Patrice Evra Exclusive: Ronaldo leaving "best for United"

So pleasing to see the fight and spirit against Liverpool

Miracles do happen. Before the game I said that Liverpool would win, but I was still behind United, when we struggle that much we always play a big game and win.

People will call it luck, but I don't. United were in a survival mode and the spirit they showed, to actually see them fighting for the badge was so pleasing for United fans.

Let's be honest, if they lost against Liverpool I think the season would have been over and we would be talking about relegation.

This win is a massive boost. I'm really pleased for all the United fans, for Ten Hag and for the players because finally they showed what we expect from them.

I don't want to take the credit away from Man United, there were a lot of people talking about United and the problems, but I feel that Liverpool are also struggling.

I never played for Liverpool, but I have to say it: losing Sadio Mane is a big factor. People forget that.

Klopp is one of the best managers in the world and I'm sure Darwin Nunez will score many goals but they had a system with Mane, Salah and Firmino that was working so well.

I think Klopp must be devastated losing Mane, because I believe he was even more important than Salah, and I think the main reason he left was because he didn't feel respected enough. Look what he's doing with Bayern Munich.

Defensive resilience is key for United

What impressed me most was the resilience in defence. I spoke about Martinez, height isn't a problem and he showed that with his aggression.

Malacia played his first game against Liverpool, he was great with his aggressiveness and willingness to play for the team, I saw personality.

The defence was solid. I feel gutted for De Gea, he didn't get a clean sheet. You could see his face and how disappointed he was when they conceded.

This is a massive boost, but the players can't forget they play for Manchester United, they can have a great game, but as soon as they have a bad game people will say that they are the worst players.

Keep your feet on the ground, keep working hard, this is just the beginning.

They've just won a survival game, now they need to have the consistency and they need to win against Southampton. If they draw, people won't understand it because they just beat Liverpool.

When you analyse the game, Liverpool had some great chances, people will say we were lucky but you need to provoke that luck and that's what United did.

It's a massive three points. We came from hell and winning against Liverpool in that way, every United fan will be pleased.

The spirit and the energy against Liverpool is like they have fresh blood.

Marcus Rashford was running, pressing and scoring goals. What an amazing goal from Jadon Sancho. Martial came on. This is the team we saw in the pre-season.

I don't want to talk about the past, but why didn't we start with that team from the beginning of the season? I think we are going to have less issues than we thought.

Ten Hag's changes made the difference and it leaves big questions for some players

We should give a lot of credit to Ten Hag because he's had a tough start to the season and coming into a game against Liverpool, to make changes, even in the game, you could see that he wanted the team to score that second goal to secure the win, was really important.

He's here to stay. He needs the players and the right attitudes, but I believe in this manager.

When you win against Liverpool you get the fans on side, and that will be a big boost for him.

Now, Ten Hag will have to make decisions about the team and not think about individuality.

I'm convinced that the starting eleven made a big difference in that win. If we started with the same players that started against Brighton and Brentford we would have definitely lost.

I think Ten Hag was selfish and he was thinking about himself, he would have been saying 'I don't want to lose my job and I should get rid of really important players and make changes,' and he did.

Let's be clear, I can say people are too harsh on Harry Maguire, but he is paying the price for his transfer fee.

From that day, I said he is going to have the most difficult season for United, because people only looked at the price.

If we bought him for £5 million, people would say he's an amazing centre back. We all have bad games, but now we've got to a point where even if he has a good game people are not happy. So there's a negativity around him.

Reports emerging that Cristiano Ronaldo is on the verge of sealing a move back to Sporting Lisbon.

Betfair Ambassador @Evra has his say on the transfer saga...#MUFC | #ManchesterUnited pic.twitter.com/dgT1howHpK

? Betfair (@Betfair) August 25, 2022

The Cristiano Ronaldo saga is another issue. Is he staying? Is he leaving? It's created a lot of confusion with fans.

