[Jagga7]

Sorry, but that's bollocks. Evans has been blamed many many times for goals conceded that either wasn’t his fault or ones he could do nothing about, using a few bad passes as a bat to beat him with is a fine example of that.

I’ve heard people bring up the Dons game time and time again yet seem to conveniently forget all the good he has done this season, or choose to accept it in case they have to admit he’s not as shit as they want to believe. Even the great Vidic, Rio and Stam made plenty of mistakes and it was brushed off as they were fan favourites, when a scapegoat makes the tiniest mistake people want his balls on a plate.

I think I have forgot, I haven't seen him play consistently well in a long time! All I said was I wouldn't be sad If he was sold and I think that's a fair comment. He's not a top class defender.

 

[roseguy64]

He's done enough for us in the past to be allowed at least until the end of the season to show his form. Bar that season when Carlton Cole was dragging him around he's rarely had a bad patch of games. It'd be 1 bad game in 10 or similar. This season's been dissimilar to that aforementioned season because his passing was fine then but his defending was atrocious. Opposites this season and it's shown because those bad passes are in dangerous positions.

 

[United22]

Sorry, but that's bollocks. Evans has been blamed many many times for goals conceded that either wasn’t his fault or ones he could do nothing about, using a few bad passes as a bat to beat him with is a fine example of that.

I’ve heard people bring up the Dons game time and time again yet seem to conveniently forget all the good he has done this season, or choose to accept it in case they have to admit he’s not as shit as they want to believe. Even the great Vidic, Rio and Stam made plenty of mistakes and it was brushed off as they were fan favourites, when a scapegoat makes the tiniest mistake people want his balls on a plate.

Not because they were fan favourites but probably something to do with the fact that they were world class and 4x better than Evans will ever be.... Honestly, if they had the level of defending that Evans has, no one would be brushing it off.

 

[FromTheBench]

He has been the most injury prone last 2 seasons out of the 3 CB's. Plus when he gets injured usually it takes time for him to get going.

Also, he is the most senior defender in the squad now and been here for years. He should be showing leadership now and helping others but doesn't seem a leader even the U21s really.


If we have to chop one of the CB's becoming tough to argue why it shouldn't be him.

 

[ottosec]

Thought he was our best defender at the start of the season, but he was shocking every single game he's played.

 

[FromTheBench]

Thought he was our best defender at the start of the season, but he was shocking every single game he's played.

He played like 3 games and 30 minutes. Burnley game he made 2 poor errors and was lucky to get away, in Leicester 30 minutes he was Ordinary including his lack of aerial defending for their first goal. And as for MK dons well less said the better......

The only decent game he's had this season been vs QPR.

Tbf he doesn't seem suited to a back 3 at all but still been poor.


Jones was by our best defender by a distance start of the season before he injured himself for England.

 

[bucky]

He played like 3 games and 30 minutes. Burnley game he made 2 poor errors and was lucky to get away, in Leicester 30 minutes he was Ordinary including his lack of aerial defending for their first goal. And as for MK dons well less said the better......

The only decent game he's had this season been vs QPR.

Tbf he doesn't seem suited to a back 3 at all but still been poor.


Jones was by our best defender by a distance start of the season before he injured himself for England.

I think he was talking in general and his opinion has changed during this season, I'm the same. I thought Evans is still our best defender at the start of the season, but he isn't backing it up.

 

[FromTheBench]

Ah my bad. Misunderstood that @ottosec post.

 

[Brightonian]

I've spent my few years on the caf disagreeing with people who say this, but... he needs to bulk up. A lot.

He's lacking in confidence at the moment so he's not looking that great on the ball, but we know when he's in form that's a real strength for him, and not something to worry about.

But no matter how good his feet are he will never be good enough to regularly start for us if he can't start winning headers and holding off physical pressure from strikers. Pelle was winning every aerial ball that came near him on Monday, no matter how much they appeared to favour Evans or Rojo. The contrast with Smalling, who over the last few games has been really dominant in the air, comfortably winning almost everything, was shocking.

 

[iBoss]

Some of the posts in here are shocking.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Upcoming game may be a massive test under pressure for him but we can't even be sure of that because Louie may play Carrick-Rojo combo, again. If he can put some refreshing performances like Smalling did not so long ago then there's a light in the tunnel for something close to stable season for him.

It's up to the player to take the chances created by a manager and Louie already proved he can seriously shake things up in one month so let's not be surprised of possible outcomes.

 

[mazhar13]

Jonny Evans struggled against Pelle's strength and frequently tried to back off of him. In the box, when trying to aerially challenge him, he struggled with it and lost many aerial challenges against him. It's quite obvious that he still struggles with physically strong forwards who bully him.

