Rank our CB's in order of who is best

[Stretford kev]

The only centre back I think is good enough is Bailly. Rojo tends to just hoof it long, although I like Jones I think he is just too injury prone.

Smalling never seems to be comfortable in possession although to be fair he does pop up with the odd goal and Lindelof I'm still trying to work out.

It would be nice to have a centre back bought in the summer who's better than bailly or of similar quality.

 

[Dolf]

1. Bailly
2. Jones
3. Rojo
4. Smalling
5. Lindelof
6. Blind

 

[2cents]

Eugh.

1. Smalling

2-4. Jones, Rojo, Bailly in no particular order. They're all equally dodgy for different reasons.

5. Blind

6. Lindelof.

 

[Dec9003]

I don't see much point rating our centre backs, because by the first game of next season I'll have probably changed my mind.
I will say though, everyone is so convinced Bailly is a top player, but I have to ask; if he didn't have such a loveable, Evra like character, would he be as highly rated?

 

[Bastian]

The more I think about this, the more I come to think that none of them is really that good. Bailly is the best of an OK bunch. But he can actually improve.

Let's hope this summer sees us acquiring a consistent performer at centre back.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

Beast) Bailey
Bottom half of table only) Smalling
Too inconsistent/ injured) Jones
Bottom 3/4 of Prem) Blind, Rojo

The order can be marginally derived!

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

I don't see much point rating our centre backs, because by the first game of next season I'll have probably changed my mind.
I will say though, everyone is so convinced Bailly is a top player, but I have to ask; if he didn't have such a loveable, Evra like character, would he be as highly rated?

Yes he is quick strong and doesn't make Smalling/ Jones brain farts. He might not be Stam/ Vidic/ Ferdi, but he has potential.

The others have all been tried and are lacking. Rojo almost made it to top level then got broken.

 

[James Peril]

Bailly, Jones, Rojo, Smalling and Lindelof by current ability - but Bailly, Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Lindelof based on all the injuries they accumulate. Lindelof is far behind right now, he has really disappointed me in terms of performances. Always stressed and on the backfoot

 

[Dec9003]

Yes he is quick strong and doesn't make Smalling/ Jones brain farts. He might not be Stam/ Vidic/ Ferdi, but he has potential.

The others have all been tried and are lacking. Rojo almost made it to top level then got broken.

He does have very good potential, but he definitely has brainfarts.
Bailly has also been just at injury prone as the others since he joined, I really like him but I'm not 100% sold he'll be a world beater just yet.

 

[matherto]

Bailly





Rojo





everyone else

Smalling

 

[arnie_ni]

Smalling and I'm not even sure how its up for debate. Manager seems to agree.

I can understand, with pep and klopps style of play, why you'd want a better ball playing cb, but sometimes you can spend 50mil on one and he's totally shite like stones.

He's arguably top 5 in the league at out and out defending. If he had on the ball ability like blind for example youd have one of the best defenders in the world.

 

[el3mel]

Why didn't I replay to this thread earlier ? anyway :

1- Bailly, definitely the best, with most potential for the future.
2- Smalling, has his problems and I'm not 100% convinced with him but he's always there and always available, the most reliable one.
3- Jones, great when he's available. He's not available much though.
4- Rojo, his form after injury is still questionable.
5- Lindelof, showed flashes of talent but yet to prove himself as a main starter for long turn. Judgement will be fairer next season.
6- Blind, meh.

 

[simplyared]

Jones (when fit)
Bailly
Smalling
Rojo
Blind

 

[Motorman]

Bailly
Lindelof
Jones
Smalling / Rojo


Smalling so low on the basis he has no ball control or passing ability and the number of times he manages to put us under pressure its quite literally a joke.

 

[Brightonian]

I'm ignoring Jones because he's just never fit. Although arguably that means including Rojo is a little generous. That aside, it goes:

Bailly
Smalling-Rojo
Lindelof
Blind

I actually think they're all pretty decent tbh. Strengths and weaknesses, of course. Bailly is League XI class, in my opinion, and only 23! Smalling and Rojo wouldn't look out of place in a league-winning side, although they'd have to have a strong season to look worthy of a CL-winning side. But worse CBs have done it.

