[SpyLuke10]

You claim something like this and then go ahead and learn how good Smalling actually is. It's when you pay attention to these types of details that you actually notice a defender of Smalling's kind. He does this sort of thing all the time, cleaning up other peoples mess. If you haven't noticed this then you want to be ready to watch Chris next time like you watched Lindelof this game.

Exactly this. Smalling does things like that thing Lindelof did in the game but much better and with more confidence, hes a lot stronger than Lindelof. Hes the most underrated player at the club imo. His on the ball ability is way exaggerated in a negative way. Hes obviously not great on the ball but hes nowhere near as uncomfortable as some people make him out to be. Sometimes if you are in a lot of trouble you just have to boot a ball down the pitch or out of bounds. Its what people tell you to do from a young age. Its not a problem. I'd much rather than the equivalent of trying to always find a passing target and then giving away a goal eg. Ederson vs Liverpool last season, Evans when he was at United.

 

[SpyLuke10]

Its because he's the only one of the bunch who's able to stay fit for any period of time!

I don't think Mourinho thinks he's that good and the search for a centre back would suggest I'm right. However, Bailly gets injured a fair bit. Rojo has surely spent more time on the treatment table than on the pitch for us. Then there's Phil Jones who seems to injure himself every time he takes to the field.

Smalling became default first choice mainly by being able to keep free from injuries. Had we brought in someone like Alderweireld I'm such Mourinho would've been happy to sell him.

I agree with your first paragraph, I don't think Mourinho thinks he's that good either. However at the same time I think theres no way in hell Mourinho would've been happy to sell him if we did bring someone like Alderweireld in. I think Jose would sell Jones or Rojo any day of the week ahead of Smalling because I do think Mourinho appreciates the fact that Smalling is consistently available to play. Also Smalling's aerial threat, his strength in the air.

 

[11101]

You claim something like this and then go ahead and learn how good Smalling actually is. It's when you pay attention to these types of details that you actually notice a defender of Smalling's kind. He does this sort of thing all the time, cleaning up other peoples mess. If you haven't noticed this then you want to be ready to watch Chris next time like you watched Lindelof this game.

I've noticed how more often than not he stays passive. If the ball is within his reach he gets involved to make covering tackles etc, but he cant read situations outside of that. We saw it in pre-season at least twice.

 

[stevoc]

I was talking about Smalling but I don't think Jose would mind selling any of the centre-backs he inherited.

I don't think Mou rates any of them that much except Bailly and last season he seemed to grump about how often Bailly got injured.

I think he sees Lindelof as a player that's still developing and is for the long term. I think he feels Jones is too reckless and too injury prone, Rojo the same and Smalling just someone who can be relied on to be fit most of the time.

Maybe because of his machismo Mou puts a lot of emphasis on playing through pain, Terry has talked about this in the past. I think Mou relies on Smalling because he knows Smalling will make himself available more often than not. I don't for one second think Mou sees Smalling as another Ricardo Carvalho or Lucio. IMO he'd upgrade him if given even half a chance. Just my opinion though.

I’d like him to upgrade on Smalling also. But Smalling is reliable from an injury record point of view so would make a good back up. If ones goes it will and should be one of Rojo or Jones first

 

[SpyLuke10]

If ones goes it will and should be one of Rojo or Jones first

Yep

 

[Bobski]

Come back Chris, all is forgiven.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

Should have gone to Russia, should have started both our games.

 

[SteveW]

Can we just accept that he's our best CB and leave it at that. How long are we going to listen to people overrate Lindelof and Bailly while slating him. fecking joke

 

[Kag]

I was even foolish enough to try and buy into giving the Bailly-Lindelof due some time to consolidate a partnership. I still see logic to that idea, to be fair.

But really, I know that Smalling is still the best defender at the club. He's a really good one, too, in spite of the laughable criticism usually directed his way.

 

[YouOnlyLiveTwice]

He may be our best defender, but he isn't a solution to our problems.

 

[SteveW]

He may be our best defender, but he isn't a solution to our problems.

Our defensive record has been solid when he's played over the last couple of years. Maybe not some magical answer to all our problems but at least he can defend.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I wonder what Mourinho makes of him slimming down on this vegan diet.

 

[Bwuk]

Despite Bailly and Lindelof having mares today, none of our CB options are really the answer.

Cannot believe we didn’t sign anyone.

 

[All 3 United]

You could clearly see that Jose had changed the tactics today to allow us to play out from the back with short balls on the deck. Sadly we don’t have the centre backs for this, so we will probably see Smalling come back in and play hoof ball. It’s going to be a long season.

 

[Bobski]

You could clearly see that Jose had changed the tactics today to allow us to play out from the back with short balls on the deck. Sadly we don’t have the centre backs for this, so we will probably see Smalling come back in and play hoof ball. It’s going to be a long season.

Or keeper. So often for City it is Ederson who breaks the press with an accurate ball out to midfield, De Gea does not have that ability consistently.

 

[All 3 United]

Or keeper. So often for City it is Ederson who breaks the press with an accurate ball out to midfield, De Gea does not have that ability consistently.

True

 

[Ekeke]

He may be our best defender, but he isn't a solution to our problems.

He is the solution to the problems we had today. He's not a miracle solution that suddenly turns us into a title winning team. But put another quality CB next to him and hes more than good enough

 

[Ekeke]

You could clearly see that Jose had changed the tactics today to allow us to play out from the back with short balls on the deck. Sadly we don’t have the centre backs for this, so we will probably see Smalling come back in and play hoof ball. It’s going to be a long season.

Eh? Fred and Andreas were coming deep to pick the ball up just like Matic does.

 

[MadDogg]

Eh? Fred and Andreas were coming deep to pick the ball up just like Matic does.

