[Getsme]

Nope.Either send them on loan or keep them with the first team.People treating as if we have 40+ Reserves games every season.They're both not have much left to show in the U21s, as per the case for a lot of other players.

Nothing to do with threating it like we have 40+ reserves games, who do you drop?

 

[Loublaze]

Then sell Jones and Smalling as well. I agree that something has to change but you can't single out one player when all three are victums of the same curse.
Out of those three I would keep Jones, the only reason being he has more time on his side. However, on his day Evans is the best of the three IMO.

I think Evans should go. He's failed to make the grade here. Even at his best Evans is still capable of having a moment or two of madness. I agree about Jones, he's still young and maybe can turn things around. He needs to change his style to avoid some of the injuries he gets.

 

[Getsme]

Those three players are totally unreliable and I would be elated if McNair and Blackett actually take their chances and exceed everyone's expectations. Blackett's confidence won't be low, he doesn't seem to be a kid with a weak mentality. If anything he'll be spending extra time in training to improve. There was an article about his work ethic and his humble background, I think you'll find it an interesting and very encouraging read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...pe-Manchester-United.html?ito=social-facebook

I don't think they are far from ready, especially Blackett who has now got five games under his belt. I only see room for improvement. With the record of those unreliable CBs we might see a lot of Blackett, McNair and maybe even Keane when he comes back from loan in January, this season.

Your overrating of Blackett is becoming laughable, he's been ok, nothing more nothing less. He had a stinker against Leicester, the first real game where he has been truly tested. The same is happening to McNair and no doubt the opinion on him will change when he misplaces a pass or something.

His confidence will be low, it’s nothing to do with having a weak mentality, confidence issues happen to all players, no matter how good they are.

 

[khoazany]

Nothing to do with threating it like we have 40+ reserves games, who do you drop?

My point is sending them back to Reserves is a pointless thing to do.Let them train and compete with those 3 or send them on loan if they couldn't get enough games.

 

[Getsme]

I think Evans should go. He's failed to make the grade here. Even at his best Evans is still capable of having a moment or two of madness. I agree about Jones, he's still young and maybe can turn things around. He needs to change his style to avoid some of the injuries he gets.

This is the Paddy McNair thread so I’m not going to get sucked into another Evans debate, however he has far from failed to make the grade. When fit (and that’s the problem) he has been a regular in the team so let’s not twist facts.

 

[Elliott]

Valencia did give him a run around when he was 1v1 with McNair which wasn't very reassuring.

Valencia would beat the vast majority of defenders in a sprint. McNair is not a slow player. Perhaps not as quick as Blackett but above average.

 

[mufcwarm92]

This is the Paddy McNair thread so I’m not going to get sucked into another Evans debate, however he has far from failed to make the grade. When fit (and that’s the problem) he has been a regular in the team so let’s not twist facts.

This. Our best defender.

 

[Loublaze]

Your overrating of Blackett is becoming laughable, he's been ok, nothing more nothing less. He had a stinker against Leicester, the first real game where he has been truly tested. The same is happening to McNair and no doubt the opinion on him will change when he misplaces a pass or something.

His confidence will be low, it’s nothing to do with having a weak mentality, confidence issues happen to all players, no matter how good they are.

Im not overrating him, on the other hand some people are scapegoating him and calling McNair the new Vidic after just one game. Confidence issues affect every player differently and how much they do depends on the individuals mentality IMO

 

[Rozay]

Your overrating of Blackett is becoming laughable, he's been ok, nothing more nothing less. He had a stinker against Leicester, the first real game where he has been truly tested. The same is happening to McNair and no doubt the opinion on him will change when he misplaces a pass or something.

His confidence will be low, it’s nothing to do with having a weak mentality, confidence issues happen to all players, no matter how good they are.

I'm not a default Blackett defender or anything, but that statement is nonsense. He got himself sent off chasing back as the last man, but he was head and shoulders above the rest of our back-four in the first half.

As for Evans, he shouldn't be sold due to being injury prone, he should be sold due to ultimately being not good enough. He would be the defensive equivalent of Welbeck perhaps. He isn't rubbish. He would still fetch a decent fee, but he is not up to 'the standard'. We don't need him, Jones and Smalling - we should ship one and get one top class defender.

 

[Loublaze]

This. Our best defender.

This is the Paddy McNair thread so I’m not going to get sucked into another Evans debate, however he has far from failed to make the grade. When fit (and that’s the problem) he has been a regular in the team so let’s not twist facts.

Yes, this is the McNair thread but i'll say this, Evans needs to be sold. None of you can tell me 7 consecutive games in 2 years is remotely close to a decent return. I don't care how good he can be, he's still a very erratic player and totally unreliable due to his rubbish fitness record. He's 27 in a few months and will only get in the way of developing other players with his stop start career. Ship him off to Newcastle United.

