Patrice Evra appreciation thread

[johnboy14]

We have seen alot of experience leave the club in the last 2 months, its sad to see players like evra, vidic and rio leave the club especially at the same time. I wish him well, between 07 and 10, he was without doubt the best fullback in his position, when his pace went then alot of his game went with it but definitely up there in the list of brilliant buys by Fergie.

[washyourhands]

The biggest compliment I can pay Pat is that his exceptional ability and service was allied with a powerful and deep seated appreciation of the culture of our football club, of what it meant to be a United player. This transcended the whole hearted, unquestionable commitment he displayed every time he wore the shirt; it was reflected in every word he spoke, in the way he behaved as a professional. Even during the dark hours of last season, Pat spoke with a sincerity that reached out to the fans and I will not forget that.

I remember his debut against the bitters and frankly I don't think we have had a more consistent full back/left back since Dennis Irwin. His form had suffered a little defensively but irrespective of this, he will be sorely missed.

Good luck and God speed, Patrice Evra, legend. You will always be welcome at OT.

[stilgar]

I wish Patrice the best at his new club and in his life. We will miss him.

At our Hungarian United fan forum I still use as avatar a picture of his joke with the plastic arm. It was an epic moment. I love the guy.

[No.7]

The best LB in the world at one point and permanently a united and PL legend in my opinion. fucking tremendous one of my all time favourites.

[Deleted]

Good luck and enjoy your new life in Turin Pat.

Great player, 2nd best left back I've seen at United in the last 3 decades (sorry Pat, but Denis shades it). Been poor for the last couple of years now though, and him sitting on the bench as back up to Shaw, whilst making sense, might have been a tad of an insult, especially when he still has what it takes to go be first choice for a club like Juve.

Glad he left on the cheap as well, shows United are still a touch of class above other clubs, we don't try to extort every last drop when one of our legends wants to go. An extra couple of mil doesn't exactly mean much in the long run, but it gets the transfer done quick for him to get in for pre season early.

Farewell Mr Evra, and Godspeed.

[Deleted]

Gutted to see him leaving. Also he hates scousers so I like him even more.

Great presence in the dressing room that will be missed, A legend, Good luck Paddy..

[Deleted]

Bloody legend. I love when he was about to destroy Suarez and Rio though "oh, I'd better get in the way of that".

[Kojak]

I'll miss Paddy a lot. Maybe not necessarily because of his ability, we all know he's not what he once was, but as a man he'll be sorely missed. As everyone's been saying, he gets it. More than most. Rio and Vida got it as well which is a huge reason why they were all integral parts of one of our best and most loved defensive lines ever.

I remember Paddy being interviewed before the City game last season and he talked about making his debut in a derby. He said he was thinking "what am I doing here? I was safe in Monaco". After seeing him that day I think we all wondered what exactly we'd got ourselves into when buying him. But to his credit he bounced back from one of the more difficult United debuts in history to become for a time, certainly around '08/'09, the best LB in the world.

I mentioned somewhere else the memory of his cooking segment where I believe he called the two lobsters Tevez and Torres. Other cherished memories include his little scruffy goal when he came on at RB in the demolishing of Roma, the amazing strike against Bayern last season that I really wish had meant more on the night, and the ability that he somehow found at the end of his career to be deadly in the box from corners.

To a lot of people his time in England will have been defined by the whole Suarez incident, and that is sad because of the ability he had as a player. Rather than think about the words that were said and the piece of shit that said them, I prefer to think of the way Evra dealt with the situation and the dignity he maintained in the face of massive media scrutiny and a disgusting campaign from Liverpool fans, players and management to brand him a liar. Evra leaves a legacy at United because he's a legendary left back, but he leaves a legacy behind in English football because of the way he stood up to racism and refused to accept it. He could've decided not to mention it because of the attention it was bound to draw, which I'm sure players had done before him, but he didn't. That's the kind of man Paddy is.

[king nothing]

Jul 21, 2014 23:41:40 GMT Kojak said:

I'll miss Paddy a lot. Maybe not necessarily because of his ability, we all know he's not what he once was, but as a man he'll be sorely missed. As everyone's been saying, he gets it. More than most. Rio and Vida got it as well which is a huge reason why they were all integral parts of one of our best and most loved defensive lines ever.

I remember Paddy being interviewed before the City game last season and he talked about making his debut in a derby. He said he was thinking "what am I doing here? I was safe in Monaco". After seeing him that day I think we all wondered what exactly we'd got ourselves into when buying him. But to his credit he bounced back from one of the more difficult United debuts in history to become for a time, certainly around '08/'09, the best LB in the world.

I mentioned somewhere else the memory of his cooking segment where I believe he called the two lobsters Tevez and Torres. Other cherished memories include his little scruffy goal when he came on at RB in the demolishing of Roma, the amazing strike against Bayern last season that I really wish had meant more on the night, and the ability that he somehow found at the end of his career to be deadly in the box from corners.

To a lot of people his time in England will have been defined by the whole Suarez incident, and that is sad because of the ability he had as a player. Rather than think about the words that were said and the piece of shit that said them, I prefer to think of the way Evra dealt with the situation and the dignity he maintained in the face of massive media scrutiny and a disgusting campaign from Liverpool fans, players and management to brand him a liar. Evra leaves a legacy at United because he's a legendary left back, but he leaves a legacy behind in English football because of the way he stood up to racism and refused to accept it. He could've decided not to mention it because of the attention it was bound to draw, which I'm sure players had done before him, but he didn't. That's the kind of man Paddy is.

Says it all. Thanks kojak.

[Jayrannasaurus]

Too gutted, Pat's been my favorite player since he established himself in the team and even though he wasn't up to where he used to be the team just feels different now that he's left.

Cheers Pat.

[ZlattackRed]

Pat = Passion
Pity that the potential influx of youth in the team will miss the experience and passion of Evra. He would have been a huge plus on the psychological side of things with his dressing room presence and motivational talks. Wish you all the best Pat. You have already ingrained your name in United forklore.

[Chris]

The bleacher report has Pat at 4th best United left back. Irwin is number one. Very hard to disagree with Irwin. Did he ever put a foot wrong? Most reliable, no nonsense left back I've ever seen.

Pat was great until his last 2/3 years but still a major loss in the dressing room. The time is right though.

[Deleted]

not scared of a fight our Pat;

[NR7]

Proper legend and his farewell message made me kinda of emotional. We will miss his experience and presence in the dressing room big time

[Bestie]

Paddy Crerand @patcrerand · 11h
Met with Patrice Evra at team hotel today fantastic lad; really emotional he stressed how difficult it was to leave Utd. Great lad