Jonny Evans - What do we think?

LawCharltonBest

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Am I the only one who has never really taken to Jonny Evans?

On his day a fantastic player, came through our system, by all accounts a very down-to-Earth guy, everything about him points to the fact that I should absolutely love him.

For some reason I just don't. His tendency to pick up fairly regular injuries at the worst possible times, mixed with the fact that I'm not convinced he is first team material (for United) just makes me a little cold on him.

Of course I say this with my fingers crossed that I will look like an idiot in a years time.
 
Seems like you hate the Irish. VVS2C

I think he's decent enough but has too many brain farts to be considered top class. Good squad player, that's about it really.
 
He's going to mature into a genuinely great player over the next 3 years so long as he can really get a run of games injury free.
 
I like him...but his prone to injuries is a real problem which makes him very unreliable during the season. For this reason it's difficult to see him establishing himself as first choice. Might be wrong though...
 
Squad player at the very most, we shouldn't be relying on him to be the cornerstone of our defence in the next few years.
 
He's brilliant. Our best defender currently IMO, and he is absolutely good enough to start for us.
 
I've always rated him but he hasn't developed as well as I had hoped. We're lowering our standards if we're replacing Vidic with him and we can't keep doing that. He's only good enough to start regularly if he's paired with a true top-class player in my opinion.

Still think he's our best defender at the moment, though.
 
Jev said:
I've always rated him but he hasn't developed as well as I had hoped. We're lowering our standards if we're replacing Vidic with him and we can't keep doing that. He's only good enough to start regularly if he's paired with a true top-class player in my opinion.

Still think he's our best defender at the moment, though.
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Replacing one of the greatest defenders of his generation with someone as good is no easy task.
 
He's great on the ball, which is something most of our other CB's sorely lack. He really does have an ability to collapse at moments though. Consistency is the key factor in keeping him from being one of the first names on the team sheet.
 
Probably the most underrated player we currently have. He has been by far our best defensive player this season, he's been unlucky with injuries but all going well he can put those behind him.
I'm hoping that once Vidic and Ferdinand leave, Evans will become the player most of us know he can be.
 
He still has time. Which is just as well as he still has to improve.

Nothing I've seen makes me think he's any more than another O'Shea or Wes Brown. Usually capable, sometimes dominant, occasionally hapless.
 
I always liked him, and think he should start most of our games when fit. Great on the ball too, maybe it's just me, but he seems quality at pinging a ball out to the right wing with his left foot(pity it's usually Valencia there). Put him beside a dominant CB like Vidic and he'll be grand.
 
Jev said:
I've always rated him but he hasn't developed as well as I had hoped. We're lowering our standards if we're replacing Vidic with him and we can't keep doing that. He's only good enough to start regularly if he's paired with a true top-class player in my opinion.

Still think he's our best defender at the moment, though.
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If you're comparing him to Vidic at his best, yes, but comparing him to Vidic this season probably not.

Not to mention that Evans is still improving.

He, along with Jones and Smalling, has a great future ahead of him.
 
He hasn't got the ability to ever be a Stam, Rio, Vidic etc, however he has the ability to form a very good top 4 partnership, particularly if someone like Jones steps up to be a World Class central defender.

He's comparable to someone like Cahill. Will look very good when next to a top class "leader", but can look lost and have the occasional brain fart, particularly when he's expected to fulfill that "senior" role.

Will always be a great 3rd choice defender or a good 2nd choice one at a club like ours.
 
I had a high hope with Wes Brown, and convinced he'd be a top class CB. But injuries were just too cruel to him, and it's happening to our Jonny here.
 
I didn't rate him that highly to begin with, even after the loan spell at Sunderland when he was getting hyped up. In the last few seasons though I've completely changed my opinion of him, I think he's class. He's a great defender and is excellent on the ball now. The way he distributes from the back off either foot is a bit like Terry. One thing he needs is a regular partner, all this chopping and changing isn't good for a centre back. I think him and Smalling should be our regular partnership. It's bollocks that every time Rafael is injured we switch it all around. Let's get a back-up right back we trust to play and keep Evans and Smalling where they belong.
 
