I don't agree. He was bang average here and he will be again. It would have been interesting to see him playing under Guardiola, the high line would have killed him IMO.
Jonny Evans - Off in January
- Thread starter SalfordRed18
- Start date
Well you are entitled to your opinion but he is pure class and has proved it since he left Utd.
Agreed
But at this stage I don’t see any point in going for him again
I do rate him, but I also rate our existing center backs. I don’t think he is better or worse. If we had kept him though there would have been no need at all for Lindelof
This. Not a problem area as we currently have 7 players who can play this position.
I agree. Big fish in a small pond, he’s bang average. McAuley looks great for West Brom too, reckon we should buy him too?
Evans was superb for Utd for a long time.
You are quite right. I didn't read the small print on Wikipedia.
No need to get so upset about it though. He would have had seven (?) more appearances had he not got suspended for spitting at a crucial moment in his last season.
Jones and Smalling haven't been perfect by any means, but their form didn't fall off a cliff when left on their own.
Look, I liked Evans. At his best he was a classy and fearless defender. Good on the ball as well. But he had quite a lot of terrible games, which couldn't be explained by lack of ability. When he left I was confident that he'd do well given a fresh start, and was sorry he didn't go somewhere better than West Brom.
Ok then
He has become vastly overrated there. Never forget Carlton Cole bullied him. Not good enough for a top team.
Yet still getting linked to top teams?
I'm not upset at all mate, if it was a genuine oversight fair enough. On here it's hard to tell as lots of people skew stats to suit their argument.
And yes the spitting was silly.
I get that but my point is mate, Evans was never a world class defender he was/is good and thats about it. Playing beside Rio or Vida in their prime would make any defender look better (not to mention Evra to his left and VDS behind him). People saw him play at a high level next to those guys when he first broke through and mistakenly believed he was better than he actually was. Then when he played at his normal level alongside other defenders, he unfairly got stuck with the perception that he could only perform with Rio or Vida.
He actually had good games and runs alongside other defenders as well at times. Yes he had periods of bad form especially in his last season but that could have been caused by a number of factors inconsistency, injuries, low confidence, being played out of position in an unfamiliar system (under LVG). Etc. A player who can't handle pressure wouldn't last 5 years at United under Ferguson, and be part of 3 title winning teams.
There's a clear difference between a limited, old fashioned defender like McAuley being protected by a deep line and Evans even when you watch them play in the same team for both club and country. Evans is far classier and capable of calming things down on the ball, there's a reason Pep is interested.
In my opinion, he wouldn't walk into our first team, but he'd be a great option to have.
I liked Evans, I think it was a mistake selling him, he was arguably as good as either Jones or Smalling for me.
That said, he's not a £30m defender and I don't see him being any sort of upgrade for our defence.
Would he be a good squad player for the likes of City? Maybe.
Thanks for everything Johnny but no thanks.
That said, he's not a £30m defender and I don't see him being any sort of upgrade for our defence.
Would he be a good squad player for the likes of City? Maybe.
Thanks for everything Johnny but no thanks.
Because their defence rarely gets exposed or comes under any sort of pressure?
Or because Evans is a consistent, classy centre back in his prime. He's an ideal third choice for their squad.
He's consistent for WBA. As much as I liked him, he wasnt for Utd.
One small mistake in Utd, it will be massively blown up. In WBA, his mistakes are not pointed out as much. I don't see him being impressive against big teams really.
I will seriously start to question the direction of this club if we do sign him. We need fecking top quality attackers. STOP wasting money on defence unless its a LB.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the low confidence was a result of the injuries. Once he was free of Old Trafford/Carrington and the United CB injury curse, he suddenly ceased to be both injury and error prone.
His failure to thrive under LvG did surprise me though. He seemed to possess the right attributes (intelligence, on the ball ability). Instead it was the much less likely Smalling that stepped up.
Whatever. His moving on, West Brom or otherwise, did his career no harm at all.
No, he was very inconsistent. We watched him game in, game out. You watched MOTD highlights. The level of hype he’s getting is completely unwarranted.
I'm sorry but how do you know what he watched? Like its Manchester United, you don't need to support us to watch us. Do you not watch City or Chelsea games?
Wow, just wow. Evans had at least 1 solid feck up a game here.
It surprised me too but it was a perfect clusterfeck storm for him that year. He started the season with injuries and very poor form. He was then thrust into playing in an unfamiliar system. He made a bad first impression on LVG and it went south from there. He never really got a run in the side after that until towards the end of the season. And then as you said he fecked that up with the spitting incident.
Had he lasted to the next season i could have seen him playing well in a back four alongside Smalling in place of Blind.
