Has Chris Smalling sealed his fate in a Manchester United shirt?
The England and Manchester United centre back has made himself public enemy number one, after his performance in the Manchester United where his fellow teammates fell to a 1-0 defeat, after his red card in the first half. The Manchester United centre back received two yellow cards in as many minutes, too leave his side down to ten men for the majority of the game.
He picked up his first yellow in idiotic fashion, blocking Joe Hart as he went to kick the ball from hand and therefore obstructing him from doing so. A ridiculous and completely unneeded yellow card to pick up especially as a centre back with sixty minutes left. Just two minutes later he slid in late on Zabaleta to pick up his second yellow and received his marching orders. Regardless of the fact that the referee had let multiple yellow card offences slide on Jovetic, Smalling had no one to blame but himself. But cards were rightly deserved and the centre back left the field. But could he of sealed his fate with the Manchester club?
Smalling, who joined United back in 2010, and has made well over 100 appearances for the club and 12 for country. He joined from fellow Premier League side Fulham for a reported £11 million. But this price has never been confirmed nor denied. Smalling has been part of the United defence which has struggled over the last few years especially during the tail ends of Vidic and Ferdinand’s career. Smalling much like partner Phil Jones, has been in and out of the side without much time to truly nail down a position. So for that reason you can’t completely fault him for not reaching his believed potential. But at 24 and over 100 appearances fans have finally reached the end when it comes to their patience for Smalling. A man who has failed to perform again and again, a man who has made blunder after blunder and some albeit unfairly argue, that he should never play for Manchester United again. The derby was in some fans eyes the final nail in the coffin.
But all football fans are fickle so it doesn’t matter what the current mood about Smalling it all comes down to does he deserve it. His derby performance may just be a one off but it epitomises his career so far; clumsy, mistake ridden and whenever he is given the chance he fails to shine. But there was a time in his career where he was tipped to make it big at Manchester under the guidance of former manager Sir Alex. He did back in the 2011 season string some very good performances together and looked a promising talent, especially for a young man who was playing non-league three years before. But today he is facing an uphill task he faces the fight of earning his place again against Rojo, a very impressive youngster in Paddy McNair, Phil Jones who is coming back from injury, Jonny Evans and central midfielder Michael Carrick who has played centre back multiple times in his life and despite the asking conditions he performed fairly well against Manchester City.
With the emergence of McNair and the faith shown in Jones when he has been fit, it seems unlikely that Smalling would be getting any immediate game time after his suspension. But with the injury of Rojo, Smalling may just have the lifeline he needs to save his career at the Manchester club.
But for a man who started his United by giving away a penalty on his debut in pre-season against Celtic and his last game now a pivotal, stupid and avoidable red card. Smalling is facing an uphill battle. Many are undecided on whether he should stay or go, but one thing is for certain, he has to stand up and show what he is worth as soon as possible.