Manchester United’s Chris Smalling gives Hull City that sinking feeling

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/19/manchester-united-chris-smalling-hull-city

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Chris Smalling has warned Hull City that Manchester United are intent on beating them in Sunday’s final Premier League fixture, a result that would send Steve Bruce’s team down in to the Championship.

Two points from safety, Hull have to defeat United to have any chance of survival, and Smalling said: “It will be tough. They’ve got a lot to play for but we’ll want to finish the season on a high. We want to make sure that we go out with a win.”

Smalling, who led United against Arsenal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, echoed his manager, Louis vaan Gaal, who admitted being concerned at how United allowed the Gunners back into the contest. Tyler Blackett’s 82nd-minute own goal cancelled out Ander Herrera’s first-half strike after United had dominated the visitors.

“In these games you need to get that second goal and unfortunately we didn’t, and we paid the price at the end,” the defender said, before saying that United’s likely fourth-place finish is not good enough for the club. “No, it’s not. It’s not [a season] where we’re massively celebrating, it’s a step. Next season we know that won’t be good enough and our fans at the end today were terrific.

“Hopefully, next season we’ll be having a parade with something to really cheer about. I think as the season’s gone on, we’ve got better, but Chelsea’s consistency from day one has won them the title. Sometimes they didn’t play well and still won games, they saw off games like [against Arsenal], they would have probably won it 1-0. Next season, it’s a case of starting on the front foot and keeping that consistency.

“I think for 60 or 70 minutes we were the better team, but then we really needed to see out the game. We were a bit too open and paid the price, albeit with another deflected goal, something that’s gone against us recently.”

Although Radamel Falcao may not have his loan from Monaco made into a permanent move, Smalling believes he could still be a success at United. “I think when the manager has given him a chance and he’s trained well and he’s stayed fit, you can see he is getting sharper and sharper and with a good pre-season he’ll be firing again next season. He’s had a couple of injuries on the way, and with every player that means you don’t get the consistency of being able to train every week. It affects your flow, especially with strikers who need a run of goals to set them off.

“I think with his record, he’s a marked man. He does get kicked a lot in every game and it’s because of what he’s done in the game. His training performances have been terrific and today he was running in behind as the manager wanted. On another day he could have scored a few more goals.”