Patrice Evra is pleased with his form this term and revealed to
United Review why he’s driven to improving, and helping United
clinch the title…
It’s crunch time in the title race. What is the manager telling
the players?
It’s simple: he tells us we need to win every game. At United the
aim is always to win. In March, we lost to Liverpool and Fulham and
that was the first time since I arrived that we’d lost two league
games in a row. I’ve never felt pain like that before and I don’t
want to again. That’s why I’m confident we’ll finish the job and
win the league.
Is it difficult to enjoy your football at this stage of the
season?
Not at all! It’s a joy to play in these games and be involved in
the title race. Sir Alex’s team-talk before games is all about
enjoying and expressing ourselves. It’s a privilege to play for a
club where you have the opportunity to make history. Yes, it’s a
lot of pressure, but pressure I’m happy to have.
You’ve twice been voted in the PFA Team of
the Year. Is that an honour?
It’s a great honour and recently I understood why people voted for
me. It’s not because of great performances but because of
consistency. I realised this after the Carling Cup
final when I played badly.
You came in for criticism after that match…
That’s right. A lot of people were saying I wasn’t the player I was
last season. All this after one bad game! My strength is my
consistency and after one poor performance the press crucified me.
But the criticism made me happy because I knew they wouldn’t be so
upset if that was the sort of performance they expected every week.
I took it as a compliment – [laughs] I must be the best left-back
in the world!
So you’ve been pleased with your form this season?
Well, if I’ve been voted in the PFA Team of
the Season it’s not because I’m playing badly! I’ve had a very
strange season and some parts have been very difficult. Before my
four-game ban over Christmas I was on top form. I was feeling
unbelievable, like I was on top of the world. But then I received
the suspension and, to be honest, it got me down. I came back
against Chelsea, I played well and we won 3-0, but I injured myself
setting up Wayne Rooney. So I missed another seven games, which was
very frustrating and made it difficult to get back into my rhythm.
Now my goal is to work hard every day and maintain the standards I
had before.
Pressure performer
“Sir Alex’s team-talk before games is all about enjoying and
expressing ourselves. It’s a privilege to play for a club where you
have the opportunity to make history. It’s a lot of pressure, but
pressure I’m happy to have.”
- Patrice Evra