Spot on. There was an article posted on here a few weeks back that he's creating the most chances and has never created so many per game in any of his previous seasons. Of course being given that remit means he's going to be further up the pitch more. If Moyes wanted him to stay back and defend I'm sure he would but he's using him like Baines and no one covers for Evra.
Patrice Evra | 2013/14 Performances
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Our game is very dependent on the fullbacks so him staying back isn't an option. Fergie was a master at spotting deteriorating players and getting them to adapt, he either couldn't or didn't think it was worth it.
We need a new LB pronto, Evra still has a part to play but its only as a squad player. Reassuringly, Moyes clearly understands this
Having him as chief creator them moaning when he gets caught up the pitch is just stupid though.
He's been underpar since coming back from the shambles of WC 2010. There should have been a succession plan in place. If Moyes buys Baines in January he's mad, that ship sailed in the summer. Buying a 29 year old LB for £15-20m is pointless. I'd spend £20m or whatever on Shaw in January and let Evra sail off into the sunset in the summer.
He looks tired. Doesn't get rotated enough for me, has Fabio shagged Daves daughter as well?
He's played seven United games and two games for France in the last month.. We're not gonna get the best out of him say in April, if he doesn't get to rest at some point..
Cleverley and Jones were at fault for that goal. Evra was tad unlucky,
And Baines isn't exactly known for his defensive work, is he? We need to find a young replacement, and I also wouldn't mind giving Fabio a shot (can't see that happening though…)
But there were instances where Evra was being caught out of position. It's these lapses of concentration which are annoying. Ye against Cardiff City, the freekick most likely should have went the other way after Medel slapped Fellaini, but Evra just caught ballwatching and they scored.
Then against Newcastle, I believe it was Debuchy who had a shot on goal before the end of the first half because Evra fell asleep. Maybe I differ with some of you but as a FB, your first duty is to defend. If you're struggling to do that when we're in a set defensive shape then that worries me. Evra's been okay defensively overall this season imo. He's made some good interceptions and shows he still has that burst of acceleration and anticipation to cut out the passes in behind. But still, he has these lapses of concentration that just boggle the mind.
According to the Guardian article by Jamie Jackson, there is a rumour that Evra is resentful over the Baines courtship. If true, he should be sent packing along with Rio and anybody else who thinks they are bigger than the team and/or feels the need to discuss team matters with the media. I honestly think attack might be the best form of defence for Moyes. Lay down a marker lest player power get the better of him as it did AVB at Chelsea.
He's already basically stated he's leaving 'for personal reasons." So no reason to get upset with him over rumors.
When did he state he was leaving? And you might want to see where I said 'if true'.
I have felt it for a while now but especially this season, I really feel his arrogance is impacting negatively on his performances. He is strutting around the pitch but he is just not the player he was.
I will always have a lot of time for him and still think he is a good left back and his confidence has always been a positive trait of his but now I think he is getting very close to crossing the line and in my opinion, has.
I will always have a lot of time for him and still think he is a good left back and his confidence has always been a positive trait of his but now I think he is getting very close to crossing the line and in my opinion, has.
UWS hinted that he agreed to stay one more season after the club failed to land Baines.
I love Evra but he cant hide behind his inspiring interviews. Wouldn't be surprised if he's off this summer. Prepare for the baines era ladies & gents
If he chooses to defend, then you will moan on him not going forward. There is no pleasing some here. Without winger support he can only do one or the other.
Rightly said. Moyes should give him support up the field who can cover. Young was good at this but the he seems more intent diving himself out of the squad. Evra has been playing with Young, Januzaj, Kagawa and Nani randomly rotated in front of him. Yet, he still is the only regular performer on the left. It is obvious he is slower than his prime and yet we ignore than put him under more pressure by lack of proper winger support and then blame him for not coping. He has also been playing in nearly every match for pas couple of years with no rations.
Understandable. He is slowing down here and if we deem him replaceable, he would prefer to go back to France for PSG/Monaco, who incidentally are offering him twice what he gets paid here.
