Best CB pairing

Andrew~ said:
I think they might end up going for a back three: Rojo, Lindelof and Bailly.

As everyone has said, Lindelof doesn’t look comfortable at all when one on one with a physical striker, or when they make runs wide. The two can cover those weeknesses and allow him to do what he does best.

Probably suits the midfield and full backs better too.
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That would be terrible. I gjink it’s going to be 4 at the back under OGS. Rojo should be first out the door.
 
Andrew~ said:
I think they might end up going for a back three: Rojo, Lindelof and Bailly.

As everyone has said, Lindelof doesn’t look comfortable at all when one on one with a physical striker, or when they make runs wide. The two can cover those weeknesses and allow him to do what he does best.

Probably suits the midfield and full backs better too.
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If we are talking about against Messi, Mpabbe, Neymar or CR, then I will accept this argument. We are talking about dealing with average striker of a bottom club. If any CB who is AFRAID of any physical striker, who makes runs wide, then he doesn't suit EPL, period. Beside, I don't believe Lindelof is that bad, he just needs help in dealing with overhead long ball, perhaps something on his positioning. I recall Rio adjusted his game a bit once he passed 30s.
 
Smalling and anyone else. Smalling should be captain.
 
Dante said:
Lindelof should transition into the Matic role. He's not a CB for my money.
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Huge difference between being deemed good with the ball at your feet for a defender and being good enough to move into a midfield role.

I personally like Lindelof as a CB.
 
Andrew~ said:
I think they might end up going for a back three: Rojo, Lindelof and Bailly.

As everyone has said, Lindelof doesn’t look comfortable at all when one on one with a physical striker, or when they make runs wide. The two can cover those weeknesses and allow him to do what he does best.

Probably suits the midfield and full backs better too.
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Our fullbacks are nowhere near productive enough to be full time wingbacks.
 
OldTrevil said:
If possible I would recall Tuanzebe from loan.
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He's just picked up a foot injury, but should hopefully be back in a few weeks

I would recall him though, if we are willing to take a chance on him. I'd offload Jones and Rojo due to their injury record, then look to make a successful CB pairing out of the remaining 4.

Personally I'd like 2 of Tunzebe/ Lindelof/ Bailley - but that would require a youth player to keep developing and the other two get consistency in the promise they have occasionally shown. As much as I like Smalling and think he has been our best CB for a few seasons, he has technical limitations
 
Andrew~ said:
Maybe, do you think they’ve had enough opportunities to be productive yet though?
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We've seen enough of Valencia and Young over the years to know what they're about. Shaw has never been particularly productive going forward (even in his Saints days). Granted we need to see more of Dalot, but early signs to look good.
 
Bola said:
He's just picked up a foot injury, but should hopefully be back in a few weeks

I would recall him though, if we are willing to take a chance on him. I'd offload Jones and Rojo due to their injury record, then look to make a successful CB pairing out of the remaining 4.

Personally I'd like 2 of Tunzebe/ Lindelof/ Bailley - but that would require a youth player to keep developing and the other two get consistency in the promise they have occasionally shown. As much as I like Smalling and think he has been our best CB for a few seasons, he has technical limitations
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Agreed. I hope we don't renew any of Jones or Rojo contracts, isn't the former's supposed to end this summer? It would be best to have it run out and clear space for another player. Smalling has been a great servant to be fair, but a Man Uinted starting CB has to be a level above technically, he would be fine as a squad player though.
 
Lindelof is brilliant on the ball but a liability when dealing with any forward that's strong or fast. He needs to improve, he looks very weak for a CB. He reads the game well and is composed. But a modern day CB gets dragged out wide often and needs to be able to deal with tricky players. Koulibaly is a great example of this. Bailly is still our best all round CB but we do need one who is totally dominant in the air like Smalling but is good on the ball. Milenkovic would be a solid buy and Alderweireld for 25m in the summer. For the time being Bailly and Lindelof is our best pairing. I dont want Jones in the team. For one he might get offered a new contract out of nowhere. And he is prone to silly mistakes.
 
