Nemanja Vidic has sung the praises of Chris Smalling following another impressive display from the youngster last night. His confidence on the ball shone through against Bursaspor, earning himself a pat on the back from the captain.
“Chris did very well but you are not just talking about one night, he has done well over the last few games,” said Vidic. “He has proved the boss was right to give him his chance. Rio has obviously had trouble with injuries over the last year. Given it was such a long trip and we have important games to come, it was a good chance for Chris. He has good players around him to learn from and has the ability, intelligence and physique to do well.”
Whilst Smalling is obviously pleased to get the praise, he believes a lot of it is down to the influence of Vida and Rio Ferdinand.
“The likes of Rio and Vida have been brilliant,” said Smalling. “They help guide you through games and I am learning from them all the time. They deserve credit too. They have really helped me to settle in and my confidence is sky high at the moment.”
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Smalling looked very steady last night albeit against piss poor opposition.
Smalling really impressed me yesterday. I wasn’t expecting him to be so good this early in his United career. Talk about the United shirt elevating someone’s game..
Yeh, not the biggest test he’ll ever face. Would be interesting to see him up against some of the real big boys.
I remember at Craven Cottage last season he played a blinder against Chelsea… before scoring an OG in the dying minutes.
Chris Smalling stole our title! Let’s hope he can help win it back this year…
Looks like Smalling is turning out to be quite a ‘big’ signing for us!! Though they’re quite different in their style, Smalling is making Evans look a bit ordinary atm.
But that’s not to discredit Evans. Its just to say how good Smalling has turned out to be!
Hope these two gel in well with our defence and Johnny gets past the nerves he has been showing lately.
LOL Kanchelskis
I remember the game very well too ! I was thinking “who the hell is this guy” . he was brilliant that night despite the OG . The games i’ve seen him play this season have been absolutely fantastic ! just like young Rio , comfortable on the ball , brilliant in the air and a goog tackler . Looking forward to seeing more of him . Though last night was as easy as it gets for us … but still !
Given how our defence has performed in the past few weeks against supposed ‘lesser’ teams (Fulham, Everton, Bolton, West Brom etc) then I think credit where it’s due… Smalling has proven to be a more than capable deputy to Rio so far and is calm and assured on the ball. Precisely what you need.
I think there’s also credit to be given to Vidic for his captaincy so far… if anything it has sharpened up his game in the past couple of weeks too and, unlike Rio against Spurs, knows how to conduct himself where the officials are concerned.
All very promising.
hasn’t done to much wrong so far for everyone that thinks utd have to spend 30-40 mill to find good players maybe they should start trusting our scouts and sir alex because chicharito and smalling are looking like really good signings and bebe has alot of power and is a work in progress but wouldn’t bet against him becoming a top player
@wayne
I hope Bebe goes on to become something very special.
Especially after all the horrible things the papers were writing about him.
seriously, this has just made things with rooney even worse?? WHAT THE HELL WAS HE TALKING ABOUT.. we are looking fantastic… our younger players just shined in a hostile environment.. lots of other people may have bottled it but ours played brilliantly… do we really need rooney?.. we’ve won 5 out of 5 after his drama act.. i wouldnt mind if he didnt play all season long tbh
p.s.. hopefully obertan gets a game against wolves.. we’l need that attacking mind winger instead of park on saturday.. obertan has quick feet and that goal will settle his nerves down… he scored a cracker like that in the reserves against liverpool… he definetly can get power into his shots… its looking good for us reds
UEFA have give Bebe the 3rd goal
@obertanthenewstar
It will probably be Obertan and Park starting on Saturday. We don’t have any other wingers. We will need his trickery and speed to open them up.
bebe seems similar ronaldo in my opinion, direct and powerful plus blessed with dribbling skills and technique, and is a good crosser, the manager will be working on his potential, the impact he is making already will only give him more confidence.
well obertan is ready for first team, has hit the gym and looks like a monster, he runs like a gazelle too with dribbling ability and skills, all he needs to work on his end product and he’ll be good.
smalling is very much a rio in the making, makes matches look far too easy due to his calmness and assurance on the ball, he is tall, fast and strong, rare assets in a centre back. Games like bursaspor away in champions league will only help him gain more experience, he knows he still learning and should keep working hard, plus all this young players needs our support, we mustn’t turn against when they make a mistake e.t.c
split our defence into, on the right u have an ave age of 20 on the left u have 29(?) ably supported by a 40 yr old
before we get praising our defense – let’s look at the chances they wasted from mistakes.
