When Patrice Evra was in the men’s after Man Utd’s match against CFR Cluj, doing what you do, I would imagine that he saw more than just his pre-match tea going down the drain.
His career is heading the same way too.
Three days after Gareth Bale & Co. had ruthlessly tore him to shreds, he was given the run around by Modou Sougou, a player who wouldn’t make it into most Premier League teams. Despite this, he was able to terrorise Man Utd’s first choice Left Back.
Ever since he returned from France’s infamous World Cup 2010 campaign in South Africa, I have always felt that he has lost a bit. His rampaging runs forward are still there but this is because he has become completely void of any positional awareness. He seems far too vulnerable in one-on-ones as seen on Tuesday night, and particularly against Daniel Sturridge in the 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge last season and Fabian Frei against FC Basle in the Champions League last year. And that is just off the top of my head.
It has to be said that only a combination of consistent injuries to Fabio and a lack of other competition at Left-Back have prevented Evra from being dropped in the last few seasons. With the arrival of Alexander Buttner, United have finally signed a replacement and, though I am not one to jump to conclusions after one match, he looked very, very good against Wigan. If he can be consistent, an adjective that used to be synonymous with Patrice Evra, then there is no reason as to why he would not have displaced Evra in the team by this time next year (hopefully sooner).
Apart from anything else, the performances of Patrice Evra show a dramatic and perhaps a rather heart-breaking fall from grace for the diminutive defender. The former France captain, lest we forget, was the finest Left-Back of his generation (although I’m sure Ashley Cole would have something to say about that). There was a point when his inclusion in the team was a sigh of relief. With him on the field, I could watch a match safe in the knowledge that the position he was patrolling would not be breached by the opposition winger because he was simply that good. At his peak, I can scarcely remember any goals that stemmed from crosses from Evra’s flank. In fact, I remember this one instance against Steven Gerrard who, in 2007, was at the peak of his powers.
Gerrard has never been a slouch and not a lot of players could catch up with him when he had a few yards on them. To prevent Gerrard from going one-on-one against Edwin Van Der Sar, Evra not only caught up him, but tackled him, ran the ball back into midfield, and passed it along with a swagger that was symbolised by a grin on his face that showed just how easy he had found the task of stopping England’s best midfielder.
There was once a time when I had a lot of patience for Evra. His performances may have dropped but let us remember that this was a player that begged Sir Alex Ferguson to select him to play against Liverpool in the FA Cup only a couple of months after the whole Luis Suarez ordeal, and even more recently than that, his brother died. Despite this he wanted to play at Anfield even though he knew the Liverpool fans would boo (at the kindest) his every touch because he did not want to let Sir Alex or the fans down. If that doesn’t scream ‘mental strength’ then I don’t know what does. Evra is a Manchester United great. I would hate for his reputation to tarnish because he stuck around for too long after his usefulness had run out.
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Brilliant article! Really encapsulated Evra’s decline and wrote it well.