The Patrice Evra Appreciation Thread

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We signed this French legend. And they say there's no value in the January transfer windows.


“When I arrived in England, I had the impression that I was doing a new job because of the impact of the stadiums and the supporters. There it’s a religion. We don’t lose on purpose, nobody does that, we all go out there to win. In three years at United I have just lost two games on the trot for the first time, I understand that we have to win the next game. But even when we’ve lost, they’ve still applauded us, not booed. I’m at a great club. When you have 76,000 people behind you, it gives you a massive boost.”
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“I got a load of DVDs. About the Munich disaster and the Busby Babes, about Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law, about Cantona. The whole story of the club. You meet these people around the club and I wanted to know who they were. What they had done for the club. Out of respect. Because when you shake the hand of Sir Bobby Charlton you can feel the legend. All the young players here need to understand the history of the club. After I watched those DVDs I realised I needed to respect the shirt. I needed to respect the story. Every time I play that is in my head. What a privilege it is to play for Manchester United. When you pull on the shirt you are pulling on history, and I say thanks to God that I play for this club. To be able to come in and train here. To work with legends like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. When I arrived here people asked me what excited me most. I said it was not training with Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney but players like Giggs and Scholes. They are the history of the club. Giggs trains like a player who has never won anything in his career. His hunger. His desire to win, even on the training pitch.”
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Many more quotes here - http://therepublikofmancunia.com/quotes-patrice-evra-on-manchester-united/

I miss Pat :(
 

Raw

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He is brilliant. He truly understands what Manchester United are all about, we need more players like him.
 

Sylar

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Serious question, but how were the caf responding to his first few appearances with the club, given he was a young newbie in a different country having poor games. Was there any sympathy for him or was it what we see with new players now?

Anyway, yep, legend. One of the best LBs we had. Towards the end he really got overworked for us, didnt seem to miss a game / get rested. Think he could have had another year or two if Moyes hadnt come in.

Loved his celebrations as well for us. You could tell what the club meant to him and thats why the fans loved him.
 

FujiVice

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I dont know about the fans, but the press wrote Evra and Vidic off as flops after a few months. I'll never forget how all the Sky Sports News pundits were saying how Vidic wasnt physical enough for the Premiership after we were knocked out of the cup by Liverpool.

Once they got a pre-season behind them, they were by absolutely immense. That 2006/07 season Vidic and Evra were incredible for us.
 

Hed Zitin

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He's up there with my favorite players of all time. More than just a footballer. He completely get's what this club is about.

The club need to make use of him after he finishes his playing career.
 

Sunny Jim

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Sylar said:
Serious question, but how were the caf responding to his first few appearances with the club, given he was a young newbie in a different country having poor games. Was there any sympathy for him or was it what we see with new players now?

Anyway, yep, legend. One of the best LBs we had. Towards the end he really got overworked for us, didnt seem to miss a game / get rested. Think he could have had another year or two if Moyes hadnt come in.

Loved his celebrations as well for us. You could tell what the club meant to him and thats why the fans loved him.
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I remeber the reaction in media. Never understood it though, imo Pat wasnt half as bad as people were making out.
 

Sylar

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Sunny Jim said:
I remeber the reaction in media. Never understood it though, imo Pat wasnt half as bad as people were making out.
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I remember he was hooked off against City at half time, but I also remember it being cos Silvestre was played at CB (think he was played there cos he spoke french to help Evra). But yeah, he wasnt as bad as it was made out, but was just wondering the perception of fans. (mainly cos I see how it is with some of our new signings / youngsters after a game or two and the meltdown).
 

pocco

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I can't say enough about the guy to fully explain how great he was, both as a player and a person. I would absolutely love to have him back here in some capacity when he's done playing. Heck, I'd have him as back up to Shaw. I thought he was done at the top level, but he'd have been alright here in our current style of play, plus he's been good at Juve.
 

Jev

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One of my favourite ever United players. A true legend. A fantastic character and a fantastic player who got way too much stick in his latter years. We could really use him right now.

He's proof that, certainly at a club like United, it's better to have a fullback who's a great attacker than one who's a great defender.
 

Cooksen

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He was the embodiment of the fans and we loved him for it.

He was as red as anyone who ever played for us.
 

Damien

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Sylar said:
I remember he was hooked off against City at half time, but I also remember it being cos Silvestre was played at CB (think he was played there cos he spoke french to help Evra). But yeah, he wasnt as bad as it was made out, but was just wondering the perception of fans. (mainly cos I see how it is with some of our new signings / youngsters after a game or two and the meltdown).
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City match thread: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/manchester-city-vs-manchester-united.100977/#post-1918379
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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Could and should have got one more season from him, whilst Shaw was eased in to the first team. In hindsight, it seemed daft to replace a veteran with a teenager as first choice. He could have been a great mentor for Shaw, whilst his experience and character on and off the pitch would have been enormous. I don't think we have anyone close to Evra in terms of character, confidence and belief.

Love Paddy. He was the best in the world in his position for a period of time. Incredibly reliable too. Just never seems to get injured.
 

Sied

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OnlyTwoDaSilvas said:
Could and should have got one more season from him, whilst Shaw was eased in to the first team. In hindsight, it seemed daft to replace a veteran with a teenager as first choice. He could have been a great mentor for Shaw, whilst his experience and character on and off the pitch would have been enormous. I don't think we have anyone close to Evra in terms of character, confidence and belief.

Love Paddy. He was the best in the world in his position for a period of time. Incredibly reliable too. Just never seems to get injured.
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It was Evra's choice to go, wasn't it?

Regardless, I remember saying the same as he left. He'd have been a brilliant player to have kept around. We lost too many legends at once.
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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Sied said:
It was Evra's choice to go, wasn't it?

Regardless, I remember saying the same as he left. He'd have been a brilliant player to have kept around. We lost too many legends at once.
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I believe it was though I'd like to think he could have been persuaded to stay, given how much he appears to love the club.

And I agree. Too much experience walked in one swoop. Out of all the experienced heads who did leave, Evra had the most mileage left. He had a very solid season at Juve too.
 

VanGaalEra

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Sied

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Does anyone have a better quality version of this? With the same commentary
 

Oo0AahCantona

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Wonderful servant. We ditched too many of that generation at the same time, even as a squad rotation player i think we could have done with the likes of Evra and rio over the last few seasons.
 

lilcurt

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My favourite player of the past decade. Always gave 100%, lead by example, played for the shirt.

What I'd do for a player like him now.
 

Irrational.

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One of the very few United signings to embrace the values, history and traditions of the club. He truly cared and fell in love with it.

Shame not one current United player comes close to him in that regard.
 

RedSky

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lilcurt said:
My favourite player of the past decade. Always gave 100%, lead by example, played for the shirt.

What I'd do for a player like him now.
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Most of them were sold because they were deemed not good enough. Most of them were also welcomed out the door by most of our fans.
 

Annihilate Now!

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That season or two where he randomly decided to become a massive threat from corners was bloody great.
 

Bojan11

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Ronaldo was a key part of our dominance between 06-09. But Evra, Vidic, VDS and Rio were just as key.
 

amolbhatia50k

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One of my favorite United players. Everyone knows he was an absolute beast of a left back, but he was also the kind of personality that leads to great teams, and someone who wore the United shirt like it really should be.
 

Norris

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An absolute class player. Those quotes he said (published in the Man Utd website) were so inspiring. A true leader, loved this club as much as anyone possibly could, had great quality going forward, popped in with a few headers (I remember one season where they just kept going in from corners) and thorough professional. And He was funny as hell off the pitch. What more could you want ?!

Side note: He has management material written all over him.
 
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