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2014-15 Performances

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4.7 Season Average Rating
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okLaptop1

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It's hard to gauge just by the pre-season matches how good he'll be on the left side of a back 3, but early signs show nothing to worry about right. With Smalling and Jones back there to hold the fort, he might venture out and start attacks more; definitely out of the current back 3 he's the best passer, and it'll be good for him to develop that part of his game.

Also interesting is that with Vidic, Rio, and Pat all gone, he's now the senior defender of the squad. Being the most experienced of our lot, it's time to step up and not just play well, but also be a leader for the other guys around him. There's no excuse for not being strong and vocal with the others, bringing composure and focus to the line in front of De Gea.

My big concern this season, as it always is with Jonny, is injuries. Even if we sign another center half, losing Jonny for any extended period of time would be a blow. Fingers crossed he plays over 30 league games this time.
 
With the exception of the LA Galaxy game, where he didn't look comfortable in a three-man defence, he has been good in pre-season. I think Evans would make a terrific captain, based on his organisation skills. He has become more vocal and looks more and more like a leader .
 
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He doesn't strike me as much of a leader to be captain of this club though, my only main concern If he does get the captain's armband next season
 
He embraces the philosophy and is probably the most intelligent defensive player we have altogether, it's clear to see why he is a candidate. He will obviously need to step up his vocal and general presence, but I'm all for him taking the armband.
 
He'll do, although he wouldn't compare to many of our captains of the past. But I'm not sure anyone in the squad would.
 
By the end of this season he'll be regarded as one of the better CBs in the league, barring a major injury. A starting spot and a manager who likes passers is all he's ever really needed.

And I like him for captain. Ok, he's no Keane, but he's the best way to bypass the ridiculous 'Rooney or RVP' farce when neither of them are exactly perfect candidates themselves. And he's a defender, which is always best.

The importance of captaincy is overrated anyway. Particularly given how famous Van Gaal is for drilling every player until they know their role down to the finest details; there shouldn't need to be too much tactical leadership on the pitch.
 
Few years ago I said he would one day be a United captain, it would be nice to see. He is our number one CB, has experience, loves the club, I think he deserves a shot.

Big season for him regardless though, hoping he can kick on and nail down a spot without Rio and Vidic there.
 
I think he would do better in the central or right sided role if we bring someone in for LCB.
 
Wayne's World said:
He doesn't strike me as much of a leader to be captain of this club though, my only main concern If he does get the captain's armband next season
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He does have leadership qualities. He's soft spoken but he still seems like a natural leader, kind of like Byran Robson. My only problem with him is his fitness record. If Evans can remain fit for a full season he'll absolutely become one of the integral players on the team.
 
Man Utd 3:1 Liverpool
Average performance tonight. Left centre-back is a position I expect us to strengthen on, though I have faith in Evans.
 
His passing was absolute shocking. Quite uncharacteristic, but that pass to Smalling especially was dreadful.
 
MoneyMay said:
Average performance tonight. Left centre-back is a position I expect us to strengthen on, though I have faith in Evans.
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It was a shocking performance for him more like... Don't think I've ever seen his passing as bad as it was today. Probably just a one off thing.
 
Haven't got a clue what happened to him tonight. It was almost like he couldn't be arsed.
 
Terrible performance by him, no idea what he was doing but hopefully it's just another one of Evans' random poor games.
 
I think Evan is quality but, my goodness I was yelling at him today for not making the simple passes. Thank goodness he got subbed at the half.
 
Liverpool's pressing unsettled him. It was a good test for all of the back 3.
 
bosnian_red said:
It was a shocking performance for him more like... Don't think I've ever seen his passing as bad as it was today. Probably just a one off thing.
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Yeah, average is an understatement. I'm surprised at how poor his distribution was - he's usually good under pressure.

For me, Smalling is first choice. Evans hasn't convinced me as a LCB and his mobility could be an issue for us. That's why it's best to play him in the middle.
 
Playing from the left just limits his distribution abilities and he doesn't look comfortable there.

He can do a job there when required, but i think the central role would suit him more.
 
He still has this unbelievably annoying habit of just randomly hoofing it to no one. For no apparent reason.
 
An off day for Evans. It's amazing how many on here change their opinions on our CB from game to game. He will be crucial to van Gaal, it was just a poor game.
 
Stanzin Lama said:
It would be useful to have a ball playing defender like Evans although his performance was dreadful today. All Smalling did when he got the ball today was give it back to De Gea.
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How come you missed some of his accurate long balls today. He is a good passer for centre back.
 
A really poor performance today, but I still think he's been one of our most consistent cbs on tour. He played well in every game up to today.
 
Eric'sCollar said:
An off day for Evans. It's amazing how many on here change their opinions on our CB from game to game. He will be crucial to van Gaal, it was just a poor game.
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Happens a lot on here, and it's an annoying trend. Watch him have a stormer against Valencia and all of the haters will flock back to his support. He's arguably been the club's most consistent CB in the past 3 years in my honest opinion, and you're right, he will be a crucial player for van Gaal.
 
JSMHE said:
How come you missed some of his accurate long balls today. He is a good passer for centre back.
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May be because they were too few in number? The idea of having three defenders is that one of them can carry out the ball to the of the pitch time to time when teams are pressing and not just play accurate long balls but also find players wide and centre time and again.
 
Had a shocker lol it happens no big deal ;)
 
Stanzin Lama said:
May be because they were too few in number? The idea of having three defenders is that one of them can carry out the ball to the of the pitch time to time when teams are pressing and not just play accurate long balls but also find players wide and centre time and again.
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He doesn't have to find the target while waiting Liverpool players closing him down first, if he can do it earlier then it's better. Accurate means he finds the target both wide and centre. And he did it not just few today. And you said "All Smalling did when he got the ball today was give it back to De Gea"
 
Had a shit game last night, but played really good in the rest of the tour.
 
Evans went weak at the knees last night in a way that was totally unexpected. It was almost as if he was having flashbacks of the 0-3 back in spring. Watching Evans confidently walk the ball out of defence, and step into midfield to give us an extra body, in the previous games nobody could have expected he'd crumble like that. His game was typified by that hospital pass he gave to Smalling: Simply didn't want the responsibility of playing out from the back. Looked up, no option, so just laid it off to the nearest player. Shocking performance from our most experienced centre-half. He played the whole half like he was worried about what Liverpool could do. Contrast this with Blackett who played determined to make Liverpool worry about what we could do to them. Really, really surprised. Up until last night Evans had looked our most composed defender. Crumbled mentally last night.
 
Eric'sCollar said:
You do realise it's preseason?

Judge his time under van Gaal in a year or two.
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Erm, sorry for my offending comment.

In his first appearances in the new system he didn't really show his praised ball-playing abilities as expected. Solid, but not more.
 
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