Oh yeah don't get me wrong both were past their best for a while but when paired together still looked half decent.
Jones and Smalling so far haven't lived up to the early hype and potential, at the moment both are looking like Sunderland's future CB pairing (no disrespect to Sunderland intended there btw).
In the formation LVG wants to play, I'd have thought CB's would've been the first priority to sort out.
MOTD2 made an interesting point about when Smalling or Jones came forward from the back, they appeared to be following instructions to be cautious and play the shortest, safest, most sideways ball possible. If this is a pattern that remains, it's going to work about as well for them as AVB's sideways passing tactics of last season.
