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Scotsman: PATRICE Evra is two games away from completing a remarkable comeback season with English champions Manchester United. And yet few saw much of a future at Old Trafford for the French left-back after a series of unconvincing displays following his arrival in January 2006.
Hauled off at half-time on his United debut against Manchester City, Evra struggled with the intensity of the Premiership. Newspapers wrote of an imminent departure for the former Monaco man, but that was without taking into account the tenacity of a player who trod an unorthodox path into the professional game, and was not ready to give up without a fight.
Twelve months later, Evra was voted into the Premiership’s Team of the Year by fellow players, and in the final reckoning with Chelsea has a chance to help United to become the first side to complete four league and FA Cup doubles.
“This has been a really big season for me,” says Evra, who will turn 26 on Wednesday. “I know how lucky I am to be at a huge club like Manchester United, and the idea of not succeeding never even crossed my mind. I knew what I had to do to turn things round, and I put my head down and got on with it.”
Spurred on by the added disappointment of missing out on France’s World Cup campaign, Evra used time on his hands last summer to ensure that his United career was back on track.
“I realised that being quick wasn’t enough - you have to be strong too - so I worked my socks off in the gym to build myself up. I was there for the whole pre-season, too, and that was a really important period for me. It helped me to get to know my team-mates better, and to start all over again.”
Evra was working out intellectually, too, the United museum and a collection of books and DVDs helping to complete his education.
“When you arrive in a new club, you shake hands with all these people, but you don’t really know who everybody is. I wanted to know the names and stories behind the faces,” he reflects. “I learnt about the tragedy of the Munich plane crash, and all the great players from the past. I felt like I needed to know all that and take it in to better understand the club. Now I can say I feel like a real Mancunian!”
The extra hours in the gym and in the library have paid off, despite a few injury problems, for Sir Alex Ferguson has preferred Evra to Gabriel Heinze and Mikael Silvestre at left-back this season, and the position looks to be his. He has been adopted by United’s fans, who appreciate his wholehearted style, his new-found commitment to the tackle and his willingness to join in the attack.
The one blot on the season came in the Champions League semi-final defeat to AC Milan. For Evra, United lost the tie in the first leg, and he accepts part of the blame. His collision with Heinze left Kaka through on goal for the Brazilian’s second of the night at Old Trafford.
“We gave away two soft goals,” he laments. “The second one, in particular, was our fault, and I have to hold my hands up. The fact we came back and still won the game showed our strength of character, but those away goals gave the Italians confidence.”
Evra knows about Italian football, for his route to Old Trafford began with a stint as a teenager with Marsala in Serie C after being spotted playing five-a-side in a Paris suburb by an Italian scout.
He scored six times in 27 games for Marsala, moved to Monza in the second division, and worked his way back to France via Nice.
After starting out in attack, he was forced to fill in at left-back for the last 15 minutes of a game against Laval because of injuries. He did so well that his coach decided to prolong the experiment, and he shone sufficiently to earn a move to Monaco, where Didier Deschamps was starting his managerial career. And it was in Monaco’s Champions League semi-final with Chelsea that he drew the attention of the United manager.
In the opening minutes of the return leg at Stamford Bridge, Evra went down under a crunching challenge from Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. A hole in his sock revealed a gaping wound, and Monaco’s trainer signalled to the bench to make a substitution, before being convinced to back-track.
“I told him I’d punch him in the face if he made me go off,” recounts Evra, who is still surprised at his vehemence. “I knew it was a bit mad, but I just had to play, even though my foot felt like it was hanging off. I apologised afterwards to our trainer for being so rude.”
Evra had nine stitches inserted in the gash, and wears the scar proudly. Ferguson mentioned the incident to him when he approached the player after Monaco lost the final 3-0 to Jose Mourinho’s Porto. “He said it showed my character, and he liked my determination.”
Manchester United followers have come to appreciate the same qualities.
