Jonny Evans has been poor for some time now and I write that with a heavy heart. He has made some dreadful mistakes this season, some of them very costly, and it is a worry to see this happen repeatedly. This run of dreadful form has lead some fans to doubt his future at the club and on recent performances, it is hard to look at him and think he is United quality.
I really do like the lad and think he has all the makings of United hero though. Whilst never a defender you would argue was strong in the air, like Nemanja Vidic, he has great feet and can put in the goal-saving tackles.
When he was on loan at Sunderland, making their fans fall in love with him, his red family would only go up to the Stadium of Light if United were playing away, so strong is their dedication to our club. He has been brought up with playing for United being the pinnacle of his career. It’s that extra fight and determination for our club that no amount of money can buy.
Harry Redknapp said something last year which has really stuck with me and I’ve referred to it a couple of times since.
“When we played United at White Hart Lane, my coaches, Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand, were in the stands along with the United boys who weren’t subs. They were jumping up and down at every decision and again when they scored their goals. That winning mentality goes right through the club. Gibson and all the other boys wanted to play but they also have those feelings that they showed. There are not many clubs where you get that. It’s something you’d like to develop. It’s hard to change some people but that’s what makes winning teams.”
Whatever people want to say about the money that United have spent over the years or the pull our club has for transfer targets because of our history, you can’t deny what an impact having so many homegrown players in the squad has on our success.
Evans is one of those lads, jumping up and down over every decision when he doesn’t even make the bench, who fill fight for more than anyone of equal ability who would cost us a few bob.
Now, I’m not saying that this element is worth sacrificing performances on the pitch for. I wouldn’t support playing any old rubbish on the pitch just because they loved the club. But we do need to get some perspective here.
Evans is just 22-years-old and still has a lot to learn. Yet he’s still played for his country 24 times and has even captained them. No, Northern Ireland aren’t Italy or Spain, but that is still recognition of his ability.
What were world class defenders doing when they were Jonny’s age?
Vidic
Still playing for his first club, Red Star Belgrade, and had played for his country on 6 occasions (3 of those were friendlies).
Terry
Had just become a first team regular for the 6th best team in the country, Chelsea. Had yet to play for his country.
Cannavaro
Still playing for his first club, Napoli, and hadn’t played for his country.
Stam
Playing for Cambuur Leeuwarden and was relegated. Hadn’t played for his country.
Puyol
Had just been promoted to Barcelona’s first team from the Reserves and had yet to play for his country.
Players like Rio Ferdinand, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta are the rare examples of world class defenders who had already established themselves at 22. They weren’t just showing potential at 22, but were captaining sides, representing their countries, playing regularly in the first XI and earning plaudits. That’s great for them but they are the exception to the rule. This isn’t to say that Evans will develop like Puyol, Vidic or Stam, but that he has the potential to be world class, just like these players mentioned did. Not all players with potential go on to realise it, obviously, but to rip a player apart at such an early stage in their career doesn’t make an awful lot of sense.
I’m not arguing that Evans is going to be brilliant or that Evans is deserving of a place in the team at the moment, but those calling for him to be sold need to get a grip. Sir Alex Ferguson allowed Gerard Pique to leave the club so that Evans could stay. That may prove to be a foolish and costly decision. As it stands though, we should have patience with our player and trust in our manager’s judgement, and hope that Evans stops playing like the lad who wouldn’t be fit to start for any Premiership side and starts playing like the lad we should all desperately want him to develop in to.
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For me both Evans and Smalling look very frail without either Vidic or Ferdinand there.
Yet with a more experienced defensive partner they look the real deal.
I am therefore putting this down to a lack of experience, and that should come with time.
Prediction: 200+ comments on this thread.
Seriiusly, good piece. Lets also remember where Ferdinand and Brown were at 22. Rio was at West Ham playing in a side that lost 7-1 at OT and Brown was having a season similar to that of Evans’. Anyone remember 01-02? Stam was sold and Wes was going from one mistake to another? Ok, he didn’t become a world beater, but he turned out alright..
Also, I could be wrong, but it’s not that Pique was sacrificed for Evans. Pique wanted to play regular football. Keeping Pique didn’t mean selling Evans. Keeping Pique meant benching Rio or Vida…
Evans has 15 years of football ahead of him. You can’t write him off this early ffs.
He’s a mess this season and as soon as he came on against blackburn that was the end of our clean sheet i knew it but we have to wait for him to come back around…seems to be having issues with bigger strikers (except drogba for some reason). But he’s shown he can shut down the best like Drogba, Ibrahimovic and many others but for some reason he’s out of it. Probably Smalling coming in has made him uncomfortable. I won’t say to get rid of him but he needs some sorting out. Time to re-focus and go back to being the best young defender in europe. He has my backing!
I find the abuse spewed out by some so called fans quite appalling!
Can these people not recall the ignominy of seeing Sir Ryan of Giggshire having to turn his back to the United fans in Turin in 2003 to point to the name on his shirt as a gesture to fans who had been goading him all season following his 2nd in a 3-0 romp?
Form is temporary, class is permanent !
Now seriously, I agree with most of the words stated above, but lad had decent games in past, I love that Kung Fu kick against Drogba, epic, anyways, he isn’t worst player on the field, it’s John O’Shea, he is wort shit, I say this always and I said it every time, he was never and will never be United material, I don’t know what the fuck is he doing in the club, tallentless headless chicken.
Spot on, Scott. Everyone has a rough patch, some worse than others. Evra was miserable when he first signed, but I wouldn’t trade him for any other LB in the world. This poor spell will do Johnny well, as he can only learn and grow from it.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. Smalling looks the better of the two at the moment, but there is no doubt that there is a great defender somewhere in Jonny Evans, striving to get out.
Great article.
Come on Jonny, we know you’re class, just get back to form.
Costa- Hi mate. Only 200? Surely it’ll be more than that lol.
Right, I’m off to bed, see you guys later. Night.
he will be a class defender
hes just having a hard time on the football field at the moment,, but common how good was he 1-2 years ago and he will come through
i love the lad and this will just take time
people need to be more relaxed
as we say in Iceland:
“Þetta reddast”
nicely said.despite what we exchanged a bit on twitter yesterday, after cooling down I see your perspective. nevertheless, I insist there is not much to no progress seen in him and Smalling easily outperforms him this season. crossing fingers for him to make a turn in the direction he is going now
he is utd through n through, n he will be hurting 2day, but us ulster men hav guts, keep ur head up johnny ul be back kicking drogba in the face soon … utd 4 life
Always think Evans is a great defender though I wonder what went wrong this season. But sure he’ll come around.
wasn’t it jonny who nearly took drogba’s head off (the dying swan routine – the one vidic laughed at from the side)?
Oh I too remember Giggs getting plenty of boos, once in night game against Rovers ( he was shocking) and when he missed a sitter against Arsenal in the cup, it made me sick to hear that ringing down but when you question anyone they never booed, sickening.
