Because football is a game in which you look to the future. I don't care that Evans has played "that many games". I care that he's A. Inconsistent. B. Injury prone and C. Going to take minutes away from potentially WC players. There is no room for sentimentality in the PL or CL. Unfortunately, that he's a lovely, homegrown lad doesn't magically grant us 3 extra points at the start of the season, so we should evaluate him on the basis of what he offers going forward. On current evidence that's less than what a younger, less injury prone replacement could offer.
35
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 17
- Clean sheets
- 9
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 1
Guys the tone in here is getting a bit overly aggressive, please keep the debate civilized.
When is he back?
Again, I have no problem with moving him on, I've said it quite a few times now. I'm defending him against posters who claim he is shit when that's clearly not the case. Again at the risk of repeating myself, some cant seem to differentiate between his injury record and his talent.
His inconsistency comes from his injuries, the same can be said about many of our players, RVP, Jones, Rooney, Smalling to name but a few take quite a few games to regain any sort of form, however they seem to be given time to gain some form where Evans is slated for goals which aren't his fault. (Yes I'm going back to the Leicester goal)
I understand the frustration with Evans, I'm frustrated with him but the bashing of him is just ridicilious.
He's training again from what I've read.
Excellent.
The irony in your post is beautiufl and there is an age old saying "you can't reason with stupidity" which means I'll have to leave it there.
He is nothing more than a squad player and his numbers prove that, we need more than that now.
He is not of the class that we require it's that simple and even you can't deny that.
I've given you countless opportunities to provide me with a decent reasoning as to why is very good player but you have fallen short.
OK then.
Apparently!
I don't get bold part of your post. Which CB you are refereeing?, as all of our back-line keep getting injured.
Overrated, never fit, and really not good enough to be starting CB.
Has he always had these fitness issues? I don't really remember him missing that many games through injuries early on in his career. I guess he was managed more with Vida and Rio in front of him though.
Whether he's a good player, a bad player, a squad player, whatever. It's all secondary to his appalling injury record.
So many articles about Evans in the press start with "if Jonny can stay fit, he's............". But he never stays fit. And the same applies to "stiff legs" Smalling and Jones. And Rafael, Young and Valencia for the matter of that. It's ridiculous.
We can't keep going into matches with our fingers crossed that one of our key centre backs is not going to pick up a seemingly innocuous injury that sidelines them for ages. Our defensive solidity is being continually compromised by the inability to consistently select a settled pairing. And this in a season when we have just league fixtures and the FA Cup left.
It will be a gradual process, but Evans, Smalling and Jones all need moving on.
So many articles about Evans in the press start with "if Jonny can stay fit, he's............". But he never stays fit. And the same applies to "stiff legs" Smalling and Jones. And Rafael, Young and Valencia for the matter of that. It's ridiculous.
We can't keep going into matches with our fingers crossed that one of our key centre backs is not going to pick up a seemingly innocuous injury that sidelines them for ages. Our defensive solidity is being continually compromised by the inability to consistently select a settled pairing. And this in a season when we have just league fixtures and the FA Cup left.
It will be a gradual process, but Evans, Smalling and Jones all need moving on.
Future United captain apparently.
Torquay United most likely, because he wont ever be Manchester United captain, mainly because he wont be here after this season.
Torquay United most likely, because he wont ever be Manchester United captain, mainly because he wont be here after this season.
His injury record is being exaggerated in this thread, that's for damn sure. He's averaged 20 league games/season over the last 6 seasons. Considering he's never been first-choice (thanks to Rio and Vidic) had decent competition as a second choice CB (Smalling and Jones) and never gets games in any other position that's by no means a disastrous record.
Last year was definitely a bad year for him which - combined with the standard redcafe goldfish memories - seems to have been enough to decide he's always been an utter crock. 23 and 29 league appearances in the two previous seasons.
Indeed. Games missed because of injuries below...
07/08 0 games
08/09 3 PL games, 1 FA Cup game
09/10 0 games
10/11 3 CL games, 4 PL games, 2 FA Cup Games
11/12 0 games
12/13 1 CL game, 5 PL games, 2 FA Cup Games
13/14 4 CL games + 9 PL games (calf)
Well there you have it. In the last seven seasons he's been available for selection in just under 8 out of every 10 league games.
What a crock...
Source?
Didn't realize that. His injury record isn't that bad.
In any case, I think one of Evans and Smalling will leave the club next season.
transfermarkt
@Pogue Mahone & @Mrs Smoker Be careful with posting things like that, someone will accuse you of being Jonny Evans very soon 
On this page transfermarket says he's missed 46 games as opposed to the 34 you say he missed.
Here's a list of his injuries from physioroom. In the last 2 calender years he's had 12 injuries. That seems quite injury prone to me.
That has 14/15 season included. And yeah, they have some problems with counting. I used this page below...
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jonny-evans/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/42412/verein/985
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jonny-evans/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/42412/verein/985
That page does not appear to be correct. For instance, in 08/09 season it says Evans missed 8 games between 20th January to 21st February. United did play eight games in that period, but Evans didn't miss all of them, just four.
