Patrica Evra asked Manchester United fans to "forget me" after Rio Ferdinand drew comparisons between the Frenchman and new defender Tyrell Malacia
Malacia has made an impressive start to life at Old Trafford, featuring in all three of United's opening Premier League matches, and starting in the 2-1 victory over Liverpool on Monday night.
The Dutchman was brought on in the 4-0 defeat by Brentford and was one of the few players who came away from the Gtech Community Stadium with any sort of credit.
ALSO READ: Ferdinand compares Malacia to Evra after Liverpool victory
After the win over Liverpool, Ferdinand said: "Malacia was tremendous, outstanding. He reminds me of Patrice Evra in many ways. He’s athletic, he looks like a pound-for-pound strong kid. There aren’t many left-backs in European or world football in the last four or five years who have gone out of a game and kept Mohamed Salah quiet."
Evra - who won five Premier League titles and the Champions League during his United career - insisted that the 23-year-old has a long way to go to reach his level, despite his strong start.
“People have been comparing Malacia to myself, and guys, when you compare to me, they need to be the best left-back in the world, the best left-back in the Premier League for at least four years and they need to win the league, so give him time,” he told Betfair.
“I'm asking fans to give him the same time that they have given to Luke Shaw. You can see the determination, he's hungry to play and also he wasn't selfish. Those are really important qualities as a left-back.”
The 41-year-old Frenchman also believes that his recognition as one of United’s best recent defenders shows there is “something wrong” at the club. He wants people to forget about him as that would mean that the club have found a suitable and competent replacement.
Evra added: “If I have to give him [Malacia] advice, it would be to make sure he finds the right balance between attacking and defending
“I always say, the perfect left-back has that balance. If you attack too much people will say you don't defend, if you defend too much people will say you don't attack. He needs to find that balance and don't think about any comparisons with me. I want Malacia to be Malacia, not the new Patrice Evra. Luke Shaw had the same problem.
“This is my club, but I always want people and the fans to forget Patrice Evra. If the fans still speak about me, I'm glad about it, but it means something is wrong. I wish Malacia well and I wish he makes people forget about Patrice Evra.”
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