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Will Smallbone


Saint Garrett
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Big season for him?

 

Played the most minutes out of anyone in the squad in pre-season, in a position we don't have that many options in, especially if Lemina and Reed both depart this summer. Current options...

 

DM

Romeu

Smallbone

Stephens?

Reed

 

CM/AM

JWP

Hojbjerg

Slattery

Armstrong

Lemina

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Tall, similar build to a young Morgan Schneiderlin. Has a great shot and free kick in him. It's massive ask for someone of his age but with the right protection he could be a surprise regular.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 month later...
Really liked his performance.

 

Good first touch, careful passing, looked to play one touch where possible and was calm on the ball.

 

Very promising. Reminded me a little of Schneiderlin in terms of build and the way he moves.

 

Spot on with your comments.

 

I was concerned about involving him in a crucial game.

 

However thought he did very well and hopefully one for the future

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Really liked his performance.

 

Good first touch, careful passing, looked to play one touch where possible and was calm on the ball.

 

Very promising. Reminded me a little of Schneiderlin in terms of build and the way he moves.

 

Didn't get there today but on seeing him v Huddersfield that's not a comparison I'd make. Schneiderlin even when he first arrived had a physical presence about him (think he is 6' or near to it), whereas Smallbone looked aptly named and a bit of a shortar$e and lightweight.

 

No reason why he can't make it but if he does progress then we need a bit more strength and power in midfield to compensate.

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  • 2 months later...
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He's a tidy little player,  good awareness and ability to turn in midfield to feed Ings for the first goal.

Defo. a great squad player for us, but I don't think we should be seeing him as week in week out first team just yet. Potential is big though from what I've seen of him.

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4 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

He's a tidy little player,  good awareness and ability to turn in midfield to feed Ings for the first goal.

Defo. a great squad player for us, but I don't think we should be seeing him as week in week out first team just yet. Potential is big though from what I've seen of him.

Cheers.  Has got a goal or 2 in him as well judging from his academy days.

Love seeing academy players come through the system.  Should save us a few quid in the market as well.

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Just now, SuperSAINT said:

Cheers.  Has got a goal or 2 in him as well judging from his academy days.

Love seeing academy players come through the system.  Should save us a few quid in the market as well.

If you have a look at the post match reaction thread it's almost universally positive. I also believe he got the assist for the first goal. We really don't have a lot of strength in that area and I'd rather give him a run now and develop him than to stick with hojbjerg who has been disappointing anyway and probably isn't going to be with us next year. 

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His simple work for the first goal was such an important difference from what we often see from PEH. It was an almost identical situation to what PEH found himself in before the first Arsenal goal the other day. Both came in and received the ball with back to opposition goal and space behind them. One had no idea what was behind him and bounced it back towards his own goal immediately, one turned onto the front foot and played forward. One ended with us 1-0 down and one ended with us 1-0 up! 

I thought Smallbone was great against Villa at home, and good today, really like the look of him. 

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I really like this kid. Keeps it nice and simple but gets his head up and moves the ball quickly. I think that’s really the key to success. You can win the ball as much as you like but if you either a) give the ball away cheaply or b) funnel it back to the defence and let the opposition regroup then it’s kinda pointless.

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8 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Personally would keep him in the team and let PEH stew on the bench while negotiating his move away.

I'd agree, we are safe, PEH doesn't want to be here clearly and Smallbone needs games to develop, these next 6 games would seem perfect for him IMO, a start against Man City would be a real test and experience for him against that midfield. 

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  • 6 months later...

Questions need to be asked about WTF we let him come back on the pitch. Idiots. 

But feel so bad for the guy, he had actually performed pretty well and looked decent....he was always a good option for us, but now he's out of the equation for quite some time. I'd say half a year is a positive estimate.

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14 minutes ago, eurosaint said:

Incredible that they let him play on for a bit after doing it, might well have aggravated the problem !

 

4 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Questions need to be asked about WTF we let him come back on the pitch. Idiots. 

 

This. 

I was shouting at the TV at the time not to let him back on and questioned the wisdom of doing so on here yesterday. We did the same with Ings (vs Aston Villa) and Adams (vs West Ham). Bizarre 

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