I don't think he has the same class as Smalling or Jones, although is better on the ball than Smalling at least. I think he will eventually fall behind those two, but will be as good as we can ask for as back-up.

Has always seemed a top bloke too.
 
One of those players who'll do 99 good things and go largely unnoticed or not praised enough, then one feck up and everyone's all over it like a rash as if the other 99 things never happened.
He's probably never going to be as dominant as peak Vidic, but he's shown he's good enough so far to be first choice, injuries aside.
 
Isotope said:
I had a high hope with Wes Brown, and convinced he'd be a top class CB. But injuries were just too cruel to him, and it's happening to our Jonny here.
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Something like this.

I like Evans. I doubt he's going to be first choice here, but he's a magnificent option to have as a squad player.

Then again, stranger things have happened in football so we shouldn't rule anything out. He might get over his injuries (fingers crossed) and have a "Ramsey" like year and kick on from there.
 
We had a similar discussion in the newbies about 10 days ago. Personally I rate Smalling and Jones much higher than him. He doesn't have the athletic capabilities and raw defensive traits of the former or the instincts, doggedness and leadership abilities of the latter but this is not their thread so let's focus on Jonny.

Going forward Evans would be a good backup defender behind those 2 for me. He brings a different set of qualities to the table. He's a cerebral defender, takes up good positions, decent organisational ability, above average tactical awareness as of now nothing too special, but he's a bit suspect to fast or extremely powerful forwards. He lacks higher level spacial awareness and is often dragged into blind alleys by his marker which really hurts our defensive shape. Another thing I really hate about him is that he is always willing to relinquish responsibility. Whenever we concede, you'll find him arguing with De Gea as if it's always his fault even when Jonny is the one culpable. He's yet to show elite leadership skills though some may be of a different opinion and class him captaincy material, you can see his shoulders droop when we ship a goal or the team isn't playing well. Also, what's up with his flailing arms when in possession ? Great defenders like to hold on to the ball and build from the back, not just look to release it quickly.

At this stage of his career he should've been entering his peak and starting every game if he was good enough. To name but a few, Jan Vertonghen, Sergio Ramos, Ezequiel Garay, Diego Godin, Mehdi Benatia, Leonardo Bonnucci, Gerard Pique and Vincent Kompany are a bit older than him and way ahead of Jonny both in terms of being more accomplished and experienced. Even the likes of Hummels, Lovren, Musacchio, Martinez and Subotic have leapfrogged him and are his juniors. Evans is not a young one anymore, he should've sorted out his mental lapses by now and sealed a first team position if he was good enough. All in all a solid B- grade backup defender. Now-withstanding our current predicament, he shouldn't ideally be the starting XI defender of an elite team.
 
Ah the usual Evans thread. Might prove surprising to some but hes already proved hes good enough. Pity he has to do it every year.

The above post is just throwing names around for the sake of it. Lovren is better after one season? ok then
 
Mauzindark said:
We had a similar discussion in the newbies about 10 days ago. Personally I rate Smalling and Jones much higher than him. He doesn't have the athletic capabilities and raw defensive traits of the former or the instincts, doggedness and leadership abilities of the latter but this is not their thread so let's focus on Jonny.

Going forward Evans would be a good backup defender behind those 2 for me. He brings a different set of qualities to the table. He's a cerebral defender, takes up good positions, decent organisational ability, above average tactical awareness as of now nothing too special, but he's a bit suspect to fast or extremely powerful forwards. He lacks higher level spacial awareness and is often dragged into blind alleys by his marker which really hurts our defensive shape. Another thing I really hate about him is that he is always willing to relinquish responsibility. Whenever we concede, you'll find him arguing with De Gea as if it's always his fault even when Jonny is the one culpable. He's yet to show elite leadership skills though some may be of a different opinion and class him captaincy material, you can see his shoulders droop when we ship a goal or the team isn't playing well. Also, what's up with his flailing arms when in possession ? Great defenders like to hold on to the ball and build from the back, not just look to release it quickly.

