I Love This Game by Patrice Evra

Author:Patrice Evra [Evra, Patrice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2021-10-27T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11 Getting the Blues

Sir Alex Ferguson came into the dressing room at half-time, looked at Rio Ferdinand and calmly asked: ‘Rio, why are you shitting yourself today?’

‘I’m not shitting myself,’ replied Rio.

‘You’re shitting yourself,’ replied the boss.

Rio denied it.

‘That’s enough for you and Vidic, I’m taking you both off,’ he said. ‘You are too deep, too slow. It’s time for the kids.’

It was the Community Shield between the league and FA Cup winners. United against City for the second time in four months. They’d beaten us and we wanted revenge, but things didn’t go to plan. We did beat City in a top game, but it was the first time I thought the regular centre-back partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic could be in jeopardy.

City had quickly gone 2-0 up and our new goalkeeper, David de Gea, struggled with long shots because, we were told, he had a problem with his eyes. Edin Dzeko had scored from a long shot and Joleon Lescott had headed in the second, for which I was criticised by the media.

After the half-time showdown, the boss brought on young Jonny Evans and new signing Phil Jones in defence. It was a major change in a big game but it really paid off. We pressed them high. Smalling, playing at right back, scored and Nani got two. Nani was amazing that day. We battered City in that second half to win 3-2. But when we went back to the dressing room, instead of celebrating our comeback, the talk was of how Nemanja and Rio might be replaced by Jones and Evans, who’d performed superbly. When I say ‘the talk’, I mean the vibe that you get in the dressing room. It comes from players, from physios, from people close to the manager who pick up things. There’s no shortage of opinions in a football dressing room.

It was a jolt to all of us that we couldn’t relax, and from that day the boss felt he could trust young players like Evans, Jones, Smalling and Tom Cleverley, who’d also done well. We needed them as John O’Shea had left for Sunderland. John was the solution to many of United’s problems and I used to joke with him that he could play everywhere except goalkeeper… then he ended up as a stand-in keeper against Tottenham! He was a significant loss for United, and the club shouldn’t have let him go, but I understood why he went. John wanted to play more – footballers do. But I can’t remember John ever letting United down. He wasn’t the biggest star but teams need players like him.

There was a new breed coming through like Tom, who I’m convinced is a black man in a white man’s body because of the music he’s into. Clev got some stick off United fans who didn’t think he was good enough to play for the team, yet he’s the type of player who can perform really well with top players around him. Clev’s passing was sharp, quick on the transition and he could finish.

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