I think we all agree we need to bring a proven CB who will walk into the starting CI so for me the better question is who do we keep and who do ship off.

Keep Smalling, Bailly, Lindelof and Tuanzebe.
Ship off Jones and Rojo.

I like TFZ as a RB but perhaps his dream is to be CB.
 
sam147 said:
But a modern day CB gets dragged out wide often and needs to be able to deal with tricky players.
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I agree with that part. Lindelof, Rojo and Jones all struggle heavily in this area. Smalling and Bailly is both very good at this because of their speed, strength and experience playing RB. If you want to have an attacking team it is true that the CB's need to be able to pass, but if the defenders can win the ball in 1-1 situations and keep the ball alive, it is even more important for quick transitions. If they do it higher upfield then it is even more dangerous. We have played our best football with Smalling playing in a high line, sustaining our attacking pressure.

Slow passing from the back isn't as important if our goal is to actually attack and not keep the ball for the sake of keeping it LVG/Guardiola style. Being able to pass the ball or carry the ball forward is something all our defenders is capable of, not just Lindelof. It just hasn't been a tactic of ours. The most effective thing though is to actually be able to win the ball and pass it quickly to other players. Smalling and Bailly is best in this area but since Lindelof is in a good groove right now. Dalot-Smalling-Lindelof-Shaw is the way to go
 
We desperately need a CB who's good in the air. Every time a high ball is played into the box we look like conceding. Smalling at 6' 4" should be dealing with those but rarely does. Hopefully Ole sorts that out.
 
UnitedChampionsAgain said:
We desperately need a CB who's good in the air. Every time a high ball is played into the box we look like conceding. Smalling at 6' 4" should be dealing with those but rarely does. Hopefully Ole sorts that out.
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Smalling deals with the majority of those balls in open play. He's not so good when it's a set piece, but he's still our best at it along with Fellaini.
 
I know I’m going to get flamed for suggesting it but it’s Smalling and Jones for me every time. That’s if Jones can stay fit and in form which there’s a snowflakes chance in hell of happening!
 
After his injuries + the Mourinho effect Bailly's confidence is shot so we really can't say if he'll be a better option or not. If he can return to his former best then I'd play Smalling and him as CB. That would add the must needed steel in defence to get rid of Matic in midfield. I would then go with Herrera, Fred, Martial, Lingard and Pogba in midfield + Rashford upfront.

Imagine the absolute scandal of going back to the old way of having defenders who can actually defend, midfielders who can actually create chances and strikers who can actually score goals. Not to forget the return of attacking football and pace.
 
UnitedChampionsAgain said:
We desperately need a CB who's good in the air. Every time a high ball is played into the box we look like conceding. Smalling at 6' 4" should be dealing with those but rarely does. Hopefully Ole sorts that out.
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What we need at the back is a complete CB. Someone like Jaap or Rio who were basically the complete package in terms of strength, distribution of the ball, solidity and leadership. After that we can slowly build the defence around that player. For example, Rio worked best with a powerful defender such as Vidic and Terry (Smalling and Bailly would be decent options). On the other hand Stam worked best with a more ball playing CB (Lindelof is a good shout for that). The funny thing is that we've got all the necessary members in the choir but not the lead singer.
 
As a pairing Bailly and Lindelof looks like they should be great together. Thy really need to figure out how to work well together.

Not a fan of Smalling at all, so for now I'd see how Jones and Lindelof do until Jones next injury.
 
Lindelof + 1 physically dominant CB.

Smalling is that +1 at the moment, but if we want to be the best we'll have to upgrade on him. Bailly could be that +1 but his handling of long balls is chaotic, looks great when it pays off but an almost certain goal when he is miles out of position.
 
Of our current CB, in my opinion, only Lindelof, Smalling and Bailly are interesting to have in the longer term.

At the moment, I feel most secure when Lindelof and Smalling are together but I want Billy on the bench if any of them gets an injury or loses the shape.

In the long run, Bailly can replace Smalling but then his judgment needs to be more reliable and he needs to show that he can make stable efforts in every match.
 