Now onto Evans, its clear the lad has class but for some reason his confidence is very fragile and I for one think he will come through this and if he doesn’t and is eventually sold on then he will go with my good wishes and I won’t slag him along the way, its up to SAF and everyone else and Evans to make sure he comes through this and in the end if he turns out not to be good enough thats just life but we shouldn’t get on his back as that is just counter productive. And as much as we like to pretend we dont boo our players the truth is otherwise, I mentioned Giggs above and you can bring Richardson into that list, we don’t always cover ourselves in glory on that front.
@anderson08
sorry mate, see you already pointed that out!
for that alone he becomes a near-legend
Good post Scott, people were going OTT on the Evans issue. He’s probably one good performance away from a good run of form.
Someone said something last night like Rio was making these kind of mistakes at West Ham at Jonny’s age, he’ll come through.
Could he have any better tutors than Ferdinand and Vidic?
How much of last night was Fergie being naive in playing the young defenders without any experienced calm head at a ground we always have difficulty at?
Sir will do something with him like he did with Nani last year- but I can’t forget the words Sir used on Evans in Milan during the game- so he was not so good even last season-but now- makes me scare.
Shape up Johnny
Give Evans time, he has talent (look at last year). Hopefully he will put on a little more muscle in the off season. Again he is only 22! I do agree with anderson08, John ‘fuck up’ O’Shea is terrible! I would rather rafael screw up and learn from it than put that talentless, no passing douche out on the pitch
Stick with Evans. The lads just going through a period of poor form. End of.
Barcelonas team which beat Madrid 5-0 had 9 players ont he feild which came through the youth team. Says it all.
I’ve asked that question before and got no answer, how many top class CD do you see at 22 years of age? Not that many would be the answer, because like goal keepers, CD tend to get better as they get older. Maybe a spell out of the team and possibly a loan move to another side, would do him no harm, or at least until he gets some confidence back. There’s also a wider question here, and that’s not hyping our younger players up too much. Let them grow in to top players and not get on their backs, when there going through a barren run in terms of form.
It’s obvious that Evans is in no condition to play for United’s first team at this moment. Fergie is being naive.
excellent piece, was hoping you would but something like this up to day. some of the vitriol coming his way is absolutely scandalous.
“As it stands though, we should have patience with our player and trust in our manager’s judgement”
signed. shocking comments from some of the fans on the different resources.
Get a grip Johnny.
bbabyj says:
It’s obvious that Evans is in no condition to play for United’s first team at this moment. Fergie is being naive.
I think I get the point you’re making but how does he get to play the first team, you have to keep playing him or he can’t improve and we at UTD have always had patience in that regard its just that where you could get away with it 10 years ago the margin for error is so tight now you will lose pace in the championship race but we cant and never have gone out and bought a whole team so we just have to do what we’ve always done and stick by our young players.
thx for the perspective. for now he really is utter shyte but with time on his side who knows. he definitely needs to put on some mass and muscle though, too easily wrestled off the ball by big forwards.
I think everybody is being naive here. I don’t think the lad is awful by any means and I don’t think he should be berated, but he’s not good enough for United. Smalling looks an absolute mile ahead of him in ability. I have never thought Johnny Evans has been good enough, he gets easily turned and always has done, he’s average in the air and gets done most time by physical opponents, he’s not particularly quick and his distribution is pretty poor. It’s not enough to say he’s a United lad through and through. The players you are comparing him to despite being at smaller part all looked the part, and they never played for their country because the competition was much higher. Bolton’s Cahill looks a far better player and I’d rather bring him. Johnny Evans will be a great player for Everton, Sunderland, etc but sadly not for United
Johhny Evans won’t make it but Smalling will. JE is just terrible. No confidence, and always looks uncomfortable, and needs an age to settle on the ball. At the time, it was so clear that Pique had bags more potential, but for some reason, it seemd that Evans was prefered. BIG MISTAKE
Bravo.
I agree completely with this article and think it’s a great way to put things into perspective.
A lot of football fans find it tough to stay balanced. Poor form means players need to be sold immediately. A player that has a few good games, becomes a demi God.
I gets worse in the heat of the moment during a game.
Most football fans are guilty of this – me included. We should be able to say, this guy’s been poor, below par etc. Let’s get behind him and hope he gets better. Evans received so much praise in the past two seasons. He has great potential. He needs to work on consistency and make sure he reaches his potential, otherise he’ll be in the John O’Shea category of defenders.
I think the major difference between Evans and Smalling is that Smalling just seems so much more physically gifted. Maturity does play a huge part in the maturation process of a defender, but my fear with Evans is that he doesnt have the physical tools, notably quickness, to cut it at this level. I would never question his heart or grit, but unfortunately you need more than passion to cut it at that position at this level!
Great perspective Scott. I agree with you 100%
Also with your posts Willierednut especially re CD at 22. Pique is the exception that proves the rule.
Finally some sence! Evans was fantastic during the 08/09 and 09/10 season he stood up to Didier Drogba twice at stamford bridge and stopped him scoring…. he kept a clean sheet at the San Siro against Inter Milan… and he was a key figure in our record run of clean sheets yet a few bad months and now everyone wants him gone?
Johnny and Chris could be a truly fantastic centre back pairing in the future…but for now can everyone please have some patience with them. Look at Fletch and Nani they’ve taken time to prove their worth but their two key figures for the United team!
how do you make the ads on the side shut the fuck up?
it’s highly distracting to have them auto-play when you come on the blog scott, highly off-putting as well…
I have openly, and maybe harshly, criticized Jonny for a while now, but he did one thing that proved to me that he was United through-and-through. Last year, he stepped in along side Wes Brown against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and defended admirably against Drogba, but it was his boot the Ivorian’s chest that made me, “legend in the making!”
However, he has not really done anything since to refute out criticism, and he ferguson had a go at him in United’s win at the San Siro last year.
I agree with Scott. He is a top-class supporter, but sometimes that does not translate into the performances on the field. Just ask Gary Neville.
roflater – I’ve got in touch with the people who run our ads. We have an agreement for ads like these not to be put on the blog so something has gone wrong somewhere. Rest assured I am working on this though.
Idont think he is hard enough we will need a cd like vida there again how would anybody feel playing alongside jon oshea he is complete and utter shite how wes cant get in the team before him is a joke.
On Rio, I often said he’s the best CH in Europe and I stand by that, but I remember a 7 1 mauling we gave West Ham at OT. Rio played that day and got the run around, along with most of West Hams players. I think it was the year 99/00 season, but if you had told most United fans, that 3 years later we would pay Leeds almost 30 million quid, they’d have thought you soft in the head. Doesn’t Jonny deserve some time to turn it around? He’s a United fan and maybe atm, he’s struggling with the expectation of playing at a club, like United. Ffs, a top player like Veron couldn’t make at United, give Evans some time lads.