Partnership-wise, my top three in order of preference would be:

Bailly-Rojo
Bailly-Smalling
Smalling-Rojo

It speaks volumes about Valencia that I think he deserves a mention in here - whatever CB pairing we put out always looks much more solid with his work rate, positioning and leadership next to them. Bailly in particular plays twice as well when Tony is next to him.

 

[El Jefe]

Smalling and I'm not even sure how its up for debate. Manager seems to agree.

I can understand, with pep and klopps style of play, why you'd want a better ball playing cb, but sometimes you can spend 50mil on one and he's totally shite like stones.

He's arguably top 5 in the league at out and out defending. If he had on the ball ability like blind for example youd have one of the best defenders in the world.

Those with Smalling last or fourth must not grasp that a defender's main duty is to defend. I admit he grinds my gears with his ability on the ball but he's easily our best CB.

Rojo over Smalling

 

[MadMike]

I'm still surprised by how highly people still rate Rojo as CB

 

[El Jefe]

I'm still surprised by how highly people still rate Rojo as CB

Me too. I love his passion and aggression but I think he's a poor defender.

 

[Tyrion]

1 - Eric Bailly
2 - Chris Smalling

Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones all seem pretty similar and I think we need better. The other 2 are ok.

 

[lysglimt]

Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Bailly are all quality defenders - they just aren't world-class. But I have a hard time mentioning someone in the P.L who is by far better. Chelsea have none, City...I am not impressed by their central defenders, Liverpool...nah, Arsenal absolutely not...so I would say an Alderweireld in form is better - there are 3-4 who are at the same Level - but anyone better ?

 

[MadMike]

Me too. I love his passion and aggression but I think he's a poor defender.

He has the worst disciplinary record out of everyone in the current squad, with basically a yellow card for every game he plays.

He's constantly losing his head and gets drawn into spats. He gets dribbled fairly easily. He hoofs the ball so much it's painful to watch. He's got a very average fitness record.

I get it that he's passionate and quite often an instinctive defender with last ditch tackles and so on. But the the overall package is very poor. He's had a decent 10 game run with Jones last year. That's been basically it for 4 years.

 

[Canagel]

1) Bailly - He is the best and the one with the biggest potential. He's kamikaze style of defending is refreshing and although he can be a bit rash sometimes but these things can be ironed out quickly. Has pace to burn and strong in 1 on 1's. An experienced CB with composure would help him massively IMO.

2) Smalling - He is a good old fashioned CB with excellent aerial ability and again strong in 1 on 1's and especially against big tall strikers. He is also quite aggressive and under LVG the man marking job suited him really well. However his ability on the ball is shocking and holds us back because the midfielders can't trust him to commit an attacker so they have to drop deeper to collect the ball hampering our attack in the process. He is also sometimes quite uncertain in his decisions and I always feel a disaster can happen when the ball is at his feet.

3) Lindelof - Started off very bad but I think he's a solid 1st year and there are a lot of positives for the future. I think he has big potential and I can see signs already that he's adapting to the pace and rhythm of PL. Has very good passing ability which is a crucial asset but to survive in the PL you need other things like physical strength, heading ability, reading the game etc. One thing he needs to do improve further is to get tighter to strikers and be more aggressive. I know he can do it because he used to do it a lot at Benfica but hes more nervous in the PL. Needs to assert his authority more next season but I think he can do it.

4) Jones/Rojo - For me these two are on the same level currently and there's nothing to choose between them. They are at the same level in the pecking order. Jones had potential but injuries have ruined him. I don't think there's anything particular that stands out about him. Rojo has a lot of heart but again is very rash and lacks composure for someone who should be in his prime years as a CB.

 

[Grande]

1 Bailly
2 Jones
3 Smalling
4 Lindeløf
5 Rojo
6 Blind
7 Tuanzebe
8 Carrick
9 Fosu Mensa

 

[Snow]

Smalling
Jones
Rojo & Bailly
Lindelöf.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

Smalling and I'm not even sure how its up for debate. Manager seems to agree.

I can understand, with pep and klopps style of play, why you'd want a better ball playing cb, but sometimes you can spend 50mil on one and he's totally shite like stones.

He's arguably top 5 in the league at out and out defending. If he had on the ball ability like blind for example youd have one of the best defenders in the world.

