Jonny Evans’ “squeaky” pass created an opportunity for Bruno Fernandes to score a super goal. But if there wasn’t a storm of injuries in the MU defense, coach Erik ten Hag would never have looked at the 35-year-old midfielder.
Eight years since the last official match for MU, Evans started again in the red shirt. The return of the 35-year-old midfielder exposed the sad situation at MU. They exhausted Evans in his prime, but could not have imagined that nearly a decade later, they would have to rely on an out-of-date midfielder whose only job was to fill the bench.
Of course, Ten Hag would never look at Evans if he still had Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw or Harry Maguire. But the critical situation forced him to use the Northern Irish midfielder as an option despite the risks. And then Evans shined unexpectedly. A header hit Burnley’s net before being denied by VAR because Rasmus Hojlund was in an offside position. A high-class pass from… Pirlo as the ball looped past Burnley’s defense and placed Bruno Fernandes at a favorable shooting angle.
Jonny Evans deserved to be the best player in the 1-0 victory at Burnley. In addition to the excellent assist, the 35-year-old midfielder also made 8 successful clearances, becoming a reliable shield in front of Andre Onana in the context of his partner Victor Lindelof’s rather erratic play. On the day when new signing Sofyan Amrabat debuted in the final few minutes, Jonny Evans overshadowed everything with an impressive performance.
For the first time after 5 matches of having to concede a goal, MU kept a clean sheet. This achievement had a significant contribution from Jonny Evans. Happy for the 35-year-old veteran’s form, but that’s really not something worth promising at MU. Because of Evans, he is ultimately just the last choice in defense. Ten Hag clearly understands that Evans’ time is over. A good match against an opponent the size of Burnley does not mean that Evans is capable of shouldering the MU defense. “Martinez is injured, he cannot return yet. We have no choice but to use the remaining defenders in the squad,” the Dutch strategist admitted that he was “forced” to use Jonny Evans.
Even at his peak, Jonny Evans was just an average centre-back in the Premier League. In the early stages of playing for MU (2008-2015), the Northern Ireland international never played up to 30 matches in a Premier League season. Now at the age of 35 and after two struggling seasons at Leicester City, Evans’ rightful place should be somewhere in the English First Division or… Serie A.
MU’s recruitment of Evans in the summer transfer window was inherently a… smear for this team’s poor transfer system. MU once tried to pursue Kim Min-jae, but when they failed, they temporarily grabbed Jonny Evans to have enough troops in defense. Ten Hag must have told himself not to use Evans to avoid risks, since the 35-year-old midfielder accidentally let the ball hit his foot and fly into the net from Declan Rice’s shot in a 1-3 defeat to Arsenal. But in the end, Ten Hag still had to put Evans in the starting lineup against Burnley because of the injury storm.
Jonny Evans can continue to play well in the next match and gain more trust from Ten Hag. But the reality is that with this 35-year-old midfielder, the risks are always greater than expectations. If MU has to rely on Jonny Evans, then accept the situation of walking on a tightrope.