In short: Evans isn’t Maldini, Ferdy or Nesta.
Wow. What a revelation.
Smalling shits on Jonny. It’s hard to have sympathy for a lad who gets scalped by a half fit barely there striker and looks so completely lost on the pitch.
Of course it doesn’t help with Fuckhole O’Shit bringing his special confidence to the defence.
We underestimated the opposition and rightly got kicked in the balls for it. Evans should be dropped to the reserves or loaned out or sold. Right now, he should be ashamed to even have his name on a united shirt. He is absolutely fucking dismal.
GIVE THE LAD A CHANCE THE ACCUSATIONS HAVE COME ON THE BACK OF A DISSAPOIONTING NITE AND THE LAD HAS COPPED FOR A LOT OF FLACK FAIR DO’S I WAS JUMPING UP AND DOWN WHEN THE THIRD WENT IN YOU DONT BECOME A BAD PLAYER OVER NIGHT AND IM SURE HE WILL BOUNCE BACK COZ HE IS A GOOD PLAYER
Here’s another way to look at: let’s see he leaves. Who are you going to get to replace him? I don’t mean this name or that name, I mean what type of player (in terms of their career development and ‘status’).
We aren’t going to get another world-class central defender (even if we could afford it), not while Rio and Vidic are still doing the business for us, because no A-list player will be prepared to sit on the bench and wait his turn. They’ll want regular first-team football — they’ll want to be considered a “first-choice” player. So scratch that idea.
What other options are there? Let’s see … You could go for someone who used to be world-class but is now on the downhill slide to retirement. No thanks.
You could go for someone who’s a “solid pro” and already fully developed and might make a decent stand-in. But I’d pass on that, too. First, you already know they’re as good as they’re gonna get–if they were going to get any better, they’d have done it already. Even journeymen professionals are commanding outrageous fees at the minute, and they too will have expectations of at least semi-regular football. (Many would prefer to be a big fish in someone else’s small pond, than a small fish in our very big pond.) And anyway, given the nature of this particular position, I’m not sure a journeyman central defender would make a decent stand-in either, not as a regular option anyway. (For example, I consider John O’Shea a journeyman player, and look at the shit that gets thrown at him by fans of his own team.)
So now I’ve ruled out pretty much every central defender over the age of 25, that leaves us with Jonny and other youngsters around his own age. Of those, I reckon Pique is the pick — but he already left (precisely for the reason that I mentioned before: he wasn’t prepared to hang around and wait for his turn). For the rest, I haven’t seen any others who clearly offer more than young Jonny, and many who offer a damn sight less.
So, disappointing as his season has been, cut the guy some slack. He isn’t our first-choice defender. Will he become that? I don’t know. But he might, and in the meantime, with Rio and Vidic still driving the ship, sticking with Evans makes a lot of sense. Even if it does sometimes drive me crazy
good post scott, very persuasive. I dont want him sold for the reasons mentioned in the post, but i really dont see him ever being world class or united standard. I see him developing at us and then going on to do well at a midtable team. Those goal-saving tackles that hes capable of are also capable of giving away penalties when he doesnt get them right. I never feel secure when hes on the pitch. Nothing against the lad as a person (i assume the rape allegations were false) but just dont think he hast the ability or “potential”.
@Manchuchu
Isn’t this the same lad that had Drogba in his back pocket 3 times from 2008 to 2009? I’d have agreed with selling him if we were talking about someone like Cathcart who never proved he could do it on the big stage. But sell Evans why exactly? He peaked at 20 and is now in the last stage of his career? Ferdinand wasn’t exactly Steve Bruce at 22 either.
@willie
Nice point. I made it 5-6 times since last night lol.
It’s very symptomatic of this season in general.. Can’t help but feel that an old Beckham era Fergie hairdryer would sort some of these limpid performances and attitudes out.
When Fergie mentioned how these days players cry in the dressing room, it makes you wonder if what they need is to get put through boot camp in the off season so they can all harden the fuck up. Jonny definitely needs some time getting the pussy weightlifted out of him. At 22 I dont see why he still has the physique of a vegetable lady.
Some of these kids need to toughen the fuck up. Giving up in challenges is a bloody woeful and unforgivable thing and Evans does this in more than one occassion
remember
sometimes when we see another cow in another field,we think that cow is better than ours. but our cow is better actually.
I like Jonny Evans, he looks like a level headed guy and team player. Even though he did not play too well recently, I think we need to give him a little break. Past 2-3 games he played, a lot of people here criticize him heavily. I myself also so frustrated because I dont understand what cause his form dropping badly. But take in to account that he has not been playing regularly enough, and he is still in developed stage, we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Even Mr Rooney has his hard time to find form. I guess a player will always has a period like this before he steps up his game, so we should be patient with Evans
Plus what he has done 2-3 past years for this club deserves more than criticism like this after just couple of bad games.
I think there are two problems common to young and inexperienced defenders, they lack the guile to keep up with tricky strikers and secondly they tend to lack the physical presence that an established centre half. You can do your best to teach these aspects of the game, but they do need experience, they do need to get stuck in and see it for themselves. A defender can have all the skill, talent, vision and positioning skills in the world and he can sharpen those up on the pitch, but it is only in the contest with opposing strikers, under pressure in a match, that the real stuff of a great defending is learned.
Both Evans and Smalling will learn this. But it cannot be rushed. Particularly the physicality of the role, if players try too hard to assert themselves physically you just end up with them chopping players down and getting sent off a lot.
Evans is a great lad who works hard and has bags of talent. When it is self evident that the only thing he lacks is experience it seems like insanity that we would consider losing him. Hell even in four years time he will still be a young centre half.
Sometimes if you have O Shea in your field, and the other field has a cow, you just want the cow.
Moooooo
Sir alex didn’t let pique go..It was pique who wanted out and it was certainly not evans who stood in his path to the first team..Also i still don’t believe that pique is an exceptional defender, he just fits perfectly into the barca model..Has awesome technique for a defender but his lack of pace and at times dodgey positioning would be found out in a team where his team don’t keep 75% possession all the time..
Manchuchu … that’s pretty funny, even though I usually stick up for JOS (not because I think he’s better than he is, but because I understand the role he plays in the squad — and that’s a necessary role and one that’s very difficult to fill).
By the way, anyone remember Torres making a monkey out of Vidic last year or the year before? That didn’t make Vidic a shit player who needed to be sold immediately. Because shit happens, even to great players. Strikers miss sitters. Defenders make howlers. Goalies drop the ball. Anyone can have a bad moment, a bad day, a bad season. Get over it.
