[JackXX]

Abysmal performance really. It didn't help he had Keane next to him though (people think he should be pushing for a first team spot?). He has always looked solid with Vidic or Rio next to him but I'm not sure if he handles responsibility well. He looked as clueless as the two either side of him tonight it was embarrassing to watch.

 

[acnumber9]

It was, but Evans should still have been nowhere near it.

I'm still a bit baffled by Fletcher as vice tbf

I think it was more to do with him being an academy product, being at the club a number of years, a likely starter and his position more than where he's from. Same goes for Fletcher really. Outside of them who were the options? Rooney, who isn't captain material and Van Persie who's an injury concern and only at the club two years.

 

[Ixion]

He's coming back from injury to be fair but it was a terrible performance, he and Smalling are a million miles away from being Rio or Vidic. Yet most fans in the transfer forum stick their nose up at most of the defenders we're linked with despite how average our CBs are.

 

[nemanja15]

His first performance of the season - pretty poor. But he'll be all the better physically for 90 minutes under his belt at least I guess and willing to cut him a bit of slack because of the recent injury.

And to be fair, he's come out on MUTV and held his hands up re: the first goal.

 

[Sixpence]

Why does our multi million pound academy that scours the globe for talent not produce top CB's for the first team?

 

[Hed Zitin]

He always has a couple of clangers every season.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Mid table defender really, don't know why we seem intent on having his as the leader of our defence going forward. He isn't and will never be on the same level as the likes of Vidic and Rio and quite frankly, that's the level of player we ought to have.

 

[ottosec]

Captain's performance.

 

[Devil may care]

One of the worst performances I've seen from a CB, it was absolutely shambolic, in truth I think he looked the least comfortable of our 3 senior CB's on tour when it came to this new back 3 system, I don't think it suits him as the spaces are bigger and he's more about reading the play than hunting the forward runners.

 

[Walrus]

Why does our multi million pound academy that scours the globe for talent not produce top CB's for the first team?

Is this serious?

We sold Pique (granted he wasnt from our academy) as we could not afford him gametime - we have had Rio and Vidic for almost the last decade, making it impossible for any other CB to break through. We signed Smalling and Jones, as well as having Evans - all young and very promising CBs.

We now have Blackett coming through and looking excellent as well as the above, and you are suggesting that somehow the academy/scouting has failed? What exactly did you expect, that a pair of 18 year old phenomenons would displace two of the greatest CBs of the premiership era?

The very criticism that was being made of Moyes last season, and even of SAF, was not giving the younger CBs enough playtime - Jones and Smalling were both played out of position regularly and have only now been getting consistent starts at CB, and you expect them to instantly and seamlessly replace Rio and Vidic?


edit: This isnt defending Evans' performance tonight so much as just pointing out that we are now paying for mistakes made over the last 2-3 seasons in not giving Evans/Jones/Smalling enough gametime at CB.

 

[Acole9]

He's supposed to be our most senior defender. Worrying signs indeed, he was terrible tonight I don't care if he's been out since April or not that was unacceptable.

 

[kundalini]

Clearly a mile away from competing for a starting place

Indeed. Didn't look remotely match ready. Frankly he was lucky not to concede a penalty for handball on top of costing us their first goal. No sign of his usual quality on the ball.

Still think he's a decent player. So much uncertainty regarding our defence at the moment, it is hard to tell who will be in the starting 11 and who will be shown the door at the end of the season.

 

[Sixpence]

Is this serious?

We sold Pique (granted he wasnt from our academy) as we could not afford him gametime - we have had Rio and Vidic for almost the last decade, making it impossible for any other CB to break through. We signed Smalling and Jones, as well as having Evans - all young and very promising CBs.

We now have Blackett coming through and looking excellent as well as the above, and you are suggesting that somehow the academy/scouting has failed? What exactly did you expect, that a pair of 18 year old phenomenons would displace two of the greatest CBs of the premiership era?

The very criticism that was being made of Moyes last season, and even of SAF, was not giving the younger CBs enough playtime - Jones and Smalling were both played out of position regularly and have only now been getting consistent starts at CB, and you expect them to instantly and seamlessly replace Rio and Vidic?


edit: This isnt defending Evans' performance tonight so much as just pointing out that we are now paying for mistakes made over the last 2-3 seasons in not giving Evans/Jones/Smalling enough gametime at CB.