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Independent: Spring is in the air and in everyone’s step around Old Trafford, most notably in that of the oldest of the old boys. Once Chelsea’s new money took over from Arsenal’s aristocrats, Sir Alex Ferguson and Ryan Giggs must privately have wondered whether their handsome medal collection was complete; but after today’s home game with West Ham the Premiership trophy will be handed back to Manchester United, and on Saturday the chance exists to complete a fourth Double. Giggs, like Ferguson, appears to have been given a new lease of life by the emergence of this young United side and there is something touching about his obvious excitement at the prospect of walking out at Wembley again.
Winning the Cup would be Giggs’s 17th major honour, eclipsing Liverpool’s Phil Neal as the English game’s most decorated player, and at 33 he is entitled to adopt an air of having seen it all before. Instead, a boyish enthusiasm shines through, undiminished by life as an elder statesman and father of two in his £5 million Victorian pile: “For me personally it was great to play in Cardiff, but as far as I’m concerned the FA Cup final should be played at Wembley. It looks very good on the television and we’re just excited to be back. It gave us an extra incentive, because you want to be at the first Cup final at Wembley, you don’t want to miss out and be sat at home watching on TV thinking, ‘We could be there’. That’s where it belongs, and you want to be part of it.”
In Giggs’s case it will be a seventh Cup final, the previous half-dozen having produced four wins and two defeats. And in the beginning, at Wembley 1994, there was Chelsea, albeit a very different outfit under Glenn Hoddle to the force United will face this week: “Winning the first one [4-0] was obviously a good memory, it was a Double-winning season, one of the few occasions it rained, which I was quite happy with because I didn’t particularly like playing at Wembley.
“It was sticky and dry and for someone who likes to dribble it was always tough, the grass was so lush. Actually I think Chelsea beat us twice in the League that season. They hit the crossbar and they were the better team in the first half, but then we got the first goal and deserved to win in the end. I hope it’s 4-0 again but I don’t think it will be! In ‘95 we got beat by Everton, which was disappointing, but one of the most memorable FA Cups was probably Liverpool the next year, beating our biggest rivals, great memories of that game.”
If neutrals were less enamoured by that desperately dour encounter, Giggs provided them with a genuinely iconic Cup moment en route to his next final in 1999. In a thrilling semi-final replay against Arsenal at Villa Park, he scored one of the great individual goals with that slalom through the defence, rounded off by a slashing shot and hairy-chested, shirt-waving celebration. Victory over Newcastle at Wembley completed another Double but Cardiff, while home from home, provided mixed memories, with a routine win over Millwall and an undeserved defeat on penalties after dominating Arsenal the following year.
For a while he could not be sure of a starting place, and on one occasion was even jeered by United supporters when substituted against Blackburn. Yet the kids who threatened his place have now helped his rejuvenation and reinvention as a central midfielder. “Certain players give you a new lease of life,” he says. “You get a buzz from watching them play, and in the last couple of days I’ve got a real buzz out of seeing the faces of the lads who’ve won their first championship.
“I remember when I won my first championship, it’s the best feeling in the world, and to get that buzz and see their faces, how they’re so happy to have done it, that’s definitely been a factor in enjoying my football a little bit more this season. Seeing the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo and the performances of Fletcher and Sheasy [O’Shea] gives you a lift, because there’s real quality in the team and it’s great to see.”
With Ronaldo and often Rooney out wide, Giggs and Paul Scholes have brought their experience to bear in a more central role that he feels could help prolong his career further; perhaps even beyond the contract that expires at the end of next season. He needs 46 more appearances to overhaul Sir Bobby Charlton’s club record of 759 and Ferguson believes he can play for at least two more years.
“I’ve enjoyed playing in a central role, you’re involved a lot more than on the wing, where you’re reliant on people giving you the ball. Even when I play on the wing I’m not playing like I did 10 years ago anyway. You use your experience and positional sense and just try to be clever. You aren’t going to be as quick at 33 as you were at 17 but you are maybe a bit quicker in the brain and have that experience as well.”
