We need to talk about Jonny Evans

[Oxfordfox83]

49 minutes ago, hejammy said:

So assuming all 3 are fit. Where do we all see the 2 at the back? Cags/Fof or Evans/Fof or Cags/Evans. Which pair is it for the second half of the season (after Cags gets back to full fitness) 

Right now, we have about 13 players bang in form, and Fofana is absolutely strolling the league. 
 

I think the solution makes itself-Soyuncu comes back when Evans gets suspended (won’t be long, he’s a yellow a game at the moment)

[Koke]

52 minutes ago, hejammy said:

So assuming all 3 are fit. Where do we all see the 2 at the back? Cags/Fof or Evans/Fof or Cags/Evans. Which pair is it for the second half of the season (after Cags gets back to full fitness) 

 

I still maintain Cags - Fofana is the way to go. People say Evans is a calming influence but so is Cags. He's not the reckless kid from 2 years ago. Fofana can learn from Soyuncu and he probably will. 

 

Evans was poor last night. I like him but I think he is 3rd best right now. 

[Ric Flair]

I said in the match thread last night at half time that individually our defenders were doing well last night but collectively they looked a touch vulnerable when Chelsea went through the final third. Having reconsidered this I though Fofana, Justin and Castagne were excellent last night but the moments of danger were all from Evans. He didn't have a particularly bad game as he made a few superb interceptions and read the game as good as ever but there were a few occasions where he put us in danger too.

 

He is the glue that holds this young and dynamic defence together though and his return to form after a rough November has been the catalyst to us conceding very few goals. 

[MarshallForEngland]

11 minutes ago, Koke said:

 

I still maintain Cags - Fofana is the way to go. People say Evans is a calming influence but so is Cags. He's not the reckless kid from 2 years ago. Fofana can learn from Soyuncu and he probably will. 

 

Evans was poor last night. I like him but I think he is 3rd best right now. 

Brendan's comments after the Chelsea win last night suggest he views both Cags and Fofana as apprentices of sorts to Evans. He said that Evans gives a lot of direction to whoever is playing beside him, which is a side of his game we can't really pick up easily on tele. I think it's unfair to say he had a poor game anyway. Almost giving away that pen aside I thought he did everything else right. I do think Cags has the odd moment of rashness in him still, I always get nervy when he does a cute little stepover or feint to dribble out of defence 😅 It does look like having Evans around is good for both him and Fofana, not sure if Cags and Fofana together would give us the same balance. 

Edited 20 January 2021 by MarshallForEngland

[Facecloth]

He's improved since I started this thread, no doubt about that. The class comments are a bit far though. Very lucky not to give away a penalty in each if the last two games, and his passing out from the back is still very poor at times, going straight to the opposition. He's positioning and anticipation have improved though.

 

Closest comparison I can think of is a mate who supports Newcastle used to say Titus Bramble* could be solid for 80%-85% of a game, but the other 15%-20% he would do something crazy like hack someone down in the box, shank on into his own net or give the ball away in dangerous areas.

 

*This is an extreme comparison, Evans is much better on a whole than Bramble, but its relative.

[HighPeakFox]

We have a shed load of fixtures about to happen, I don't see a problem other than someone crucial getting nobbled.

[whoareyaaa]

7 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

He's improved since I started this thread, no doubt about that. The class comments are a bit far though. Very lucky not to give away a penalty in each if the last two games, and his passing out from the back is still very poor at times, going straight to the opposition. He's positioning and anticipation have improved though.

 

Closest comparison I can think of is a mate who supports Newcastle used to say Titus Bramble* could be solid for 80%-85% of a game, but the other 15%-20% he would do something crazy like hack someone down in the box, shank on into his own net or give the ball away in dangerous areas.

 

*This is an extreme comparison, Evans is much better on a whole than Bramble, but its relative.

I think that's pretty fair, he does need to cut out this giving the ball back to the opposition near his own box and he does have a few edgy moments in games like he's playing for the opposition but most of the time he is solid and can play forward.

[Les-TA-Jon]

This season, with all the games, and all the injuries we've had (and more to come - see: Praet) there's no such thing as 'first choice'. You simply play the best team you can for every game, considering injuries, suspension, rest and recovery. All 3 will rotate. 

[Foxxed]

Fofana's form is incredible. Soyuncu is world class. It would be unfair to drop either. Yet Evan's experience is essential to the back four. And we play best with two centre halves. Difficult decisions.

[shiv]

After a great start to his career here, I do think he fell off a little and was one of many contributors to our downturn in form last season. I don’t even think he started this season well to be honest.

 

However, since signing his new contract he has been an absolute beast. Made me happily eat my words. Hope he keeps it up!

[Babylon]

45 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

He's improved since I started this thread, no doubt about that. The class comments are a bit far though. Very lucky not to give away a penalty in each if the last two games, and his passing out from the back is still very poor at times, going straight to the opposition. He's positioning and anticipation have improved though.

 

Closest comparison I can think of is a mate who supports Newcastle used to say Titus Bramble* could be solid for 80%-85% of a game, but the other 15%-20% he would do something crazy like hack someone down in the box, shank on into his own net or give the ball away in dangerous areas.

 

*This is an extreme comparison, Evans is much better on a whole than Bramble, but its relative.

How can you be lucky when they weren't penalties. It's not like we got away with anything. 

[baldeagle]

I was surprised at his turn of pace in the Southampton game when he legged it 3/4 the length of the pitch to catch up with someone I had to check twice that it was him as it’s not something he’s known for . 

Edited 20 January 2021 by baldeagle

[coolhandfox]

We are going to need all 3! Fofana is 1 booking away from a suspension.

 

We are coming upto to a busy period.

