Patrice Evra will be at Old Trafford at lunchtime on Saturday as a guest of Manchester United.
Much of what he sees on derby day he will recognise, but some things he will not. The last time United played at home, they lost 5-0 to Liverpool.
‘If that had happened to us we would be fighting in the dressing room,' says Evra without a flicker.





Evra remains welded to his old club and speaks to former boss Sir Alex Ferguson every day 

A serial winner in Sir Alex Ferguson's final seven years as manager, Evra remains welded to his old club. He played alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and speaks to Ferguson every month. He is tight with Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba.



Now aged 40, he sees himself as a United fan, first and foremost. ‘I am a Mancunian,' he smiles. ‘And United can't keep making us suffer because it's such pain to watch them sometimes. 
‘There is no role model in that dressing room. Once I had a knock and they said I could not train but then Paul Scholes passed by. He had a knee problem and went out to train. Then Ryan Giggs was stretching a back problem. He went out. Gary Neville with a sore calf. Went out. I thought — if these three dinosaurs are training, am I really going to stay there like a diva?




A bit-part player for Man United, yet to register a goal or... Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a habit of pulling out a result...








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‘So I got up and put my boots on. It's not about shouting on the pitch. That's easy. It's about leading by example. Who does that now?'
When United lost at Everton in 2013, Giggs stood up on the team bus. ‘Even Everton fans are taking the p**s out of us now,' he raged. Are United back in that territory?
‘Worse,' says Evra. ‘Actually, I need to be careful. Not in the actual team, no. But if we don't want to end up like a team where people just laugh at us, then the players have to feel it deep inside.
‘When we lost the title on the last day in 2012, players were crying. Ferguson told us to feel it, to hurt.





He signed for United in 2005 and turned up at Carrington in a _3,000 sheepskin coat

‘We played at noon,' says Evra. ‘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?"





Evra described beating City, as opposed to other title rivals, as 'just beating the neighbour' 






Evra has spoken about how important fiancee Margaux Alexandra was in helping him open up

'But I didn't let her in. Then one night we saw a programme about a paedophile and she knew something was wrong. I said "no" but I burst into tears and then she knew.'
Evra was regularly sexually abused by a head teacher in France at the age of 13. He was contacted by French police in his early 20s but denied being a victim. Margaux was the first to hear his story. 





These days, the ex-Man United left back is energetic, open and marvellously opinionated

These days he is energetic, open and marvellously opinionated. The week we meet, he has done a Q&A at a Manchester school that invigorated him. There has been interest in a documentary and talk of an Evra cartoon. He says much of the ‘dark energy' that propelled him in his formative years is now well hidden, but it remains. He is not ready to stop pushing.
He is, for example, scornful of football's attempts to combat racism. ‘Kick it Out and Say "No" in front of the camera before kick off?,' he asks. ‘I don't want to be involved. When players are doing it, they don't know what they are talking about.
‘You have to be racially abused to understand the pain. In France, after our problems during the 2010 World Cup, they had the guillotine ready for me.
‘People must stop pretending they want to stop the racists. They shut down the Super League project in 24 hours. I see my ex-team-mates as pundits talking about it. But I wonder why they couldn't find the same energy to fight racism. People only care about things that hit them in the pocket. I hate the hypocrisy.'












He is excited about Saturday's trip to Old Trafford. He will see Ferguson and watch old friends play. He cares and wants to help. Sometimes he does. When United wanted to sign Bruno Fernandes last year, they called Evra and asked him to engage Ronaldo as a Portuguese go-between. It worked. Now Ronaldo is back on the field, too.
Evra feels for Pogba — with whom he won Serie A titles at Juventus — and says he has been the scapegoat for United's problems. ‘I've told him I'd like to punch his agent,' he says with a smile. ‘He makes him look bad.
‘Paul does not feel love at United. The ex-players hate him. Some fans don't like his lifestyle so they hate him. I am not defending him just because he is like my little brother, but people are harsh on him. Paul is just a player in that team. He is not United.




A bit-part player for Man United, yet to register a goal or... Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a habit of pulling out a result...








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