Xander45
Know-It-All Champion May 2009
Evra: Arsenal are shameful | The Sun |Sport|Football
You're going about it the right way Paddy.PATRICE EVRA thought Arsenal had taken a contract out on him the last time he played them.
The left-back was the target for revenge in May after Manchester United swept aside the Gunners in the Champions League semi-finals.
Evra and Co put on a show to record an impressive 3-1 second-leg victory - 4-1 on aggregate - at The Emirates.
That prompted the Frenchman to suggest the Euro tie had been "men against boys".
And that remark was still fresh in the memory when the two rivals met in a goalless draw in the league at Old Trafford just 11 days later.
Evra claims the challenges were so bad even referee Mike Dean warned him to be on his guard as it appeared Arsenal were targeting the United defender.
Now Evra is ready to face the Gunners again this evening.
And he said: "What Arsenal did that day was shameful. I was asked if it felt like there was a contract out on me and I had to say 'yes, yes, yes'.
"It's not at all the way in which Arsenal normally handle matches because they usually play really good football and are not overly aggressive - it was a big change. That's why I have to thank the referee.
"He came up to me and said 'Look I don't know what's going on but since half-time all the Arsenal players seem to be out to injure you. Don't get involved'."
Cesc Fabregas, crocked for today's clash, was booked for a high lunge on Evra just after the interval.
The game's simmering temperature was then inflamed when the United star angrily snubbed Fabregas' gesture to shake hands.
Evra explained: "I particularly didn't like the reaction Fabregas showed in that game when he knew full well we had a Champions League final to play that month.
"Yet he put in a bad tackle on me which could easily have robbed me of that final.
"We'll meet again one day, hopefully off the pitch, and I'll be able to let my personality tell him what I think."
Evra refuses to back down from his "men against boys" taunt which sparked all the ill-feeling.
He added: "I only said what many other people were thinking given that we beat them home and away and 4-1 on aggregate.
"Everybody knows I don't mind winding things up a little bit but all I did was speak the truth in this instance.
Maybe I could have said 'Yes, we have a little bit more experience than this young Arsenal team'.
"But I simply like to express myself a little more frankly than that so I said what I thought.
"If people are honest then they'll know that most agreed with my point of view.
"I'll always speak honestly but I'm still disappointed in the way all this has ended up.
"I know very well that every time we play Arsenal this row will surface. But I'll deal with it, no problem. That's just football as far as I'm concerned."
Evra has tried, and apparently failed, to persuade French team-mate and Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery to sign for United.
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The Premier League champs lost the magic of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and the aggression of Carlos Tevez in the summer.
But, even without that talented trio, Evra is determined to brush off the Gunners' challenge and bag the Premier League title for the fourth season in a row.
The Frenchman knows boss Alex Ferguson's hunger demands more championship silverware in the Old Trafford trophy cabinet.
But Evra is also aware he can create his own place in the club's illustrious history.
He said: "I think the difference between us and the other three of the so-called Big Four in England is that we are totally and utterly fixated by our major objective which is to win the title again and again.
"It's easy to win a title but the tough thing is to retain it.
"So to lift the Premier League trophy three or four times on the trot is a hugely impressive achievement.
"For players like me, Sir Alex is like a kind of grandfather to us. He's really attached to his players and protects us well.
"But he does everything remorselessly well and expects us to follow that example.
"United is my family, it has a massive history and every time I pull on this shirt I feel like I'm carrying that history on my back.
"All the ex-players here are treated like legends when they come and take their seat in the stand and that's how I hope I'll be regarded when I finish at Old Trafford."
