reason why he can’t get a look in, and is currently 5th CB.
Lindelof’s slower, weaker, worse in the air, worse in the tackle and (at the moment) much more error prone. Even if with experience, maturity and less nerves he cuts out the errors, he’s still inferior to Smalling in pretty much every category when it comes to actual defending. And while he could become stronger if he hits the gym, I fail to see how he’ll become faster, taller and better in the air than Smalling in the next few years and dominate strikers the way Smalling does.
Let’s be honest, if Lindelof ever manages to be as good defensively as Smalling that would be a near miracle the way things stand. And the fact he’s comfortable on the ball don’t mean squat if he can’t defend at a good level. Otherwise, might as well put Carrick at CB.
I see. Apart from the fact that he just arrived and is being ease slowly into the team. I guess that don't matter as well. Oh, let's not forget he did alright when he came in. I guess, that don't matter either. But yeah, keep up with your bias. I'll sit back, watch and laugh.
Second paragraph is a bunch of horseshit. Maybe take your own advice and take off those tinted glasses.
I'll trust Jose's judgement on this. Too many arm chair experts here.
It’s Jose’s judgement that has him 5th in pecking order pal, not mine
Lindelof has been very underwhelming. Bailly is far superior to him and so is Smalling. I don't see him usurping Smalling, Bailly or Jones anytime soon. Tuanzebe is also better than he is. With that said, he's a likeable guy and a great squad option to have. He might even establish himself as a starter if he works hard enough to come to grips with the English game for he's still young. Smalling held his hands in every game they started together in the CL.
1.Not really. Look at the reverse fixture against Huddersfield, for example. Or several other poor games.
2.So will I and he's playing Smalling over Lindelof.
I see. I guess Jose must be thinking he was shopping at Tesco. Let's go out and buy a 30m++ CB and stick him as the fifth choice.It’s Jose’s judgement that has him 5th in pecking order pal, not mine
No one is arguing Bailly isn't. Lindelof is a good CB and i'm pretty sure he would and should be ahead of Smalling (next season hopefully). I don't rate Smalling since he's clumsy on the ball and pretty much creates havoc every time he gets the ball under pressure.
Oh c'mon. The lad just got here and that was his first game. He generally did alright when called upon on.
Smalling is very seldomly ever caught in possession and he loses the ball less frequently than Rojo and Jones do. His pass completion is at 88%. He's not a great passer of the ball but he's great at his primary job, defending. Smalling dominates Lindelof in every defensive stat from interceptions, clearances, tackles, aerial duels and its not even close.
I'm agree. But i feel Lindelof have a higher ceiling and can do better.
Aside from the fact that 30m for a defender is basically Tesco prices at the moment, he also spent 30m on Mkhi and he was behind Mata and Lingard right up the to point where he got sold.
Scouting a player from afar is a different thing to having him in your team where their strengths/weakness and how they compare against your other players start to become far more evident. And the fact is he’s currently 5th choice and justifiably so. The rest is, as you say, horseshit.
He was doing even better just before he got here and played his first game.
He was ahead of them until his piss poor performances got him bin. Let's not have a short term memory here.
And that's why we invested in him. Luckily not everyone is quick to judge like you. If that happened, we would have sold Lingard seasons ago. What's next? Lukaku should be bin too?
Not writing him off but at the same time there is no good evidence so far that he has what it takes to become first choice. As Lou says, Smalling is far ahead of him as a defender.
Chris Smalling after reading this threadTweet
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Some of LinGod's perfection seems to be rubbing off on him!
Newcastle 1:0 Man Utd
Smalling's career will not survive the introduction of VAR
Funny I thought the same.
Once VAR becomes a thing in the league, Smalling should be sold.
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