Patrice Evra has been a legendary player for Manchester United. The French International was a crucial part of United’s success in the Premier League, and other European competitions under Sir Alex Ferguson. The 42-year-old played 379 matches for Manchester United. In addition to his contribution as a left-back, Evra also scored 48 goals for the club.
Sir Alex Ferguson held the managerial role at Manchester United for a period of around 26 years. Under his reign, Manchester United won the Premier League title, a smashing number of 13 times. The veteran managed the club in a record sum of 1461 matches.
As per the reports, Patrice Evra has recently remembered one of the incidents during his playing days at the Red Devils. The left-back has something to tell about Sir Alex’s team talk prior to United’s 2008 Champions League final. Evra stated that the manager inflicted that – “I have already won. We don’t even need to play this game”.
Patrice expressed that he and his teammates found the statement weird as they thought the match hadn’t been played yet. Evra quoted that Ferguson looked at him and said – “He’s (Patrice Evra) got 24 brothers and sisters. Imagine what his mother had to do to put food on the table!”.
🚨🚨🎙️| Patrice Evra on Sir Alex Ferguson’s team talk before the Champions League final in 2008:
“Ferguson said: ‘I’ve already won. We don’t even need to play this game.’ We were like: What is he talking about? The game hasn’t even started.
Then Ferguson turned to me, ‘Look at… pic.twitter.com/imeteDn4sG
— centredevils. (@centredevils) October 10, 2023
The player said that the manager then turned his attention toward Wayne Rooney and stated – “Look at Wayne. He grew up in one of the toughest parts of Liverpool”. Also indicating the midfielder Park Ji-sung, Sir Alex expressed that the player is here representing United all the way from South Korea.
Patrice Evra then inflicted on his realization of why the veteran manager was sewing out all of their stories. He gazes upon the fact that their boss was underlining their companionship. He understood that the team wasn’t just a group of soccer players. They were players from different parts of the world. They were embedding distinctive cultures and backgrounds.
The player marks that they were in the dressing room that night in Moscow, united by a common goal of winning. Inflicting upon this realization, Sir Alex Ferguson said – “This is my victory”.
The former French international then said that they won the Champions League that night. After narrating the incident, Patrice lauded his team. He then pointed out the incident as the reason for his love of soccer.
Patrice Evra on playing under Sir Alex Ferguson
Patrice Evra helmed the legendary United manager as a father figure. The 42-year-old stated back to a game where United was playing Tottenham Hotspur to give a feel of how it was to play under him. He expressed that, after halftime when he came back, every player appreciated him for his performance.
The former Red Devils left-back stated that – “When he (Sir Alex) doesn’t talk for three minutes, someone is in trouble”. He said that the manager looked at him and asked if he thinks that he playing well.
Despite all his teammates praising him Evra reflected that United’s boss wasn’t on the same page. Sir Alex told Patrice that – “this is the worst game you played since I signed you for Manchester United”.
Well, this saga as told by Patrice Evra, does tell about the perfectionism that Sir Alex Ferguson wanted from his players. One could only grasp morals from these incidents, which brought him unprecedented success in his managerial role.
