Patrice Evra urged caution over comparisons between himself and Tyrell Malacia after the summer signing from Feyenoord impressed on his full debut against Liverpool on Monday.
The tenacious left-back caught the eye as a second half subsitute against Brentford the previous week and was promoted to the starting line-up in place of Luke Shaw as Erik ten Hag rang the changes for the visit of United’s fiercest rivals to Old Trafford.
Malacia gave an accomplished performance, limiting the formidable threat of Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold while providing a threat in attack as United recorded a much-needed win.
Despite his modest stature, the 23-year-old also displayed a combative edge which led Ferdinand to liken Malacia to his former teammate.
He said: ‘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.
‘Yes, he scored a little goal but in the main of the game he kept him quiet. Salah would’ve come off that pitch thinking that was a tough competitor.’
Evra, regarded as one of the best Premier League left-backs of all-time, believes it is far too premature to make such comparisons and has urged United fans to show patience with the Netherlands international.
‘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,’ Evra 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.
‘If I have to give him 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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