 

[Loublaze]

I'm not a default Blackett defender or anything, but that statement is nonsense. He got himself sent off chasing back as the last man, but he was head and shoulders above the rest of our back-four in the first half.

As for Evans, he shouldn't be sold due to being injury prone, he should be sold due to ultimately being not good enough. He would be the defensive equivalent of Welbeck perhaps. He isn't rubbish. He would still fetch a decent fee, but he is not up to 'the standard'. We don't need him, Jones and Smalling - we should ship one and get one top class defender.

This

 

[mufcwarm92]

Yes, this is the McNair thread but i'll say this, Evans needs to be sold. None of you can tell me 7 consecutive games in 2 years is remotely close to a decent return. I don't care how good he can be, he's still a very erratic player and totally unreliable due to his rubbish fitness record. He's 27 in a few months and will only get in the way of developing other players with his stop start career. Ship him off to Newcastle United.

That's opinion, not fact. My opinion is that selling our best defender when our defence is in crisis is completely ridiculous. Saying he's very erratic simply isn't true when you look at his performances over the last few years, it's a statement seemingly based on a couple of performances where he clearly isn't match fit.

 

[Getsme]

My point is sending them back to Reserves is a pointless thing to do.Let them train and compete with those 3 or send them on loan if they couldn't get enough games.

Of course they will train with the First Team, however who would you drop when Evans, Smalling and Jones are fit. Who do you sacrifice on the subs bench? As I said in an earlier post, they should be introduced gradually and hopefully be more prepared when they are called upon. Obviously the same could happen in regardes to injuries and we have no choice but to play them, but given the choice, I’d rather not, not at this time anyway.

Saturdays Subs
Mata
Januzaj
Lindegaard
Fletcher
Valencia
Thorpe
Pereira

Current Injures
Smalling
Jones
Evans
Young
Fellaini
Carrick
Lingard

Then you have other youth players like James Wilson who will want a place on the team.

 

[Getsme]

Im not overrating him, on the other hand some people are scapegoating him and calling McNair the new Vidic after just one game. Confidence issues affect every player differently and how much they do depends on the individuals mentality IMO

Are you making things up again?

 

[Getsme]

I'm not a default Blackett defender or anything, but that statement is nonsense. He got himself sent off chasing back as the last man, but he was head and shoulders above the rest of our back-four in the first half.

As for Evans, he shouldn't be sold due to being injury prone, he should be sold due to ultimately being not good enough. He would be the defensive equivalent of Welbeck perhaps. He isn't rubbish. He would still fetch a decent fee, but he is not up to 'the standard'. We don't need him, Jones and Smalling - we should ship one and get one top class defender.

Sorry but that’s just rubbish, he was terrible against Leicester, I take it you didn’t watch the game.

 

[SirFergie]

Then sell Jones and Smalling as well. I agree that something has to change but you can't single out one player when all three are victums of the same curse.
Out of those three I would keep Jones, the only reason being he has more time on his side. However, on his day Evans is the best of the three IMO.

Disagree with that. Evans may be a better footballer but a better defender...nah. Evans should be sold. Give Jones and Smalling the same amount of time as Evans to prove their fitness then after that, if they haven't, sell them. But for now, Evans should be the one to go. We cannot afford to have a central defender who cannot be relied upon and he's the most unreliable of the 3 at the moment in terms of form and injuries so, sorry to say, it's time to go Jonny.

 

[FromTheBench]

I'm not a default Blackett defender or anything, but that statement is nonsense. He got himself sent off chasing back as the last man, but he was head and shoulders above the rest of our back-four in the first half.

As for Evans, he shouldn't be sold due to being injury prone, he should be sold due to ultimately being not good enough. He would be the defensive equivalent of Welbeck perhaps. He isn't rubbish. He would still fetch a decent fee, but he is not up to 'the standard'. We don't need him, Jones and Smalling - we should ship one and get one top class defender.

Evans when fit is a pretty good defender and all round player tbf though he's started this season poorly.

Not that many better than him around at CB that we can get tbf. But yeah he should be close to the chopping block because he cannot stay fit at all and is older and not versatile either. Him or Smalling for me as Jones is relatively less injury prone slightly, is younger, has more potential and more utility as well.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Disagree with that. Evans may be a better footballer but a better defender...nah. Evans should be sold. Give Jones and Smalling the same amount of time as Evans to prove their fitness then after that, if they haven't, sell them. But for now, Evans should be the one to go. We cannot afford to have a central defender who cannot be relied upon and he's the most unreliable of the 3 at the moment in terms of form and injuries so, sorry to say, it's time to go Jonny.