Great piece…
Anderson 08> ur full of shite man….john o shea fair enough has had a bad season but hes hardly d only one, for years he has been one of our most consistant and reliable defenders!! More still he captures what scott is tlkin about, the love for united and the winning mentality..ur doin exactly what all the evans bashers are doin and poppin ur load before the date is over…o shea still has a big part to play in uniteds squad and deserves a bit more loyalty than hes gettin!!
374 apps…..but he was never a united player u say
Scott, thanks for this. Good also to compare where Rio was at 22. In my view, Evans is a top quality player with really exceptional ball handling and distribution skills. He is only 22, in a position that he was not borne to, and has done exceptionally well in some big games for us. I posted a longer response on the last thread (berbas goals per minutes) but I feel Smalling and Evans are going to be with us for a long time. The difference between Evans bad outings and his good outings are not just down to having Vida or Rio as his partner as was said above. He shut out Rangers last week with essentially the same back 4 as he had last night v the hammers, he also came on for the last 25 minutes in the away fixture and kept the clean sheet paired with Smalling at IBROX. The difference in the Westham game was the a second string midfield and a less than stellar Kuszczak. OShea Bebe and Obertan did nothing to help the cause. The result was alot more action in front of our goal than in front of theirs due to a less than commanding midfield.
Evans is our boy and he is beating Brown out for now. That says something. He will come along. Just feel that he is getting a bad wrap for what was a midfield problem last night. It is fine to be out of the CC. Refocus on the Prem, the CL and the FA cups.
Johhny Evans is a Red
Stuck his boot in Drogba’s chest,
Won more medals than Stevie Mee
Johhny Evans is a Red
I posted the team sheets for Johnnys last 2 games on the last thread. You be the judge:
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/stats-minutes-per-goal-for-rooney-carroll-berb-tevez-drogba-chicharito/
Ok, sell Evans, keep Smalling? Forever? Or just until he he’s not good enough. We could start a finishing school. Send us your potential, and we’ll finish them off for you.
He isn’t as strong as Vidic, He isn’t as elegant as Rio, He has only one option to become an United first team player…s Fletcher’s way – hard work on, but sorry, I can’t see it either. IMHO there is no way He will become a first team player
O’Shea and Evans are squad players right now and when I saw them in the same back for with the inexperienced Smalling and Fabio the writing was on the wall for us I’m afraid. However, although we’d have loved to have won the game and go on to another Cup Final (Possibly) it is these games that we need to play our younger players and our fringe players who might need to be called up at any moment. OK, we wouldn’t have wanted Evans to perform the way he did, but rather he have a lesson learned in the Carling Cup than a pivitol League game or FA cup tie against Liverpool. The important thing is that Evans learns from this difficult period he is going through and comes through it a better player and person. Lets not turn into these dippers or bitters who scream for the sheiks checquebook everytime a player misplaces a pass!!
It’s an impassioned defence of the lad, but your argument doesn’t really hold water.
When John Terry was making the breakthrough at Chelsea, the England centre-backs were variously Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Gareth Southgate, Martin Keown and a young Rio Ferdinand.
When Jaap Stam was breaking through, blocking his path to the national team were the de Boer brothers and Ronald Koeman. For Cannavaro, all he had to do was break up the world cup winning defence of Baresi, Maldini and Costacurta. Carlos Puyol was trying to dislodge Fernando Hierro and Nemanja Vidic was trying to oust Sinisa Mijalovic.
When Jonny Evans was playing in a losing Northern Ireland team against Iceland in 2007 – the same Iceland team that lost 3-0 to Liechtenstein in the same qualifying tournament – he was playing alonside Michael Duff, who had joined Burnley for £30,000; Fulham’s Chris Baird, who had just joined after spending four seasons struggling with Southampton; and George McCartney, who was so highly regarded at West Ham he was sold to Sunderland without even informing Alan Curbishley.
I’ve been a United fan since the 1983 FA Cup final, which is when I fell in love with them, and there is NOTHING that I love more than seeing our own youngsters come through. But even with my most red-tinted glasses on I can’t base a defence of the lad on nothing more than the fact that he’d played a few times for a country who haven’t qualified for a major tournemat since before he was born! And comparing him to world class defenders and John Terry – who all played for much more successful countries than Evans – is at best spurious and frankly just irrelevant!
Northern Ireland beat spain and drew with italy……
Coming to the topic, evans for me is an exceptional talent going through a really bad patch..He doesn’t look confident and at times downright scared..Lets not forget that he’s the man who literally kicked the shit out of drogba..Iam sure that sir alex will see to it that the real jonny gets back into this body..I do feel that he needs to buff up a bit but that will come with time..
so basically evans is shyte right now and we’re stuck with him because we cannot practically get a like replacement for him
Doghouse, you make some good points. But I do think his positional play is also at fault, but that’s a very difficult thing to teach — best learnt through experience. I think the other thing is that defense is all about coordination and teamwork, especially central defense. Yesterday, our whole defensive line was totally at sea, and that’s not just about Evans, it’s everyone. Only recently, Vidic talked about the “understanding” that he and Rio have — each of them knows when to commit to a tackle and when to pull back because they know, through experience, what the other one will be doing and pretty much where they’ll be.
Perhaps part of the answer, then, would be to give Smaller and Evans more time together, though that would be difficult (and risky) to do in the first team right now.
i’d rather have carrick in defence than evans these days tbh
i’m telling you folks that boy evans he needs to bulk his frame up otherwise he won’t cut it in the prem
rio the elegant, and vidic the beast perfect complements
you have smalling to replace rio. so either evans become a rugged tough defender or we will find another complement to partner with smalling
Top post, Scott. And “much needed” is exactly the right phrase. I do hope ppl will lay off him – we wouldnt be on to him like a duck on a june bug if he hadnt set our expectations as high as he has over the last 2 seasons. For Chrissake, you are talking of a 22 yr old CB at Utd., stepping into Vidic and Rio’s shoes and performing consistently and forever from day one…this isnt santaland you know? What about Evra – what sort of first season did he have? What about Rio and Vida being raped (wont mince words here) by Torres? Do you wish we had sold them? And get who – Kieran fuckin Gibbs? Ledley-nailed to the floor-King? His first cosuin, Mathew-same middle name-Upson? The boy obviously has miles to go, but he if you look at the overall picture and not just this season, he CLEARLY has it in him. Get behind him, dont break his confidence.
Claiming Evans is not a United player because of a poor start to this season is amusing I must say. But it’s not the only thing that I get a kick out of nowdays.
I like how O’Shea has become the object of abuse among United fans as if he is a piece of crap we picked up last summer. Like he hasn’t been here for 12 years and hasn’t played close to 400 games for us. So you are only as good as your last season I guess. Well, next time we poke fun at City supporters for how they turn on their players, we should take a better look over here first.
