Manchester United's defenders: How have they performed?

In the previous article, we discussed about Man United’s performance as a team and the performance of the Goalkeepers. Here, we discuss the defenders.

United’s defence at the starting of the season was plagued with injuries. Injuries to captain Vidic, Jones and Smalling meant that United had only Ferdinand and Evans as the recognized centre back partnership in the initial 4-5 months of the campaign. United’s defence has been the major cause of worry for Sir Alex season as the club has let in sloppy goals with some silly and inconsistent defending. Even though United’s defence has let in goals, this time they have contributed by scoring a number of goals with Evans, Patrice Evra and Rafael constantly chipping in with goals, mainly from the set pieces. Now, in the last couple of weeks, all the defenders have finally recovered from their injuries, so United’s defence seems to be taking a proper shape. With the full return of captain Vidic in the match against West Brom, United suddenly seemed to have the stability it had been dying for the past year. So now we look at the performance of various United defenders.

Jonny Evans is now finally living up to his promise and repaying Sir Alex’s faith. Over the past one year, he has grown a lot and is now a dominant centre back who is not afraid to lunge into tackles, compete for the aerial balls and bang in a couple of goals too. His partnership with Ferdinand has been formidable and now we wait for the Vidic-Evans centre back partnership. One must congratulate him because at times he has single handedly rescued United from troubles. He now looks ready for the future years. He truly deserves a pat on the back. A positive sign for United’s defence.

Another bright spark for United’s heavily criticized defence is Rafael. The young Brazilian has made the right back spot his own with some mature and fantastic displays for the club. He has been one of the most consistent performers for the club. He knows when to tackle, when to just chase, when to attack and when to defend. In the previous seasons, he was slammed for being too rash in his tackles and being too attack minded but this season he has developed his game. His goal against Liverpool will be one to remember. His combination with Valencia on United’s right flank has been feared by oppositions. Well done Rafa.

Coming to Patrice Evra, he was slammed at the beginning of the season for his dismal performances as he failed to track back after an attack and couldn’t contribute much to the attack. He was also given a run for his money by Buttner in a couple of games but after that, it seems that he has raised his level and improved his performances a lot. He is now effective while attacking and already has 4 goals for United this season, compared to the 2 he had in his entire career. Though one can still see some moments of lack of concentration in his game, he has improved for sure and after the early blip, he has carried on well.

Coming to Rio Ferdinand, it has been a topsy turvy campaign for United’s senior centre back. This season he has been correctly titled as the big game player after he put in stellar performances against Chelsea, Man City and other important matches. But his lack of pace is exploited by attackers, as done by Gareth Bale, and his tendency to tackle at the last moment has not augured well for United. He is trying to make up for the loss of pace in his game with his positional skills and his match reading skills. He is already 34 and with Evans, Smalling and Jones as backup, the inevitable just might happen for Rio in a season or two. But still, his performances have been calming and his partnership with Evans prospered in the early part of the season, so we just have to see how the rest of the season shapes up for Rio.

Moving on to captain Nemanja Vidic, Vidic started the season but after a couple of matches his knee injury flared up again which meant that he missed the earlier part of the campaign. He really was missed as United lacked a leader at the back who would intimidate the opponents with his presence. Now with Vidic back and signs of him regaining his form after his performance against West Brom, the future looks bright for United. He was there to compete for every aerial ball and had Shane Long in his pocket. His commanding influence was definitely felt at the back for United. Every United fan will just hope that Vidic remains injury free as we approach the second half of the campaign.

So, as the players are recovering from their respective injuries, we see United’s defence coming back to normal and taking shape. For the right back spot, they seem to have got their man in young Brazilian Rafael while Jones and Smalling can also deputise whenever needed. For the centre backs, United have enough talent – the ever improving Jonny Evans, fit again captain Vidic and his experienced partner Rio Ferdinand along with Jones and Smalling and rookies in Scott Wooton and Micheal Keane. For the left back slot, we have the ever reliable Evra, Buttner and the next season we will also have Fabio returning from his loan move to QPR. So United’s defence, though has been criticized as the season progresses, is sure to answer its critics.