Jonny Evans - What do we think?

Mauzindark said:
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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ok so. Couple of things....I said the thread is embarrassing not you. The Baresi bit is just childish.

You could tell me how exactly Garay is a more techical player than him? Sounds like you just cut and paste a list of promising defenders off football manager
 
Spends too much time injured, which has probably stopped him from establishing himself as one of the better defenders in the league rather than just a good one.

When fit I prefer the combination of Evans and Jones but unfortunately it rarely happens.
 
Decotron said:
ok so. Couple of things....I said the thread is embarrassing not you. The Baresi bit is just childish.

You could tell me how exactly Garay is a more techical player than him? Sounds like you just cut and paste a list of promising defenders off football manager
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Mate can you scroll up and check my post out again ? I promise you I'll cut my gonands off if you can point out to me where exactly I wrote "Garay is a more technical player" as you've stated twice. Garay may be a bit less technically sound than Jonny but he has better aerial presence, better defensive reading, better set-piece threat, better positional awareness and is overall a much better defender. I have people posting smiley faces as if I said something ludicrous when I did point out his obvious qualities if you read through it but summed up that he shouldn't ideally be starting XI choice. Hand on your heart, answer this for me - is he better than Rio when he was 26 ? Is he better than Vidic when he was 26 ? Is he better than Stam when he was 26 ? Jaap was a monster and was named Europe's best defender at 26. Do you really think he'll ever reach their magnificent levels ? We should aspire to have defenders who're the best in the world as those guys were. Jonny is not one of them simple as that. Again it's just my opinion you can disregard it I'm not forcing you to agree with me.
 
Rossa said:
It never is ;)

What was so bad about the post? I think he was onto a few things really. Evans hasn't progressed all that well compared to some of the great talents out there.
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I agree that he hasn't progressed as well as we would all have hoped and that's partly down to injuries, however I believe that not having a regular partner has been the bigger hindrance.
He also rates Jones and Smalling much higher than Evans, which is fair enough, it's his opinion and he's entitled to it, but the reasons why are laughable.
He then states that Evans doesn't take responsibility, doesn't have leadership skills and has yet to cement his place in the team, all of which are wrong.
He then goes on to list a string of players who are better, including Garay which just proves that he has blinkered vision when it comes to Evans.
All in all I found the post somewhat amusing,
 
Getsme said:
I agree that he hasn't progressed as well as we would all have hoped and that's partly down to injuries, however I believe that not having a regular partner has been the bigger hindrance.
He also rates Jones and Smalling much higher than Evans, which is fair enough, it's his opinion and he's entitled to it, but the reasons why are laughable.
He then states that Evans doesn't take responsibility, doesn't have leadership skills and has yet to cement his place in the team, all of which are wrong.
He then goes on to list a string of players who are better, including Garay which just proves that he has blinkered vision when it comes to Evans.
All in all I found the post somewhat amusing,
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:lol:
 
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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I disagree with pretty much everything in this post, but I'm just going to make a couple of points.

He's fully entitled to have his arms outstretched when bringing the ball forward, because so often our players just stand still watching rather than running into space to make themselves available. It's been a problem for ages, we are far to static in the middle of the pitch.

Also, what is the point in him holding into the ball for ages at the back? All that does is allow the opposition to get organised behind it so we struggle to break them down. That was one of the issues with Rio earlier in the season, he was dwelling on it far too long. It's not like Evans just wants to get rid of the ball ASAP, he looks to play a neat pass not just hoof it away at the first chance. He really helps us to build play and his ability to bring the ball out from the back is really underrated. He is comfortable in possession and isn't afraid to help us to advance by running forward with the ball at his feet (or attacking the space to use a cafism). It often confuses the opposition midfielder who isn't sure whether to track Evans or stay with Carrick, and if they do track Evans then it opens up more space for Carrick. None of our other CBs do this anywhere near as good as Evans.