[Bablemikey]

As good as he is, and I rate him highly, I'm really keen to see what the future with Cags and Fofana as a pair looks like.

 

[jayfox26]

We know Cags and Evans play well together and we know Fofana and Evans play well together. What we dont know yet is whether Fofana and Cags can play well together. They are both similar in that the way they play and are both still quite young. I still feel in most games we need Evans' experience but I could see Cags and Fofana eventually becoming a formidable centre back pairing. The only other difficulty we will have is similar to the Vardy one. We will  need another centre back in the summer but what decent player will want to come here as 4th choice, just like what top striker would come and play 2nd fiddle to Vardy. Ben Davies from preston is a player we have long been linked with and he is a free agent in the summer but apparently Rangers are trying to get him on a pre contract. He could have been a decent option as 4th choice. The other option would be to promote a youth player to be 4th choice but then that could hamper their development if they dont play very often. 

[jayfox26]

6 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

We are going to need all 3! Fofana is 1 booking away from a suspension.

 

We are coming upto to a busy period.

Doesnt the 5 yellow thing get reset after the half way point? 

[The whole world smiles]

On 22/11/2020 at 20:18, Facecloth said:

Now this isn't a reaction to the OG, I've been saying this for a while, but it just get brushed under the carpet. He's been extremely poor for months, like pre first lockdown. 

 

At first I clocked his poor distribution, which was putting us under pressure each game. Not just a few wayward passes to knowhere, but playing the ball straight the opposition midfielders. A cleanly struck ball, but just to the wrong player. Overtime he's then been making more and more defensive errors, getting caught for pace, being out of position, losing his man. He's been a liability for Northern Ireland recently too. I know he's carried a knock recently, but its been going on way before that.

 

People love to talk about him as Rolls Royce defender, but he's more like a clapped out Reliant Robin of late. Massive improvement needed or imo that contract that's running down can run down.

How do you feel about him now out of interest? 

[hackneyfox]

8 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

We are going to need all 3! Fofana is 1 booking away from a suspension.

 

We are coming upto to a busy period.

Players who accumulate 10 yellow cards in PL matches up to and including their team's 32nd fixture will serve a two-match suspension in the competition.

[UHDrive]

There is another dynamic to Cags in that yes, he is far too good to be a bench warmer and it was unfortunate that his injury coincided with Fofana coning in. On the other hand i was saying that Cags needed to be tied down with a new contract before the season started. The question now is will he commit to another contract with Evan's and Fofana's pairing and not wanting to be a "bit part player" under these circumstances.

[Facecloth]

59 minutes ago, Babylon said:

How can you be lucky when they weren't penalties. It's not like we got away with anything. 

Yesterday was millimetres from the line. You telling me he knew exactly where he was making contact, to the millimetres when he lunged in on Pulisic as he flew through?

 

Against Southampton he barged into the back of Long. Luckily Long was offside, because it was a clear foul. Judging by Evans' desperation to get him out the way to get to the ball, I don't think he could claim he knew Long was offside. So he made that challenge on a player he assumed was onside.

[Facecloth]

46 minutes ago, The whole world smiles said:

How do you feel about him now out of interest? 

Posted further up

[filbertway]

12 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

Yesterday was millimetres from the line. You telling me he knew exactly where he was making contact, to the millimetres when he lunged in on Pulisic as he flew through?

 

Against Southampton he barged into the back of Long. Luckily Long was offside, because it was a clear foul. Judging by Evans' desperation to get him out the way to get to the ball, I don't think he could claim he knew Long was offside. So he made that challenge on a player he assumed was onside.

About half a yard outside the box, it was not that close, I was getting annoyed with Tyler saying it was close when the still they were looking at showed it a good half a yard outside

 

Southampton I totally agree with though. I think Soyuncu/Fofana will be the starting pairing by the start of next season with Evans being the experienced stand in. What a quality option to have to step in for suspensions/injuries.

[Babylon]

19 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

Yesterday was millimetres from the line. You telling me he knew exactly where he was making contact, to the millimetres when he lunged in on Pulisic as he flew through?

 

Against Southampton he barged into the back of Long. Luckily Long was offside, because it was a clear foul. Judging by Evans' desperation to get him out the way to get to the ball, I don't think he could claim he knew Long was offside. So he made that challenge on a player he assumed was onside.

It wasn't mm's at all, it was about a foot outside the area, the clown of a ref should have been able to see it with his own eyes. 

 

Have you not considered that if Long had actually been onside, then he could have just made a clear tackle. As it was, Long stole an advantage whether he meant to or not and was penalised for it. 

[Facecloth]

14 minutes ago, Babylon said:

It wasn't mm's at all, it was about a foot outside the area, the clown of a ref should have been able to see it with his own eyes. 

 

Have you not considered that if Long had actually been onside, then he could have just made a clear tackle. As it was, Long stole an advantage whether he meant to or not and was penalised for it. 

I know Long stole an advantage, thats why it was offside and not a penalty. But Evans didn't know that, yet he felt that it was a good decision to barge into the back of what he assumed was a legally positioned player. Long being offside isn't relevant to Evans' decision making in that situation, as he clearly thought he was onside or he wouldn't have made such a desperate attempt to get to the ball before him.

 

Mm, a yard, a foot, whatever, far to close for comfort and he wouldn't have been fully aware that he was making contact in or out the area in that split second. It was a desperate lung when there were other players around that meant it wasn't needed.

[Guest SO1]

1 hour ago, hackneyfox said:

Players who accumulate 10 yellow cards in PL matches up to and including their team's 32nd fixture will serve a two-match suspension in the competition.

Small price to pay given the amount of attacks he snuffs out.