there were two chances caused by two long-time culprits (evra and vds). i think vds picking out a United player with his kicking is about 25% and evra’s performance is masked by his ability to get forward.
if bursaspor could hit the target we could have been down two-nil at half-time.
smalling has played well in all of his matches this season:
bursa (awful finishing)
wolves (scored two)
bursa (no attackers)
scunny (conceded two against)
rangers (played too defensively too care)
west ham (should have scored at the end when he was on with Parker missed a sitter)
chelsea (they scored after he came on)
It was frustrating when Bebe absolutely rinsed their left-back for pace, but in a great cross from the touchline for Berba, who should have hit it first time, but spaffed it up.
A goal AND an assist to his name would have represented a great night.
things are getting better..fergie is the best
So was AIG right? Is the Bebe goal awarded to him?
@hammons
what u trying to say? thats happened even with rio and vidic in defence… we normally dont peak until around this time anyway.. so to me its looking pretty good.. i think the rooney situation has given our players a kick up the backside.. plus no goals conceded in all 4 champs league games.. against rangers and valencia away!! aswel… every team will have chances mate.. if not like we dont miss chances.. ur points are all ifs and butts.. if they finished their chances.. we might have finished ours aswel?? who knows.. but what we do know is that we won all those games u mentioned.. apart from rangers… and im happy with that.. not to mention scunny,wolves and bursa had some reserve/squad players in those games it would be amazing if they didnt get any chances :S i dont know what ur getting at mate
Lets wait until he’s really tested, before we declare him a top player. What was Rooney talking about obertanthenewstar? Do you really believe Rooney was worried about Uniteds future? All that shit was over money mate, nothing else.
@willierednut
yeh ive always thought that.. that is why i will never be able to forgive him.. if he scores i will cheer for united scoring.. not rooney.. and i wouldnt give a flying fuck if we sold him
Hammons
Fuck me mate, cheer up! Conceding goals doesn’t mean Smalling is a bad player and 3 of the games you mention we kept a clean sheat. I think he has looked good.
@willierednut
What are you on about? Of course he was worried about our future. That’s why he went on vacation to Dubai. because the stress was too much.
@Willierednut, just let rooney be! Accepted, he disrespected manutd, but lets show him love & make him ashamed of his actions instead of getting on his back at the slightest opportunity.
@ogee
show him love for what? disrespecting our club? clearly he was talking bollocks.. fuck him
the guy is 24.. his agent is a prick but rooney is a grown up man.. he knew what was happening and he didnt give a rats ass.. now i dont give a fuck about him either
ogee – You can do that, I won’t be won over that easy mate. I’m obliged to support him, while he plays for United, but it won’t be the same, as it was before.
@obertanthenewstar:
what i am trying to say is let’s not start praising him as the new successor to Rio until he has faced a top striker. he is very good on the ball, but we have not seen him under pressure, and he has lapses in concentration.
@mikekelly12:
sorry, but i am just a realist. he has a long way to go, and will rightfully take some bruises and knocks along the way. he did look good and is composed on the ball, but, again, he has yet to be really tested by anyone besides Steven Fletcher and a couple of other Turkeys.
@hammons
fair enough… but he has all the attributes for that role if im being honest.. he looks like a monster.. never gets pushed off the ball like evans has in recent games.. and we are not only talking about him for united… he looked solid against anelka and drogba last season.. just was unlucky in the end… also played in the europa league and for england u-21 where he was looked solid… that is why people are comparing him to rio
Not comparing him to anyone or saying he is the complete player, would just like to see a bit of positivity around a young United player instead of immediately taking the negative view. No, he hasn’t faced any world class players yet but you can only perform against the players put in front of you, so without having to go over the top, lets start seeing some positivity.
@ willierednut & obertanthenewstar,he plays for manutd[for the moment] & yes i this is the same guy who was carrying an ankle injury but still played with it against bayern(helping us race to a 3 goal advantage with one assist).so obviously he must have cared. Even fergie blamed his agent for the whole mess,its just ONE mistake guys! Away with the bitterness!
@mikekelly12: i am not trying to belittle our players – i leave that to opposing supporters and the ABU, but trying to keep a level thinking about the youngsters. they did well in a very hostile environment last night, but all have a long, long way to stardom.