I also disagree that he hangs his head when the team aren't playing well or concede. Look back to the 4-3 against Newcastle at home last season for a perfect example. We were behind 3 times and he did nothing but drive us forward that day despite the fact that he scored an early OG. He didn't let it affect him, and there are numerous times when we are behind and he's trying to push us forward.

People really see what they want to sometimes. He might not be perfect but he's far better than some are making out.

As a side note, Michael Keane reminds me of a young Evans and I hope he gets a chance next season.
 
The injuries are an absolute pain in the arse with him but its an odd reason to not rate a player
Mauzindark said:
Mate can you scroll up and check my post out again ? I promise you I'll cut my gonands off if you can point out to me where exactly I wrote "Garay is a more technical player" as you've stated twice. Garay may be a bit less technically sound than Jonny but he has better aerial presence, better defensive reading, better positional awareness and is overall a much better defender. I have people posting smiley faces as if I said something ludicrous when I did point out his obvious qualities if you read through it but summed up that he shouldn't ideally be starting XI choice. Hand on your heart, answer this for me - is he better than Rio when he was 26 ? Is he better than Vidic when he was 26 ? Is he better than Stam when he was 26 ? Jaap was a monster and was named Europe's best defender at 26. Do you really think he'll ever reach their magnificent levels ? We should aspire to have defenders who're the best in the world as those guys were. Jonny is not one of them simple as that. Again it's just my opinion you can disregard it I'm not forcing you to agree with me.
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I think i must have imagined the technical bit!!!

Of course he isnt as good but right there you probably hit the nail on the head with his biggest problem. Stam, Vidic and Rio are some of the finest defenders to grace the game in the last 20 years. Evans had to learn his trade at a higher level without having as much regular football as those 3. Its a losing battle if we expect any of our current defenders to reach that elite level. We'll be luck if one does.

It doesn't mean Evans isn't good enough for us though. Not everyone has to be world class. Give us a proper midfield on-front of our defence and they'll be fine.
 
LR7 said:
I disagree with pretty much everything in this post, but I'm just going to make a couple of points.

He's fully entitled to have his arms outstretched when bringing the ball forward, because so often our players just stand still watching rather than running into space to make themselves available. It's been a problem for ages, we are far to static in the middle of the pitch.

Also, what is the point in him holding into the ball for ages at the back? All that does is allow the opposition to get organised behind it so we struggle to break them down. That was one of the issues with Rio earlier in the season, he was dwelling on it far too long. It's not like Evans just wants to get rid of the ball ASAP, he looks to play a neat pass not just hoof it away at the first chance. He really helps us to build play and his ability to bring the ball out from the back is really underrated. He is comfortable in possession and isn't afraid to help us to advance by running forward with the ball at his feet (or attacking the space to use a cafism). It often confuses the opposition midfielder who isn't sure whether to track Evans or stay with Carrick, and if they do track Evans then it opens up more space for Carrick. None of our other CBs do this anywhere near as good as Evans.

I also disagree that he hangs his head when the team aren't playing well or concede. Look back to the 4-3 against Newcastle at home last season for a perfect example. We were behind 3 times and he did nothing but drive us forward that day despite the fact that he scored an early OG. He didn't let it affect him, and there are numerous times when we are behind and he's trying to push us forward.

People really see what they want to sometimes. He might not be perfect but he's far better than some are making out.

As a side note, Michael Keane reminds me of a young Evans and I hope he gets a chance next season.
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I like your post.
You provide evidence for your opinion but unfortunately I do not agree with it. However I'm not going to force my opinions upon you. Different folks, different strokes. :)
 
Decotron said:
The injuries are an absolute pain in the arse with him but its an odd reason to not rate a player


I think i must have imagined the technical bit!!!

Of course he isnt as good but right there you probably hit the nail on the head with his biggest problem. Stam, Vidic and Rio are some of the finest defenders to grace the game in the last 20 years. Evans had to learn his trade at a higher level without having as much regular football as those 3. Its a losing battle if we expect any of our current defenders to reach that elite level. We'll be luck if one does.

