Smalling Awaits Jose's Decision

Jose Mourinho is set to revert to his strongest XI for Sunday’s difficult Premier League match at Watford, but will his team at Vicarage Road include centre-back Chris Smalling?

The 26-year-old defender made his first start of the season in Thursday’s Europa League match against Feyenoord and performed admirably as part of a much-changed side at De Kuip, despite the Reds eventually losing 1-0 to Tonny Vilhena’s controversial winner that had more than a hint of offside about it.

In isolation, Smalling's display in Rotterdam might not be enough to convince Mourinho to break up Eric Bailly and Daley Blind, a partnership which started the FA Community Shield win at Wembley Stadium and all four Premier League fixtures prior to the manager making eight changes on Thursday. But the England international's performance emphasised his credentials and gave the boss a question to answer.

It must have been a peculiar feeling for Smalling to play for his place in the side (in the short term, at least) following what was unquestionably his finest season at United on a personal level. He was, after all, a guaranteed starter throughout 2015/16 and finished the campaign on 55 appearances in all competitions, a tally that was only beaten by Blind’s similarly impressive count of 56.

The former Fulham defender had finally realised the unquestionable potential that fans had recognised since his arrival in 2010, emerging as a genuine first-team star by ridding himself of the injuries that had beset his early years with the Reds. He was colossal and, in a telling nod of recognition, took home the Players’ Player of the Year trophy on the club’s annual awards night, beating off stiff competition from serial winner David De Gea and 17-goal top scorer Anthony Martial. It was much-deserved, too.

A run of bad luck then provided a fresh challenge for our towering number 12. He didn’t feature in the pre-season tour of China due to his involvement with England at Euro 2016, which allowed Bailly and Blind to strike up their fruitful alliance. A slight injury then kept him out of the Community Shield success over Leicester City before suspension prevented him from featuring at Bournemouth in the first league game of the season - his punishment for receiving a red card in last season’s FA Cup final victory.

With Bailly collecting awards like Pokémon and Blind also rightly earning a nomination for our Player of the Month prize, Smalling was suddenly out of the team and facing a fresh challenge in his career. 

Chris must now hope he can impress Mourinho and win back his starting berth on a permanent basis, which provides a fascinating sub-plot in defence as the manager continues to mould his new United team. The positive is that the boss has high-quality competition for places in such an important part of his line-up and that can surely only benefit his plans this season.