Chris Smalling been a good defender who usually gets shytted on bc of his Cb partners mistake
Essential The Official Football (Soccer) Thread - RIP Diogo Jota
And Di Maria failed bc the tactic was to get him the ball and expect to pull out magic on his own with no support or movement from the team . shyt made no sense 
You look at Liverpool and City, and watch how players move without the ball.
You look at Liverpool and City, and watch how players move without the ball.
And Di Maria failed bc the tactic was to get him the ball and expect to pull out magic on his own with no support or movement from the team . shyt made no sense
You look at Liverpool and City, and watch how players move without the ball.
Can we talk about how Chris Smalling is the best defender in Serie A?And does this mean Koulibally is just a black Metresacker and Chiellini just a David Luiz with male pattern baldness?
Roma has to do the right thing now and sign my boy Welback
He did a great interview with The Athletic. Excerpt about social media:
Smalling has often been a scapegoat. Criticism has not been short from United fans in recent seasons and the defender is one of many players who have found themselves under the microscope.
“It’s unfair at times,” he says. “There have been times where I’ve played well and yet still you see the same one or two players picked on. It’s tough. I’m mentally strong and I don’t go into my shell, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect you.”
He notices the vicious criticism from people purporting to be United fans on social media, yet stays engaged in the hope of getting something positive from it.
“Social media can be a dangerous place,” he said. “We have the beauty of being able to share our message or opinions, but people can get too drawn on it. I wasn’t on social media until three or four years ago. I’m quite private I didn’t want to share everything about myself, but I also felt I could use my platform to help some of the things I’m involved in like FBB (Football Beyond Borders), a social education charity which tries to get struggling kids to focus in the classroom. Maybe people can relate to what I’ve been through — growing up without a father or missing out on a trial because we couldn’t get there as there was no car in the family as we couldn’t afford one.”
“My mum felt she was letting us down because she couldn’t get us to trials. I was released from Millwall because I couldn’t get there to train. Good can come from social media as we’ve seen from Raheem (Sterling) who spoke well about racism or Danny Rose about mental health.”
People don’t know Smalling, the person. Or they don’t know the detail. He hasn’t really spoken about his dad, who died when he was five.
“I can’t remember him,” he says. “I have a few pictures and had he died in modern times I would have had a lot more.”
Smalling opens his phone and shows a picture of his dad with his brother. “I look at it and it fuels me,” he says. “Dad had cancer. Lung. Smoker. He died in his early forties. I was lucky to have my brother when we grew up. We could share our problems, even if we weren’t the most open.
“Maybe I wish I was more open when I was younger. Mentioning dad was almost a taboo subject. My brother and I lied in school to pretend dad hadn’t died. We said he’d moved away. Mum was trying to shield us so it wasn’t discussed.”
Smalling’s first years were spent in Greenwich, but when dad his passed away, the three moved to Chatham and a council estate in the working-class Medway town.
“Mum had family there,” he explains. “She didn’t marry again. She raised us two. My brother and I wanted mum to be more sociable, to meet other people and live a little bit. She did have one friend, but we always came first to her. She sacrificed her life seeing us both through to 18 and finishing our A levels with good results. Mum pushed and encouraged us. She would be the one on the doorstep before it was even dark shouting ‘Christopher! Jason!’ because she wanted us in to do our homework. It was so annoying and a bit embarrassing.”
Theresa Smalling instilled punctuality, the importance of homework, and humility, it seems. “My brother did even better because he’s a bit smarter than me,” adds Smalling. “He got two As and a B. I had school teachers like Mr Emilino helping me too. He put me forward for trials and drove me to them — which got me into Millwall.”
Smalling was six weeks away from going to university while also working, riding his bike to a nearby hotel where he was initially a kitchen porter, before graduating to waiter. But this childhood Arsenal fan, who’d idolised Ian Wright, played for Millwall and joined another London club, Fulham, instead. It went so well that Arsenal wanted to sign him.
“In my head, I was going to Arsenal. Then Manchester United got in touch. I was leaving the team bus at Blackburn away and [Fulham boss] Roy Hodgson said: ‘we’ve accepted a bid from Man United’. That threw me. I felt there were more opportunities to play at Arsenal, but I spoke to Fergie and he said: ‘I wouldn’t sign you if I didn’t think you could play games.’ Maybe his aura felt right, but I made the right decision because I was soon playing alongside great players and winning the league.”
Smalling sits in the boardroom of the Trigoria training ground under an AS Roma badge. It’s where he signed his one-year loan deal two months previously. Pictures of the players sit above their lockers, there are more Roma logos on display than in the club shop at a training facility which has been updated with new pools and gyms. It’s also a place where supporters have made him feel welcome.
“The fans are crazy here, the stadium is very noisy, especially the ultras. People come up to me in the street and say “Forza Roma” all the time. Someone came to the training ground and presented me with a picture they’d drawn of my son Leo. You feel the love and that makes you more confident.”
Roma are about to sign him for like 12 Million. United need to get better deals for their players
Ukbrotha
Superstar
Not strictly true. Smalling had his own mistakes that got him criticism. He was a good defender but he wasn't really a good footballer. A good athlete who was poor on the ball. Being so poor on the ball exposed him a bit but the mistakes didn't help. Of course he was better than Jones as he made more mistakes than Smalling and that was his biggest issue. Playing next to Jones made him look even worse.
BobbyBooshay
Arnold Jackson
We could still lose
Wolves gave us a hiding last game, 3 down in about 20 mins
Anyway he has to at least have Ozil in the squad.
BobbyBooshay
Arnold Jackson
Can we talk about how Chris Smalling is the best defender in Serie A?And does this mean Koulibally is just a black Metresacker and Chiellini just a David Luiz with male pattern baldness?