It doesn't mean Evans isn't good enough for us though. Not everyone has to be world class. Give us a proper midfield on-front of our defence and they'll be fine.
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Mate first of all I admire your backing for him. I only wish I were as optimistic as you but I tend to view everything with a negative slant. And god knows our team is down and needs every support they can get after this horrible season so far. But again I have to say that if we want to be the best we should aspire to having the best. We have had some wonderful defenders in the past. So we shouldn't be settling for good or even very good. Football had become a game of such fine margins that one silly goal or there can mean the difference between a title and a loser's tag. We should be looking at having a defence of top 5 in Europe calibre defenders as we had with Rio and Vida.
 
BarneyLFC said:
He's a dirty cnut that gets away with murder. There will be another couple of Holden tackles in his career.
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Oh get over it, he got sent off against City in 2011-12 or did you forget that? Shelvey went in two footed, Evans did not. The fact he hasn't been sent off speaks, more about him than the referees, but Liverpool fans don't listen to rationality.
 
BarneyLFC said:
He's a dirty cnut that gets away with murder. There will be another couple of Holden tackles in his career.
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:lol::lol:

speaks someone who supports serial-diving racist and serial-diving, dangerous tackler who gets away because of his status
 
Getsme said:
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.
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Without a doubt definitely not. He's been very highly rated on here for years.
 
Mauzindark said:
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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It looks like you're plucking names out of your arse to me.

Either way, your point is rather null on the basis that when fit, he's started the vast majority of our games over the past two seasons. Can I remind you that Jonny Evans is a defender that has, generally, defended very well for Manchester United over those years. And yes, United have been rather good in recent times. This is the same guy that played a big part of a defence that broke defensive records left, right and centre. This is the guy that has won countless titles. The same one that has went up against and performed against a plethora of great forwards.

The reality of these discussions is that we all watch our lads play more. By nature, there is more time to assess their strengths and weaknesses. You're assessing Evans very harshly in comparison to defenders that you don't watch all that often. I'm sure if you watched all of the goals that Benfica have conceded this season - and you haven't - you'd be able to negatively assess Ezequiel Garay far easier than the way you have.

It always amazes me how this apparent group of clowns in our squad actually managed their way into such a title-winning squad. I must have missed the greatness that radiates off of these defenders that play for Villareal, Benfica and Southampton. The ones at United will simply not do...
 
Ekeke said:
Without a doubt definitely not. He's been very highly rated on here for years.
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I agree that there are many who see him for the quality player he is, however there are just as many if not more who don't. Underrated was probably the wrong word to use to be fair.
I would class him as our 'marmite' player
 
Getsme said:
I agree that there are many who see him for the quality player he is, however there are just as many if not more who don't.
I would class him as our 'marmite' player
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Most people think he's good with a few nutters going on about him becoming the next Rio or Vidic a couple of years ago.
 
@Mauzindark

It seems as if you're taking the "grass is greener on the other side" approach. You mention someone like Garay being better than Evans, but Luisao, a world class and underrated defender, takes care of so many of Garay's weaknesses. Plus, their partnership has lasted a longer time than many of Evans' defensive partnerships. More often than not, Evans has had to deal with changing central defenders, defensively-weak left backs, and defensively-inept central midfielders. Did Garay have to deal with those?

I feel as if Evans is at a fairly high level. I mean, he's faced the likes of Drogba, Ibrahimovic, etc., at his younger ages and coped well with all of them. If he had the qualities you suggested, Sir Alex would have sold him a long time ago, and I would have preferred a replacement, myself. However, he's been here for more than 5 years, already. I doubt that, if he was as bad as you say him to be, he would have stayed here for this long. You know that Sir Alex likes solid, dependable defenders, and he would do anything to get them for the present and the future.

