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Time to tidy the defensive woes
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
25th September, 2014
2
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Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
25th September, 2014
2

Last Sunday was a poor result if you’re a Manchester United or Everton fan, with both teams losing games they were expected to win.

Parallels certainly exist between both club’s situations.

Manchester United led 3-1 against Leicester and managed to ship four goals in quick time as they went on to lose 5-3. Everton lost 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace.

Defence has been and is a major issue for both sides and it’s an area that both clubs failed to address adequately in the off-season.

From a Manchester United perspective central defence is an area that looked like it needed immediate attention at the end of last season. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, for so long the cornerstone of the United side, both departed.

That left players such as Johnny Evans, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, who at best are serviceable, and also injury prone. While centre back Marcos Rojo was signed it is expected he will spend more time at left back following the departure of another long serving player, Patrice Evra. Daley Blind, meanwhile, is more suited to playing as a defensive midfielder.

Tyler Blackett is one player who has come into the defence and shown promise, but at 20 years of age is still going to be prone to the occasional mistake.

Meanwhile, Everton allowed Johnny Heitinga to depart during the January transfer window last season and last month saw developing youngster Shane Duffy sold to Championship side Blackburn. One positive in the off-season was the contract extension for John Stones, but like Blackett he is still very young and learning his trade.

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That leaves the central defensive positions filled by Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin. While both have been great players for Everton their ages of 32 and 36 respectively has raised concerns about their long term viability, especially with Everton facing increased games with Europa League competition.

After his performances last season Everton supporters will not have a lot of faith in Antolin Alcaraz providing adequate cover centrally.

Every club operates under different models, so it is not always feasible that they will spend the money they want too. Manchester United is one club who do not have such a problem. The additions of Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera took spending to more than £150 million under the reign of Louis van Gaal. So the defence could have been bolstered.

Everton are a club that traditionally has not had funds to spend. However in the off-season they loosened the purse strings with the purchase of Romelu Lukaku for a club record £28 million fee.

While we are only five games into the season both clubs will have their concerns. Everton twice led against Crystal Palace, allowing them to equalise both times. Holding a 2-0 lead against Arsenal they conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes. They conceded six against Chelsea and three against Swansea most recently in the Capital One Cup.

Manchester United not only looked poor against Leicester, their 4-0 loss against Milton Keynes Dons in the league cup last month is still vivid in the memory bank.

Everton, after a fifth placed finish last season, are hoping to push towards the top four, as are Manchester United, after a rare absence from the Champions League. Both sides need to tighten up at the back. Clean sheets are essential, otherwise both clubs can forget about entering Europe’s top competition next year.

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