Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Freddie Keighley

Patrice Evra names favourite Man Utd rivals to beat including team of '11 babies'

Patrice Evra has chosen which of Manchester United's Premier League rivals he liked to beat most.

The Red Devils have a number of adversaries and the former left-back touched on them before making his pick.

United share a local rivalry with Manchester City, a battle to be the most successful club in England with Liverpool and their competition with Chelsea has become increasingly intense during this century.

However, the team Evra chose as his favourite to beat are arguably the side which has challenged United the most during the Premier League era.

That club is of course Arsenal, whom Evra recalls beating so many times that it was like playing "11 men against 11 babies".

Evra recalled that Arsenal were "his kids" and he saw playing the Gunners as an "easy" game (John Peters)

“Arsenal... I remember when van Persie came,” Evra told the UTD Podcast. “He said: 'Come on Patrice, come on, you have to motivate everyone, it's an important game.'

“I was like, 'Robin, don't worry, those are my kids – we're going to win easy' and we won!”

The former France international used one example to highlight the gulf in quality between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger's teams.

Evra added: “You remember, I think it was after the Champions League, I made that comment when we won 3-1 at the Emirates [in 2009].

"We scored that great goal in counter-attack with Ji-sung Park, Rooney and Ronaldo, and the French journalists after the game were really like: 'Oh, the result doesn't reflect the philosophy of the game.'

“I was like: 'Are you serious? I just feel like today was 11 men and against 11 babies.' After that it was in the paper. 'Patrice is calling Arsenal babies!'

United dominated Arsenal in matches between 2009 and 2014 (X01801)

“But it's just the feeling... I respect so much this club, but it was just my feeling when I played against them – I know I'm going to win.

"I'll be honest with you, I played against this player, and after 34 minutes they were asking: 'Patrice, can we swap shirts at half-time?' So I was like: I've already won the game.”

Between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2014, Arsenal won just one of 15 games against Manchester United.

And it was not just Evra who believed a game against Arsenal was an easy day out - but Ferguson too.

"I remember a game,” Evra recalled. “It was sometime we were playing against Arsenal. It was Sunday, it was sunny, and the speech of Ferguson was like 15 seconds.

“He was like: 'Guys, it's Sunday, it's really sunny outside. I don't want no one to f*** up my Sunday.'

“And you know if you missed a cross or something...You don't want to be the person to do that! Don't ruin his Sunday! It's very important for him!”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.