When Jonny Evans’ name was announced in the starting lineup for the match against Manchester City, he was probably just as startled as the Manchester United supporters.
The 35-year-old played in his first Manchester derby at Old Trafford since October 2011, but United lost 6-1 and he was sent off throughout the match.
Even though Sunday’s score was less embarrassing, it is disheartening for supporters to witness their team fail to even muster a fight in one of their most eagerly awaited games of the season against such formidable opponents.
Supporters were surprised when Evans began before Raphael Varane because the Frenchman has frequently been the team’s most dependable center-half. Though Erik ten Hag called the choice “tactical,” it was ultimately evident that it was unsuccessful.
In an interview with MUTV following the loss, the former captain of Leicester City expressed that injuries had been a contributing cause to United’s poor play this season.
“It’s never simple,” he started. “Everyone feels let down. Although you wish you could go back in time, you understand that it’s time for us to move on.
That’s the main focus at our club; you have to [move on]. We’ll be making sure everything is ready for the upcoming game right now. I believe that a number of critical personnel injuries have interrupted us this season. We would probably be missing a number of our starting players. With just two days between games, I believe the manager has discovered how tough it is to sort of work on [the] team, on tactics, and to change the squad quite a bit.
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