Seriously? Vidic was a rock at Spartak and his national side. He was courted by the likes of United, Juventus and Fiorentina. Jaap Stam was a year away from becoming the world most expensive defender. Evra had been courted by the top clubs for 1-2 years. All of them were available for their clubs and dependable for more then 10 games at a row something Jones, Rafael and Evans hasn't been for quite some time.
Its time we get rid of the red tinted glasses and make some decisions. These players may be the combination of Maldini, Blanc, Rio and Baresi (which they are certainly not, in fact they are nowhere near to world class defenders) but unless they are available then its pretty pointless to keep them. Now considering that we can expand the squad to an unlimited size due to logistics and financial restrictions then its time to make some painful decisions. We cant go on relying on kids and wingers while fantasising on how magnificent Rafael would have been against City, how frightened would Aguero have been if he faced Jones and his face expressions and how distracted would Toure have been whenever Helen Evans cheered her husband up.
BTW as said before, a player is young at 17-19. At 23-24 he's heading towards his peak. I can make a long list of defenders who were simply great at that age. Our defenders can hardly stay fit for 2 games at a row.