I, pretty much, share the same views as LR7. He doesn't have many weaknesses in his game like he used to. His main problem is that his man-marking isn't the best, and I think it's because he doesn't have the defensive instincts of Smalling, Jones, Thiago Silva, Hummels, etc. In 1-on-1 situations, I've seen Smalling and Jones do a better man-marking job than Evans, but Evans is still a decent man-marker, no doubt about that, given how he has done well against the names I mentioned, above. His positioning, in the box, is also pretty good when our defence is settled. However, any defender would struggle to take good positions when facing counter-attacks, particularly when others aren't offering much protection.

I don't think Evans will be up there with the best, but he'll certainly be a useful defender for us and one who can seal the first-team spot, here, if he irons out more of his weaknesses (man-marking, positioning in the box).
 
Kag said:
It looks like you're plucking names out of your arse to me.

Either way, your point is rather null on the basis that when fit, he's started the vast majority of our games over the past two seasons. Can I remind you that Jonny Evans is a defender that has, generally, defended very well for Manchester United over those years. And yes, United have been rather good in recent times. This is the same guy that played a big part of a defence that broke defensive records left, right and centre. This is the guy that has won countless titles. The same one that has went up against and performed against a plethora of great forwards.

The reality of these discussions is that we all watch our lads play more. By nature, there is more time to assess their strengths and weaknesses. You're assessing Evans very harshly in comparison to defenders that you don't watch all that often. I'm sure if you watched all of the goals that Benfica have conceded this season - and you haven't - you'd be able to negatively assess Ezequiel Garay far easier than the way you have.

It always amazes me how this apparent group of clowns in our squad actually managed their way into such a title-winning squad. I must have missed the greatness that radiates off of these defenders that play for Villareal, Benfica and Southampton. The ones at United will simply not do...
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Mate I have seen a lot of them play fairly regularly. That's why I'm making the comparison, I'm not "plicking names out of your arse". And I've reached the conclusion that he's not as good and will never be as most of them if not all. You don't have to agree with what I say and I respect that but I will stand by what I've gathered. "Winning titles, playing against a plethora of great forwards" is a rubbish barometer for judging a player's individual calibre. I see shades of Francesco Pavon in Jonny Evans. He too "Won a lot of titles, played against a plethora of great forwards", came though Madrid's youth teams, looked good when surrounded by great players (like Jonny when we had Vidic, VDS, Rio, Evra at their peak) but gets found out later when the onus falls solely upon him. I'm not saying Evans is a bad player, nor was Pavon, but they shouldn't be starting centrebacks for teams like Manchester United or real Madrid.

And I'm amazed at you belittling of clubs who aren't as great as us. You don't have to play for freaking Madrid or United or Barcelona or Milan to be a great player. Some of our finest acquisitions of modern times are been from these sort clubs may I remind you. Vidic came from Spartak Moscow, Ronaldo from Sporting, Evra from Monaco, Rooney from Everton and so on. Guess you missed the greatness radiating off him when he played there when we had world champion defenders who were "Winning titles, playing against a plethora of great forwards" like Wes Brown and John O'Shea.
 
Evans is only 26.
We signed Vidic at 25/26.
If we compare the Vidic of 2005/06 to the current day Jonny Evans then i believe Evans has all the tools to be just as great for us.
At just 26 Evans has already played over 200 games for one of Europes elite clubs, compare this to Vidic who couldnt have played to many more games but at a lower standard.
Vidic harldy convinced many during his settling in period and when he did eventually settle in the 06/07 season, he had a consistent CB partner who just so happened to be one of the worlds finest defenders, helping him along and developing his game.
It doesn't help that one week Evans is teamed with Vidic, then smalling, then Jones and so on.

Evans IMO is criminally under-rated and he excels in many areas.

He reads the game as well as anyone around.
His distributions is first class.
He is strong in the air.
He is strong in the tackle.
And after 200 odd games i still can't work out if he is left of right footed. A 2 footed CB, now this is a rare thing.
 