Other than that, though, once he moved to the right side and away from Pelle, he seemed more settled. He was more composed, and he dealt with Mane well. He took nice defensive positions, and helped Valencia massively on the right side. Still, though, the fact that he struggles against big, strong forwards like Pelle is quite worrying. I thought he'd have fixed this issue, but he still has problems against such players.

 

[Cheesy]

I think that the main problem is that while Evans looked very good when he played with a great defender (Rio or Vidic), he never convinced me when he was the most senior defender. Now that those two are gone, Evans looks not that good. I hope that he can improve this season, otherwise it might be the last season for him here.

Said this myself. He is a good defender, but he undoubtedly benefited massively in having top quality players beside him.

 

[Nighteyes]

What the hell is wrong with him? That's like the 3rd or 4th time he's done that this season.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Such a terrible defender and not a ball playing defender at any means, has made more ball playing mistakes this season than Smalling all his career.

 

[MoneyMay]

What the hell is wrong with him? That's like the 3rd or 4th time he's done that this season.

Genuinely think it's been more than that. Did he not have four shocking passes combined against Burnley and QPR?

 

[Nighteyes]

Genuinely think it's been more than that. Did he not have four shocking passes combined against Burnley and QPR?

One against MK and one against Burnley and now this one. Couple of near misses against QPR I think .I would have had him down as our best ball playing CB before this season but he's been shocking.

 

[IceDevil]

Incredibly error-prone. He's an awful defender and needs to get kicked out of here.

 

[Bojan11]

He needs to stop passing back. Surprised we haven't conceded a goal yet from it.

 

[fallengt]

Shocking performance..

 

[Scarecrow]

Doesn't seem to do very well in a back three. He's been our worst player today.

 

[MoneyMay]

Poor performance. Doesn't suit a back three at all. He seems to have lost his composure on the ball and his awareness off the ball today was horrible.

 

[Lawman]

Gives away a golden chance every game. We need a top centre half to come in and with Smalling Rojo and Jones all appearing to be ahead of him. He's looking like the one who will get sold.

 

[Varun]

It was painful watching him today. Hope its the rustiness but jesus christ, all over the place with his passing. Something he was best at among our CBs

 

[izec]

absolute shite all season, every week the same. Wouldnt look out of place in that Liverpool defence.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

I was defending him then this. Idiot. Could have ruined the day. Him and Jones are a calamity waiting to happen. Smalling and Rojo please.

 

[Dumbat12]

People here who were defending him. Jesus, he is absolutely terrible. It's not about the back 3 only, he is just terrible. Constant mistakes on the ball and off the ball. As I said last time, Jones and Smalling may get injured a lot, but at least they play decently well when they play. Evans not only does he get injured all the time, but when he plays he is horrendous. Doubt he will be good for Newcastle really.

 

[Godfather]

He was shit today. Really shit. Misplaced passes, not getting into the challenges properly.

 

[Cheesy]

I was defending him then this. Idiot. Could have ruined the day. Him and Jones are a calamity waiting to happen. Smalling and Rojo please.

I wouldn't even be much more convinced by them at the moment, but yeah, he was certainly poor today.

 

[Ducklegs]

Evans being Evans.

He isn't playing any better of worse than he has ever done.

 

[bucky]

Worth pointing out that he started the attack for the third. Still he's nowhere near his best or where he needs to be to have a future with us.

 

[Hed Zitin]

He looks absolutely awful. Nothing good about him this season.

 

[LLMU]

Dire. Really gave me a heart attack every time he touched the ball

 

[Raw]

Really depressing how bad he's been lately. I remember he gave away the first goal in the 4-0 MK Dons defeat too. Is he just not accustomed to LVGs plans or has he really just turned crap?

Compare that to Jones' first game back and he was winning tackles and defending everything.

 

[Freak]

Annoying player. I hope our other defenders come back soon because I never want to see him starting again.

 

[Skills]

He's easily the least gifted defender of the senior defenders we have at the club, but with his age and experience you'd just hope at the very least he wouldn't make such stupid mistakes.

 

[Boycott]

Sometimes he's like a classy passing defender. Days like this he's erratic with the ball. Defensively grew into the game. Handled the one on ones very well.

 

[Cheesy]

Evans being Evans.

He isn't playing any better of worse than he has ever done.

He was a lot better than this in 2011/2012, although I suspect having top defenders alongside him did enhance his game to a certain extent.

 

[An Irish Red]

If he keeps this up I'd sell him at the end of the season. He's consistently causing us problems and has been all season.

Hopefully it's just a form issue mind.

 

[Getsme]

Not great today but no one at the back was, we desperately need a settled back four.