If not first choice anymore, any sane player would take the offer.
Not really. Fullbacks are required to do both. The difficulty is the mastery of your timing, concentration and stamina. There's no excuse for falling asleep when the opposition are in the third phase (final third) of their attack which almost results in a goal. The winger can't do anything about that.
This idea that Kagawa, Nani are poor cover for Evra is not necessarily true. Januzaj is coming to grips with it and with time he'll get better at it. They wont always be able to cover for him. Against Leverkusen, Fellaini/Carrick would slide over to initially block Leverkusen from quickly counterattacking our left side and it would give the winger on that flank some time to recover. It's a team effort. Against Tottenham, Kagawa actually did a pretty decent job of partnering up with Evra and made it more difficult for Walker to get into dangerous positions. Although Kagawa isn't necessarily a great defender, he covers the space very well and with Evra, that's very important imo. These are one of the things as a coach you have to account for. There will be times where United get caught upfield giving away possession or not making the most of a created chance. We allow our LWs to drift so there will be times where in the initial phase of the opponents offensive transition, our left side will be exposed. As a team, we have to be ready to offer support to Evra & temporarily contain the threat of a 1 v 1 against Evra.
Under SAF, it was even riskier. Against Norwich away, there were times where the backline had to deal with 1 v 1 situations because of our expansive play and they responded admirably for the most part. From my perspective, it's tradeoffs. The winger cant always support Evra. The question is how do we cover for the vacated space without compromising our overall shape? Not the easiest question to answer.
You've been spouting this for ages and I personally think its rubbish. It's unsurprising that most of our chances/key passes are coming from Evra. It's something Moyes did with his LB at Everton too, and he's doing it here. Evra isn't just going 'strutting up the pitch' on his own accord because he's arrogant. It's a bizarre claim. He plays behind wingers who are instructed to tuck in (Kagawa, Januzaj and to a lesser extent Nani) and when they do he's expected to stay wide and provide the with on that side. Then when the opposition attack us, which they're doing more and more, even at OT, he's left exposed and 1v1 with his opposition winger, or more often than not 2v1 with the opposition fullback running at him as well.
I don't see how people are so blind to it. If you expect him to be forward creating chances, then someone should be covering that side when the opposition counter quickly because there is no chance he can be everywhere. He isn't being asked to stay back and defend otherwise I'm sure he would.
He's one of our only players at the moment who still looks up for it. Still tries to drive the team on, still tries to create and still goes in full blooded for every challenge. He's one of the only players expected to play every game without a rest, every three days, and has done for the last 4-5 seasons. Moyes doesn't appear to trust Fabio and Büttner isn't good enough imo, but there's no way he can be at 100% whilst playing every 3 days but that doesn't mean he isn't giving his all. Give him the adequate protection and rotation and he will be fine.
Also don't expect him to be up the pitch creating more than he's ever had to before yet somehow miraculously expect him to be in his area defending everything that comes down that flank as well because it's impossible. It would be impossible for Baines or Coentrao or anyone else as well.
I think it's more to do with him slowly jogging back at times.
I remember against Chelsea in the cup last season, where he was slowly jogging back and they scored. He does have a habit of doing that.
Wouldn't blame him for wanting to go back to France with the money being offered.
I remember against Chelsea in the cup last season, where he was slowly jogging back and they scored. He does have a habit of doing that.
Wouldn't blame him for wanting to go back to France with the money being offered.
I really think he's just genuinely shattered and has been for a while now. If he started sprinting back into position every game he wouldn't last the 90. Left back is the only position in our squad where we decided to just have one player play a ridiculous amount of games with no rest and it's all catching up to him.
Playing half the time without a proper left winger in front of him can't be helping either.
Bit harsh?
Playing half the time without a proper left winger in front of him can't be helping either.
Bit harsh?
Yeah the problem is his main priority is to defend. If he can't get back in position fast enough then he shouldn't go forward fast enough in the first place.
