Former Manchester United defender from 2006 to 2014, Patrice Evra rubbed shoulders with Cristiano Ronaldo in the northern English club. Now a consultant, the former right-back responded to criticism from his former teammate.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford was not a collective success. With the fivefold Ballon d’Or, Manchester United only managed to clinch sixth place. The Portuguese superstar would have had much higher ambitions, but repeated failures this season by Man United have made it difficult for him.
In 39 appearances in all competitions, Ronaldo has managed to score 24 goals. However, the native of Funchal is still singled out as the main responsible for the setbacks of Manchester United. A situation that Patrice Evra considers offensive towards the ex-protégé of Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Can we leave this guy alone?” He has 18 goals [en championnat]. Where would we be if Cristiano wasn’t in this team? », wondered the former captain of the France team in an interview with the Mirror.
He keeps on : “That’s why when people talk about him, I say to myself: these people are not at peace with themselves or they are jealous. It’s so crazy, I don’t even want to answer this question anymore because I’ve answered it so many times. »
“I’m in love with his work ethic”
“I’ll give you one thing: put Cristiano Ronaldo in the team of Manchester City, Liverpool or Chelsea [et il s’en sortira bien]. But put one of their best players, put Mo Salah at United [il aura du mal] like all players. And they say it’s because he’s my friend or whatever. No. I am in love with his work ethic, his professionalism. He is 37 years old. This guy, even at 40, will still score goals. And he’s there for that, that’s what people expect of him. »
The former left-back of AS Monaco and Juventus also returned to a very important aspect of Ronaldo’s debut, especially when he won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008.
“So that’s why when people ask me about Cristiano, sometimes I don’t want to answer anymore because he’s proven so many times hat tricks or whatever. And the funniest thing is when people say he doesn’t defend. When he won the Ballon d’Or in 2008, Cristiano’s best quality wasn’t defending. So let’s talk about what he’s good at, and what he’s good at is scoring goals. »
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