Chris Smalling on Road to Redemption at Man United After Display Against Arsenal

Three weeks is a long time in football. Chris Smalling trudged off at the Etihad Stadium in disgrace after his needless red card against Manchester City.

Less than a month later, he was smiling broadly and high-fiving his manager, Louis van Gaal, as he disappeared down the tunnel at the Emirates having played his part in the 2-1 win over Arsenal.

The villain of the Manchester derby transformed into the hero who managed to hold together an inexperienced defence in double-quick time. 

For Smalling, it was a well-timed reminder that, at his best, he is good enough to be a United player. Doing it consistently is his next challenge.

There's a golden chance for United's centre-backs to cement regular places in the team. It's an opportunity that might never come around again if Van Gaal convinces Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward to open the chequebook in January or next summer.

Smalling has an advantage over the other senior centre-backs—Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo—because he's fit. No one is guaranteed their place. And after impressing against Arsenal, the position is Smalling's to lose. It's quite a turnaround just a few weeks after Van Gaal branded his red card in the derby as "stupid".

The most encouraging part of Smalling's display at the Emirates was that he emerged as a leader, willing to lead 19-year-old Paddy McNair and 20-year-old Tyler Blackett through a potentially daunting game.

And after a shaky opening half an hour, the three defended well in a complicated system that isn't natural to any of them. It took something special from Olivier Giroud to deny them a clean sheet.

It was perhaps proof of Smalling's growing confidence that he felt comfortable enough to speak on behalf of the team afterwards.

In quotes transcribed by Stuart Mathieson of the Manchester Evening News, he talked about guiding McNair and Blackett as well as pushing on after a mixed start to the season.

We had to make sure we were always talking, leading each other along, because if you switch off for any moment, they can nick it. It was good and we just have to keep talking.

Arsenal's front three are really quick, they work hard and make it difficult for us to get any momentum, but we knew it was going to be tough.

A lot of our shape was about making sure we were compact, being able to deal with their attack which can sometimes be through four players. We had to deal with each threat they brought.

Given the manager and the players we have got, we should be playing better than we are, with more points.

At 25 years old, Smalling isn't young anymore. There's a point when potential has to be turned into something more useful. 

Van Gaal has had glimpses of it against Chelsea at Old Trafford and Arsenal on Saturday evening. But the downside is that he's still prone to errors of judgement, anything from a misplaced pass to his silly sending off against Manchester City. It's the side of his game that he'll have to cut out if he's to fully convince the Dutchman.

Some United fans would have happily seen Smalling sold after his sending off cost United a chance to win the derby. At the very least, his performance against Arsenal will have forced many into a rethink.