Lee Evans

[dai]

He's clearly a good footballer, just wasn't given another chance after a poor game against T&T. Yet we seem to select other players time and time again who don't seem to be improving.

[insertname]

And this is where the “closed shop” accusations have some validity. Seeing as he is late 20’s it will be interesting to see if his form can win him a call up or if Page goes with younger players as he tends to. Ipswich by all accounts are playing to a very high standard at the moment so he should definitely be under consideration.

[dai]

The 'closed shop' theory seems to do with age. There's a good few solid and experienced players in the championship and league 1 which don't seem to get a look in - Lockyer, Lawrence, Hedges, Evans, Andrew Hughes, Morgan Fox.......probably a few more which I can't remember.

I really don't know if any of those would drastically improve our national side, but I do think Lockyer, Lawrence, Hedges and Evans are better players than some we have in the squad. 

[insertname]

Yeah there seems to be a cut off around 27 (with Burns being the only notable exception) where you are deemed probably too old to be worth bothering with. Hopefully this will at some point be proven to be just coincidence rather than a pattern. Josh Sheehan is another one (who has even been involved before) but is now “getting on” (in Page years 😂) who I would think should be being looked at if he can recreate his pre-injury club form.

Once the World Cup has passed it would be good to have a re-evaluation of the player base, especially with the likely retirements and transition period from the 2016 old guard. Again though, what games would be used to bring new players in with the lack of friendlies? Everything is a campaign of some sort these days with games that need to be won. There’s not a lot of scope for throwing a few players in to see how they do.

[Deleted]

Maybe page and the management team are just thinking ah shit what are we going to do when bale ramsey allen etc retire and are just thinking get them younger and give them a chance to grow into international football or not if they clearly are not ready/up to it.

[iot]

Sept 25, 2022 11:28:08 GMT dai said:

Sept 25, 2022 11:16:57 GMT insertname said:

And this is where the “closed shop” accusations have some validity. Seeing as he is late 20’s it will be interesting to see if his form can win him a call up or if Page goes with younger players as he tends to. Ipswich by all accounts are playing to a very high standard at the moment so he should definitely be under consideration.

The 'closed shop' theory seems to do with age. There's a good few solid and experienced players in the championship and league 1 which don't seem to get a look in - Lockyer, Lawrence, Hedges, Evans, Andrew Hughes, Morgan Fox.......probably a few more which I can't remember.

I really don't know if any of those would drastically improve our national side, but I do think Lockyer, Lawrence, Hedges and Evans are better players than some we have in the squad. 

There could have been some benefit in testing out those types of players in the hope that one or two show they can have a positive impact, but we also need to recognize there are drawbacks from constantly changing the squad. We're trying to create a club  mentality and sustain the really positive camaraderie we've had over several years. That would be hampered by constant changes in personnel. It's also difficult to see where we can test those players given we only play qualifiers, tournament games, and Nations League matches. It also means we spend less time refining ideas with the players who have been in the system, getting tactical tweaks across etc. if they're often replaced by other players.

[robin1864]

One average game vs. T&T (where everyone else was bang average, too) and everyone wrote him off. Without looking at the stats, he must get more minutes - and at a decent level - than Levitt, Morrell & Smith put together.

Evans really should have been included in this round of internationals, he'd provide desperately needed experience going into the World Cup, and a decent transition between the Allen/Rambo era to the Colwill/Ampadu era. I'm getting shivers at the thought of Morrell trying to keep a 34-year-old Iranian midfielder quiet.

[iot]

To be fair, Vaulks was much better than him in that game and look how rubbish he's been since. I don't think he can have any complaints. He's been behind players either playing at a higher level or ones like Morrell who have shown that they can do a job for us. Think it's also about the type of player we need in the middle. I know exactly what type of player Morrell is - he gets stuck in and keeps us ticking with simple, but effective distribution. From what I've seen of him, Evans isn't that sort of player. He has a bit of a whiff of a luxury player about him

[robin1864]

Sept 25, 2022 17:56:19 GMT iot said:

From what I've seen of him, Evans isn't that sort of player. He has a bit of a whiff of a luxury player about him

Perfect for when Ramsey is out of action then.

[iot]

Ramsey? Quite the opposite. You can hardly accuse Ramsey of going unnoticed in games!

[manulike]

Lee is still only 28 and seems to be getting plenty of playing time at Ipswich - although I haven't seen him play since leaving Wigan.

I felt he played well for us against TAT at the racecourse.

Time for another call up?

www.whoscored.com/Players/112746/Show/Lee-Evans

[dai]

Seeing how limited we are in the centre of the pitch, we need to consider it yes.  I also plays in the centre across a 4 in a 3-4-3.

[iot]

I thought he was very poor in that game and got significantly outshone by Will Vaulks, which is why he hasn't been capped since. I can't say I've watched him since though. I know he's been doing really well at Ipswich recently, scoring quite a few goals etc. - I'm just not sure he's cut out for international footballer? From the games I've seen, he's not a ball playing midfielder and not a particularly defensive one either. He seems to be a competitor who has a decent strike on him, but tends to struggle to influence games - so very similar to Vaulks in terms of his style.

He must be doing something right at Ipswich, but I suspect he's not the type of player we're look for to fill in that Allen role. 