You and your Belfast High alumni. You'll be telling us Cathcart is a class act next
To be fair I agree we were rash in getting rid in hindsight, as he could certainly have done a job for us, but the idea that he'd been carried by the likes of Rio, Vidic and VdS and wasn't authoritative enough to be our top senior defender was difficult to get past at the time.
I believe there's such a thing as a player needing to move on, be it to seek first team football or just a new start. I'd like Evans to do well as I like him very much, but I'd hope it wouldn't be for a direct rival to United.
Because of what he said. He was not superb for us for a long time, by any stretch of the imagination. We’re not on TV all the time, I doubt he streamed all our matches like us United fans would’ve, likewise I only watch rival games if they’re on TV. Do you honestly think just because I’ve watched a few City/Liverpool games, I would go around and tell their fans how good their players were for them when there’s a majority saying the opposite?
We really don't need another CB, we're pretty sound defensively. We really need to focus our spending in attacking areas. We lack serious quality out wide and in the #10.
We do need a quality CB as the ones we have are either too injury prone or not good enough. However Evans is not a quality CB. He’s found his level.
I agree. I think this is the biggest factor when you sign for the top clubs, the pressure to perform every game. I think he's a good footballer but if he came back, would be in the Smalling, Jones, Rojo bracket where you know a mistake is just around the corner at the wrong time....
Agree with all of this
Bingo.
God forbid, I have nightmares of Evans playing for us still.
You and your Belfast High alumni. You'll be telling us Cathcart is a class act next
To be fair I agree we were rash in getting rid in hindsight, as he could certainly have done a job for us, but the idea that he'd been carried by the likes of Rio, Vidic and VdS and wasn't authoritative enough to be our top senior defender was difficult to get past at the time.
I believe there's such a thing as a player needing to move on, be it to seek first team football or just a new start. I'd like Evans to do well as I like him very much, but I'd hope it wouldn't be for a direct rival to United.
Hahah how did you know?!?
This post from a year and a half ago (not that I'm stalking you or anything
):It's interesting that having watched Evans for NI and well as in the league you'll probably have a different perception of him from non-NI United fans. As it stands now I wouldn't mind if we'd have kept him but wouldn't be happy going in for him now as CB is way way down the list of priorities.
People must be forgetting how atrocious he was under LVG 3 at the back system which he wanted to play
He did not fit that system at all he couldn't pass the ball 5 yards he was terrible
I do like Johnny tho I think he is as good as anyone we have, but not better so we should not be spending money on players like that.
If we are buying players they need to be guaranteed first choice or it is pointless
Historically Jose is good at this
Zlatan
Pogba
Bailly
Miki
Lindelof
Matic
Lukaku
Everyone we have bought under Jose has been to start. Miki has not lived up to expectations and lindelof is being handled with kid gloves and showing signs of improving
This is the strategy we need to continue IMO with next most important spots to buy for being a right sided attacker and a number 10
He did not fit that system at all he couldn't pass the ball 5 yards he was terrible
I do like Johnny tho I think he is as good as anyone we have, but not better so we should not be spending money on players like that.
If we are buying players they need to be guaranteed first choice or it is pointless
Historically Jose is good at this
Zlatan
Pogba
Bailly
Miki
Lindelof
Matic
Lukaku
Everyone we have bought under Jose has been to start. Miki has not lived up to expectations and lindelof is being handled with kid gloves and showing signs of improving
This is the strategy we need to continue IMO with next most important spots to buy for being a right sided attacker and a number 10
Indeed. It was his first run of consistently good performances since the Vidic days, which made the spitting idiocy all the more annoying.
Evans is an OK CB at best, he's not in the top 10 in the Prem in my opinion and won't improve the squad.
As previously stated we need a natural no. 10, and a natural right sided attacker and a natural left sided attacker (not wingers because that's not the system Jose plays). That, or get in left and right wingers and switch to a 4-4-2 with Lukaku and Martial/Rasford up top.
As previously stated we need a natural no. 10, and a natural right sided attacker and a natural left sided attacker (not wingers because that's not the system Jose plays). That, or get in left and right wingers and switch to a 4-4-2 with Lukaku and Martial/Rasford up top.
Except he is not. Smalling ,Jones and Bailey are all better than him. He would be definitely play ahead of Lindeloff, Rojo or Blind though.
He really hasnt. He's done well for a lesser team, solid at their level. At United he was the same quality Lindelof was when he first came or Rojo is right now. Mistake waiting to happen.
No we don't want to go down the road of more mediocrity again. He wasn' good enough 2 years ago and nothing has changed to say he's improved
Why do we need him or why do we even need a new CB.