At this stage of his career he should've been entering his peak and starting every game if he was good enough. To name but a few, Jan Vertonghen, Sergio Ramos, Ezequiel Garay, Diego Godin, Mehdi Benatia, Leonardo Bonnucci, Gerard Pique and Vincent Kompany are a bit older than him and way ahead of Jonny both in terms of being more accomplished and experienced. Even the likes of Hummels, Lovren, Musacchio, Martinez and Subotic have leapfrogged him and are his juniors. Evans is not a young one anymore, he should've sorted out his mental lapses by now and sealed a first team position if he was good enough. All in all a solid B- grade backup defender. Now-withstanding our current predicament, he shouldn't ideally be the starting XI defender of an elite team.
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:lol:
 
Decotron said:
Ah the usual Evans thread. Might prove surprising to some but hes already proved hes good enough. Pity he has to do it every year.

The above post is just throwing names around for the sake of it. Lovren is better after one season? ok then
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No. Lovren is better on the basis of three good years in Lyon and 22 caps for Croatia. And what name throwing ? Can you factually argue that he's better than any one of them ?
 
The only reason Evans isnt starting regularily is because of his frequent injuries. When Vidic was injured Evans stepped in expertly for long periods, where he showed consistently solid defensive displays.

He is better than Jones and Smalling at everything that symbolises a modern ball playing centre back with vision and calm ability with the ball in his feet. Jones and Smalling are poor technically compared to Evans. Evans is also more of a goal threat. If only he werent injured he would be a shoe-in this entire season with Rio's decline. The only thing he doesnt bring to the table compared to the two others is pure athletic ability, which is typically overrated in Britain and why Jones and Smalling are frequently seen as bigger talents than him.
 
He's by far our most composed CB on the ball. It's such a joy too see him play after watching the Ferdinand hoof show.
 
Mauzindark said:
No. Lovren is better on the basis of three good years in Lyon and 22 caps for Croatia. And what name throwing ? Can you factually argue that he's better than any one of them ?
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Evans was man of the match against Spain as an 18 year old. what do international caps have to do with anything?

You must spend some time watching all these great defenders.... Since when exactly is Garay a more technical defender (given thats one of Evans strong points).

This thread should be deleted. Its embarrassing
 
Decotron said:
Evans was man of the match against Spain as a 18 year old. what do international caps have to do with anything?

You must spend some time watching all these defenders.... Since when exactly is Garay a more technical defender (given thats one of Evans strong points).

This thread should be deleted. Its embarrassing
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Any player is better than Evans. Have you not realised by now that very goal we concede is his fault, even if he isn't playing?
 
Cina said:
Great player is a stretch, probably more like a very good one. He'll never be a Rio or Vidic.
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Pretty much spot on. Doesn't have the pace or the technique of a prime Rio, nor does he have the toughness and aerial ability of Vidic. He's a poor man's Rio really, which still makes him a good CB.
 
I usually bet on us to concede if he is starting :lol: Just something I've always done due to his brain farts. He doesn't look the most confident either.

He is better than what he was, but he still doesn't fill me with confidence (Not that many of our defenders do these days).
 
I love Jonny Evans. I think he's our best CB and when up he's not in the team we really miss his ability to carry the ball forward. I think he will keep improving once he gets a settled partner (Jones?). For me it's definitely Evans + 1
 
Decotron said:
Evans was man of the match against Spain as an 18 year old. what do international caps have to do with anything?

You must spend some time watching all these great defenders.... Since when exactly is Garay a more technical defender (given thats one of Evans strong points).

This thread should be deleted. Its embarrassing
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I'm not going to argue my point any further because I have a feeling it will only turn ugly. It's as if I can't have varying opinions and it's a sign of personal insult if I don't hold him in high regard. And none of my non-United supporting mates rate him either. Good day sir have it your way - Evans is Baresi reincarnated and I'm "embaressing".
 
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