Evra: I'm Sure We'll Win Title

Patrice Evra believes the squad is united in the belief that the Reds can become the first team to retain the title for four consecutive seasons.

The players are feeling fresh from a five-day training get-together in Qatar, where they enjoyed sunshine, some good training work and a chance to talk over the aims for the run-in. As far as Evra is concerned, the message couldn’t be clearer: "I'm sure we will win the league this year," he says.

“I think it was a great idea to get away for a few days," he adds. "It’s better sometimes when you wake up and you see the sun out of your window! But it was more about making sure everyone understands that now we have a chance not to throw the league away. It made everyone unite for the same target: to win the title for a fourth time in a row and do something nobody else has done.

“It was good [in Qatar] because we enjoyed staying together and had a good time, but we worked hard as well, and talked about what we need to achieve between now and the end of the season. It was about both training and talking amongst ourselves. The facilities were unbelievable, and it’s nice to train in good weather. But we talked a lot as well. I think we will see the affect of this against Burnley.”

Undoubtedly, United have not always been firing on all cylinders this term, but the Reds remain well in contention in the title race. And Evra feels not enough consideration has been given to the defensive injuries that have hampered the first half of an unusually open Barclays Premier League campaign.

“I don’t want to look arrogant, but we have made the league look open,” suggests the Frenchman. “I don’t want to give excuses either, but tell me one team that could lose nine defenders and still be in the position we are in.

No other team could do that, only Manchester United, because we have the right spirit here. This is why it is my hope - and I am sure we can do it – that we can win the league. When everyone is back fit, with Edwin, Rio and Nemanja joining Wes Brown and Jonny Evans, we'll be much stronger.”

Evra believes that, had those players remained fit this season, United would be the current league leaders. And he makes a convincing case: “A lot of people talk about United's attacking strength, but the real strength is the defence. When the defence is strong, we can beat any team. If you watch the performance against Barcelona two years ago in the Nou Camp (Champions League semi-final first-leg), it was our best performance. Defensively everyone was compact, and when we are a unit like this it’s difficult to beat us. This year, we don’t want to throw it away. We know there is a chance to write history, and that is a privilege. Everyone knows what we need to do.

United missed the chance to go top of the league last weekend with a 1-1 draw against Birmingham. But Evra feels that it was a “good point” and insists the league title is still within the Reds’ grasp. “People talk about the game against Birmingham, but it’s not easy to go there. Chelsea drew there as well. It’s a tough place to go. I wasn’t happy with a draw, but it was a good point. Now we need to carry on. If we don’t win against Burnley then it looks like we don’t want to win the title. It’s that simple.

“I fear nobody. Now we need to keep a winning mentality. I’m proud to be where we are, because no other team would be in the same position without nine defenders. We’ve been criticised, but in France we say at the end of the Ball you pay the musician. If in the end we don't succeed, people can criticise. The only thing that matters is what we achieve at the end of the season.”