@manchuchu and @willierednut still my cos is better than yours! hahahahaha
MoooOOOO
And ohh yes, to those who are saying that we should never have let go off Pique and fucked off Evans instead:
1. Pique wanted out, not the other way round
2. How do you think Pique would cope against a Bolton bombarding him with crosses and 6.3 ft strikers pushing him around constantly? The neighbour’s cow might look better, but it isnt always the case, you know
Absolutely spot on Great Scott,u indeed keep d creed n passion on.Sincerely notin on earth steals my luv n affection lik our gr8 Club,though upset bt do feel 4d lad n pray d gaffer til got confident in hm.i wll tak hm ahead of d headless o’shea n brown any day.C’mon Jonny we d faithfuls r behind u,u got d potentials 2b a legend. GGMU!!!
*sorry cow not cos
A quote from Einstein ‘ The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that intelligence has its limits’
Costas, willie and co (You know yourselves, the level headed ones)
I tend to stay away from meaningless debates such as this one whereby fickle fans just appear out of the blue to bash a player or 2 then fuck off…….. I love a debate as much as the next guy as long as its based on constructive opinions as opposed to one word comments such as ‘he is rubbish’ etc…
@Cedars
Amen to that mate. Couldn’t agree more.
Good article Scott, we need to give the kid a break he is 22 for gods sake !!!!!
All players go through a bad patch, hei s struggling this season, but he will come through it.
@ Costas
A good point well made about JOS
you are now at around late 60′s to your prediction of 200 posts
1.) when does this thread officially close
2.) Does it include your own
@CedarsDevil you know the difference between my cow and your cow? Mine is better than yours that is hahahaha..
If we go on like this, our next line-up would be
Chelsea’s cow
Citeh’s cow Arsenal’s cow Liverpool’s cow Chelsea’s cow
Real’s cow Barca’s cow Milan’s cow Inter’s Cow
Juve’s cow Ajax’ cow
Thanks for giving me the right perspective again Scott. I’ve always been patient with our youngsters but I was just livid yesterday over his performance. I think I will count to 10 and trust Fergie from now on.
Come on Johnny…step up!
When a player makes it into United’s first team I expect them to improve year on year until they reach their optimum and then start going backwards.I don’t expect that to be at age 21 sorry.
@STR
I believe that i have exactly the same opinion as you which i voiced out recently.
@Willie
We did discuss this issue very recently!!
I also tend to agree with you about what you said at 17:39. Very true!!
@Red Simmo
1) They don’t close I think. You can comment on them as long as you want.
2) Yeah I am counting mine too. I have to be fair.
@ Costas
well if you post 125 reasons for Johnny Evans to remain a red you hit your target!
Just imagine if we had this blog in the 90′s during a time when the King himself Cantona had a baron spell of poor performances and lack of goals, ended by the great chip vs Sunderland and of course the famous celebration……… I am sure similar fickle twats would have written about how rubbish he is and that we should replace him….
@parryheid let me ask you, what makes you a man? you learn from your mistakes. when you fall, you rise again. nobody becomes a man without ever falling, isnt it?
So 22 years old can be considered a man? can a 22 years old football player be considered a man?
how do you know he has peaked, or even better, how do you know he has peaked at 22? how do you know from this day onwards, he is going backwards?
@Red Simmo
Haha. Well I believe he has to stay, but I can’t think of that many reasons! Maybe 5, lol.
@ cedars
i posted a simialr comment at the start of this thread about giggsy getting abuse in 2003.
Have to say though about Cantona – he was shite wasnt he?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI7B0BLgSlg
Lets bash the groundskeeper, he waters the pitch way too much (ok, he kind of does!)
Being a good defender is something you gain from experience and age. I dont know why everyone’s expectation is that a 22 year old has to be the same as the 2 other defenders who happen to be 8 years older than him.
It is not like Smalling was very consistent before he joined United….
@united.george
And we don’t know if he will be from now on. I am pretty sure that Smalling will go through his rough patch as well.
*Stands up and applauds*
Red Simmo
Spot on mate, Cantona was a waste of space, rubbish at its best
What’s not in dispute, Evans is playing poorly. What I will dispute, is somehow he should be sold off because he’ll never make it at United, that’s bollox imo. And I also think the comparison with other CD at his age is a reasonable one. No ones saying he’s in the class of Maldini, Rio or Nesta, but I would argue all those players got a hell of a lot better with age and I’m sure they would tell you that. I just think it’s folly to write off any player at 22 years of age, have we learned nothing from doing the same with Fletcher?
@ Cedars
…and dont get me started on that clown George Best – he should have 7 at Northampton that day!
He should go play in the reserves, PLAY being the operative word. Right now he plays about once a month or less when every player is fit. As a cb you need rhythm, to get in the groove of keeping clean sheets. Look at how Pique, Shawcross and Cathcart are improving, all at a rate of knots it comes from playing. A cb can easily play a reserve game midweek and then come back. One of him and Smalling should be playing every reserve game.
Red Simmo
LOL, yes that clown Best (RIP) was never worthy of the shirt imo, highly overrated..
willie
Whilst you are at it, add Nani, Evra and Vidic (when they arrived) Ronaldo’s first couple of seasons to that list along with Fletch
My first post; been a reader for a while now, thought I might as well comment.
And good article, I think he will turn out fine.
Cheers.
Imagine what kind of stick Forlan or Stam would have got at the beginning of their United careers…
@ Costas
Forlan……bloody Forlan…….he is in the same category as Best
Dint he miss a penalty at Northampton?
As you said, Pique left so he could stay. Unfortunately for him, that will mean he will ALWAYS be compared to Pique by quite a few people, look at the Football365 mailbox from yesterday. As a fan, he has regressed quite a bit when compared to two seasons ago, last season he was also average. Does he have time to develop? Yes, but that means he shouldn’t be playing in important first team games. Say what you want about the Carling Cup but that trophy was there to be won, only Arsenal were realistically left in our way and its a trophy gone. Add to that our poor performances in the league defensively whenever he is present. He needs to be either loaned out or kept away from the first team for a long time.
Who remembers Alan Hansens comment “you will never win anything with Kids?”
Who remembers our Fans Slating Ronaldo! Who out of these would now vote for him either being the best player on the planet or the second best?
Who remembers our fans Slating Fletcher! Who out of these regretted Fletcher not playing against Barca in the Champions League?
Who wrote Evra off after his abysmal Debut?
Who wanted Evra Sold and Henize kept?
Cant please some fans! However in Fergie we trust!
What I have read people say about Evans to me shows a complete lack of respect to the lad!
Its a pain listening to the mumblings of our Rival Supporters without listening to the dribble some of our fans sprout! Bloody Disgraceful!
I will say this time and time again, pique wanted to go back to barcelona. At the time in 2008/09 season evans was linked to both milan clubs so he was doing something right he played a bigger part than rio in uniteds record breaking defensive season. But to even use the notion that selling pique to keep evans was the reason, when it was a far better deal to keep a potiental great united player who supported the club has a child was a no brainer. Evans was shocking, but opur midfield and fullbacks were a complete disaster last night
United – That for me would be the best option, out on loan somewhere, to get that confidence back in his game.
