Evra determined to return stronger

Manchester United‘s stand-in captain Patrice Evra is determined to return stronger next season and believes that the manager will bring in the right players to bolster the squad this summer.

Sir Alex was seen attending the German cup final in Berlin on Saturday between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich and is believed to be scouting Dortmund’s trio of Robert Lewandowski, Mats Hummels and Shinji Kagawa. Following a heartbreaking final day to an enthralling season, Evra said:

“I am not crazy. I won’t say that we’ve had a good season or we’ll be okay. Every player has to be better next season than we were this year, even if we haven’t been as poor as a lot of people say.

“Fans will want to see a few new players and I trust totally in the boss. He will do the right thing. There aren’t many players who can play for Manchester United and I know the boss will make the best decision.”

United managed to muster 89 points – the best ever in the premier league by a side finishing 2nd – but lost the title due to City’s better goal difference. The French full back defended his side and praised the Manchester United spirit. The 31-year-old said:

“Every year people criticise United. People say we’ve had the worst season ever if we don’t win the league. This is not the truth. The season we’ve just finished has been a miracle. People were saying it was going to be the worst season but we are nine points better off than last year and we’ve scored more goals.

“We only think we’ve failed because we haven’t won. Winning is the Manchester United spirit, it’s the Manchester United way. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only got one leg, you have to win. If I played for another team then maybe we’d say well done for coming second.”

The 4-4 draw against Everton, the 3-2 defeat against Blackburn Rovers have been the most damaging results. Evra, who has played every single league game since missing out against West Brom in August, laments putting up a mediocre show against the lowly teams.

“We played those games in the same way we played the group stages of the Champions League. We thought everything would be fine. We were eight points clear, then it was five points, then three. All the time we were saying to ourselves, ‘It will be okay: we are Manchester United’.

“I was surprised by the number of appearances I’ve made. It’s a lot of games and a lot of stress on my body, but the only thing I want to do now is play with more quality. I am proud to play a lot of games but I’ve put myself in trouble. If I start to play fewer people will say I am old and should retire – and I am scared to do that.”