He's still here, the transfer window isn't closed but I think, personally knowing Cristiano, if he doesn't play he would like to leave. I think this would be the best for him and for United.

We've been playing Luke Shaw for so many years and I'm really careful when I talk about left-backs because I've been in this position and it's not an easy position.

Luke Shaw has been here for so many years and he hasn't matched the standard set by Dennis Irwin or myself, and I think left-back is a really crucial position for United.

Maybe it's time for those players to go.

I want Malacia to be Malacia, and not the new Evra

People have been comparing Malacia to myself, and guys, when you compare to me, they need to be the best left-back in the world, the best left-back in the Premier League for at least four years and they need to win the league, so give him time.

I'm asking fans to give him the same time that they have given to Luke Shaw.

You can see the determination, he's hungry to play and also he wasn't selfish. Those are really important qualities as a left-back.

If I have to give him advice, it would be to make sure he finds the right balance between attacking and defending.

I always say, the perfect left-back has that balance. If you attack too much people will say you don't defend, if you defend too much people will say you don't attack.

He needs to find that balance and don't think about any comparisons with me. I want Malacia to be Malacia, not the new Patrice Evra. Luke Shaw had the same problem.

This is my club, but I always want people and the fans to forget 'Patrice Evra'.

If the fans still speak about me, I'm glad about it, but it means something is wrong. I wish Malacia well and I wish he makes people forget about Patrice Evra.

Marcus Rashford needs to keep going because he's still got it

I was really disappointed and frustrated with Marcus Rashford. Five years ago, if you asked me to name a captain of Manchester United, straight away I would have said Marcus Rashford, but since then he's been up and down and I was really frustrated like so many fans.

Years ago, I saw him in Dubai and I said to him "wow, Marcus I know a lot of clubs want you" and he told me "you know Patrice, I'm going to stay at United because United are the best club in the world."

I remember that kid that started with Van Gaal and he was scoring goals, celebrating with the fans, like he did against Liverpool.

This is the Marcus Rashford we want to see with that appetite, that anger. The fans want to see him running like crazy and every game we asked him to do it because he has the quality to do it.

Against Liverpool he was upfront, Ronaldo was on the bench, and he scored.

This has to massively boost his confidence. It means Ten Hag trusts him. Any manager who comes to the club will believe in Marcus Rashford.

Will he use him on the left, the right or through the middle like against Liverpool, maybe that's the position he wants to play? He must have a discussion with Ten Hag, but what a player.

I'm happy for his performance against Liverpool but please, Marcus, keep going because you've got it.

Casemiro signing will bring experience and consistency to team

The Casemiro signing came from nowhere and that's what United used to do. When they brought me, when they brought Nemanja Vidic, that's what they used to do, signings out of nowhere, boom.

Not a player linked in the paper for many months and in the end they don't even sign them.

I'm confident, we're talking about a five-times Champions League winner. All that experience coming into the midfield.

Of course, he will have to adapt to the Premier League but I've seen him many times and what a player. That's the kind of midfielder we need.

When we play McTominay and Fred, even if they have a great game, after three games they lose that consistency and Casemiro will bring that to United.

This is an amazing deal and finally we did it the Man United way: no noise and boom, Casemiro is at home.

I'm confident, but don't expect too much all of a sudden, he needs to adapt to his new players, and sometimes people forget that.

I don't see why he won't perform well for Man United.

His experience will be a massive help. People blame players at the club, but they don't have anybody to look at, apart from Cristiano Ronaldo. The experience is really important.

When Robin van Persie came to United, we were doing a warm up on the bikes and he shook everyone's hand, and when he shook my hand I said "welcome to a real club" and he started to swear at me, using the F word and he wasn't happy.

Then after one month he came to me and said "Patrice I want to apologise, what you said is so right, I can see that all you guys have won so many titles, you are all the first in training and last out because you still want to win."

That's what I mean about experience, when you have a player and they win so many trophies, young players look up to them, they see the way they train, the way they eat and their lifestyle. Casemiro's experience will help.