Rado_N said:
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.
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Compared to 2007-2010 Vidic obviously. What I mean is that we should aspire to the level we had in 2007-2009 and compared to that we have downgraded on too many positions. 2007 Carrick > 2014 Carrick, Scholes > Cleverley/Fellaini, Giggs > Young/Januzaj, Ronaldo > Valencia, 2007 Evra > 2014 Evra, 2007 Rio > Jones, 2007 Vidic > Evans.

If we want to get back to that level then, as difficult as it is, we have to start replacing world-class players with world-class players instead of just very good players, as we've done with RvP and Mata.

Besides, Evans is 26. I know defenders peak late but we can't view him as a work in progress anymore. He's pretty close to his ceiling.
 
SiRed said:
Evans is only 26.
We signed Vidic at 25/26.
If we compare the Vidic of 2005/06 to the current day Jonny Evans then i believe Evans has all the tools to be just as great for us.
At just 26 Evans has already played over 200 games for one of Europes elite clubs, compare this to Vidic who couldnt have played to many more games but at a lower standard.
Vidic harldy convinced many during his settling in period and when he did eventually settle in the 06/07 season, he had a consistent CB partner who just so happened to be one of the worlds finest defenders, helping him along and developing his game.
It doesn't help that one week Evans is teamed with Vidic, then smalling, then Jones and so on.

Evans IMO is criminally under-rated and he excels in many areas.

He reads the game as well as anyone around.
His distributions is first class.
He is strong in the air.
He is strong in the tackle.
And after 200 odd games i still can't work out if he is left of right footed. A 2 footed CB, now this is a rare thing.
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You mean apart from the tools that meant Vidic could be great? He's a physical beast almost unbeatable in the air. Evans has nothing like that. He reads the game well? So does Chris Smalling. Evans doesn't have the speed or physical edge on opponents. He will not reach the top
 
mazhar13 said:
@Mauzindark

It seems as if you're taking the "grass is greener on the other side" approach. You mention someone like Garay being better than Evans, but Luisao, a world class and underrated defender, takes care of so many of Garay's weaknesses. Plus, their partnership has lasted a longer time than many of Evans' defensive partnerships. More often than not, Evans has had to deal with changing central defenders, defensively-weak left backs, and defensively-inept central midfielders. Did Garay have to deal with those?

I feel as if Evans is at a fairly high level. I mean, he's faced the likes of Drogba, Ibrahimovic, etc., at his younger ages and coped well with all of them. If he had the qualities you suggested, Sir Alex would have sold him a long time ago, and I would have preferred a replacement, myself. However, he's been here for more than 5 years, already. I doubt that, if he was as bad as you say him to be, he would have stayed here for this long. You know that Sir Alex likes solid, dependable defenders, and he would do anything to get them for the present and the future.

I, pretty much, share the same views as LR7. He doesn't have many weaknesses in his game like he used to. His main problem is that his man-marking isn't the best, and I think it's because he doesn't have the defensive instincts of Smalling, Jones, Thiago Silva, Hummels, etc. In 1-on-1 situations, I've seen Smalling and Jones do a better man-marking job than Evans, but Evans is still a decent man-marker, no doubt about that, given how he has done well against the names I mentioned, above. His positioning, in the box, is also pretty good when our defence is settled. However, any defender would struggle to take good positions when facing counter-attacks, particularly when others aren't offering much protection.

I don't think Evans will be up there with the best, but he'll certainly be a useful defender for us and one who can seal the first-team spot, here, if he irons out more of his weaknesses (man-marking, positioning in the box).
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Ok fair enough different folks, different strokes I guess. But I just wanted to highlight that part and defend my point in one aspect that this is not true. Fergie felt Anderson would be one of the best central midfielders and persisted with for so long, or Brown and O'Shea who were good squad players but not starting XI material for us. Brown even played a good role in the treble winning season at the age of 20, Fergie said he was the "most talented defender" in United. Fergie persisted with Cleverley and the result is clear for everyone to see.

