Why Manchester United Still Need to Find the New Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra is preparing for yet another Champions League final, and his pre-match comments show that Manchester United have yet to adequately replace the Frenchman.

It is not that United are short at left-back—indeed, that is one of the few positions in the squad that needs no addition.

Rather it is Evra's role as a leader and fans' surrogate that has not been replaced.

On Friday, Evra said, per Sky Sports:

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It was really difficult for me to leave Manchester United. I left for a personal choice. It doesn’t matter if you go somewhere and you’re still winning – it’s always the wrong decision to leave a club like Manchester United.

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Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

For United fans, Evra's love of the club has always felt special. When reflecting on his remarkable goal against Bayern Munich—in his last Champions League game for the Red Devils—he told MUTV (h/t United's official website):

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I always pray before games, I pray every day – to save my family, I even sometimes pray for my enemy. But I asked, 'Can I give something for the Busby Babes'. I didn't say a goal, but just to make sure we played for them in that game. That's why when I scored that goal, you can see I was really emotional, I was angry. I couldn't believe it. That's my little secret – and now everyone knows that secret. In the end we went out of the competition and that is why I was really disappointed, but it was a special moment for me.

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Evra's connection to the club's history went back to his early days at Old Trafford. In 2010, per ManUtd.com he explained that when he had arrived, he had studied the United past:

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I got a load of DVDs, about the Munich disaster and the Busby Babes, about Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law, about [Eric] Cantona. The whole story of the club. You meet these people around the club and I wanted to know who they were, what they had done for the club. Out of respect. Because when you shake the hand of Sir Bobby Charlton you can feel the legend.

"

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

His connection with the club brought him closer to the fans. That relationship with the crowd may have been why he was the first player to speak out during the green-and-gold protests against the Glazer family's ownership of the club. He said, per the Guardian:

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They are the original colours of Manchester United and the fans wear them because they love this club. They have their reasons for doing it and we don't think that they're crazy. They'd like things to change.

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In his time at United, Evra turned himself into a dyed-in-the-wool red. It is something that seems missing from the squad at the moment. Between Evra and the contingent of Manchester-born lifelong reds who have either retired or been sold to Arsenal, there has been a huge loss to the dressing room in terms of connection.

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Ashley Young And Other Manchester United Players Stood With Their Supporters (PICTURES) http://t.co/kkCE65Fz via @HuffPostUKSport

— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) October 8, 2012

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There are exceptions—for example, Ashley Young sat with United away supporters during an injury lay-off rather than in the executive seats.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

The success of the Class of '92 meant that a couple of generations of United fans took seeing people who had a true emotional connection to the club on the pitch for granted. Evra was an extension of that—an import who became one of us.

Evra's experience and leadership have been missed too, as Young told the club's website:

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When you’ve got Vida [Nemanja Vidic], Rio [Ferdinand] and Evra leaving, individuals who were not only big characters but captains, people have to step up and take over that mantle 

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That has been slowly happening throughout the season. Young, Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney have all taken on leadership roles. That should develop over next season, too.

What needs to happen next is for someone to step up in the fans' surrogate role. It is important in terms of the emotional connection between the crowd and the team. When you are sitting in the crowd, it is essential to see someone giving their heart on the pitch—it lifts the crowd and stirs the atmosphere.

DAVE THOMPSON/Associated Press

As Evra said in 2010, again, per the club's website:

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All the young players here need to understand the history of the club. After I watched those DVDs I realised I needed to respect the shirt. I needed to respect the story. Every time I play that is in my head: what a privilege it is to play for Manchester United. When you pull on the shirt you are pulling on history, and I say thanks to God that I play for this club.

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United fans can be very grateful that he did, as they look forward to his spiritual successor making himself known.