Class of 63
Sourness
He's been a solid 7/10 for me in all aspects of his game, and will only get better, but what the hell do I know?
I agree but spent my entire career as a CM so what do I know about a good CB.He's been a solid 7/10 for me in all aspects of his game, and will only get better, but what the hell do I know?
Smalling is better at literally everything.
Yeah but as his Mother you would say thatSmalling is better at literally everything.
So weird that he's the captain. Having played like half of the season for us.It’s infuriating to watch. It annoys me greatly that he’s handed the captaincy after being at the club five minutes and to date his best performance was a decent debut against Chelsea. I can’t think of a single moment in any game where I’ve thought that was a great piece of defending by Maguire. What we’ve got is an ok defender who can’t effectively pass the ball.
What isn't he better at?
The things that are beyond a reasonable doubt?What isn't he better at?
There's nothing wrong with a cb advancing with the ball. It helps advance the defensive line to make the pitch smaller, and it allows the fullbacks and wingers to push higher up the pitch before receiving the pass. The problem is our fullbacks are so scared of getting over the halfway line which inevitably leads to sideways passes and ball hogging from the cbs. You also have some of our midfielders hiding behind the opponents.Ok...So can you give me one single example of an opportunity that Maguire has created for us by doing this?
All of our midfielders are better passers than Maguire. That's why they are midfielders. Mctominay is probably the most limited in that respect but even he's shown he can pick the ball up in a deep position and play his forwards in.
Maguire invariably when he does pass it either goes sideways back to Lindelof, out wide to Shaw, or occasionally just lobs it aimlessly over the top in the hope someone gets to it. The sort of passes it is just as easy, and more effective, to play immediately, than it is to play 10 seconds after you were given the ball.
It is not turning a positive into a negative as there is no positive to take from a player taking ages to essentially do nothing, during games where we fail to win due to spending so much of them, doing nothing. It is a different observation to the lazy "our movement is shocking" arguments, or silly claims that our midfield cant pass the ball. The problem we have breaking teams down is that we move the ball too slowly as a team and so end up going sideways or playing percentage balls. Maguire is a part of that problem and it's frustrating as hell watching him at times.
He also still has to prove he's a top defender...and that isn't me knocking him as I think he has it in him, but just saying he is doesn't make it true. We concede soft goals all the time due to poor defending, and often he is culpable. Most recently against Newcastle. We've conceded as many goals as City, who's defence has been criticised all season. More than Palace, Sheffield United and Leicester. When we start defending like a top side is when we can start claiming we have top defenders.
People slag off Lingard for giving interviews or liking clothes. This is a criticism of things Maguire does on the pitch which he is obviously good enough to just cut out. Its not exactly the same thing. Dont be precious.
I couldn’tSmalling whilst a decent defender off the ball, on it was atrocious. You could sense his uneasiness rubbing off on the rest of the defence.
I’m no fan of Jones at all but I don’t think this is true either. Rojo is a bit reckless as well, but I’m not sure they make others worse.Jones also spreads unnecessary panic.
True, but other successful teams’ defenders don’t dwell on the ball for an age like Harry.That's why I like Harry. Even if he's not doing anything particularly well he has an air of composure.
Also having defenders who are comfortable in possession is what the current successful teams have. We just now need to find or develop our fullbacks into good attackers.
Kin ell, Fred gives a ball away, AWB caught too high, Shaw completely sells himself (biggest error of the lot and something of a shocker) and somehow you pin the blame on the only defender who actually did his job ?We concede soft goals all the time due to poor defending, and often he is culpable. Most recently against Newcastle.
This happened with Smalling last season. He did his job but because others messed up he got the blame because of the aesthetics.Kin ell, Fred gives a ball away, AWB caught too high, Shaw completely sells himself (biggest error of the lot and something of a shocker) and somehow you pin the blame on the only defender who actually did his job ?
FalseThe things that are beyond a reasonable doubt?
• Miles better touch
• Miles better dribbling
• Miles better passing
Second that. Maguire is not living up to his price tag, and probably never will, but he's been ok, no more less.Shit thread
Good talk.False
Absolutely true. Redcafe 'Agenda' fans are a weird lot.This happened with Smalling last season. He did his job but because others messed up he got the blame because of the aesthetics.
That's the one thing that counts, no? Particularly when you are a defender?Good talk.
I don't think you'll meet many people in your life that think Smalling is better on the ball than Maguire. Ekeke maybe due to his Smalling love story, but if you find another I'd be absolutely amazed. It's one thing thinking Smalling is a better all round defender than Maguire but it's insanity to think he's even remotely close on the ball.
A long pass is different from a hoof. Maguire doesn't hoof the ball.Maguire hoofs is more than he ever did
have you been at the sherry ??Smalling and Blind and then Smalling and Rojo for a short period were miles better than Maguire and Lindelof.
Well no, obviously.That's the one thing that counts, no? Particularly when you are a defender?
How many times does Smalling hoof the ball? I mean, I would like to see the stat, if available. And also, 'hoofs' that Mag-Lindi make on an average.A long pass is different from a hoof. Maguire doesn't hoof the ball.
Smalling was often forced to hoofs, quite often straight out of play, simple because we don't have tonnes of options and Smalling aint great on the ball. Lindelöf and Maguire are miles better on the ball and are forced to result to hoofs less often, that's as clear as day for anyone to see.How many times does Smalling hoof the ball? I mean, I would like to see the stat, if available. And also, 'hoofs' that Mag-Lindi make on an average.
I'm one of Smalling's biggest fans on this forum, but those three are all pretty damn obvious. Not sure what you are calling false on.False
I mean, he's right in regards the Smalling-Blind combo. That is still by far the best central defensive combination we've used since Rio and Vidic left. No idea what Smalling-Rojo combo he's talking about though. Rojo's good period was with Bailly and then Jones. I actually don't remember Smalling-Rojo ever getting a good run of games together.have you been at the sherry ??
Smalling really didn't hoof the ball that often. Most seasons he had the highest completed passes percentage out of our central defenders. Obviously that's because he played the simple pass the vast majority of the time, but he wasn't giving the ball away very often either.Smalling was often forced to hoofs, quite often straight out of play, simple because we don't have tonnes of options and Smalling aint great on the ball. Lindelöf and Maguire are miles better on the ball and are forced to result to hoofs less often, that's as clear as day for anyone to see.
4.5 years younger.We spent 80m on a slight upgrade over Smalling so we could sell Smalling for a rumoured 20m.
Will he? Hmm.....I doubt so. Chris Smalling didn't really improved much from the time he was Mike. Considering that our CM and RW are virtually non existent should have we spent 80m on a decent but not WC CB?4.5 years younger.
If we end up paying 55m for the upgrade and 4 extra years I’m happy with that. I also think Maguire will get better and better.
It's just the classic joining United effect.I feel like he has his wings clipped since he came here. He was way more adventurous, marauding even for Leicester and England.
I hope Ole gets the boot before we sell Smalling because that would be stupid. I don’t even think Maguire is an upgrade over Smalling.We spent 80m on a slight upgrade over Smalling so we could sell Smalling for a rumoured 20m.
It has but he's having a mare so far, really really poor game from him.Movement in front of him has been diabolical so far to be fair.