True. But he has more assists and goals than all of our wide players so I suppose it's a trade off Moyes is happy to make.
There's a reason Bolt doesn't run 10 100m runs in a row. That's basically what you're asking of Evra - it's not going to happen. Rafael cannot do it either - no one can. Baines is often left hanging up the pitch. Evra is more attacking even than Rafael is, so for him to sprint back 80-100 yards ten times in a match would put him into retirement pretty quickly. Few players run more up and down that pitch than Evra does. Imo, our central midfield is too poor at providing cover for him when he attacks. Carrick is very good at that, but he usually stays on the right side and covers Rafael.
Hideous typos in that post, it's early, forgive me!
No no Rossa, it's all Evra's fault. He's strutting up the pitch trying to help his teammates to score because he's so fecking arrogant.
I think it's a freedom that has always been given to him (at Monaco, under SAF and under all the different national team coaches), I don't see SAF and Moyes being so blind that they would miss this. It's a game of reward vs risk and obviously both them have asked Evra to be mostly attacking. It's not pretty from a defensive POV when he is completely knackered and can't come back at full sprint but it's the consequence of the game he's being asked to play, if it was out of pure laziness I don't think he would have lasted at Man Utd for so long.
At the level we're talking, there are no "lazy" players, it should be the coaches who have to tell Evra to not attack so much. I have rarely understood the criticism of him being lazy when getting back to his position, it's just impossible to keep running up and down the flank at the same pace all the time.
Don't take the piss, doesn't make you look good at all.
It's my opinion that he struts around the pitch, even when he is having a bad game. Cantona used to do it as well when he was having a bad game, he could also back it up. I just feel Evra plays for the cameras a little too much when he isn't having a good game. I have never questioned his ability or his importance to the team.
Just from my playing experience, I feel I can tell when someone is playing to the cameras rather than getting on with it. My opinion.
How is he 'playing to the cameras'? What does that even mean?
I find it really bizarre claim. Would you like him to play within himself when he's having a bad game? Or to keep on trying to affect the game and drive the team on as he's probably been instructed. One of the best things about United under Fergie is that we didn't let our heads drop when things went going well.
They're all playing for the camera
It's true - my bad. Even when he scores he just does it because of his bleeding arrogance. I find it hard to say why he assists, but maybe assisting someone gives him reason to be arrogant saying "look what I did for you, now take a bow motherfu****)
Ah, you again. That was down to him not signing an autograph wasn't it? I would bet that 90% of footballers are arrogant. It really is the silliest argument of all, and I've made some stupid ones myself. I cannot believe you are still spouting this piss.
You can feel, through the cameras, that someone is playing to the cameras? WOW, that's some seriously impressive stuff.
No, it's just Evra. The rest are playing for honours, the fans, their families and Mother Theresa.
Actually, thinking about it - I think most players are playing for peace and justice for all.
Mate, that's just absurd. What do you expect, sulk in a corner whenever he is having a bad match. He captains the side often and maybe he feels the necessity to maintain a brave face in adversity!
Evra playing for the camera contibutes more to the team that then entire midfield and substitute bench, imho. Touch wood, but think of what would happen if he picked up a niggle!
Im not saying he is in top form or something.
Im saying that he won a header, the ball bounced off their player. nothing that Evra could do.
But either of Jones / Cleverley should have tracked back.
Exactly - he was immensely unlucky for that one, and Sissoko was immensely lucky. Sissoko is also very fast, so when he had a 10 yard head start on Evra, there's no way he could track back that quickly, albeit very close in the end. Jones and/or Cleverley should have tracked back.
Oh yes. 100% agree. The funny thing is that the type of goal Newcastle goal (disregard the lucky bounce off of Sissoko) is a very common goal across Europe. It's called the cutback goal and it happens all the time. I could elaborate but I think you know what i mean
Evra is finished for me as a defender of the required quality to play for Manchester United. I'm rewatching the 90 minutes of our past 3 games and he is the main culprit for alot of defensive mishaps, he is a liability.
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