“Surplus To Requirements”!? |Keep Or Sell: Chris Smalling

Keep Or Sell: Chris Smalling – Yahaya Othman

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When Manchester United decided to loan out Chris Smalling to Roma last season, it didn’t come as a surprise to most United fans. Despite being the only player—alongside David De Gea and Phil Jones—in this current side to have won a premiership trophy under Sir Alex Ferguson, the 30 year old defender has not made any significant contribution. Smalling reminds United’s supporters of what we’re egregiously lacking in a defender.

The likes of Gary Pallister, Jaap Stam and, more recently, Nemanja Vidic formed the bedrock of successful campaigns in the history of the club. And Chris Smalling will never be good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as they.

He’s shaky, dodgy, and clueless with the ball at his feet. Truth is, he is belongs with the bottom half teams. Game after game his poor decision making and positional ineptitude have caused United dearly.

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Despite only joining the Italian side in September last year, he was rated as the second best defender in the Italian league this season by Whoscored.com. And even if he’s had a couple of decent performances for the Italian side, and has obviously impressed Fonseca, Smalling is an average player who will never be good enough for Manchester United.

I do not care if he wins the Ballon D’or, he is full of crap and should never be allowed to return. In terms of tackles won per 90 metrics, Smalling manages 0.7 compared to Liverpool’s Van Dijk with 0.86. He has just 0.1 take-ons won per 90 metrics.

United consider Chris Smalling surplus to requirements at the moment as they look to build a cohesive defensive structure with Harry Maguire as the cornerstone. This is a cleansing process and sadly, Chris Smalling has to go down to the sewers.

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