Pique V Evans
I can understand this debate however Pique for me was always going to go back to Spain! THinking of longativity at the Time i think Evans was the right choice! Pique was a little ahead of Evans in terms of learning curve!
With Ferdinand and Vidic in their peak playing time would have been limited for Pique never mind Evans. Yes we could have sold Evans but i doubt that Pique would have been happy on the bench!
For me Pique would have grumbled and jumped ship!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
@Costas
Lets not delude ourselves, the Forlan of the last few years is not the same as the Forlan at United. I remember watching him, he was panicky, had poor finishing and was not reliable. Everyone brings up Giggs’ poor season, well he had a piss poor season and there was a lot of money on the table for him, you actually think management didn’t even THINK about it? There is nothing at all wrong with that, he proved that he still had what it takes in our three title winning seasons but he wasn’t the Giggs of old for quite a long time.
Read another comment earlier implying that since Barca had 9 youth teamers out it means that we should stick by Evans. Some people… do not compare Barcelonas youth team in recent years has probably been one of the best crop ever, I would say better than our bunch from 1992. Undoubtedly will lead to a bunch questioning my judgment, Jeffren has had a good season, Pedro has been outstanding for two seasons now (pushed Henry out of the club), and the rest kind of speak for themselves.
Criticizing is good sometimes for players development, they need to get used to it.
if oshea fabio fletcher and anderson did more to protect our centre halfs evans and smallen may have done a better job, even though evans had a stinker. But when your shields in your fullbacks and central midfielders have a complete stinker the centre halfs are gonna look like pub players.
Lads when we are discussing our young players we have to realise we are not looking at the finished product! They all have one thing in common —- Potential!
@fergie is the boss says
Pique has publicly stated that one of the main reasons for him leaving was not getting first team opportunities. He might have stayed for a few years, could have got a great price for him, Evans could/should have gone on loan for a while. We can rationalize it all we want but I doubt even SAF himself would admit that selling Pique was a mistake.
trevor – like you say about heindsight not everyone can be captain heindsight, if that was the case I would have won the lottery and I would be top of my fantasy football league
Evans should not be flogged off…he’s a good kid and a talented one. He is playing like a schoolboy at the moment. he should not be sold, however!! he should be nurtured and should be allowed to regain his confidence and momentum. He will come good eventually!! In my humble opinion, after all being said and done, he deserves to be slated by the fans for performing poorly. After all, as i said before, he is a professional and an international and also our back up to rio and vidic!!…To perform in such a manner in which he did yesterday…was not acceptable. I am sure he would have got a rollicking from SAF!! But, it’s only for his own good!!
United – pique said on record he wanted to go back to barca, thats not me saying it thats gerrards words. evans had a fantastic season in 2008/09 season, he had a very good season last year only this year has he been terrible. And for the record pique was abysmel at united when he was playing in the 2007/08 season, he looked slow clumsey spain is perfect for pique, the league is slower and he has time on the ball. The premiership does not suit pique and his game against bolton in november 2007 showed that
MyCowlsTheBest.
You as what makes you a man.I couldn’t begin to tell you.Do you think he has progressed year on year?I don’t,When I talk about progressing I use the likes of Rooney aged 17.Witshire 17.possibly young Bannan at Villa and there’s many others.I have no doubt Johny Evans will make a good career I just don’t think it will be at United You say he will learn from making mistakes,Doesn’t seem like it to me same applies to our goalie Thomaz we cant afford ropey defenders /goalies.You and others think differently that’s your prerogative I wont complain.
The situation with Jonny Evans is difficult to anlayze.
Yes, he’s home grown, he ‘looks’ like a classy defender, he can bring the ball forward well.
Whenever he has played this season, and I am not just refering to last night’s debacle, he has looked lost at crosses. Whenever a cross has come in, he is second to the ball. He is not strong enough to hold off good opposition strikers. This is especially noticeable at corners and set pieces.
If Carlton Cole can make one move and get by him, then he will honestly ge beaten by much better players. The Everton game was a classic example with the two goals in injury time.
However, any time a ball comes into the box, I fear his man is going to get away. I don’t feel the same way about Smalling.
The nearest I can get to a similar player is Pallister. When Pally joined United at the age of 25 (I know, 3 years older), every few games there was the classic “Pally lapse”, in which he allowed the opposition to score, or Bruce or Schmikes bailed him out.
He needs to toughen up and learn how to effectively deal with balls in the box, otherwse he’ll be playing for the reserves forever.
The good news is, he has time. And he should and will be given it, as his potential is great, and United also want to bring his brother through the ranks.
In the interim, with O’Shea also being a liability and Wesley looking a little past it, we should just hope Rio, Vidic and Smalling stay healthy.
parryheid………….. wat a knob u r
@Red Simmo
Yeah he did I think. Good memory, lol. But he did eventually score on the day.
@United
Yeah Forlan wasn’t the same player at United. And we don’t know if he would ever become such a player for us. Just saying that some fans jump on the players’ backs at the first chance they get. It’s not about critisism. I’ve always said that critisism is necessary. Bashing and finging scapegoats on the other hand, is unacceptable for me.
mufc4life.
Great post.Explain your point you clown.
@fergie is the boss
He never got his chance at centreback at United, at right back I agree he sucked. Vidic has no pace either, it doesn’t seem to bother him vs anybody not named Fernando Torres
Ha priceless. Only 37 thousand at the council house. Best bit is tickets were only five fucking quid! Looks like foster found his level at brum. Keano in semis
Come on ye tractor boys!
Hope Blatter and co aren’t watching events at Birmingham, doughnuts!
For those of you that were their at Hillsborough season 1903/04 .
FA cup 2nd round Sheffield Wedensday 6 United 0.
Shit happens.
Perspective, what a brilliant word to descibe this episode.And thats exactly what it is.
I thought last night jaysus am i on a United blog, this is painfull to read this crucifixtion of one of our very young. I tried to lighten it with humour, which failed.I did not see it as a fatal blow.
I blame anyhow Sir Alexs red bunnet, jaysus if it only had a white pom pom and he adorned a whitebeard——– and shouted a few times “Ho Ho Ho” would you like summit oot of ms sack! Well it was a night for giving gifts.
But i feel all the time you win and loose as a team.
I think we have enough “isolated” players in various fans minds without creating another one, and particularly one so young.Jonny is simply learning his trade and does not deserve to be hung out to dry. Out of adversity will come good if we want it to happen, as fans and a Club.
As a group I thought we had turned the corner after the magnificent “United” performance against Blackburn.Therefore our expectation was dashed and our Mojo(Ta Willie) broken.
I cant understand fans saying things like Bebe is shite, Giggs finished fuck of, etc etc. ts self defeating.
