Manuligans,maybe it's me ..

[Rockman]

..but I swear Smalling has regressed under LvG's leadership, he is even slower now,more tactically naive, and no closer to finding out he is only one attentive ref from giving away a penalty because of his shameless penchant for wrestling opponents in his 18...
Just being kind,and what is this nonsense about only now solidifying his starting for England.The lad is losing his mind.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/36485473

[Assasin]

He has improved under LVG. He understand the game more and read it better.
Before he was just fast and hard tackling. Part of the reason he he hadn't grown that much was because before last season he was always injured ala Phil Jones.

He just needed another good central defender there with him. Blind is not there and is a stop gap in that central defense.

[Rockman]

Mawning Sass!

Smalling was never fast,he made up for that deficiency by having a knack for positioning himself in beneficial ways,now he has been exposed having caught out of position repeatedly..
True about his injury problems hindering his growth.
Smalling is the choice defender ONLY by default bredrin.

[Lazie]

..but I swear Smalling has regressed under LvG's leadership, he is even slower now,more tactically naive, and no closer to finding out he is only one attentive ref from giving away a penalty because of his shameless penchant for wrestling opponents in his 18...
Just being kind,and what is this nonsense about only now solidifying his starting for England.The lad is losing his mind.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/36485473

Yes, I have a problem with his constant grabbing when defending corners, but he was voted players' player of the year for a reason. He was our best defender.

[Jangle]

I totally disagree with you on this one Rocky. Smalling is fast and if I'm not incorrect, I think he was singled out to be the fastest player in the team during training sessions. He has improved significantly under LVG and has gained a lot of confidence to lead the backline. The grappling from defenders is rampant throughout the English game because the referees allow it. Smalling is no different from Robert Huth, Wes Morgan, John Terry, Winston Reid or any other top defender in the English game. He needs a real defender who understands the game to play beside him. Blind is probably the most intelligent player on the team but unfortunately his physical shortcomings, size and speed, put him at a disadvantage to play in the defense, especially in the English game where many crosses come in from the wings. We had the best or the second best defensive record last season and that is down to mainly DeGea and then Smalling.

[Rockman]

Okay,you are certainly right about the intelligence of Blind,I will take a second look at Smalling because I have learned to respect the judgements of Lazie and you.

[Jangle]

Well you made the call on Darmian early and I didn't agree, but as the season went on he displayed certain inefficiencies which supported your opinion. He seems to play better as a LB than in his 9 to 5 job as a RB. Right now I don't think he can take back that position from Valencia.