United4191:

I actually think we should have a look at signing a right back because the twins are looking a little injury prone at times. Evra first choice with Fabio to cover. Rio and Vidic first choice with Smalling and Jones to cover and then we have Rafael with no true right back to step in. Obviously Smalling Jones and even Valencia can cover but if it was me i would have a look at the availablity of Kyle Walker. I know he has signed a new contract recently but if a reasonable price is quoted then maybe it is worth a shot. Also with Ferdinand coming to the end of his United career Smalling and Jones will be getting even more game time in the centre.

No chance spuds will sell Walker

I just wish Rafael was a bit taller..

I actually think we should have a look at signing a right back because the twins are looking a little injury prone at times. Evra first choice with Fabio to cover. Rio and Vidic first choice with Smalling and Jones to cover and then we have Rafael with no true right back to step in. Obviously Smalling Jones and even Valencia can cover but if it was me i would have a look at the availablity of Kyle Walker. I know he has signed a new contract recently but if a reasonable price is quoted then maybe it is worth a shot. Also with Ferdinand coming to the end of his United career Smalling and Jones will be getting even more game time in the centre.

DOWN CITY!!!!:

I still think Rafael our main RB. Rio, with all due respect, is past his best and has started to lose pace. It should be a straight battle between Smalling and Jones for a place beside Vida, and when he starts to decline, we'll see the mouth-watering partnership of Smalling and Jones in the centre.

Either that or both Jones and Smalling play, one at centre-back alongside Vidic and one at right-back.

My 1st choice RB would be Rafael as long as he is fully fit (prefer to leave Fabio as LB to play him when Evra needs resting/out of form).

The problem is that, unfortunately, both the Da Silva twins are very brittle indeed and constantly pick up the slightest knock and are subsequently out of action for weeks. That's why we are having to consider the likes of Smalling and Jones for the RB position, which they can both execute very well in my opinion.

Because of this problem, i feel Sir Alex would prefer to go with -     Jones     Rio     Vidic     Evra     - as his starting back four. This isn't a bad thing in any case, it just means that it'll leave 2 of Rafael, Fabio, Smalling on the bench. (As, usually, we have 2 defensive subs so one of these 3 would miss out completely, likely to be one of the Da Silva twins).

Another thing is that we have missed the impact of Vidic greatly, when he is present the likes of Rio and Evra are a lot more calm & composed and seem to make less errors when we have Vidic in our settled back four, even the GK's would feel the impact Vidic offers when playing behind such an influential player.

Hopefully, after the international break, when it comes to Swansea (Away), we should 'hopefully' have all our defense back and then Sir Alex can start to prioritise the back four and choose a more settled one consisting of the four defenders he deems most influential to the squads overall success. 

I'm just thankful that we have such a 'plethora' of top quality defenders to pick from. Based on ability, i'd be quite content to play Fabio at LB to give time off for Evra as he has looked 'not with it' recently (just a shame Fabio is brittle). As i would also be content to do the same with Rio to give him rest and opt for Smalling at RCB instead. 

Both Jones and Smalling have exceeded my expectations since joining Man Utd and it's a blessing to have them as cover bearing in mind the brittleness of the Da Silva's and the fluctuating form of Rio.

This is the way i see things at present, more-so in what i believe Sir Alex would prefer to choose rather than my own choices (in order of 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice defenders) - 

             RB                                        RCB                                   LCB                                      LB

Jones/Rafael/Smalling     -     Rio/Smalling/Jones     -     Vidic/Jones/Evans     -     Evra/Fabio/Evans

 (1st)     (2nd)     (3rd)               (1st)    (2nd)     (3rd)              (1st)   (2nd)   (3rd)             (1st)  (2nd)  (3rd)

 

I still think eventually Sir Alex will opt for placing Evans as a left back as he will inevitably struggle to get a consistant run of games being 3rd choice in the pecking order behind Vidic and Jones at LCB.  Also, Evra can't go on forever (and Evans struggles more often than not in the centre of defense, just not commanding enough), so i also think it'll be done to accomodate that, so it would be Fabio and Evans alternating at LB once Evra has seen his best days behind him (looks like we are seeing the start of it this season so far.....hope i'm wrong!)

For our next game, and providing these players are fit & healthy i'd go for - Rafael     Rio     Vidic   Evra  (2 or 3 of Jones, Smalling, Evans, Fabio on the bench.)

What i think Sir Alex will opt for in our next game, providing they are fit & healthy are - Jones     Rio     Vidic     Evra  (Smalling & Evans/1 of the Da Silva's on the bench).

Whichever way, they both look good to me and i'm sure any other team in the league would love to have the defensive options/cover we have on offer, no doubt about that.  Once we have a settled back four we will be back to our best i'm sure (4 clean sheets already apparently since the loss to City in the league.....great to have Vidic back, don't underestimate his positive influence on the GK, Rio, Evra and the whole team collectively.  On a selfish note, Vidic retiring from Serbian duty can only be another positive for United, he obviously felt the time was right and Man Utd will reap the benefits from that decision (aswell as himslef physically!).....roll on our next game!

Interesting qs. Rafael is probably a bigger attacking threat than the others. He's very brave for his size. The only problem I have is that he's a bit hot headed at times and in big games (Bayern 2 seasons ago) can cost us. Jones offers more solidity, has good attacking potential and offers us good aerial power (we're a relatively small team and need more ironmen like Vidic in our team). Smalling's also done a great job there but he's best position is CB with Vidic (Sorry Rio). He's the new Rio, can read a game brilliantly and looks to be able to score as well

 I think Rafael should be the first choice, but for teams with height I think Smalling should play.

My depth chart for the back line:

   RB                          CB                         CB                       LB

Rafael                    Smalling                   Vidic                    Evra

Smalling                Ferdinand                Jones                   Fabio

Jones                       Jones                    Evans                  Jones

Rafael has more experience @ RB than jones/smalling combined no disrespect to the English boys but Rafael owns that position

Phil Jones owns that right back position.

mojojojo101:

Rafael is definately a superior right back to Jones, also Jones is a better centre back than a full back so why play him out of position when he is perfectly capable of being played in his natural position.

i think it simply that fergie wants him and smalling playing much as possible, even if it out of postion, we just have to many center backs who are to good to drop and so 1's always pushed out to right back

joey7premo:

Rafael would be my choice. Smalling Jones Vidic Rafael. Would be my starting choices. Evra and Rio arent impressing me lately. Rio is getting older and Evra unfortunately lost a family member so he should take some time for his family. When Rafael is healthy he'd be my rb without a doubt.

so you would drop evra, and play rafeal at RB who would play left back?

Rafael would be my choice. Smalling Jones Vidic Rafael. Would be my starting choices. Evra and Rio arent impressing me lately. Rio is getting older and Evra unfortunately lost a family member so he should take some time for his family. When Rafael is healthy he'd be my rb without a doubt.

Rafael is definately a superior right back to Jones, also Jones is a better centre back than a full back so why play him out of position when he is perfectly capable of being played in his natural position.

First choice: Jones - Smalling - Vidic - Evra

Second choice: Rafael - Ferdinand - Evans - Fabio

When all are fit I think Fabio would be used to rest Evra while Rafael is preferred on the right. Fergi has already decided that Rio is not a 1st choice hence either Smalling or Jones will get a fair no. of games. Jones would probably backup Fletcher as well so has extra chance of games as DMF.