Selling defenders should be the last thing on our mind. We had one first team CB available on the weekend. Selling a proven player for us doesn't help that situation.

 

[SirFergie]

Selling defenders should be the last thing on our mind. We had one first team CB available on the weekend. Selling a proven player for us doesn't help that situation.

The only thing Evans has proven is that he cannot be relied upon to stay fit. He's made of glass and for a centre-half that is not acceptable. Selling him would make space for us to promote a defender who can be relied upon or buy a defender who can play 40-50 games a season.

 

[Rozay]

Sorry but that’s just rubbish, he was terrible against Leicester, I take it you didn’t watch the game.

I did.

Not that I looked at it myself, but I would guess that if you looked back at the match day thread, it would be pretty much all thumbs up until a collective thumbs down after 70 - odd minutes. He was quite okay until he was bad.

 

[devilish]

Blackett has shown how putting too much pressure on such young shoulders can do more harm than good. For me the Leicester game was one step to far, the same will happen to McNair if we let it. Blacketts confidence must have hit rock bottom, he’s went from hero to zero for some fans when in truth he hasn’t actually been that great for us.

I can’t think of a time when the our defence has been as scrutinised as it is at the moment, every aspect of our defensive game is going under the microscope, that’s a hell of an ask for any seasoned professional let alone a player who has virtually no first team games under his belt. I’d much rather stick with experience and slowly introduce them to the team, for me Evans, Jones and Smalling are massively underrated in here. Obviously if all our four experienced CBs are playing shit or injured then we will have no choice but to rely on youth, but it’s not a place we want to be IMO

Id rather stick to defenders who can do the job to be honest. I am sick of hearing how this year will be Evans/Jones/Smalling/Ando/Cleverley year and how much potential these players have. If we could translate the amount of IFS, BUTS and ONCE in cents we would be able to afford to buy both Messi and Ronaldo by now

I can make a list of defenders who did the job at quite a young age. It didn't deter them one bit. The mistake would be to insist on them based on hype rather then on what they perform on the pitch. Our fans tend to sing how we won all our titles playing the Sir Matt Busby way. Well Sir Matt said that if you're good enough then you're old enough.

I am not saying that we should sell Jones/Evans/Smalling and stick to Mcnair and Blackett. What I am saying is that everyone should work hard to get a first team place. There shouldnt be automatic places for anyone in the team and if someone does well then he should be allowed to keep his place.

 

[Parma Dewol]

Only just catching up after the weekend's game, but I have to say, I was so very impressed with Paddy. What a fantastic debut.

We were under the cosh for what felt like an age after going down to 10 men, but he kept his composure and had a really good game. Some fantastic headed clearances and he didn't look out of place. Showed some real grit and determination, and it was good to see the other players giving him a well-deserved pat on the back at full time.

On a related note, it's also great to see LvG giving these players a chance as opposed to playing others out of position.

 

[MDFC Manager]

What a brilliant debut performance!

But what a balls out decision by Louis to start the lad. Had it gone tits up, Louis could have been facing some very harsh criticism here on the caf.

Imagine how much of a confidence boost it is for the rest of the young players.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

The only thing Evans has proven is that he cannot be relied upon to stay fit. He's made of glass and for a centre-half that is not acceptable. Selling him would make space for us to promote a defender who can be relied upon or buy a defender who can play 40-50 games a season.

You are letting emotion get in the way of your thinking. What guarantee do you have that we can rely on a youngster promoted playing 40-50 games (and at the level needed)?

 

[golden_blunder]

How about we get a defender or 2 in before we talk about selling any? talk about wanting to shoot ourselves in the foot!

As for McNair, he's had 1 game. Back off judgement.

 

[Getsme]

I did.

Not that I looked at it myself, but I would guess that if you looked back at the match day thread, it would be pretty much all thumbs up until a collective thumbs down after 70 - odd minutes. He was quite okay until he was bad.

When we are winning everyone is happy regardless of individual performances, Blackett did not play well against Leicester, and no one did a good job defensively. The worry is putting him back into the team after a few individual mistakes which have been highlighted and will obviously have a negative effect his confidence. If we have any one of Jones, Smalling or Evans back then they will be played, and if not, I'd imagine McNair will be given his second game of the season.

 

[SirFergie]

You are letting emotion get in the way of your thinking. What guarantee do you have that we can rely on a youngster promoted playing 40-50 games (and at the level needed)?

Not at all and none whatsoever, it's a judgement call. You say that like Evans is of the level needed! I'd rather put my faith in a fit centre-back who is young rather than one who is 26, has a long history of injuries, cannot be relied upon to stay fit and also makes questionable decisions for a supposed experienced defender. If you count Blackett and McNair, there are currently 6 first team central defenders (regardless of their age) on our books - 3 of them are injured. How many do we need before a couple stay fit?