Yet that world beating striker Kompany gets the better of him!

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

Me too. I love his passion and aggression but I think he's a poor defender.

This described him to a point, but then he had a run of games in a Shawesque limited time frame that suggested he could be something more. Then he got broken and that was that.

 

[Tincanalley]

I love Smalling. One of my favourite United players of all time. Served under SAF. Played in the Conference, moved on up. What a heart. Secretly known as Mike. The Smalling 'haters' can go take a running jump... Oh.

 

[Reddevildans]

Smalling
Jones
Bailly
Rojo
Lindelof (only because he hasn't played much)

 

[CA_vampire]

Eric Bailly - grade 6/10
Chris Smalling - grade 6/10
Marcos Rojo - grade 5/10
Phil Jones - grade 5/10
Daley Blind - grade 5/10

The main problem is none of them is a world class player. Nothing like Vidic-Rio. We don't need five or six interchangeable "good" players. We need two best-in-class players. Of course, it is not easy to find our new Vidic-Rio duo...

 

[SpyLuke10]

1. Bailly.
2. Rojo.
3. Smalling.
4. Jones.
5. Lindelof.

 

[Jojo <3 Mou]

It hard to order them. They are all generally inconsistent. Using their expected ceiling I'd have:

1. Lindelof
2. Bailly
3. Tuanzebe
4. Jones
5. Rojo
6. Smalling
7. Blind

In order of their reliability (for this season mainly)

1. Smalling
2. Lindelof
3. Bailly
4. Jones
5. Rojo
6. Tuanzebe
7. Blind

I don't want to sell anyone because in the right partnerships they are all ok. Smalling is not a great passer but he does other things well. If I have to sell anyone it's definitely Blind and Smalling () and I'd get Alderweireld (or someone experienced).

 

[Norris]

Smalling
Bailly
Jones
Rojo
Lindeloff

 

[Isotope]

Currently:

1. Smalling
2. Bailly
3. Jones
4. Blind (Blind is a solid CB. Can't figure out of why he isn't playing more.)
5. Lindelof
6. Rojo

Considering ability, injuries, and potential:
1. Bailly
2. Smalling
3. Lindelof
4. Jones, Rojo, Blind
I'd keep the first 3, and add a world class CB (although I don't know any available world class CB who is good with the ball while an excellent defender. But just pretend we will get one). Then we have 2 experience CB, and two young n' learning.

 

[Flames73]

In terms of ability (not including injury)

1. Jones
2. Bailly
3. Smalling
4. Lindelof
5. Rojo

 

[arnie_ni]

Yet that world beating striker Kompany gets the better of him!

You do watch other teams yes? No defender is infallible especially not smalling

 

[westmeath]

Bailly Smalling 6/10, the rest about 4/10. Major investment required. Good thread, not a nice exercise assessing these guys. They are really not near the required level.

 

[Gog]

Bailly
Mike
Blind like wind
Jones
Rojo
Lindelof

 

[stevoc]

Yes he is quick strong and doesn't make Smalling/ Jones brain farts. He might not be Stam/ Vidic/ Ferdi, but he has potential.

The others have all been tried and are lacking. Rojo almost made it to top level then got broken.

Not sure about that at all, he has them in his game.

 

[StonedhamsterZA]

I'd like to see the Smalling comments on the site if he didn't score the winner. He was an absolute pushover against Kompany with the first goal. Pulling his shirt and falling over. I get the fact that Kompany is big and strong, but more often than not, during set pieces, you see Smalling grabbing a shirt and taking a tumble.

Just not worth taking top spot in some people's lists in my opinion.

 

[Leftback99]

I'd like to see the Smalling comments on the site if he didn't score the winner. He was an absolute pushover against Kompany with the first goal. Pulling his shirt and falling over. I get the fact that Kompany is big and strong, but more often than not, during set pieces, you see Smalling grabbing a shirt and taking a tumble.

Just not worth taking top spot in some people's lists in my opinion.

It was poor but Smalling is comfortably our best defender in the air so it's doubtful that any of the others would have dealt with it better. Sometimes it's just a good header by the attacker.

He did score the winner because he's also the biggest goal threat of our CBs. One of City's CBs has also been beaten easily for the goal to be scored.