[talyfan]

Watched Lee enough at Wigan. Tidy enough player but not once did I ever think he's a cut above.

Steady, capable of the odd Hollywood pass and covered enough ground defensively off the ball. But not particularly outstanding at anything.

Playing the long game and with an eye towards the future I'd rather us look at lads like Terry Taylor who are on the up and he's played enough league games to be street smart and have the mature nous people sometimes suggest we need.

[dai]

Feb 9, 2023 14:18:56 GMT iot said:

I thought he was very poor in that game and got significantly outshone by Will Vaulks, which is why he hasn't been capped since. I can't say I've watched him since though. I know he's been doing really well at Ipswich recently, scoring quite a few goals etc. - I'm just not sure he's cut out for international footballer? From the games I've seen, he's not a ball playing midfielder and not a particularly defensive one either. He seems to be a competitor who has a decent strike on him, but tends to struggle to influence games - so very similar to Vaulks in terms of his style.

He must be doing something right at Ipswich, but I suspect he's not the type of player we're look for to fill in that Allen role. 

Sorry to have to point this out again, but Levitt has been poor in 80% of his games for us yet you still think he's a decent option. So I think it's unfair to write Evans off after one match........

(also, Levitt has come under criticism from Dundee fans recently, so not in form either)

[jimexotic]

Terry Taylor will be a better player in a years time than Lee Evans will ever be and for that reason he gets the nod from me.

[iot]

I think that's just way too simplistic. There are three crucial difference imo:

1. The type of midfielder we're looking for. We've got options in the more advanced midfield areas - Ramsey obviously, but also Wilson, Brooks, Roberts at a push and lots of youngsters coming through - Harris, Colwill and Cooper. So we're looking for holding midfielders primarily and in terms of attributes - someone who is industrious, can break up play, good distribution and can keep us ticking. So precisely what Allen did and what Morrell does (albeit less effectively). It's also what Levitt does, while it isn't Lee Evans' game.

2. Talent - while very inconsistent, Levitt has shown a lot of natural ability with his defence-splitting passes and general quality on the ball. So with more consistency, he would be a very good player.

3. Potential - age does come into it, at 21 or 22 Levitt has time to develop greater consistency. If he does that he'll have a massive part to play for us

[dai]

Point 1 - if we had better midfield players we would't need someone who is industrious and who can break up play. From what I've seen from Levitt he's not a very good tackler either. I'm pretty certain I've read on Dundee's forum and social media stuff that they don't think Levitt is very good at that deep role and is more suited to playing further forward. So more of a Ramsey than Allen type by their take oon things.

Point 2 - Talent. We'll never agree on this, because I just don't see it. Defence splitting passes? I remember a lot of mis placed passes but I don't recall many of that nature. 

Point 3 - We really need to move on from this idea of picking players just because their young. Yes, it worked 10/15 years ago because the likes of Bale, Allen, Ramsey, Ledley, Hennessey were the golden generation. Levitt is getting on at 22 now and is about to be relegated in the SPL. 

But anyway, we won't agree on this like we haven't done previously. 

[iot]

'Point 1 - if we had better midfield players we would't need someone who is industrious and who can break up play.'

Sorry but that makes no sense - every team needs those attributes in their midfield. Levitt's played all his football as one of two deep-lying midfielders and that's where his skillset lies. There may be one or two people on the Dundee forum saying otherwise, but as you should know better than anyone else, there are some people on football forums who understand very little about football  

Point 2 - There are three compilations on his thread of just his Wales performances that show his quality. His passing range is arguably superior to all our other midfielders. 

Point 3 - 'We really need to move on from this idea of picking players just because their young.' The word 'just' shows where you've gone wrong here. It's not just because he's young. Refer back to points 1 and 2.

[dai]

Christ, any footballer can be made out to be incredible with a compilation video. 

But recently, they have been chosen just because they're young though. Would Levitt be selected right now if he was 28 years old?

[iot]

Their compilations of individual games rather than snippets from performances over a season or more - there's a difference. Anyone who can produce half a dozen key passes against decent international opposition at age of 20 clearly has something about them. 

No, they're not chosen just because they're young - their age is a factor, but there are other factors too - we've already discussed a couple of them in Levitt's case. 

[manulike]

dragonsoccer reporting that Lee is out for next two months ;-(
With Terry Taylor also being out for similar period, we will need to pray that Matt Smith doesn't pick up an injury to, because we will be down to bare bones for cover...

[dai]

Feb 17, 2023 15:25:19 GMT manulike said:

dragonsoccer reporting that Lee is out for next two months ;-(
With Terry Taylor also being out for similar period, we will need to pray that Matt Smith doesn't pick up an injury to, because we will be down to bare bones for cover...

I was hoping he'd be back on Pages' radar after Allen's retirement. 

This is just mental........already down 2 potential players, and the cupboard is looking pretty grim anyway with backups.

Maybe Page needs to pick up the phone and beg Allen to come back.........

[talyfan]

Signed for Blackpool in League One. Only just turning 30 this month! Been around for ages

[welshrover]

Jul 8, 2024 20:17:12 GMT talyfan said:

Signed for Blackpool in League One. Only just turning 30 this month! Been around for ages

You're having a laugh!

[CrackityJones]

Thats Blackpool going up then