2 reasons why Silvestre is still at Manchester United
Park Ji-Sung and Mikael Silvestre have signed contract extensions till 2010 and 2009 respectively.
While Park’s extension will be a positive sign (and keep us hoping that he learns to score), Silvestre’s extension will bother the majority of Manchester United fans. The fact is, Silvestre has a lot of things going against his place in the first team.
As a natural left-back, his crossing ability is fit for the Championship, not a top-3 Premiership club. He is prone to giving the ball away with alarming regularity and when you combine that with his rash tackling, you have a poor squad player.
But Ferguson is refusing to throw Silvestre out. There could be a couple of reasons behind it - first, despite is faults, Silvestre is a good backup centre-half (if he can curb his tendency to give the ball away) and left-back. It is this versatility that keeps him in the squad, despite the fact that United have Vidic, Brown, Heinze and Ferdinand as their first choices in those positions.
The second reason has to do with Evra, and his relative failure to establish himself as a worthy replacement for Heinze. What Silvestre does not lack is pace, and Evra is at best a third-choice left-back and at worst the classic “can’t run, can’t cross, can’t tackle” type of player. Buying Evra proved a necessity in January, and Ferguson will want to give him time this year before determining whether he wants to keep him for any longer.
To sum it up, Silvestre is in the squad because he’s better than his supposed replacement (Evra) and he offers backup to the central defenders.
And currently, Ferguson’s focus is on improving the midfield and striking departments - he can ill-afford to throw out Silvestre when he has no real backup for Heinze available. Like it or not, Evans is too raw and O’Shea is more of a Phil Neville than a quality centre-half.
Maybe in the next two years, when Heinze gets to 30, we’ll see a new left-back coming through the ranks or being bought. You can expect Silvestre to be sold off by then, alongwith Evra (hopefully).
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Discussion - 8 Responses
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What bollocks, didn’t you see that cross I curled in for Rooney against Arsenal?
Or my double against Liverpool two seasons ago?
Do you even watch football, virgin?
No further questions.
And by your reckoning, Fletcher should be awarded a contract till 2012 because of his header against Chelsea and his goal against Oxford Utd in pre-season.
He’s still there because it provedes depth to the back-line, something Fergie is trying to do in all positions.
The last two seasons have seen us be hit with injuries and not have good enough back-up, keeping Silvestre means we have someone who is not great, but good enough to provide the defence with good back-up and strength in depth.
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You seem to have a dislike for Evra, but how on earth can you judge a player on the back of just a few games. At Monaco he became a very good player and was rater one of the best left back’s in Europe.
You have to remember it takes players time to settle into the new life-style England brings and of course he has to settle in with the United squad.
To say he is not good enough after a few games is fucking nonsense. Im not saying he’s going to become a great player and a regular at United, but give the bloke a chance. He’s proved in the French league and Champions League with Monaco he can cut it at the top, he just needs time to settle. We’ll see a much better player during the comeing season, in my opinion.
I\’m sure that Evra will play much better this season now that he has had a chance to settle in through pre-season (and hopefully will be a able backup to Heinze). He\’s a good fullback, but then again Miller was good at Celtic
Yeah, and Silvestre just lets the ball jump over his head an alarming number of times. As a defender, if you can’t judge the ball right, you’re a goner. And so should be Silvestre :S
I agree in some of your stuff. But the piece on Evra is crap. Evra had some difficult matches when he first came to United, having to play against City and Liverpool. (Mind you, he was the one who got the freekick that caused Rio to head home the winner..) He’s not great in the air, but he can run, tackle and pass like the rest of them. Either you are a really poor judge of player ability, or you just haven’t seen enough matches. Either way, you’re not fit to make those statements. He’s probably one of our most pacey defenders, and he DOES get stuck in. Actually, I think he’s quite brave at that. Give the man a break, it’s been half a season, he’ll come through, just wait and see.
Silvestre,
I agree totaly, gives the ball away, gives away needless fouls. Hits too many long diagnal balls to no one in particular. His crosses is awful, and his control is as good as emil hesky, if not worse. Second thought comparing his control with Emil Heskey might even be an insult to Hesky!
Evra,
????
Kive the kid a change, he has moved from the french league. Thrown in at the deap end before getting to grips with the premiership pace, hadnt grasped the teams playing style, and also more worse for him at a time that the team was playing awful. I am not 100% but i am sure one of his first matches he was playing behind Ronaldo, who doesnt give a toss about tracking back, he thinks he is too big for that!
Evra, will come good…….. Lets get behind him and give him a chance!
I agree Trevor. Also you’d get the feeling that the opposition was exploiting the fact Evra was a new player at times and ganging up on him and focusing their attacks from his side.
Back at Monaco, Evra was great, and he’s definitely faster than Silvestre and generally better, but he’s yet to show his quality.
If possible I’d like Gabby to play center half and Evra LB.