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Chris Smalling

VIDEO: Smalling's Contribution vs Manchester City

February 14, 2011

Scott is the editor of RoM and has a season ticket at Old Trafford. He writes for The Mirror and Red News. He started The Republik of Mancunia in March 2006. Follow @R_o_M on Twitter.

Smalling: Rio’s Advice Kept Tevez Quiet

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714 Comments

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jeet February 17, 2011

Stateside Ausse - bang on, mate. The barcaboys dont like pace down the flanks. Wonder a Giggs in full flow would have done to them. The biggest problem playing barca is that when you lose possession, it could be another 5, 10 min before you are able to get it back. Players start thinking WTF, move out of position and lose concentration. We could trouble them if we Nani and Tony V firing on all cylinders, backed by Rafael and Evra - the problem as usual will be the middle of the park. Somebody remarked yesterday that it would be fun to see Spurs vs Barca and I agree. They play a crazy attacking tempo and it would be interesting to see how they cope with that.

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Devil310 February 17, 2011

702nd!!!!!!!

LOL

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Dave Malaysia February 17, 2011

Wei Scoottttttttt The Redddddddd valentine was on Monday,where art thou?

Did u try some new moves and got stuck,just holler one of the guys wud surely be close by to help!

Dun wolly we no tell wan,secret, oink oink .

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vILHELM28 February 17, 2011

I guess the English league is pretty good after all. I don't like Arsenal, but I'm even more sick of hearing how outstanding Barcelona are - talk about over rated league.

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Silvertoes February 17, 2011

cmon, update pls

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YorYor February 17, 2011

@StatesideAussie
I recall we tried to do that when we played them in the Final... plenty of cross-field passes, unfortunately for us, Puyol was playing well that day even though he was "out of position" (though some corrected me and told me that Puyol started off as a right back), Rooney wasn't getting on the end of those cross-field passes, Berbatov hasn't gelled yet, Ronaldo was probably thinking of his impending move, Nani has yet to come good, and Scholes' passing wasn't quite on-song that day. All in all, I initially thought we had an excellent chance against them with their "makeshift" defence and with Ronaldo apparently firing on all cylinders, but it wasn't to be.
Of course, it'd be a very different game now if we can get Valencia and his direct approach back. But we'd also need Carrick and Scholes to be at their best. And a top goal like that against City from either Berbs or Roo would be good too.

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Falsafa February 17, 2011

If we get to play barca this year, i think chico should start upfront. His pace from through balls would hurt them.

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Tschousen February 17, 2011

Scott...Are you still alive?

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Shoebahmed February 17, 2011

that's it.. i'm calling in a missing persons report!

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YorYor February 17, 2011

Now we know Scott has a bias for Berbatov and Smalling... the only reason why Smalling's post is kept on top!

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ahjs February 17, 2011

Barca are still pretty good, the only lost one close and very good football match. I don't like making excuses but remember their players went all the way in Euro 2008 and the World Cup and went to the Confederations Cup in 2009. It's got to catch up with them - I figured it might in the latter stages of this season. Smalling's better than Pique now? I don't see the need for these comparisons. Pique is a good defender and will be for the next ten years but he wasn't right for United at the time and is porbably more suited to Spain, anyway. And he's only 24. People make excuses for Evans still learning - Pique is learning fast. I don't know why he's getting out of bed nowadays, anyway.

La Liga isn't the strongest but to call it weak is too much. It's littered with the best players in the world and World Cup winners. Players like Llorente, Senna, Forlan, Aguero, Rossi, Munain, Mata etc etc are very good players playing outside the top two. Barca and Real get individual TV deals and Champions League football every year which keeps them above the rest. The English league is strong because we have lots of foreign owners recruiting foreign managers and foreign players. It's where the money is at the moment. It's not something I like to boast about - take all the foreigners out of all domestic leagues and England would be well below Spain. Below France. Below Italy. Below Holland. One game and we're dismissing Barcelona and an entire league? Come on.

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StatesideAussie February 17, 2011

The English league is much tougher than the Spanish one. La Liga is basically a two-team league. What we've seen in England over the last couple of years is that the weaker teams have gotten stronger, not by investment in players but because they've just "found a way". And true, that often means they park the bus against the top teams, but still it's been effective. Ugly, but effective. And to a certain extent, it has leveled the playing field. The top teams now have to fight every step of the way, and as the gaffer has said several times, there are no easy games in the PL anymore. Oh, there's the odd runaway match that ends with a cricket score, but by and large he's right.

The point? Over time, this can't be good for Barca and Real, because they're not being continually challenged to lift their game. Eventually, the rot is bound to set in. I'm not all that excited about our prospects in Europe this year because I think our midfield's still not right. Getting Tony V back will help, though. But we are a team in transition, and we'll get there. Maybe not this year, and maybe not even next year, but it won't take foreever either. This year, though, the only thing that really matters is #19.

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willierednut February 17, 2011

It's funny because, I thought it was two legs, the knock out stages. I wouldn't start crowing, just yet. Still think Barcelona will destroy the English Barcelona(what a load of bollox that is) at the Camp Nou.

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John of Arabia February 24, 2011

FUCK geographical restrictions... why would any site consider that shit? i couldn't watch video because of that. anyways.. i thought that Smalling was absolutely brilliant.