Why are you talking about Rio and Vidic and everyone else? I'm just saying in general our academy just doesn't seem to produce top ones, maybe it's the state of the English game in general I don't know. For example I'd be amazed if M. Keane became anything other than another James Chester, that's if he's lucky as Chester is still a PL defender after all.

 

[Walrus]

Why are you talking about Rio and Vidic and everyone else? I'm just saying in general our academy just doesn't seem to produce top ones, maybe it's the state of the English game in general I don't know. For example I'd be amazed if M. Keane became anything other than another James Chester, that's if he's lucky as Chester is still a PL defender after all.

When exactly was our academy meant to produce these world class CBs, for them to actually gain first team experience to progress to the required level?

Again, we have had Smalling and Jones on our books for a few years and they both struggled to get gametime at CB, how are you expecting the youngsters from the academy to be getting it?

Blackett has shown promise and so far this season has in fact been one of our best players - but you are casually ignoring his contribution as it pretty much voids your argument.

 

[Amar__]

Man, I remember in 08/09 him slotting next to Vidic and looking class. Vidic really carried that defense that year it seems.

Good days, he was excellent alongside Rio aswel. It really looks like he can't do it alongside younger CBs alongside him.

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

Wow. He was so bad that I don't know if you simply erase this as an off night or bin him for a few weeks.

I mean he was about 5 levels below bad.

 

[Mozza]

Throw yourself into a fecking challenge you twat, just stood off whilst they crossed for the second and a pathetic 'tackle' for their 4th

 

[Red Phoenix Rising]

Why are you talking about Rio and Vidic and everyone else? I'm just saying in general our academy just doesn't seem to produce top ones, maybe it's the state of the English game in general I don't know. For example I'd be amazed if M. Keane became anything other than another James Chester, that's if he's lucky as Chester is still a PL defender after all.

How are these guys going to get a chance if we have one of the best two defenders in our history playing in the first team for a long period? That is why they have been mentioned. World class players don't grow on trees, if you don't give them a chance and be patient they may become good/great. You just have to wait and see - a couple of bad nights and calling them shite and rubbish and never going to make it is just not the way that this happens. Good players learn from their mistakes, great players don't make them again.

 

[Ekeke]

The exaggeration in your post to make Evans seem like he was awful last season is ridiculous. Even worse than Ferdinand and Vidic? Evans and Smalling were, by far, our two best CBs last season. Some argue Evans was our best CB; others argue Smalling, but both were more solid than Ferdinand, Vidic, and Jones.

I don't believe this to be true. Evans was absolutely poor today, but he's had many games alongside Smalling/Jones where he's looked very good. The problem for him right now is that he doesn't look like a genuine leader despite improving on this aspect, and that's what Manchester United need at the back.

He was completely below par. Smalling was good, Vidic was good but with a couple of mad performances. Jones was good.

Evans didnt play well. At all.

 

[MoneyMay]

He was completely below par. Smalling was good, Vidic was good but with a couple of mad performances. Jones was good.

Evans didnt play well. At all.

I'd probably class Smalling as was our best centre-back; Vidic was average; and Jones was decent but made more errors than Evans when he played as a centre-back. The level of consistency Evans had when he returned to our side is far greater than what Jones produced for us as a centre-back. When Evans came back into the side, we looked more solid defensively though it obviously doesn't reflect well that he was considered our best CB by some (myself included), which isn't a criticism of him. Hull (A) game onwards, he started making key errors, but his main problem was that he wasn't fit enough for the second half of the season.

IMO it's disingenuous to say what you said. He was awful tonight and I've already questioned his mobility in this system. But some of the posts in this thread are a continuation of knee-jerk reactions and exaggeration that's been present on here since the Swansea game. Take a look at the Rooney/Mata thread...

 

[All 3 United]

He's coming back from injury to be fair but it was a terrible performance, he and Smalling are a million miles away from being Rio or Vidic. Yet most fans in the transfer forum stick their nose up at most of the defenders we're linked with despite how average our CBs are.

He's always coming back from an injury that's half the problem, that and lack of defending ability over a 90mins period.

 

[Rykker_4united]

Those forgiving this performance are being far too sentimental and thats been this club's problem for a while now. If he's capable of being that bad, theres no point in keeping him in the picture. He's not a consistent enough player and his highest level of play comes about as often as a solar eclipse. Although it sucks, he's just not going to cut it as a starting xi, quality option for our defence.