Roma has to do the right thing now and sign my boy Welback
He did a great interview with The Athletic. Excerpt about social media:
Smalling has often been a scapegoat. Criticism has not been short from United fans in recent seasons and the defender is one of many players who have found themselves under the microscope.
“It’s unfair at times,” he says. “There have been times where I’ve played well and yet still you see the same one or two players picked on. It’s tough. I’m mentally strong and I don’t go into my shell, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect you.”
He notices the vicious criticism from people purporting to be United fans on social media, yet stays engaged in the hope of getting something positive from it.
“Social media can be a dangerous place,” he said. “We have the beauty of being able to share our message or opinions, but people can get too drawn on it. I wasn’t on social media until three or four years ago. I’m quite private I didn’t want to share everything about myself, but I also felt I could use my platform to help some of the things I’m involved in like FBB (Football Beyond Borders), a social education charity which tries to get struggling kids to focus in the classroom. Maybe people can relate to what I’ve been through — growing up without a father or missing out on a trial because we couldn’t get there as there was no car in the family as we couldn’t afford one.”
“My mum felt she was letting us down because she couldn’t get us to trials. I was released from Millwall because I couldn’t get there to train. Good can come from social media as we’ve seen from Raheem (Sterling) who spoke well about racism or Danny Rose about mental health.”
People don’t know Smalling, the person. Or they don’t know the detail. He hasn’t really spoken about his dad, who died when he was five.
“I can’t remember him,” he says. “I have a few pictures and had he died in modern times I would have had a lot more.”
Smalling opens his phone and shows a picture of his dad with his brother. “I look at it and it fuels me,” he says. “Dad had cancer. Lung. Smoker. He died in his early forties. I was lucky to have my brother when we grew up. We could share our problems, even if we weren’t the most open.
“Maybe I wish I was more open when I was younger. Mentioning dad was almost a taboo subject. My brother and I lied in school to pretend dad hadn’t died. We said he’d moved away. Mum was trying to shield us so it wasn’t discussed.”
Smalling’s first years were spent in Greenwich, but when dad his passed away, the three moved to Chatham and a council estate in the working-class Medway town.
“Mum had family there,” he explains. “She didn’t marry again. She raised us two. My brother and I wanted mum to be more sociable, to meet other people and live a little bit. She did have one friend, but we always came first to her. She sacrificed her life seeing us both through to 18 and finishing our A levels with good results. Mum pushed and encouraged us. She would be the one on the doorstep before it was even dark shouting ‘Christopher! Jason!’ because she wanted us in to do our homework. It was so annoying and a bit embarrassing.”
Theresa Smalling instilled punctuality, the importance of homework, and humility, it seems. “My brother did even better because he’s a bit smarter than me,” adds Smalling. “He got two As and a B. I had school teachers like Mr Emilino helping me too. He put me forward for trials and drove me to them — which got me into Millwall.”
Smalling was six weeks away from going to university while also working, riding his bike to a nearby hotel where he was initially a kitchen porter, before graduating to waiter. But this childhood Arsenal fan, who’d idolised Ian Wright, played for Millwall and joined another London club, Fulham, instead. It went so well that Arsenal wanted to sign him.
“In my head, I was going to Arsenal. Then Manchester United got in touch. I was leaving the team bus at Blackburn away and [Fulham boss] Roy Hodgson said: ‘we’ve accepted a bid from Man United’. That threw me. I felt there were more opportunities to play at Arsenal, but I spoke to Fergie and he said: ‘I wouldn’t sign you if I didn’t think you could play games.’ Maybe his aura felt right, but I made the right decision because I was soon playing alongside great players and winning the league.”
Smalling sits in the boardroom of the Trigoria training ground under an AS Roma badge. It’s where he signed his one-year loan deal two months previously. Pictures of the players sit above their lockers, there are more Roma logos on display than in the club shop at a training facility which has been updated with new pools and gyms. It’s also a place where supporters have made him feel welcome.
“The fans are crazy here, the stadium is very noisy, especially the ultras. People come up to me in the street and say “Forza Roma” all the time. Someone came to the training ground and presented me with a picture they’d drawn of my son Leo. You feel the love and that makes you more confident.”
Always admired his journey
We could still lose
Wolves gave us a hiding last game, 3 down in about 20 mins
Anyway he has to at least have Ozil in the squad.
Somewhat confident. Xhaka not being there is key because Emery complicates the roles when Xhaka is there.
Bellerin sticking the knife in Xhaka, he wants the captaincy
@SCORCH I hate it came to this, but I'm reveling in Golden State misery. 
I think this the most time I've watched them in the regular season since Durant's first season there.
am I miserable? Chelsea playing attacking football while winning, GS being right where they belong and Lakers contending again
I think this the most time I've watched them in the regular season since Durant's first season there.
am I miserable? Chelsea playing attacking football while winning, GS being right where they belong and Lakers contending again
@SCORCH I hate it came to this, but I'm reveling in Golden State misery.
I think this the most time I've watched them in the regular season since Durant's first season there.
am I miserable? Chelsea playing attacking football while winning, GS being right where they belong and Lakers contending again
only teams that could win a playoff series against Lakers are Clippers and Philly
Milwaukee, Houston, Golden State with Klay and Steph, Spurs probably....
Lakers aren't as good as you think.
good lord, this is an awful take breh
none of those teams are beating Lakers in a 7 game series. In the playoffs, superstars stars matter, so do bigmen who know how to defend and rebound. Lakers have all those, so does, Philly and Clippers. Have you been watching nba this season? It's gonna take more than Clay for GS to be a serious force again.