Patrice Evra insists he will never take his place in the team
for granted despite being a virtual ever-present for the last few
seasons.
The Frenchman has topped the appearance charts
for near enough the last five seasons and established himself as one of
the best left-backs in the game. The recent arrival of Alexander Büttner
has brought both cover and extra competition for the position which
Evra insists he is determined to hold on to.
"You have to fight for your place every day," he told PA Sport.
"Last season I played a lot of games and maybe if I play well these
days people just accept that as normal. But it is not normal playing
well for United.
"When you play a bad game people criticise you
too quickly. My target is simple: football is like a pyramid and I want
to stay on the top. It is easy to reach the top of the pyramid but to
stay there is the hardest part. I always try to stay on the top. I tried
last year, I will try this year and the year after that. I have
been really happy with my form. I am confident with myself and with
my quality. I've been here six years and I want to be the best. That is
my target every year.
"My biggest challenge is from myself," adds
Evra. "I am not being arrogant but I am my biggest challenge. People
forget very quickly how I got to become United’s left-back. There was
Gabriel Heinze and Mikael Silvestre. When I hear people say Patrice
never had someone to fight him for his place I just say they have to
remember I fought with two great left-backs. They have bad memories!
"I
will keep fighting, too. It is too easy for people to say that now we
have bought another left-back, ‘Oh yes Patrice Evra will have to fight
for his place now.’ Patrice Evra has always fought for his place. It
doesn't matter if someone is there or if they're not, I will fight
because you have to respect the shirt. When you play for Manchester
United that is the big challenge."
No comments:
Post a Comment