Yep. If anything this was a great match to showcase that Smalling's inability on the ball isn't the cause for our slow buildup and our midfielders having to drop back into our defence. Even with our two best ball-playing defenders it really didn't change a thing in that regard.

 

[MAME DIOUF 32]

I get the feeling today is going to enhances Smalling's reputation more than actually playing ever could.

 

[11101]

I get the feeling today is going to enhances Smalling's reputation more than actually playing ever could.

Yeah, never mind that a bit of pressure causes Smalling to freeze like a rabbit in headlights or that he has absolutely no awareness of what happens around him. He can head the ball, he can tackle and he's been here a long time. That seems to be enough.

 

[MAME DIOUF 32]

Yeah, never mind that a bit of pressure causes Smalling to freeze like a rabbit in headlights or that he has absolutely no awareness of what happens around him. He can head the ball, he can tackle and he's been here a long time. That seems to be enough.

Agree, but that'll all be forgotten tonight.

 

[Backrow Singer]

Every single one of those centre halves is likely to cost you a game somewhere down the line. I honestly don’t, or wouldn’t, trust any of them.

 

[Ekeke]

I get the feeling today is going to enhances Smalling's reputation more than actually playing ever could.

Its about time he gets some of the treatment Bailly got while out injured

 

[MadDogg]

Yeah, never mind that a bit of pressure causes Smalling to freeze like a rabbit in headlights or that he has absolutely no awareness of what happens around him. He can head the ball, he can tackle and he's been here a long time. That seems to be enough.

Ultimately he makes less mistakes and is more reliable than any of our other options have proven to be. I mean, with your comment about having no awareness of what happens around him, I'd say that's another aspect where he's better than any of our other options. Is it a strength when compared to players like Rio and Vidic? Of course not. But he's not competing with them, he's competing with Bailly, Lindelof, Rojo and Jones, all of whom are worse in that regard. Not just worse, but significantly worse.

 

[11101]

Ultimately he makes less mistakes and is more reliable than any of our other options have proven to be. I mean, with your comment about having no awareness of what happens around him, I'd say that's another aspect where he's better than any of our other options. Is it a strength when compared to players like Rio and Vidic? Of course not. But he's not competing with them, he's competing with Bailly, Lindelof, Rojo and Jones, all of whom are worse in that regard. Not just worse, but significantly worse.

Not sure about that. Smalling is great if the ball is in front of him and he's got a single man to mark. When it gets more complex than that he's all at sea. Lindelof even now is better at reading the game overall, as is Bailly when he concentrates.

 

[Ekeke]

Not sure about that. Smalling is great if the ball is in front of him and he's got a single man to mark. When it gets more complex than that he's all at sea. Lindelof even now is better at reading the game overall, as is Bailly when he concentrates.

Thats nonsense. Hes the one that senses danger and is best at filling in positions where his teammates have left us exposed. Theres a reason we conceded very few goals from open play last season but conceded plenty in the past 2 games without him.

 

[11101]

Thats nonsense. Hes the one that senses danger and is best at filling in positions where his teammates have left us exposed. Theres a reason we conceded very few goals from open play last season but conceded plenty in the past 2 games without him.

We concede more goals with him on the pitch than we do without him. It's been that way for the past few seasons. Stats have been posted in previous threads.

 

[Amar__]

So, how was our attacking play today?

 

[MadDogg]

We concede more goals with him on the pitch than we do without him. It's been that way for the past few seasons. Stats have been posted in previous threads.

True at least for last season. But it had to be taken in context - almost all the games he missed were early in the season against poor teams so obviously we weren't going to concede many. He played in all the harder games.

 

[el3mel]

Our only reliable defender. Has been proven multiple times now.

 

[arnie_ni]

Not sure about that. Smalling is great if the ball is in front of him and he's got a single man to mark. When it gets more complex than that he's all at sea. Lindelof even now is better at reading the game overall, as is Bailly when he concentrates.

Lindeloff had great awareness for that goal today not realising his man made a near post run

 

[automaticflare]

I get the feeling today is going to enhances Smalling's reputation more than actually playing ever could.

Haha funny but true

We don’t concede 2 of those goals with Smalling no matter how much I don’t like him as a footballer

 

[Real Madras]

Should start in the next game.

 

[Ekeke]

We concede more goals with him on the pitch than we do without him. It's been that way for the past few seasons. Stats have been posted in previous threads.

More nonsense. Now you're blaming him for goals where he doesnt even make mistakes.

 

[stevoc]

He may be our best defender, but he isn't a solution to our problems.

Perhaps not but as you've said he's the best we have and by a stretch, so he should be playing.

 

[MadMike]

He may be our best defender, but he isn't a solution to our problems.

But what exactly are our problems? The team plays uninspiring football, because the team plays uninspiring football. That's not down to Smalling. We have played many games without him, we've tried every combination of our other 5 CBs (before Blind got sold) and the football didn't magically get better. Yet we do defend better with him in the team.

So if the problem is the type of football we play, you're right he's not the answer. Like no defender on the planet is. If the problem is defending well, then yes he is. Our defensive record over the last 5-6 years and him seeing off every CB that has arrived (4 of them!) is ample proof.

 

[pocco]

Smalling would have dealt with Murray today. He's our best defender in physical battles.

 

[Loublaze]

We concede more goals with him on the pitch than we do without him. It's been that way for the past few seasons. Stats have been posted in previous threads.

Funny enough in the two games he's missed THIS season we've conceded 4 and 3 goals respectively. He's our best and most reliable CB by far.

 

[Neo_Mufc]

What has Smalling done to fall out of favour with Jose?

He had a string of games last season where he at least commanded his position and made our defence look better than what it has been for the past 2 games inc pre season.

He also has not been to the WC meaning he should be fresh as a daisy.