“I LOVE THIS GAME HAHAHAHAHA”
For anyone who has been on social media, whether it be Twitter, Instagram or even Facebook, over the past year or so, those words will have been synonymous with one man: Patrice Evra.
The veteran left-back, a Champions League, Premier League and Serie A winner, has had a career most footballers can only dream of, playing for clubs such as Manchester United, Juventus, and now Marseille.
When he eventually left Old Trafford in 2014, many were surprised when he was picked up by the Turin side, yet he immediately proved everyone wrong, helping the Italian side to a Champions League final in his first year there, which they ended up losing to Barcelona 3-1.
However, as time went on, it became more and more difficult for Max Allegri to ignore the left-back’s physical decline and, slowly but surely, Evra was replaced by Alex Sandro.
That is why, six months before his contract came to an end, both parties agreed to facilitate a transfer elsewhere, with Marseille welcoming the former France international with open arms.
At the time, the decision to sign the 35-year-old raised a few eyebrows, especially since the Ligue 1 side were desperate for a fresh face at left-back, which Evra was not.
However, it quickly became apparent why Rudi Garcia had agreed to bring him in.
Marseille were an absolute shambles, albeit slowly recovering.
They had just come 13th in Ligue 1, their lowest finish since 2001, were 12th when Frank McCourt took over the club in October 2016, and while the former Roma manager’s appointment had managed to stabilise things by Christmas, help was needed in the dressing room.
This is where Evra was key.
Known to take over from managers at half-time with rousing team talks, the left-back managed to bring an element of unity and camaraderie in Marseille’s dressing room, something that had been clearly lacking over the past couple of years.
Great off the pitch, his performances on it were mixed, with his age starting to show, finding himself out of position more often than not due to a continuous struggle to track back efficiently.
Frustration started to grow in the stands, but the Ligue 1 side finished the season in 5th and qualified for the Europa League.
Still, rejuvenation in the position was needed, and Marseille, with a bit of luck, managed to sign Aston Villa’s Jordan Amavi on a loan with a view to buy.
Since the 23-year-old’s arrival, the veteran has only appeared twice in the league, and it’s worked, as the club are now unbeaten in their last six games.
However, his lack of game time has led to a certain amount of frustration, which, although not apparent on social media, was made quite clear against Lille on Sunday.
Booked in the 10th minute, Evra was lucky not to get sent off before half-time, and it was a surprise to see him manage to make it to the 80th minute without a red card, when he was eventually replaced by Boubacar Kamara.
These were signs things weren’t going well, and while it wasn’t quite a Gary Neville against West Brom performance, the one that forced the Manchester United defender to call it a day on his career, there was a certain element of déjà vu about it.
And then came Thursday night.
Openly criticised/abused during warm up by fans who told him, among other things, to ‘continue to do his videos but stop playing football’ ahead of their Europa League clash against Vitoria Guimaraes, Evra snapped and, in scenes reminiscent of Eric Cantona against Crystal Palace, kicked a supporter in the head.
What led to that? L’Equipe have a pretty thorough description in their Friday edition:
“Copiously insulted by the Marseille group, less than forty metres away from him, laughed at via songs and graphic expressions, he tries to keep a smile during a toro with his teammates, and sends kisses towards the stands.
“Then, tired of it all, he ends up going up towards them. “Who’s talking?”, said Evra. Surprisingly, he’s met with silence. At least briefly. Then, Evra gets targeted again, and ends up kicking a ball towards the fans.
“New episode as fans run towards him after jumping over a wall and a plexiglas barrier. “What do you want? What do you want?, screams Evra, who goes back towards them, hitting his chest. Quicker than the security in charge of Marseille, he grabs a young fan.
“The 13 security members in charge of OM run towards the scene. Many players join them. Luis Gustavo stands in the way, and everyone thinks it’s over. Evra walks a few metres. Then, once again insulted, he decides to sort things out powerfully. The kick is precise, aimed at the head of a fan hidden by his cap.”
Following the altercation, the defender was quite rightly sent off before the game even started, and Marseille, clearly rocked by the incident, ended up losing 1-0.
Now what?
Well, he’s already been suspended because of the red card, but one game clearly isn’t all he’s going to miss.
Remember Cantona? He was banned from football for eight months and ordered to complete 120 hours of community service.
Luckily for him, he was 28 at the time. Evra is 36.
Marseille have announced an internal investigation will take place, which, we can only assume, means they will sit down, look at the facts, meet with Evra and decide what’s best going forward.
Talk of contract termination is already circulating in the media, and it seems that’s what the fans want as well, with over 80% asking for the club to part ways with the defender in a poll conducted by local newspaper La Provence.
Another difference between Cantona and Evra is that he’s attacked his club’s supporters, not those of an opponent.
It doesn’t make the act any better, but, as a fan, you’d probably rather it was aimed elsewhere than towards one of your own, and there now seems to be little to no way back for Evra at Marseille.
The problem is, if his contract does get cancelled, where does he go from here?
If he gets a similar eight month ban, and he should, how many top clubs will want to gamble on a 37-year-old now known for hitting his own fans?
Patrice Evra might really love this game, but, after this, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the game fall out of love with him.
