True. Was terrific today to his credit. Everyone just looks so much more assured with Bailly and more organized. Pretty much whoever it is, they need Bailly there to look solid as he's the main "leader" IMO.
12
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Clean sheets
- 20
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
I was watching Man Utd v Liverpool obviously you were watching some other game.
Absolutely superb again today.
If Virgil V Dyke had have scored in the first half which he should have done.....who else other than Smalling would have been to blame. No ......let me guess....you would have blamed Matic who Smalling passed Van Dyke on to. Still Van Dyke did not score so I suppose thats a plus to Smalling for his brilliant defending.
It certainly wouldn't be called 'unlucky' like it is in the Bailly thread. Would be criticism of his 'ball playing ability' and more 'he's always got a mistake in him' stuff.
Hope we keep them both fit because they could be a very good partnership.
Bailly's performances for us are somewhat overrated. When he's been good, he's amazing. But people tend to forget that in his relatively short time with us he's already had two or three periods where he's been very shaky. Not just a match here and there, but a string of matches in a row where he's been all over the place. He's young, and one of those periods was when he came back from the ACON last season (although his form had started to drop off before he left as well), so hopefully he'll iron them out. But going purely on what he's done for us so far he certainly has made his fair share of mistakes. Because everyone loves him though they quickly get forgotten.
The first one where van Dijk actually got away from him yeah. That was a poor moment. The other times were simply two very very strong headers of the ball going at it against each other so it's unlikely he'll win them all. I'd hate to see what van Dijk would do in those areas against any of our other defenders - he'd probably make mincemeat of them.
His best game he’s had for us in a very long time.
Only criticism can be at corners neither him nor Matic could get near VvD.
Only criticism can be at corners neither him nor Matic could get near VvD.
I’m sure some of Smalling’s detractors are very disappointed it was Bailly with that mistake instead of Smalling. I’m also 100% sure that had we gone on to lose that game, Smalling would somehow be getting the blame for Bailly’s goal.
Jesus, posts like that with people seemingly annoyed that he played well.
Thank God he is not in Southgate 's plans and do hope it stays as is.
Brilliant game again
Brilliant game again
A bit iffy on man marking, but excellent otherwise. Some great blocks too
Good game, solid defensively, and got a kick to the stomach/waist/knee/below-stomach for it.
Another great game.
It seems to me it's very hard to argue against the fact that Smalling is the best defender at the club. Yes, he has issues when he's on the ball but that's preferrable to being good on the ball and a shit defender.
Thanks mate.
Love it. Zlatan-esque.
Should be the partnership until the end of the season.
I have been a critic of his, but he has played well past few games. I think he needs a more assured partner who can tackle hard and show composure, which Bailly did. But credit where its due he was immense today!
Poor in the first half but grew well into the game. Bailly showed us what we have been missing though, even with the own goal.
I can't lie - I hate watching him play.
Was good today but my word, it's extremely uncomfortable just watching him with the ball.
You're hardly making any sense man you must be drinking. We won the game and De Gea didn't have to make a single 'game winning' save.
He's average, but when paired with an elite defender like Bailly, he does a decent enough job. Neither Lindelof nor Jones ever bring out the best in him.
He was excellent against Chelsea without Bailly on his side and MOTM against Crystal Palace, and he's managed 5 clean sheets this season while playing with Lindelof. Smalling has been our best CB this season.
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I imagine it'd look quite like all the shit posted about Jones when he scored a similar OG. It's ridiculous.
Overall Smalling had a fantastic game, lighten up you miserable bastard
It's such a ridiculous criticism. For both Smailling and Jones they can have great games but they'll be criticized because they looked like making a mistake or they don't fill some poster with confidence. No forget how they actually play. Let's make stuff up about how it makes me feel unconfident. It's such nonsense.
Then of course Bailly makes the exact same mistake and it's conveniently shrugged off like nothing. You know because he doesn't look like making mistakes.
