Manchester United take on Manchester City tomorrow lunchtime, in a game that would see us go level on points with our rivals if we win, but sink well behind league leaders Chelsea if we lose.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, Evra was asked whether City’s recent dominance in the league could eventually lead to a permanent power shift in the city. Sir Alex Ferguson was famously claimed “not in my lifetime”, and Evra has echoed those sentiments, pointing out his five Premier League titles match the number City have won.
No way. I have the same number of Premier League titles as City. Just myself! And where is their Champions League? They are much better than United right now but it’s not a worry. The history will never die. If they start to win the Champions League it could be a different story but even to reach the level of Chelsea — well, they are not there yet. Only people born after PlayStation 5 came out (last year) will say that City are the biggest club in the world. Everyone else? No way.
Evra made his Premier League debut against City and it was a horror show, with people wondering if even the ridiculously cheap £5m pricetag had meant we had overpaid. Of course, history tells a different story, with the left-back going on to win five league titles and being named the best in his position in the league three times, but he has reflected on his early days at the club.
We played at noon. Breakfast at nine. Mikael Silvestre was eating pasta. I did the same and vomited. Maybe I shouldn’t have played but I didn’t want to appear scared.
In the first two minutes, Trevor Sinclair elbowed me. My eye was closed. Welcome to England. I remember leaning on the post thinking “What am I doing here?”
I was over-confident and arrogant. Scholes teased me, said I should have been a jockey. He was right. I had never even been in a gym! In a reserve game me and Nemanja Vidic were taken off again. In the shower we were saying “I think we should both go home”.
