The world is well versed with the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson was a mastermind in scouting the best of talents from across Europe - from the enigmatic Eric Cantona to a young and talented Cristiano Ronaldo, to England’s greatest ever goal scorer, Wayne Rooney.
One such talent was Gerard Piqué, who was poached in 2004 at the tender age of 17, from FC Barcelona’s famous academy, La Masia.
Jonny Evans was another talented defender from Northern Ireland, who was scouted numerous times by Manchester United and was touted to become a great defender. Eventually, he was signed as a teenager by the club, from Greenisland FC of Northern Ireland.
In order to help Evans reach his potential, Ferguson sent him out on loan on three occasions; once at Manchester United’s Belgian feeder club, Royal Antwerp FC, and twice in three years to Sunderland.
Pique – The perfect fit for United
Gerard Piqué was also sent out on loan to Real Zaragoza, the La Liga based outfit, in spite of representing United a few times since his arrival in 2004.
The Spaniard a no-nonsense center half, loves to be on the ball and knock it in and around his own half. The calmness he shows in his style of play drew comparisons with the legendary German center half, Franz Beckenbauer.
Sir Alex Ferguson, ever since the dawn of the Premier League era, made sure that his starting 11 consisted of at least one ball playing center half – the crux of his successful philosophy.
His teams always had someone who could build up play from the back, play a crucial role in the counter attack, maintain a high tempo, bring the ball forward, and stake an authority in the team.
Gerard Piqué was the ideal choice and fitted the bill perfectly. Manchester United, however, couldn’t get the best out of him and they missed out on a born winner.
Displacing the best defensive partnership
Piqué and Evans were well versed with the fact that dethroning Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand - one of the best defensive partnerships in the league, wasn’t an easy task.
Piqué, being a Catalonian, left the Old Trafford outfit, mainly due to the lack of playing time and also to fulfill his dream of playing for his boyhood club - FC Barcelona.
With Piqué long gone, Jonny Evans was told to fight for his place at the club, after returning from his impressive loan spells at Sunderland; and it didn’t take him long to break into the first team as a regular.
His patience paid off; Rio Ferdinand’s persistent niggling back problem meant that Jonny Evans would be his natural successor in the heart of United’s defense, alongside Nemanja Vidic.
Evans’ shortcomings
Jonny Evans, although labelled a ball-playing center half, couldn’t bring the ball forward as much as he would have wanted to; lethargic, skinny and a lack of discipline in his decision-making ability, had become immensely unpopular among the Old Trafford faithful.
He wasn’t a ‘Sir Alex’ center half; he was more in the mould of Laurent Blanc than Jaap Stam.
Evans’ failures – not delivering on a consistent basis and being erroneous, became major concerns for Sir Alex. One hugely unpopular error made by Evans was against Bolton Wanderers.
The game was very important with respect to the title race. Evans saw a straight red card for a cynical, reckless lunge into US international Stuart Holden. The challenge eventually kept Holden out of action for a year, and Evans served a three-match ban.
With 9 games to go, the title race was hanging in the balance and was wide open for, Chelsea, the defending champions, Manchester City and Arsenal (who had a game in hand) in their chase for glory with Manchester United. United eventually won the title, for a record 19th time by a margin of 9 points.
However, Evans’ inconsistency, especially in the latter stages of the season, developed a sense of distrust in United’s management hierarchy. They immediately signed Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, another pair of young British center halves touted for glory.
Evans, who won numerous accolades (3 Premier Leagues, 2 English League Cups, 4 FA Community Shields, and 1 FIFA Club World Cup) under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, experienced an uneventful life in football after Sir Alex’ retirement.
Not only did he fail to repay Sir Alex’s faith, he also managed to lose the trust of David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal, Ferguson’s successors at Old Trafford. His failure to break into the first team as a regular under Van Gaal prompted him to move away from Old Trafford and play for another Premier League side, West Bromwich Albion.
Pique vs Evans
Gerard Piqué, on the other hand, has been a crucial member of the decade’s most dominant football club, FC Barcelona. In 2009, his first year with the Catalan giants, Piqué won the cup treble. Since then, there’s been no looking back for the tall Catalonian.
He has won more than 20 trophies for Barcelona, including a second cup treble in the season of 2015-16. His achievements, however, are not limited to the domestic level. Piqué has proven his mettle at the international stage with the Spanish national side; he was an integral part of the 2010 World Cup winning side and the 2012 European Championship winning side.
Pique has won everything a player could win for club and country - something that other players can only dream of!
Jonny Evans, on the other hand, in spite of showing early signs of promise, never really managed to reach his potential with Manchester United; Piqué proved Sir Alex wrong and won the bragging rights while competing (not literally) with Jonny Evans.
One of Tim Notke’s quotes, “Hardwork beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” fittingly describes Ferguson’s failure to identify the future backbone of Manchester United’s defence.
Anyone who understands football wouldn’t deny the fact that, Piqué, being a beast and a leader at the back, would’ve thrived under Sir Alex.
However, with the legendary manager choosing Evans meant that Manchester United’s loss was Barcelona’s and Gerard Piqué’s gain.