Do we want win the 19th title of course we do, so lets shout and encourage the players, I can see no other reason to do otherwise after a poor performance by an extremely young side on an off night.
Like King Eric said on another thread some fans only seem to post comments to slag off the players.I wish they would appear to sing the praise of the players and write positive comments about our fabulous players.
On to Bloomfield Road and a rock and roll ride. have fun in Blackpool lads, remember “virtue has its own rewards, but no box office! lol
I honestly think his performance would have been much better, or at least, not as poor, if any of the senior central defenders would have accompanied him on the pitch.
That game got out of hand defensively, and we needed someone to shout orders to fix those holes. If Rio, Vida, or even VDS would have been there, I honestly think Evans would not be getting the treatment he’s getting from you lot.
Anyways, lesson learned. Support our players, and stop the non-sense…BRING ON BLACKPOOL!!!!
Spot on Scott
@JK, seriously dude, do you watch United games, do you see how easily O’Shea looses possesion, inability to jump well, headers are like shit, passes like shit, everyone passes him by as he isn’t on the pitch, seriously, some people here are making me to do a documentary on O’Shea and his errors.
@Anderson08, now thats a strange screen name to use, Talk up your screen name mate, that I will like to see, Ignore the Blackburn game.
i will look forward to the documentary you talk of on John O’shea. tommorow. At your pleasure.
He is a squad player, all teams need those, he would walk into most premiership teams.
I await your back up of your two player’s namely Anderson and O’shea.
Tommorow.
@RedScot, I always use this screen name, on forum and on here, this isn’t about Blackburn game, and believe me, I will make a “documentary” as soon as I have more time at my disposal.
Stating the obvious really. But Johnny Evans needs to go back
and learn about positional play and defending. Scot I think you are
Being too nice to Johnny. He was responsible for 3 of West Hams
goals not 2 as you stated. My other point is that whilst he’s young
he’s played in a lot of big big games. If SAF can criticise his
Performance openly – in case you’ve forgotten it was the AC Milan game
when we conceded two goals in ten minutes. Before that game
Evans form and performances were great and the lad showed
Good promise. Since that Milan game and coming into this season
it seems he’s caught the same condition that Michael. Carrick
has – loss in confidence.
The second thing about the west ham game was that our midfield
were totally over run. Anderson put in a decent shift, but Fletcher
Giggs and OShea were poor.
But as Giggs has stated, the young players will learn.
Jonny Evans to captain Manchester United in about six years of time. Seriously. He’s a world-class Red. Every player has had a shite period in their career, but class is permanent. I believe in The Evans. MANCHESTER UNITED !!!!!!
Evans, Evra, and in recent games Fletcher have been our worst performers this season.
Yea,Jonny needs some criticism and to be sent out on loan, i’m sure the Everton’s, Sunderland’s etc would love him
i havent read the other comments, wanted to put in my few cents worth first before reading.
i like evans and i thought he did extremely well in his debut season when he superbly stepped up to cover for the crocked defence. i really think he has potential but there is no doubt that he has been found wanting this season. i dont know, it might be just me, but i feel his footwork has slowed noticeably. and his leap is non-existant in the games he’s played.
but i feel that there’s deffo potential in this guy and we should give him time and opportunity to improve further. if only pique stayed too. that boy is immense!
OH come on!!! J.E & JOS is still a Man Utd player.
Stop slagging off our own player!!
people make mistakes….move on lads.
Respect is key word!!!
Didn’t even SAF say this – “what we are doing here at the club is looking 5 years down the road, we’re not looking at only now”.
Some of the commentors on this post ought to remind themselves of that. They were almost definitely the ones calling for Ronaldo’s head after his countless useless unproductive stepovers in his first 2 seasons. Or wondering if Evra was good enough for us when he slipped countless times in his debut against Man City before getting replaced at half time. And probably even now thinking Bebe will be a failed investment because they saw the club handing over a chest with 7.5m to Vitoria.
Defenders need some time to mature. Build up some confidence and ability to read the game. In my mind a player in the forward positions can more easily make their breakthrough on creativity and spirit. Thats not enough for a defender. You have to allow them time to make their mistakes and learn from them.
I’ve always been a fan of Johnny and have thought he’s looked very promising alongside Rio and Vidic. They will definately help him a lot in terms of being vocal and leading the line. Alongside Smalling I think the routine just isn’t there, and their young inexperienced tendancies shine through far too easily.
It’s hard to say if Evans will become a top notch defender, but he definately has potential.
@Scott nice article as usual.
Jonny Evans in his recent interview said the last 6 months his performances are below par,he dosent know the reason behind it, but is determined to regain his form.He knows hoe it works at Manutd ,he will be patient and will take his chances. I beleive this is his lowest point in his career
thus far.
He is one of us a Manutd fan,earmarked for out first team and succeeded in getting into the first team. Ferguson has confirmed Evans as first team.
He is most like Vidic in his tough no nonsense defending.
While Chris is more like Rio. These 2 boys are first team players .I imagine they are now learning to cope with all thats happened,and those around them will guide them.
So all this shit spewed at them is actually helpful cos this is what they need to learn to cope with for the rest of thier Manutd careers.And i mean the media and yes some of u idiots.
We have seen Fergie sort out Vidic. Now we are watching him sort out Rio ,Wes.
So he needs to guide Jonny,Chris,Shea,Evra,Rafael,Fabio and Gary.
Evra is actually finally back after a below par start to the season.
Manutd to win Saturday.
Look there is a difference between been off form and having a lack of mental belief.
Fletcher is off form, but Fletcher has great mental strength. Fletcher will come right.
Players like Evans and Carrick are mentally weak. They are never, ever going to be at their best for United again.
If they went to a smaller club, with less pressure upon them they would probably improve.
Carrick was great when he was part of that awesome side we had a few years ago. We lost a few players so then there was more pressure upon him. He couldn’t handle the pressure.
Evans used to be respected as a MANCHESTER UNITED defender, until he made a few high profile errors. That cancer of doubt will always remain with him. He is mentally weak.
Years ago I remember talking about the likes of Evans and Carrick with mates and we felt that these players lacked mental strength. After a bad moment you can see it in a players body language or the expression on their face.
Look at Vidic. There are defenders that have more natural ability then him, but yet he is a better defender. WHY????? Because of his high levels of mental strength. Fuck it, Torres has skinned Vidic a few times but do you think Vidic is scared of facing Torres. Of course not. Vidic would look forward to the challenge. Mental strength.
Fans here seem to think that Carrick is returning to form. What a joke. He just keeps it simple. He doesn’t attempt the passes that he used to. WHY???? He is too scared to try. He is scared to make a mistake, so he plays with-in himself.
Evans and Carrick have good football ability, but they lack the intestinal fortitude to handle the pressure of being a Manchester United player.