As to Saturday’s task, and in particular the contrast in the two teams’ styles: “I’ve got to be careful what I say! We’re a bit more cavalier whereas Chelsea are a bit more patient, European in a way, how they pack the midfield, try to get possession of the ball. They’ve got that defensive base and platform but also players who can go out and win games. We probably play a little bit differently, with wide men and players who can score from anywhere, that’s the way United have always played.”
He is clearly proud to have been a part of that tradition ever since his 14th birthday, the day on which Ferguson arrived in person on his doorstep to secure a coveted signature. Now he goes as far as to say that the manager’s latest creation could become his best: “Potentially this team can be the best definitely, because of the quality and age of the team. So many players are at the start of their career or are starting to hit their peak and we genuinely have world-class players. There’s real quality in the squad, and depth. Obviously, you need things to go right for you injury-wise, but potentially this side can be consistently good over the next five or six years.”
He does acknowledge, however, that to be universally acclaimed as the best United side of modern times would necessitate securing another European crown at least: “It’s always something you want to achieve. You always want to win the Premiership, then after that it’s the Champions’ League. You can’t really prioritise, but this season the target was to win the Premiership, then the next step is the Champions’ League. We deserved the Premiership this year, we played great football but have been consistent and had that bit of steel as well. Now can we go on and win it again? I’m sure we can, because we’ve got the ability and the hunger.”
Although Giggs is not big on personal milestones, a 10th championship would assuredly have a certain ring - as well as almost certainly never being beaten. In the meantime, he has regained a place in both the team and supporters’ hearts that was briefly - and inexplicably - lost.
The Record-Breaker: The public life of Private Ryan
Long-Service Awards
In addition to his record haul of nine League titles, eclipsing the eight won by Alan Hansen and Phil Neal, Giggs holds the record for trophies won by a player; he has earned four FA Cup and two League Cup medals and a Champions’ League medal to sit alongside those League souvenirs, plus has finished runner-up in the Premiership four times, the FA Cup twice and League Cup twice.
Brothers United In Triumph
Ryan isn’t the only Giggs to play on the wing for United and win a title this season; his younger brother Rhodri turns out on the right (and sometimes as a striker) for FC United of Man-chester, the club set up by fans opposed to the Glazers’ takeover at Old Trafford. This season they are First Division champions of the North West Counties League, having won the Second Division last year.
Major Disappointment
Giggs won his 62nd cap for Wales in the 3-0 win against San Marino in March, but has yet to play in a major championship. The enduring myth that he could have elected to play for England stems from his appearances for England Schoolboys, but that was open to anyone being educated in the country. Giggs was born in Wales to Welsh parents (though his father, the rugby league player Danny Wilson, was originally from Sierra Leone) and would not have qualified to play for England.
Fistful Of Firsts
Giggs was the first to win the PFA Young Player of the Year Award twice (1992-93), a feat since emulated by Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney. He is the scorer of United’s fastest goal, after 15 seconds against Southampton in November 1995, is the first player in Champions’ League history to score in 12 successive seasons, and is one of only two players (the other is Gary Speed) to score in every Premiership season.
Classic Remark From Homer
Giggs is the only Premiership player to be mentioned in The Simpsons, in November 2003 when Homer, visiting England, says to Marge: “Can you believe they gave Giggs a yellow card?”
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Sky: Jose Mourinho has declared that he is not a bad loser and that surrendering the Premiership title to Manchester United did not hurt as much as he had expected.
After guiding Chelsea to Premiership glory in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho had to congratulate Sir Alex Ferguson last week as United clinched the title.
Mourinho will again pit his wits against Ferguson in the FA Cup final next Saturday, and he maintains that he has already put his Premiership disappointment behind him.
“After all that has happened this season - and that is a lot - I’ve reached the conclusion that I am a good loser,” Mourinho said in the News of the World
“Losing the title to Ferguson and Manchester didn’t hurt me as much as I thought it would.
