Nope. Is he worth keeping if we don't get in a better CB? Absolutely yes. Apart from Harry, he's better than all other defenders we have.
So would you keep Smalling?
- Thread starter jamesjimmybyrondean
- Start date
Not much illustrates this better than us having the bring back Smalling and sell Pogba threads on the front page.
Just need to bump the Januzaj thread now.
It's because clubs keep going after the fabled defender who can play the ball out from defense and then realise the players they bought in can't actually defend that well.
Exactly this. Everybody tells themselves they need that ball playing centre back the same way attacking fullbacks are a must nowadays.
I would take Smalling back and get rid of a few we are paying who are half as good as him.
Describes £50m John Stones.
I like Mike
Rather keep him than sell him for 12 million euros. We wouldn't get the likes of Ben Mee or Ciaran Clark at that price.
Yeah.
I'm not normally one to care about how much United spend, or get for sales. Only 0.0000000000001% of it will be from me buying a match ticket, or teddy bear from the megastore.
But in a market where two other English CB's, Tawowski (?) is going for £20m and Ake north of £40m.. What right do Roma have trying to get Smalling for about £8m?
He's better than both.
Also I hate Roma. Stupid hipster club always trying to help Liverpool.
Keep him. He’s better than Lindelof.
He needs to play more often then not to have a chance for the Euros and that is not going to happen at United, he is not good enough. Needs to leave for his own good. 12 mil is to little for him, but i would let him leave none the less because he has been a good servant and deserves to get the best chance he can.
He played a full season and Europa campaign with Roma and couldn't get back into the England squad.
It is clear that Ole will not play him first choice and he wants to leave so we should get a £15m fee and let him go.
He's a better defender than Lindelof and i don't see how Lindelof makes up for that in passing. Our defenders don't do anything on the ball Smalling doesn't, we might have thought they would but they don't.
I'd be surprised if he wanted to come back.
I'd be surprised if he wanted to come back.
He's not getting in the England squad regardless of how well he does
I would have kept him last year and tested how he and Maguire meshed. However he is 31 in a couple of months, just come off a positive experience in Italy, proved himself to be still a capable defender away from the hyperbolic wailing that comes with Utd, it is a good time to sell him when a decent fee can still be secured.
Ole seems to have a fair amount of hope in Bailley as the alternative to Lindelof, Smalling would have the same scenario as the start of last season, last of his best years, probably sitting in the stands waiting for an injury.
Ole seems to have a fair amount of hope in Bailley as the alternative to Lindelof, Smalling would have the same scenario as the start of last season, last of his best years, probably sitting in the stands waiting for an injury.
Maybe, we should after all.
Let's send Lindelof disguised as Smalling to Roma.
Yes. Only idiot managers would sell him instead of Lindelof & Jones.
A defender is first judged by their ability to defend & Lindelof sits quite significantly low.
A defender is first judged by their ability to defend & Lindelof sits quite significantly low.
WTF are we selling Smalling when we have two clowns at the back!
Atleast I feel somewhat safe with smalling. Get Lindelof out he has had plenty of chances now and he still looks a boy amongst men.
Goodness me, Lindelof was pisspoor today. So weak. I'd keep Mike even if he isn't the most ideal.
It's pretty criminal that Smalling is sat at home while this game is going on. He was our best defender when Ole joined, he's still our best defender. But apparently passing is the most important aspect of a centre back. We don't even play it out from the back ffs!
Don't sell lindelof. Blind is much slower than Maguire/lindelof but Lvg masked his weaknesses by playing him alongside a quick cb. The lindelof Maguire partnership wasn't exposed for pace a lot last season because we parked the bus with Fred and mctominay. Get Smalling back into the team and play him alongside one of these clowns.
Blind did a lot of the masking himself by being much smarter than Lindelof.
I will always back Mike as at least a decent option vs this shambles.
The best natural defender we have and he can't get a game for England or Ole because... "something something Passing. and Jones and Vegan"
The best natural defender we have and he can't get a game for England or Ole because... "something something Passing. and Jones and Vegan"
Thats true, I remember him playing alongside McNair and being able to mark Lukaku out of a game
Nope.
I still wouldn’t keep him. It would be even more of an admission of mediocrity. Lindelof and (to a lesser extent) Maguire are not of a sufficient standard, but no excuse not to invest - Smalling would be a pathetically cheap fix and not a good one at that.
Which means it’s probably exactly what we’re going to do.
Which means it’s probably exactly what we’re going to do.
Keeping Mike for the long term or not, we shouldn't start Lindelof anyway.
Either way he is best suited to partner both out current cb's. He should have never been sidelined without testing him out with Maguire.
Honestly think he is better than both Lindelof and Maguire at defending. Some of what was on display today was shocking. Shows also why we can’t play with attacking fullbacks as Lindelof and Maguire are terrible when left to deal with people that can go at them.
Smalling has pace snd is a real defender, he already is our second best defender and we are selling him, Lindelof is just so poor and will continue to let Ole down, if he doesn’t change our CB pairing ASAP , Ole will get the boot, I can easily see us starting with 2 wins 1 draw and 3 defeats from first 6 games then trying to play catch up , no old Trafford crowd may actually have been worth 10 points a season with a lot of these very entitled players no crowd , a definite lack of urgency and effort is clearly apparent, I have a sneaking suspicion serious changes may be a foot by Xmas at Board, Chief Exec and Manager level and only then can we start another painful climb to try and recover past glories !
On today's performance we need to stop worrying about a ball playing CB and use the one we have that can actually bloody defend.
Of course. Ship out Lindelöf and Jones and Rojo.
No I wouldn't. We need to rip up the central defence and start again. Going back to mediocrity is no answer.
People need to move on from Smalling. Its like many have forgotten how bad he played for united. It wasn't just about his ball playing ability but overall defending. We won't be upgrading if we recall him.
I would keep him, but looks like he wants to leave himself.
People keep forgetting how good of a defender he is. There's no point playing progressive passing football if you can't defend 1v1, something Mike is very good at.
Mediocrity is an improvement on Lindelof.
Changed my mind. I want the Swede out first.
Imagine saying no