Evra - We're still strong

31 July 2009 16:03
Patrice Evra has shrugged off the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, insisting that Manchester United will remain as strong as ever this season. Ronaldo and Tevez have played instrumental roles in the club's recent success and Evra admits they were two 'big players'. However, Sir Alex Ferguson has brought in the likes of Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen during the transfer window and Evra is looking ahead to the new campaign with confidence. He does not believe United will be any weaker and is hungry to add more silverware to the trophy cabinet. "They are two big players, but the star of the team is the team," said the Frenchman. "Two players alone do not make a team. We have signed some good players and, like I say, Manchester United are a team and not only about two players. "I can already see a good team coming along and we are all confident about doing well with this team as it is." Good tour United have produced several encouraging performances in pre-season and Evra expects the team to be firing on all cylinders by the time they face Chelsea in the Community Shield. "We worked really well in Asia and played some good games, it was a good tour," he said. "We are moving along bit by bit in preparation for our first match of the season on August 9 against Chelsea. "We want to at least defend the titles we won last season and try to win the Champions League."

Source: SKY_Sports