Jonny Evans, a player for Northern Ireland, makes his second professional debut against Arsenal after signing a one-year deal at Erik ten Hag’s former club Manchester United. He said that his performance in North Ireland’s 4-2 loss to Slovenian on Thursday night “wasn’t up to scratch.”
On the day before the deadline, Evans, 35 years of age, rejoined the Manchester United team on a one-year contract. After being let go by Leicester after their demotion to the Premier League, the center-back became a free agent. He already played a part in Erik ten Hag’s team’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal.
His performance at the Emirates suggests Evans will have a significant season at Old Trafford. But Ten Hag might be a bit concerned after his performance for Northern Ireland. Despite his experience, Evans hasn’t recently participated in a lot of competitive football.
Despite dropping four of its first five qualifying matches, the northern Ireland’s prospects of qualification for Euro 2024 have been all but gone.
They were put in a group with Finland, Denmark, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, and San Marino, so this will come as a huge disappointment. Against Slovenia, Evans had a difficult evening. Sadly, a cross bounced off him and went into his very own goal throughout the first half, resulting in him scoring an own goal. He nevertheless scored the first goal he’s scored since returning to United by finding the opposite net.
Evans acknowledged, “I wasn’t convinced I performed fantastically myself.Even though I got a goal, I didn’t feel like I performed really well. I am able to admit that since I am knowledgeable and skilled enough. We cannot keep giving up simple goals at the start of the game like we did.
“From the defense’s perspective, that was difficult to accept. With it, we were always dependable and extremely strong. This is not a normal Northern Ireland match, especially away from home, I was thinking even during the game.
After dropping three of its first four qualifying matches, the nation of Ireland is also in risk of losing out on another important competition. With France, Greece, Gibraltar, and the Netherlands as the other four sides in their group, Stephen Kenny’s team had a difficult task ahead of them in order to qualify.
Wales is also having a difficult time. With just four points after their first four qualifying matches, they need to prevail in Latvia on Monday to regain some traction in their campaign. Wales received invitations to Euro 2016, Euro 2020, and the 2014 World Cup.