Evans IMO should be sold to make room for the signing of similar age who can bully players, much like Vidic, and who won't get injured every time he goes in for a tackle. @golden_blunder Well yes, of course. I'm not proposing anything different.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Not at all and none whatsoever, it's a judgement call. You say that like Evans is of the level needed! I'd rather put my faith in a fit centre-back who is young rather than one who is 26, has a long history of injuries, cannot be relied upon to stay fit and also makes questionable decisions for a supposed experienced defender. If you count Blackett and McNair, there are currently 6 first team central defenders (regardless of their age) on our books - 3 of them are injured. How many do we need before a couple stay fit?

You said one of the young defenders can be relied on to play 40-50 games. I am saying what guarantee do you have to suggest that will happen?

 

[SirFergie]

You said one of the young defenders can be relied on to play 40-50 games. I am saying what guarantee do you have to suggest that will happen?

I said 'A' young defender, giving no specifics and I also said we have no guarantee, it's a judgement call, but there again what guarantee do we have any player stays fit? All there is are those that are injured and those who are not. Evans is injured and generally is a lot of the time and this has been the case for a number of seasons so it's nothing new is it.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

I said 'A' young defender, giving no specifics and I also said we have no guarantee, it's a judgement call, but there again what guarantee do we have any player stays fit? All there is are those that are injured and those who are not. Evans is injured and generally is a lot of the time and this has been the case for a number of seasons so it's nothing new is it.

That's my point, no one is guaranteed to stay fit, so bringing in any player, yet alone a young player and say play 50 games at the heart of Manchester United's defence just doesn't sit with me.

I understand and accept the fitness issues with Evans but selling him fixes nothing.

 

[SirFergie]

That's my point, no one is guaranteed to stay fit, so bringing in any player, yet alone a young player and say play 50 games at the heart of Manchester United's defence just doesn't sit with me.

I understand and accept the fitness issues with Evans but selling him fixes nothing.

Well exactly what does keeping him accomplish? He's not reliable. I'd rather put my faith in someone who doesn't have a shite injury record, regardless of age.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Well exactly what does keeping him accomplish? He's not reliable. I'd rather put my faith in someone who doesn't have a shite injury record, regardless of age.

And if that person gets injured? If Evans returns before Jones or Smalling?

I know Evans splits opinion and his fitness is an issue but he is a good defender. And given our current situation he gives us experience and depth.

 

[Getsme]

And if that person gets injured? If Evans returns before Jones or Smalling?

I know Evans splits opinion and his fitness is an issue but he is a good defender. And given our current situation he gives us experience and depth.

There is no point using logic when it comes to Evans.
Anyway this thread is getting way off topic. Just watched the game again and McNair played far better than I originally gave him credit for, he’s not as slow as some on here would have you believe nor is he bad in the air, in fact the opposite is true. It was great to see Rojo continually congratulate and encourage him, very impressed with Rojos attitude so far.

 

[SirFergie]

And if that person gets injured? If Evans returns before Jones or Smalling?

I know Evans splits opinion and his fitness is an issue but he is a good defender. And given our current situation he gives us experience and depth.

Seriously, you have them injured before they've been given the chance! I think Evans' record has clouded your sense of reality when it comes to defenders - they all aren't as injury prone as he is! He's also never proved himself to be a leader or a defender that can organise the other 3. Never. He's a good defender when he's with a leader such as Vidic or Rio, when fit and on form yes and he's a good footballer, I agree with you there.

However, I don't know how many times I have to say it but he cannot be relied upon to stay fit. It defeats the object having a seemingly experienced defender who can't play because his injury record is seriously poor and it's not like it's just this season. He's not offering us depth when he's not available for a crucial period of the season and who knows how long it may be before he's available again.

It's every season with him, he picks up injuries central defenders shouldn't pick up. He's made of chocolate!

 

[Getsme]

he picks up injuries central defenders shouldn't pick up. He's made of chocolate!

 

[Dr Fink]

Young Paddy had a great debut. Rojo encouraged him throughout. THAT header was outstanding and saved the game for us. Confident on the ball. A great future I hope.

 

[orangeboom999]

Like most of the young lads he did very well, certainly looks a talented young man. The problem is that we are lacking experience and organisation at the back.

 

[red_7]

that header was glorious. What a way to start a United career.

Couldn't be happier than if one of our academy players Blackett, Thorpe or McNair would develop into a leader at our back over the next years.

Let' go for one experienced CB like Godin in January and let the young players battle it out. The future is bright!

 

[sdb4884]

How tall is he?

 

[gooDevil]

How tall is he?

Couldn't find his height anywhere when I checked yesterday.

I'd guess 6'3".