Source: Team_Talk
Evans thanks friends for honesty
Manchester United defender Jonny Evans is pleased he has friends and family that are not afraid to tell him when he has a bad game.[LNB] By his own admission, Evans did not enjoy the best of times last term.[LNB]Indeed, his honest assessment in the summer was that if he reproduced those efforts again, this season would probably be his last at Old Trafford.[LNB]However, the improvement could not have been more marked.[LNB]Evans' appearance in Tuesday's Champions League win over Otelul Galati in Romania was his ninth of the season; and the 23-year-old has already started the key confrontations with Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.[LNB]With Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic available for Sunday's Manchester derby, Evans is sweating on his place again.[LNB]However, the mere fact he has re-established his position at United is credit to those around Evans who ensured his focus returned.[LNB]"I have enough family and friends around me who are happy to bring me down to earth," he said.[LNB]"I have friends who would say, 'You didn't play too well today'.[LNB]"At the time, I might think they are being cheeky but they were right. They will tell you.[LNB]"Sometimes you have to take on board what the people closest to you say. You have to be honest with yourself as well."[LNB]Last season's struggles did come as a surprise to the Northern Ireland international.[LNB]After all, Ferguson had been happy enough to let Gerard Pique return to Barcelona in the summer of 2008 so sure was he of Evans' progress.[LNB]Initially, the faith was repaid in spades as Evans stood in for Ferdinand, helping United to secure another league title and reach the Champions League final again.[LNB]Even the following year, when the Red Devils finished runners-up to Chelsea, Evans was a stand-out performer.[LNB]Then it all started to go wrong.[LNB]"If you look back over the years a lot of youngsters have come into the team and had a good season or two, then taken a little dip," Evans said.[LNB]"Sometimes you do think you are immune from it and maybe I took my eye off the ball a little bit.[LNB]"Maybe I relaxed a bit too much and thought it was going to come as easily as the previous two seasons.[LNB]"All of a sudden it hits you. You just have to regroup and have a word with yourself."[LNB]For Evans the task was to forget about the harsher assessments of critics in the media, or even fans, who are notoriously hard to please at the best of times.[LNB]Those close friends delivered the assessments that mattered, as well as the reassurance Evans had the class required to make it at the club he supported as a boy in Belfast.[LNB]"I feel more assured now," he said.[LNB]"When you go through a stage of not playing well, there is a bit of pressure.[LNB]"Sometimes you can feel the crowd are getting on your back. In the end it was a case of 'stuff it, what have I got to lose'.[LNB]"The thing in my favour was that I have never been one to shirk a challenge.[LNB]"Whenever things are tough, I always feel as though I can respond and not hide away.[LNB]"Now I go out there and relax, play my football and go home."
