For Gareth Southgate to suggest that Chris Smalling isn’t as good at playing the ball out from the back as some of England’s other defenders is a fair comment: using the ball isn’t one of his strongest attributes. If Southgate is consciously going down this route, whereby keeping possession is one of the most important things, then Smalling is one of the weaker links. Plus he’s not playing regularly at Manchester United so he doesn’t have that consistent form. Stones is considered better on the ball than Smalling Laurence Griffiths/Getty ImagesEngland do have an exceptional ball player in John Stones; but then again he’s not as defensively sound. Otherwise you’ve all got the same attributes, whereas in a football…

Source: The Times November 09, 2017 17:06 UTC