“After four years in a row of winning the league title at Porto and then with Chelsea, I thought when I didn’t win it would be unbearable.
“But it is not. I have dealt with it and I am fine.”
Far from viewing this season as a failure, Mourinho insists his players have done superbly to run United close in the face of adversity.
“Our season has been extraordinary,” he explained.
“The first season here was incredible because the club won its first title in 50 years, but this year I can almost say I am prouder.
“My group fought like warriors, they have given everything even when others were saying hope had gone.”
Mourinho also warned that Chelsea would mount a stronger challenge next term.
“We will come again. Chelsea will come again and fight for the title again.”
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MANCHESTER, England : Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates a ninth Premiership title on Sunday with a stark warning for his club’s closest rivals.
As the debate over where this latest championship success rates in the Scot’s impressive list of achievements, the veteran manager is confident that, with so many key United players at the start of their careers, his current squad can only get better.
“They are young enough,” said Ferguson. “A lot of them are winning their first title and that must help them, give them confidence and a system of how to win the league.
“For us, we had to change it this year, starting well and staying with it, showing the resilience of 29 weeks at the top of the league with someone breathing down your neck.
“These are things that will help them and they are young enough to expect them to go only one way.
“They are helped by the experience of (Paul) Scholes, (Ryan) Giggs, (Gary) Neville, (Ole Gunnar) Solskjaer and I think those people will be there for a couple of years at least.”
Seasoned Old Trafford watches reckon the team’s form this season, and the precocious talent of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo in particular, means Ferguson’s current squad could eclipse the 1994 and 1999 United teams, considered among the greatest in the club’s history.
“Without question,” said Ferguson, 65, of that possibility. “There have been indications, in certain types of games this season when we have had to battle through. Last Saturday, in the Manchester derby, was like that.
“They found their energy to get through the game, win 1-0 and they defended with great courage in the last ten minutes of the match. That’s a good guideline in terms of the best Manchester United teams.
“Ability-wise? Yes, there is some excellent ability in the team, at some good ages. If this team can stay together for a few years, by doing that you develop friendships and become a stronger unit, so I expect them to improve.”
Giggs, Scholes, Neville and Solskjaer may all be entering the final stages of their careers but Ferguson has no short-term fears about losing such legendary United names.
“Without a question, Ryan will play the next two years,” said the manager. “He has looked after himself and has the type of physique that is good.
“Quite remarkably, he has retained most of his pace, maybe he is not as greased lightning as he was as a 17-year-old but he is still quick enough.
“Him and Paul Scholes, Gary Neville should be no problem for two more years at least, we have no immediate worries there.
“And of course, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is 34 but scored 11 goals this season. If he gives us another 11 next season, we will be dancing about it because that is another big contribution there.”
Sunday’s match against West Ham at Old Trafford may represent the end of United’s league campaign but there is one more important date left in the domestic campaign with Ferguson’s men facing title-rivals Chelsea at the new Wembley Stadium in Saturday’s FA Cup Final.
“I think winning the FA Cup is a special event and, to me, the only way to enjoy Wembley is by winning,” Ferguson explained.
“They talk about the improving English game, with three teams making the semi-finals of the Champions’ League, and I think the Premiership is probably the best in Europe.
“This is an opportunity for both teams to give a display that shows the right two teams are playing at the new Wembley.
“I see Chelsea as our main challengers next year. Arsenal are a young team, Liverpool will be adding to their squad, maybe Arsenal, too. But obviously Chelsea, with their resources, could rebuild another team.”
The Cup final also gives Ferguson the chance to claim the fourth league and cup double of his United reign after achieving the feat in 1994, 1996 and 1999, when they also lifted the European Cup for the second time in their history.
“It has been harder for us this season with the injuries,” said Ferguson. “Hopefully, next season we will have a stronger squad to cope with these things because it would be nice to get to another European final.”