Now before anything else, let me state that Evans is better than all of them. But also, having said that he is near his ceiling - By 26 players near their peaks years or have even started them, even defenders. Again I'll be accused of pulling names but the likes of Gaetano Scirea, Lilian Thuram, Alessandro Nesta, Nemanja Vidic, Laurent Blanc, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Fernando Hierro, Marcel Desailly are but a few examples to enunciate the point. And that's an almost universal science - there are very few exceptions like maybe Dante. There's not much room to improve much further as a player. And that's what differentiates the great defenders from him, their upper limit was much much higher. I'm not saying he's a bad defender. He's good. But as good as what we had, and as good as what we should aspire to ? Not a chance.

I'm almost ruing that post. Guess I should have wised up and gone with the flow instead of attracting so much hate.
 
Getsme said:
I agree that he hasn't progressed as well as we would all have hoped and that's partly down to injuries, however I believe that not having a regular partner has been the bigger hindrance.
He also rates Jones and Smalling much higher than Evans, which is fair enough, it's his opinion and he's entitled to it, but the reasons why are laughable.
He then states that Evans doesn't take responsibility, doesn't have leadership skills and has yet to cement his place in the team, all of which are wrong.
He then goes on to list a string of players who are better, including Garay which just proves that he has blinkered vision when it comes to Evans.
All in all I found the post somewhat amusing,
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It is indeed partly down to injuries. Age is only a number, and I would certainly keep him in the squad. He's a quality player, but he's no Rio or Vidic, as Cina said, nor will he get to their level.

Rating Smalling and Jones above Evans due to their physical prowess is a fair argument, I think. Both are faster, Smalling considerably better in the air and stronger - he's also nigh on impossible to get past one on one. Jones has that edge that both Smalling and Evans somewhat lack, although I think both Evans and Smalling have progressed there. This being said, I think Evans has improved his pace and he isn't bullied by strong/big attackers as much. It's just that he isn't a power house and lacks a little bit of strength compared to say Smalling.

I used to think Evans didn't take responsibility and seemed to lack leadership skills, but no anymore. I think he has progressed a lot in that area and shows maturity and takes control. This I agree with.

Garay I have no clue about, but if he is better technically than Evans he should probably play as a midfielder. The thing is, Evans is a very good defender, but do you think he's good enough to be a regular if we plan to win the league and or the CL? I have my doubts. I feel more confident with Smalling in defense - he is never outpaced, rarely loses an aerial duel and is great one on one. Evans is better with the ball and joins the attack better, but defending wise, I'm not yet fully convinced.
 
I wanted rid of him after the 4-0 loss to West Ham in the cup in what was probably the worst individual performance I'd ever seen from a United defender. Thankfully we didn't and he went from being one of those players that I would cringe and worry when I saw his name in the starting XI, to being a player that I have no worries about and the utmost confidence in even when he was starting against Real Madrid last season.

Good player and while he has had some bad moments this season, I don't think it is an accurate reflection of the player because nearly every one of our players have underperformed at certain points this season.
 
When he's on the ball, he's easily our best defender playing out from the back. But the actual defending side of being a defender, I don't rate too highly.

A reasonable squad player, but I don't think he should be first pick. His positioning is pretty awful most of the time, though some seem to suggest he "reads the game well" or whatever. He might "read the game" alright, but his sense of urgency and awareness of dangerous players around him is pretty poor. He's not all that quick, and he is easily outmuscled by alot of players, on the ground and in the air.

"Reading the game" isn't a quality I would laud. It's the bare minimum expected of a footballer. If we had a player who reads the game poorly, I wouldn't want him at United.

I personally prefer Smalling, who is better than Evans already IMO. I also think Jones has the potential to be a much better defender too, but is currently too wild, and also inexperienced in his actual position.
 