Those 4, plus 14/15 4 so far, and we're already on 38...and they just added four more in other seasons. No biggie.
Without even looking at his injury record, Evans is simply not a reliable player to have when you're chasing titles. LVG will sell this guy next summer.
I hope he makes a tit of the lot of you. The poor fecker needs 12 months injury free and in a settled defense and I'd back him over pretty much anyone you want to bring in. People talk about him like they did about Anderson except without the affection. It baffles me.
For some reason he is the new scapegoat, no idea why. Some posters on here tend to jump on the bandwagon when a player is singled out and only have tunnel vision when it comes to talking about or discussing him.
If I had a dollar for every time someone said this. 'All he needs is a good injury free run', this had been said to death about Evans. Seven years and counting and only one truly exceptional season from this guy.
It's not that people think he's a poor player, but that he's not good enough to be leading a defence which wants to be winning trophies at the top level. I doubt that anyone sees him as a defensive Anderson - he's had some sustained periods of good form, but most of them came when he was next to a top class defender in Vidic/Ferdinand. I'd happily keep him around because I do rate him, but I definitely think we need to be looking for a top quality player as our number 1 defender. Evans could play next to him, but unless Smalling's development picks up again then it'll probably be Jones/Rojo who will be that players long-term partner.
Even then, I'd say exceptional is a bit of an overstatement. I'd say his best season was probably in 2011/12, but even then, that was only for a period of the season (admittedly a sustained one), next to a top defender in Ferdinand, in a time where we were largely comfortable at the back and went on a winning run against a lot of smaller teams who we were dominant over.
I don't agree with the supposed Anderson comparisons a poster used above, but people saying that "he needs an injury free spell" is the sort of stuff that used to be said about him. And posts above have demonstrated that Evans' injury problems haven't even been that significant. Especially when we consider that Vidic/Ferdinand had their fair share of problems and still managed to be world class defenders.
I'm sure the same people saying Evans is not good enough, said the same about Cahill a couple years back.
Evans has proven he can be a very good CB. Most notably when he replaced Vidic when he picked up that injury vs Basel for the rest of that season. Some of you want all of our CB's sold off! Unbelieveable. No doubt the same people were gushing over Blackett after a couple games because he 'looked composed on the ball'. Have you forgotten how good Evans can be on the ball?!? Because he has a couple dodgy back passes against MK Dons and Burnley means he's shit now?
Evans has proven he can be a very good CB. Most notably when he replaced Vidic when he picked up that injury vs Basel for the rest of that season. Some of you want all of our CB's sold off! Unbelieveable. No doubt the same people were gushing over Blackett after a couple games because he 'looked composed on the ball'. Have you forgotten how good Evans can be on the ball?!? Because he has a couple dodgy back passes against MK Dons and Burnley means he's shit now?
He's not a shit player, he's simply not dependable and his record shows that.
This is the problem though. People will say, "Player X became top class when people didn't think he would, so Player Y will", even if there's not the evidence to suggest it will happen. People used to say Anderson was bound to become a top player for example, because Xavi had been a late bloomer. Of course, Evans has already done much better than Anderson ever did and he's a respected player here, but he's not top class. He's coming on 27 - there's not a lot to suggest he's going to be good enough to lead our defence as a world class player, and that's what we should be looking for.
Does that mean we need to sell Evans? No. In fact, I want us to keep him and I think he has an important place in this squad, but if you offered me a top class defender to start ahead of him? I'd take it, and we'd be a bit daft not to.
Except Evans has shown he can reach the level Cahill is at now.
He's had some good sustained run of form, but has never demonstrated that he's a truly world class defender. At his best, he's very good, but not at that very top level. I don't really seem him getting there, either.
He doesn't have to be world class. Since when did you need 11 world class players to have a world class team?
Is Cahill world class? Is Terry still the same player he was? Why is that they are the best CB partnership in the league then?
The fact remains that you can't just go out and sign Hummels. There aren't many top World Class CB's out there either.
You don't, but we should be looking to have a world class centre back. Terry and Cahill are a very good partnership, but that doesn't mean that Chelsea shouldn't be constantly looking to improve if they get the opportunity. Terry/Cahill are also bolstered by the fact that they're managed by Mourinho - it's no coincidence that they've been excellent since his return.
Not to mention that Evans generally isn't as good as Cahill anyway - if we can, we should be looking to improve upon him. Yes, you can't just go out and land lots of world class centre backs, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. If we want to become one of the best teams around again, we shouldn't be relying on Evans as our main defender. We had two world class players in Ferdinand and Vidic before. Why are we now lowering standards to the point where that's not what we should be aiming for?
If there is a WC CB out there available, we should buy him. I didn't say we shouldn't.
Fair enough. Either way though, I think we need to be looking for an upgrade on Evans. I like him, and rate him as a good defender, but he's not good enough to be our main defender and I don't think he will be long-term. He should still play an important role in the squad though.