Sort of. When Jones scored the OG all the shit fell on Smalling. Bailly scores OG, Smalling is lucky there’s not too much shit to go around because we still won the game. But if Smalling score OG, there would be an endless shitstorm in this thread. Truly endless. I mean, the naysayers have all their negative posts ready to go, just waiting for Smalling to make a mistake.
So Chiellini is a shit defender because Harry Kane almost scored from an offside position?
This is true. Some are already even saying Smalling only looked good today because he was playing alongside the 'elite' Bailly. They are forgetting that he's on a great run going from the Chelsea game and the man of the match performance against Palace while playing with Lindelof.
Hehehe, I loved that.
See I think Smalling is the organiser and most intelligent of our defenders. Bailly for example is really aggressive so Smalling knows to cover him, he’ll drop off watch what happens and if Bailly misses Smalling is there to clear up. Rojo and Jones are very unpredictable so I guess it’s hard to anticipate what either are going to do so it makes defending a lot more difficult where Bailly really only has one gear and that is full on.
I just think that year with Blind really brought Smalling on as he had to be aware of Blinds weaknesses, what he could and couldn’t do, or who he couldn’t handle. The others might all be better on the ball, picking passes and so on but defensively for me the most intelligent one is Smalling.
How is Bailly an elite defender? I mean I absolutely love the guy as he is like Ronaldinho if he was a defender, and he has the potential to carry the same presence as Vidic. Smalling is a physical specimen himself but doesn't carry a big personality on the pitch, he is not extravagant in demanding respect, he is more subtle. We as fans often rate players based on personalities so I think a lot of people are just not noticing him being the well above average Premier League CB that he is. Bailly on the other hand has a long way to go to fulfil his potential as his potential is so huge and he is still so young. He will make a lot more mistakes than Smalling in the next couple of years, and that is fine but he simply can't be more of an elite defender than Smalling, not at this point. There's more to being a defender than personality, presence and fancy tackles but if Bailly can iron out his flaws he will be more than elite.
Back to Smalling. He probably found his place in the squad, personality wise, back when competing with Vidic and Rio and that has sort of kept with him into post-fergie era, even when he was bossing it under LVG when the expectations around the club was down. He's subtle but i think he had the United-mentality always, he just didn't manage to bring much of his hunger on to other players, like a leader does. He has not become a big leader. But he has become the guy that kept our defence together post SAF and he mos-def deserves homage for that. But now at 28, with the backing of Mourinho, a big believer in players imposing their personality on the game, maybe we will see him step up in that area? Maybe he will receive more recognition for his work?
I think we've seen improvements with him on that area in the last 2 games. Credit to Mourinho if it continues.
I also think Bailly-Smalling is the way to go, they haven't had the best of chemistry together yet but realistically they have good balance between them. Smalling has the boring experience, aerial-abilities, reading of the game and Bailly has the calm composure, aggressive instinct and classy hard tackles. Both are fast and strong as hell. I'm exited that Bailly is back.
Agreed. Smalling seems to be at his best when he can focus on what he needs to do. When he's partnered with Lindelof or Blind he knows he is the physically dominant and aggressive defender, and he does it well. When he's with Bailly, he knows that Bailly is hyper aggressive and can prepare for that. Whereas Rojo and particularly Jones can be a bit of a mixed bag, and he doesn't seem to combine with them so well.
What a boss!
That was great when he pushed Salah over.
You've made very interesting points. Smalling's performances tend to be a lot more consistent with Bailly, Lindelof and Blind so far. With Rojo and mostly Jones, it's very inconsistent. Lindelof ones is a bit similar to Blind, and as proven in recent previous games, Chris covered Lindelof a lot and made many active upfront defensive contributions, compensating Lindelof's ice/relax hold back defensive style.
This. Both posts helps in understanding our CBs and potentially best CB partnership/combinations.
According to Caf logic Bailly scored own goal because of Smalling. He just makes everyone nervous.
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