@obertan: he does have every single attribute to be top-class – there is no denying that. he is very young still and center-backs dont really mature till their mid-20s.
in all, we have one for the future …. the future.
@Costas:
Yes mate. AIG is right. Today morning when I was reading their match report, it was reported as an Own Goal. Now its reported as a goal by Bebe!!
Royally up yours, Daily Mail!!
@Unitedfanatic
Great news then! At the Daily Fail they are throwing temper tantrums!
whats up with these interactive adverts!… just came on while in the office… need to find a way of turning that off
ogee – Yes, SAF did put some blame on his agent publicly, but we don’t know what he said to Rooney privately.
We need to show some patience regarding Own Goal. Just give him time and he’ll start putting them in the net like last season. He came close last night didn’t he.
@Costas
Yes! Uefa credit Bebe.
http://en.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/round=2000118/match=2002878/postmatch/statistics/index.html
Am I the only one that thinks Vidic has looked a bit dodgy recently? He’s been slipping on his arse quite a lot.
Evans isn’t having a great season either but he was injured early on I think so hopefully that’s something to do with it and he can get back to the form where I don’t feel worried seeing him in our team against a big team.
@SmartAlex
Thanks! Finally justice. He’s got more goals than Rooney this season.
@bigphil
Good point mate. He has slipped on quite a few occasions. The good thing is that his form has picked up a bit in the last month.
That’s easily explained. Vidic has a phobia about staying on his feet, so every now and then, he has to take a wee tumble. It’s better than taking pills, let me tell ya.
Smalling looks more and more competant in every game he features for us. I must admit after we signed him and he was still playing for Fulham it seemed he had a mistake in him every game, glad to see he’s cut them out. Maybe it’s his concentration, whatever it is I hope his form continues.
hammons – Not jumping on the bandwagon fella but I too fail to see your point. Smalling looks a player, you can just tell. Composed, pace, decent passer, first to the ball, great in air, scores goals. I bet if he was chucked in the deep end against the Rentboys a la Evans he would do just fine.
I cannot agree more than with mikekelly as I keep saying myself why do some people always have to take the negatives? Its really odd to me.
So I guess Chris is the new Rio….
I think people are positive about our younger players, but I also recall Jonny Evans having a great game against Inter Milan two years ago, but this season he’s regressed to a point, were he’s now being over looked by SAF. Out of all our younger players, the one I think is nailed on to make it is Hernandez, he’s already proved himself with the goals he’s scored.
@Willierednut, I believe Jonny Evans is injured. There was a press release before the trip to Turkey.
It is easy to be confused about our back up players because they often miss games without much explanation. It is part of the Gulag Carrington that we never have all this info in front of us. So my view is that Jonny is being left out for injury reasons. Hope he is fit soon, Think he will be a top player for us once again.
In his stead, Smalling is doing and saying all the right things. Wish the best for both of them. Also love to see Brown in the center as that is his most natural position. Always good to have some depth and experience. Cheers
Speaking of injuries. United just hit first place in the PhysioRooms #Injured department. The site lists 8, without including Evans. Does anyone have a better source, this one always seems several days to weeks behind. Cheers:
http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php
Whether he’s injured or not, the point is, his form has suffered for whatever reason, I really don’t know tbh. Let smalling develop in to a top defender of own, but don’t label him he next Rio, he doesn’t need that kind of pressure.
there seems to be a lot of slipping at old trafford recently, are they overwatering the pitch or something??
Mark Bosnich, now a commentator for Fox Sports here in Australia, has a theory on the Rooney saga; in that he and SAF used the increased weekly wage demands as a means of increasing the club’s pay ceiling…in doing so, SAF has guaranteed that the club are able to sign future ‘stars’ (ambition?) without now having to worry about weekly wages being an issue. Could be clutching at straws, but sneaky from SAF if there’s even an ounce of truth to it.
That said, I’m certainly not a fan of the ‘galacticos’ mentality of some supporters…Solskjaer was plucked from obscurity (no offense to the Norwegian league) and we’re now starting to see the likes of Smalling, Hernandez and Obertan come into their own. Also looking forward to the impact that Cleverley, Eikrem, Pogba and Morrison could have on the first team.
smalling is a walking wall. the guy is masive!! it always amuses me that his name is smalling.
united.george – Ha . I have noticed that too pal. It drives me fucking mad.