END OFF
You cant compare Cambur… , Napoli and Red Star Belgrade to United. Terry hadnt played as much for the first team as Evans has till now or hadn’t impressed as much as he had prior to this season.
The worrying part is, Jonny has played nearly 50 games now and you expect him to improve. A few bad performances are ok but this is going on for some time now, He was dropped for some time, came back for the Rangers game, played well there. That raised my hopes but then was at fault for the Samba goal and absolutely terrible on Wednesday
The thing that is worrying is how easily he gets bullied by the physical strikers. Zamora, Davies, Samba and Cole and this is a player who has kept Drogba, a player who terrifies defenders in his pocket every time he has played against him
I agree Evans can develop with time. Center halfs take more time than any other position to develop. Bebe on the other hand will not lose the basic errors no matter how much time he’s given. Can’t see him lasting another year. Loan first then exit for him. Simply not a good enough player
He is going through a rough patch, but, no matter what we think of his current form, I think that he has shown in previous appearances that he has what it takes to perform a lot better, and, most importantly, at a level that befits the team.
I think that Fergie does have to take him out of the firing line for a bit though. With the Carling Cup out of the way for another season, we won’t have too many opportunities (except in case of injury God forbid), when he will be paired with Smalling, who has bags of potential but is still young too!
At the moment, Smalling looks to be slightly ahead in terms of performance, but am sure Johnny will fight back, which is exactly what we need because Fergie seems to regard Smalling as a direct replacement for Rio, and Evans for Vidic!
@Rohit. totally agree with u on ur 1st post. Evans will be considered world-class playing for Barca. Pique is technically gifted but definitely way over-rated. he’s always absent or shaky when Spain or Barca are hit on the few counterattacks that come their way. Evans has to toughen n muscle up if he’s goin to make it; he should look at Shawcross..
Great assessment of thing. Jonny has been awful this year but your are right that the intangible of being a red through and through means he deserves time to sort his form out. We need to be patient with him and it is worth remembering that there were plenty of other very ordinary performances on Tuesday not least the vastly more experienced John O’Shea.
@Wingard, so what are those basic errors that Bebe has exhibited till now? Please elaborate so that we can all pay attention when he next appears on the pitch.
Hear hear. I think first of all it’s important to point out that getting on his back is only going to make things worse. What would people rather want? To be proved right, or to have a youngster develop into a quality player?
Second, and as much as I hate to jump on the Barca Love-In Bandwagon,
Hear hear. I think first of all it’s important to point out that getting on his back is only going to make things worse. What would people rather want? To be proved right, or to have a youngster develop into a quality player?
Second, and as much as I hate to jump on the Barca Love-In Bandwagon,
In 5 years time Evans and Smalling will be the new Dolly n Daisy, mark my words
RE: Pique
I have said it a number of times but while he is a world class player in Spanish Football and Internationally the English game is completely different. Its faster and more physical and from what we saw Pique didn’t look like it was a game he could thrive in. Some leagues just bring out the best in some players hence why we often see good players in one country fail in another and failures thrive in a different country and I think Pique is one of these. He needed to go back to Spain or maybe somewhere like Italy to maximise his potential which I don’t believe he would have ever done in England no matter how many games he got.
RE: O’shea
He is starting to annoy me. He is a solid defender and a good squad player BUT he seems to have lost any the ability to pass the ball. I’m sometimes critical of Rooney when it comes to his simple passes which can often be lazy but he looks am amazing compared to O’Shea atm who seems unable to play any pass well, be it a short simple ball, long cross field or creative hollywood ball. The simple ones atleast should be any players bread and butter and should be able to be made blindfolded but 9/10 they end up at the opponents feet not the United players
Pique has the cigar out playing in that league, he wasn’t up for the physical nature of the premiership. Furthermore, Barcelona have 60% of the ball most games, which means he’s never really tested. If he came and played in Engalnd like he plays in Spain, then he’d probably be the second best CH, just behind Rio in world football. It’s also important to note, that playing with Carlos, not sure of his surname, greatly helps him.
You’re absolutely spot on, Evans is young and his talent can not be questioned. The only thing wr can start to worry about is his mental fortitude. You need to have a big personality to make it at United, this aspect can not be underestimated. Great players tend not to go in slumps of two seasons plus. He needs to sort his head out before he can really flourish here.
On Pique, Barcelona’s midfield is the best in the world, by a distance, that also helps the defenders. Their ball retention is superior to anyone else’s, and of course, they’ve got the worlds best player.
Northern Ireland no Italy or Spain??
Drew with Italy and shulda beat them, and we tanked Spain.
GAWA
Russia ? hmmmh. I’ve had good memories there.
Apart from goalkeepers its Defenders who can least afford to fuck up in football. Evans is under a spotlight right now for not being Rio/Vidic but I think some people are expecting way too much from him too soon. Just my opinion but in our last game the main culprit in defence was O’Shea at right back not Evans, but eitherway 99% of the time we get rewarded for sticking with our newer players who have a hard time hitting the ground running. Very rarely does Alec fail to spot a dud early on.
From what I see, Rafael, Smalling, Evans and Fabio look like our future back four once Rio Vidic and then Evra bow out. They all have potential to be World Class based on what I’ve seen so far, and they still have much to learn from the old guard. Talk of selling Evans is way too premature. Thanks Scott for the much needed Perspective !!!
There is an error in the article. Sir Alex allowed Pique to leave not because he wanted to accomodate Evans but because Pique wanted to go back and play for HIS boyhood club, Barcelona. If Pique had never left, Sir Alex would most likely not have gone after Chris Smalling. Pique was being groomed to replace Rio Ferdinand. I remember Sir Alex saying very clearly that he didnt want Pique to leave but it was Pique’s strong desire to go back home.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.. John O’Shea should not be anywhere near our starting 11. And if we’re playing AWAY at West Ham or any other premier league side in a quater final cup game for that matter then we can’ have a defense like the one Sir Alex fielded against the hammers. At home.. MAYBE. A big maybe at that.. but away, Rio or Vidic needs to play alongside either Evans or Smalling. Hindsight hey? I think both Evans and Smalling have what it takes to be top class defenders at Utd, they are both quality and will show that in the future I’m sure. Was waiting for Fergie to switch Fabio off for Rafa at haltime which would have been a clever little move.. wonder if anyone would tell?
@Wakey
Slow defenders get a bum rap in England. Its about the partnership, Vidic is slow, Terry is slow but does very well in the EPL, Carvalho was slow and did brilliantly, Sol Campbell was a lumbering brute but was brilliant before age caught up with him. So long as he had someone next to him who reads the game well and has a bit more pace he would have been fine.
Well said.
I thought Evans was a pretty good replacement last season when we had our defensive issues and stepped in pretty well.
He will have to show some consistency over the next 2 seasons though, or everyone will be jumping on his case.