Who replaces Evans?

[RowlattsFox]

7 minutes ago, surrifox said:

Have got a dud with Benkovic ? Is he unfit  or just not up to it ? Just wondering .

Or he's just 4th choice at the minute and we're not going to have 2 centre backs on the bench. Although it was surprising for him not be involved in at least one of the cup games.

[surrifox]

3 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Or he's just 4th choice at the minute and we're not going to have 2 centre backs on the bench. Although it was surprising for him not be involved in at least one of the cup games.

Agreed . Plus it’s widely reported (speculated) that we are scouting central defenders 

[Spudulike]

2 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

Or he's just 4th choice at the minute and we're not going to have 2 centre backs on the bench. Although it was surprising for him not be involved in at least one of the cup games.

He wasn't involved in the recent internationals either, I think. Somethings not right. 

[Kuredufox]

Oh sorry TJB a centre back wins one header....Think his position ratio should be higher than that,

[Ian S]

1 minute ago, Kuredufox said:

Oh sorry TJB a centre back wins one header....Think his position ratio should be higher than that,

Kept a clean sheet so what’s the problem. If we had conceded with Wes on the pitch he would have got pelters on this forum whether it was his fault or not. As it is we don’t concede, they don’t have a shot on target but he still gets stick. Go figure.

[Kuredufox]

watching the game you could obviously see the difference when he came on. Both Ricardo and Cags had to cover more than with Evans, Unfortunately time has caught up with Morgan. It is not a critisism of him as a Captain or what he has done in the past, he will always be an immortal, but time catches up especially as a centre half where pace and positioning are a necessity. To come on to man mark a big centre forward in the last 10 minutes is fine, however for 90  minutes???

[Tommo220]

19 minutes ago, Kuredufox said:

watching the game you could obviously see the difference when he came on. Both Ricardo and Cags had to cover more than with Evans, Unfortunately time has caught up with Morgan. It is not a critisism of him as a Captain or what he has done in the past, he will always be an immortal, but time catches up especially as a centre half where pace and positioning are a necessity. To come on to man mark a big centre forward in the last 10 minutes is fine, however for 90  minutes???

If pace were necessary, United wouldn't have just splashed £85m on Harry Maguire.  Positioning is entirely down to match fitness with a player like Morgan.

 

As it stands, a 36 year old player (who clearly isn't match fit having not played all season) played a part in keeping a clean sheet against a pretty decent Brighton team. if he plays, chances are he's slightly sharper than he was at the weekend just for having played.

 

Morgan for me - FB on the bench to play a half hour at the end if Morgan starts tiring.

[jayfox26]

Its 100% going to be Morgan. Not a chance will Benko play as hes not played a single minute for us yet and not a chance would we risk Fuchs or Ndidi. Moving Ndidi out of the holding role would be a huge loss for us. I love Hamza and he has a great future ahead of him but hes not at the level that Ndidi is and a huge reason our defence has been so tight is down to Ndidi. 

[ThaiFox]

Has to be Morgan because he knows what to do and has played with all the current defenders. With Ricardo and Soyuncu, who are quick, either side of him, that helps covers Morgan's biggest fault.

 

Benkovic has no P/L experience, and no experience playing with our other defenders in big game situations. But could be brought on in games if we are winning well to gain some experience.

 

I think we'll sign another young centre back in January.

[Dahnsouff]

Evans clearly 

[foxy boxing]

Obviously it will be Morgan, he's vastly experienced and knows the Premier League, Benkovic has had no game time and has no Premier League experience.

[Kuredufox]

Dont get me wrong I believe from our choice of replacements Wes is the best option. However I do believe that we are weaker with him in the team over a period of 90 minutes.

[brucey]

Just had a baby apparently!
Wonder if he’ll be allowed paternity leave if not fully fit..

 

 

[Chrysalis]

On 23/11/2019 at 17:03, Sampson said:

Wes was fine when he came on.

 

Obviously he's not the player he was, but he's still an incredibly experienced and competent centre back.

 

He'll be fine for the odd game.

The problem was we seemed to change shape to accommodate him.  Wes was visibly less mobile than Evans.

 

This as a result meant Soyuncu was covering balls for him, but more of a concern Ricardo stopped going forward.

[Ian S]

19 hours ago, Chrysalis said:

The problem was we seemed to change shape to accommodate him.  Wes was visibly less mobile than Evans.

 

This as a result meant Soyuncu was covering balls for him, but more of a concern Ricardo stopped going forward.

Yep really affected our attacking intent, came on at 0-0 and won     2-0.

[LC/FC]

12 minutes ago, Ian S said:

Yep really affected our attacking intent, came on at 0-0 and won     2-0.

I said to the girlfriend just after the start of the second half that we needed a sub to create a spark to get back into the game, after not taking our chances.

Little did I know that spark turned out to be Westley ****ing Morgan!

[Jimmy]

52 minutes ago, Ian S said:

Yep really affected our attacking intent, came on at 0-0 and won     2-0.

we countered them, we were always able to do that but can we play our normal football if Ricardo has to stay back more?

[Deeg67]

Obviously we're a better side with Evans on the pitch than Morgan.  Obviously his lack of mobility does constrain Ricardo's ability to go forward.  But if we're going to be without JE for a game (whether due to injury or paternity) I'd much rather it be against a side on terrible form with a dead man walking manager.  Frankly we should be able to get three points off this Everton side with any two of our regulars missing, so while I'd rather see Evans play it's a game we should win handily either way.