Ekeke said:
You mean apart from the tools that meant Vidic could be great? He's a physical beast almost unbeatable in the air. Evans has nothing like that. He reads the game well? So does Chris Smalling. Evans doesn't have the speed or physical edge on opponents. He will not reach the top
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which strikers would out-muscle Mr Evans then?
 
Rossa said:
It is indeed partly down to injuries. Age is only a number, and I would certainly keep him in the squad. He's a quality player, but he's no Rio or Vidic, as Cina said, nor will he get to their level.

Rating Smalling and Jones above Evans due to their physical prowess is a fair argument, I think. Both are faster, Smalling considerably better in the air and stronger - he's also nigh on impossible to get past one on one. Jones has that edge that both Smalling and Evans somewhat lack, although I think both Evans and Smalling have progressed there. This being said, I think Evans has improved his pace and he isn't bullied by strong/big attackers as much. It's just that he isn't a power house and lacks a little bit of strength compared to say Smalling.

I used to think Evans didn't take responsibility and seemed to lack leadership skills, but no anymore. I think he has progressed a lot in that area and shows maturity and takes control. This I agree with.

Garay I have no clue about, but if he is better technically than Evans he should probably play as a midfielder. The thing is, Evans is a very good defender, but do you think he's good enough to be a regular if we plan to win the league and or the CL? I have my doubts. I feel more confident with Smalling in defense - he is never outpaced, rarely loses an aerial duel and is great one on one. Evans is better with the ball and joins the attack better, but defending wise, I'm not yet fully convinced.
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I honestly believe he will be in the team for years to come if injuries stay away, if they don't then I have no idea what will happen to him. I'd imagine it's going to be Evans and ? as our defensive partnership for the next few seasons, will Moyes buy someone in the summer? I'm not entirely convinced he will.

Personally I think he would work better alongside Jones with him doing the dirty work and Evans doing the distribution etc. The problem is I rate Smalling as well and it's going to be interesting to see where all 3 fit in next season, I think it's vitally important we have a regular back 4.
I agree that it's unlikely that he become a Rio or Vidic type player but he doesn't have to be, he can form his own partnership which could be just as good.
 
I think he's a very good player, who will only get better and who'll hopefully spend his career with us, but I don't think he's ever going to be in the top 10 centre halves in the world, for example. But then we don't have many players in that bracket, so it's not a reason to write him off.
 
Evans is a fantastic player to have in our squad. Currently the best among our 3 up and coming CBs, but probably has the lowest ceiling. If Gary Cahill can win Chelsea a CL then Evans damn sure can as well.

Very few CBs in the EPL I'd have over Evans at the top clubs (on ability):

Koscielny
Terry
Kompany
Vertonghen
Ivanovic

That's probably it. Though I have been impressed by Sahko the past couple months.
 
Mauzindark said:
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.
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first, perhaps you're too young to remember the arguments between Bruce and Schmeichel or Pallister and Schmeichel. They were ALWAYS blaming each other.

Flailing his arms? I couldnt care if he produces 10% of the national wind power, he uses the ball well, carries it well and distributes it well. Your point is nonsense. Most of the post is in fairness, its a lot of words without actually saying much.

Evans was arguably United's best, most improved defender last year. This year he's had a few niggling injuries. That is the real danger, that injuries will hold him back, it certainly wont be because of lack of talent or application.
 
Sometimes it's more about the pairing than, how good the individuals are. That's why I think Evans is a very valuable player for us. I don't rate him as highly as others but I think he functions well with many players and gives us not a world class but a solid defence. Look at Arsenal. They have the best defence in the league and neither Mertesacker nor Koscielny are among the best defenders in the world, but they simply work very well together.

For me Evans isn't a player you can build your defence around like Ferdinand, Vidic, Terry, Kompany or others but he'll do his job with many different types of defenders very well.
 
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