Smalling & Lindelof is statistically our best CB pairing this season. They've played the most big matches and yet conceded the least goals.


Smalling = 20 goals conceded in 13 league starts. Started against Spurs, City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. Every single one of our matches against the top sides.

1.53 goals conceded per game all (5/5) of the big matches played this season.


Lindelof = 20 goals conceded in 13 league starts. Didnt start against Spurs or Arsenal. did start against Chelsea, City and Liverpool

1.53 goals conceded per game with 3/5 of the big matches played this season.



Bailly = 12 goals conceded in 5 league starts. Didnt start against Spurs, City or Chelsea. Started against Arsenal and Liverpool.

2.4 goals conceded per game with 2/5 big matches played this season.



Jones = 7 goals conceded in 4 league starts. Didnt start against Chelsea, City, Liverpool or Arsenal. Did start against Spurs

1.75 goals conceded per game with 1/5 big matches played this season.



Rojo = 2 goals conceded in 1 league start. Didnt start against Spurs, Chelsea, City or Liverpool. Did start against Arsenal 1/5

2 goals conceded per game with 1/5 big matches played this season.



Considering the fact Smalling and Lindelof played the most big matches and still have the best record, they're actually so far ahead of our other CBs so far this season they cant even see them. Jones did well last season. Bailly did well several seasons ago but has had the worst season this season. Rojo... Is still here?
 
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I would like to see an extended run of Smalling Bailly but unfortunately it seems Bailly is made out of glass. What I love about Bailly is his fearless play style he'll do whatever the feck it takes to get that ball but the only problem is that he keeps injuring himself because of it. If only he could stay fit I'd rate him as our current best CB. He impressed me immensely during his 1st year.
 
Lindelöf and Smalling is still clearly the best pairing until we get someone else in, and Axel develops a step or two further.

But watching trash tv in the morning - what if we’re all wrong? What if our next CB pair will be the dynamic duo:

MacGyver and Dr Phil?

(My coat stays where it is, thank you)
 
If we sign Maguire:

Lindelof and Maguire.
If Lindelof gets injured, in comes Tuanzebe. If Maguire gets injured, in comes Smalling.
Lindelof and Tuanzebe are pretty similar, as are Maguire and Smalling (although Chris has inferior ability on the wall, he's still probably our best pure defender)

If we don't sign Maguire:
I think Lindelof and Smalling are probably our strongest on paper, but Tuanzebe and Lindelof could have potential.
 
Tuanzebe has a good relationship with AWB, so that's another reason to keep him a starter.
 
Lindelöf/Smalling alt. Lindelöf/Maguire. Quite obvious for most games.
 
I'm sure that Smalling will be the preferred partner to Maguire (if we sign him) a partnership of Maguire & Lindelof lacks pace - and if we intend on playing a high line at the back, our CB's will need a decent amount of pace to recover if a ball is played in behind & the fullbacks have pushed up. Plus it means we'll have two physically commanding centre backs who can't be bullied in the box, and provide a threat in the opposition box at corners too.
Lindelof will be first choice back up, Jones second choice and Tuanzebe will be rotated for cup games - depending on his form he could overtake Jones for sure.
 
Lindelof is currently our best CB. On purely defensive skills he's our 2nd best defender after Smalling + he's quite comfortable with the ball. Smalling compliments the guy greatly. He's great aerial wise and he is rapid. Our problem is that we lack players to replace Smalling. Rojo is good with the ball but he's not good in air and he's a shit defender. Tuanzebe can be a perfect cover/competition for Lindelof. He's comfortable with the ball, he's fast but he's not very good in air. Bailly and Jones are both a train wreck. They are either injured or they are working hard to be injured

Maguire is basically a clear upgrade on Smalling HOWEVER he lacks his pace. He can't be played alongside Lindelof especially if Matic is still around. Instead of spending 90m on Maguire I wonder if its wiser buying Konate and then spend the rest of the dosh on a mobile DM. Unfortunately that would mean forcing Ole to search beyond the EPL which seems a bit of a no no for him.
 
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