Former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra has revealed the one moment where he did not shake Sir Alex Ferguson’s hand after a decision the Scotsman made.
During Sir Alex Ferguson’s 27 years in charge at Old Trafford, the Scotsman dominated England with 13 Premier League titles, two UEFA Champions Leagues and multiple domestic cup successes.
However, despite the success that Ferguson had in English football, he certainly had some high-profile spats with some of his players. Whether it’s Roy Keane or Carlos Tevez, the Scotsman had some high profile incidents with his players.
Despite this, Ferguson had the fierce loyalty from the majority of his players and former United left-back Patrice Evra was one of those players.
Patrice Evra explains moment he wanted to leave Man United
During the early days of Evra’s career at Old Trafford, the Frenchman struggled to adapt to the physical nature of English football.
Evra, alongside Nemanja Vidic, were signed in January 2006 but the defensive pair struggled. However, during the 2006/07 season, Evra proved his worth to the Red Devils and ahead of the FA Cup final in 2007 against Chelsea, it was down to Ferguson to decide between Gabriel Heinze and Evra for the starting spot.
Speaking on the Stick To Football podcast, Evra revealed the moment he found out that Heinze would be starting.
“I won’t play you son, I’ll pay Gabi (Gabriel Heinze) because of the pitch and the grass is really high and it’s warm but you’re gonna win the game for us.
“After five minutes the boss told me to warm up and I was fuming during that warm-up and after 90 minutes I didn’t get on the pitch. Of course, we lost that game, Didier Drogba scored the winner for Chelsea.
“I remember (at full-time) I took my medal off and threw my medal on the floor and the boss came over to shake my hand and I didn’t shake his hand.
Two weeks later he phoned me up to apologise for leaving me out because after that cup final I phoned my agent to say ‘I didn’t want to play for Man United anymore’. To this day I’ve never asked him about why he left me out.”
Evra went on to be a Man United legend
Despite a slow start to his career at Old Trafford, Evra went on to become one of the best left-backs in the Premier League.
It looked like Evra could well have been on his way out of Old Trafford, but the Frenchman stayed and won multiple league titles before moving to Juventus.
After winning his first team spot back under Ferguson, Argentine Heinze departed Old Trafford for a move to Real Madrid.
Evra played 379 games for Manchester United during his career at the club, winning five Premier League titles, and the Champions League.
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