 

[Señor]

To put it bluntly, he's shit and has been shit for some time now.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Unbelieveable reaction. Yes, he was poor, extremely poor by his standards but the same people saying that he is our best CB (Rojo not included) just last week are now saying how woeful he has always been and that he should be sold this week.

We are in complete meltdown.

 

[All 3 United]

Unbelieveable reaction. Yes, he was poor, extremely poor by his standards but the same people saying that he is our best CB (Rojo not included) just last week are now saying how woeful he has always been and that he should be sold this week.

We are in complete meltdown.

It's reactions like this that have kept at the club for as long as he has been. He should have been sold after the city 'sick swan' game. If I was LVG, I'd make an example of him and ship him out before the end of this window.

 

[bucky]

It's reactions like this that have kept at the club for as long as he has been. He should have been sold after the city 'sick swan' game. If I was LVG, I'd make an example of him and ship him out before the end of this window.

Good thing is you aren't.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

It's reactions like this that have kept at the club for as long as he has been. He should have been sold after the city 'sick swan' game. If I was LVG, I'd make an example of him and ship him out before the end of this window.

Sort of sums up a lot of United fans at the moment, lets sell our most experienced CB, the position where we need numbers and experience. Bloody hell.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Had a 'mare yesterday, probably wasn't fully fit and was rushed back due to the embarrassingly low number of senior defenders we possess.

 

[All 3 United]

Sort of sums up a lot of United fans at the moment, lets sell our most experienced CB, the position where we need numbers and experience. Bloody hell.

He's never been good without a decent CB next to him, especially when we've been under pressure. Experienced at what making mistakes!?

 

[thejtrain]

I'm not seeing what others see in him.......... looks to be an average player at best. His performances have been very average for a while now too.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

I probably see him as our best defender, but I don't see much between him and our other centre-halves. He'll never be top quality unfortunately, but as we know there aren't many top quality centre-halves currently available to us.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

He's never been good without a decent CB next to him, especially when we've been under pressure. Experienced at what making mistakes!?

Ah, so bring in an experienced CB to play along side, oh wait, we just sold him, damn.

I know you're upset at the moment, we all are but try your best to stay calm, selling Evans makes no sense. Once you have a nap, you will realise that.

 

[Rykker_4united]

Ah, so bring in an experienced CB to play along side, oh wait, we just sold him, damn.

I know you're upset at the moment, we all are but try your best to stay calm, selling Evans makes no sense. Once you have a nap, you will realise that.

Dropping him makes sense.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Dropping him makes sense.

We are talking about selling. Also, it's his first game of the season, he was brought in for a League Cup game, can we give van Gaal time to get back to Manchester before he drops him.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

A performance to forget for Jonny. Not going to jump on the bandwagon like others though and say he's a poor defender in general. Just had a bad day at the office.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Dropping him makes sense.

Not when the alternative is probably Keane and we're absolutely desperate to both get a win and implement our senior players into a new system.

 

[Skills]

I probably see him as our best defender, but I don't see much between him and our other centre-halves. He'll never be top quality unfortunately, but as we know there aren't many top quality centre-halves currently available to us.

Genuinely, based on what though? What defensive attributes/qualities is he better than Smalling at? I can kinda see why people would think he's a better CB due to his distribution but as a pure defender Smalling just looks on a different level.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Genuinely, based on what though? What defensive attributes/qualities is he better than Smalling at? I can kinda see why people would think he's a better CB due to his distribution but as a pure defender Smalling just looks on a different level.

Sorry, I should've worded it centre-back. Yeah, I agree with you in term of pure defensive ability, Smalling is currently the best in the squad. I still feel Evans is the better all round centre-back though and should be first on the team sheet in defence.

 

[manusteve]

We need desperately to revert to a four man defence and I would like to see Jones paired with Rojo. Evans was shocking last night and incapable of organising his defence. LvG may have been impressed with him on tour but he doesn't strike fear into strikers like Vidic and he lacks Rio's game reading. Poor.

 

[Rykker_4united]

Not when the alternative is probably Keane and we're absolutely desperate to both get a win and implement our senior players into a new system.

hopefully we can get smalling rojo and jones together