13 Jan 2016 07:47:29
I might get crucified for this but here goes. I'm beginning to worry/ have my doubts about Mike Smalling. Is he really as good as everybody wants us to believe? He looks solid most of the time when everybody is sitting deep protecting the back four and we look as dangerous going forward as mickey mouse, however, in the two games this season (Wolfsburg away and Newcastle last night) that we actually played with an attacking mindset, he was absolute terrible. could it be that that he's just not that good or could it be he just had two off-days - the latter would seem too convenient an explanation. I'm not sure sure anymore.
{Ed025's Note - i think he is decent FB but he is not a natural leader, you need someone along side him who is more vocal and experienced mate..
13 Jan 2016 09:27:55
I've been saying this all season, it's not just Smalling we are very weak on CB's. There is a reason we play with two holding midfielders most of the time and the fullbacks are held back and it's the CBs.
I made a comparrison to Spurs yesterday as they play a similar formation, their width comes from their fullbacks, Poch rotates them more than any other position as they are expected to get forward. It's obvious our CB don't allow us to do this.
I wrote a statement that I got slated for about how Smalling should be giving most of his wages to the players around him as they are making him look far better than he is, I stand by it. How many times has DDG saved us? Why else have two covering CM's? Why else hold the fullbacks back? As you say when we play attacking football the CB look very suspect.
I think we need a new pairing, I'd sell Smalling as he would command the highest fee.
13 Jan 2016 09:52:54
I wouldn't sell smalling, he is still a good player and excellent in one on one situations, just gets caught out positionally occasionally, and as he usually has blind next to him it's exaggerated when he messes up because there's no one there to cover most often.
Another top centre back along side him could be very effective, and when Shaw comes back we'll be even stronger.
13 Jan 2016 10:06:57
For half the season he's been our best player bar De Gea. Then all of a sudden he has one or two games and people are on his back again. He's improved a hell of a lot, being selected to be captain on a few occasions wouldn't happen if he wasn't doing really well. Easy to forget about all the amazing challenges he puts in and aerial battles he wins though isn't it.
13 Jan 2016 10:08:58
I've said many times we need two top CB's to come in. I would keep Smalling, but he should have to fight for his place.
The issue with Smalling is his positioning. He is strong in the air, is good at timing his tackles and has good recovery pace. But he needs a very ridgid system around him to keep him in his position. It probably stems from his non league back ground. He wasn't taught or had the corrwct positioning drilled into him as a youngster. Had he been in a Premier league academy at the age of 10/ 11 on wards he would he an exceptional defender now.
He needs someone to hold his hand through the game and keep him in the right position. A more vocal goalkeeper may even be benifical for him.
13 Jan 2016 10:29:27
Although Smalling had a pretty bad game, there were other defenders who were even worse. Darmian looked lost when they attacked, for a full back he is very slow and does not offer anything going forward.
I think he sometimes has to do extra work keeping in mind that the other defenders alongside him are not so good, Blind and darmian's lack of pace was the real problem along with the mistakes made by smalling.
13 Jan 2016 10:36:34
Ozwald, has he looked good because the team is set up to protect the CB's at the expense of the attack? In my opinion, yes.
Smalling was slated for a couple of seasons and now he's apparently our best player. Why? What's changed? The level of protection the CB pair get has changed.
I believe with a strong CB pairing the manager would not play two holding midfielders and allow the fullbacks forward more.
At the end of last season if we were told Smalling/ Blind would be our CB pairing people would of lost it. Football is a team game and the team in my opinion is being set up to cover the weak areas at the expense of the attack.
13 Jan 2016 12:54:29
Yes, Smalling looks better with good defensive midfield cover, but the reason he needs it is because of the rest of the defence. Blind is not a good CB for the EPL, Darmian is struggling and was in any event purchased as a right back not left where he played last night. The worst non-signing over the summer was no CB but its been exacerbated by misfortune. LVG may have hoped Jones/ Rojo would have stepped up to the plate, and who's to say had either of them had a run of games that they wouldn't. The loss of Shaw was absolutely critical, not only for his defensive qualities but also his speed up the left which might have helped Memphis.
It's hard to lose some of your best players even when your team is deep and settled. When you're rebuilding virtually from scratch it can be disastrous. I'm not sure it's fair to blame LVG for that. He's clearly caught between a rock and a hard place.
13 Jan 2016 14:13:54
Got to admit, but Smalling was dog poor last night. It was like the Smalling of last season, all over the place and doing erratic things, like showing off his Roman Greco wrestling skills.
13 Jan 2016 14:59:36
If you insert a John Terry type player in next to Smalling you will get the best outbox him. Someone who will dictate a defense and get them into the right positions. Mike has improved so much and wI'll continue to do but needs help.
Is there anyone out there like that we could bring in?
13 Jan 2016 10:47:40
yeah you're probably right on that ed.