Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho have ‘Manchester United DNA’, says Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra says he is ‘not worried’ about Erik ten Hag and is encouraged by the young talent emerging at Old Trafford, picking out Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho as two players with ‘Manchester United DNA’.

Ten Hag once again finds himself under intense pressure after an inauspicious start to the season at United, with the club winning just two of their six opening games in the Premier League.

In the Europa League, the Red Devils were held to a desperately disappointing 1-1 draw at home to FC Twente last time out and Ten Hag’s men will be a targeting a much-improved performance away to Porto on Thursday night.

Gary Neville branded United’s dismal 3-0 capitulation at home to Tottenham ‘disgusting’ and one of the worst performances he had seen since Ten Hag took over the reins back in April 2022.

But Ten Hag reportedly retains the backing of club bosses for the time being and the Dutchman is expected to be in the dugout for the side’s crucial clashes with Porto and Aston Villa over the coming days.

‘It’s tough. People keep talking about Ten Hag being sacked or not… at the end it feels like he’s got the support from the leaders,’ former United left-back Evra told Sky Sports.

‘We’re going to have two tough games, Porto away and Aston Villa, and we keep saying if he loses those two games he’s going to get sacked.

‘But from experience, every time he had that game, where we say he’s going to get sacked, he always wins them so I’m not worried. I’m not worried.’

Evra admits there were times he ‘begged’ Sky Sports bosses not to work on United matches given how much it ‘hurt’ to see his former club suffering.

‘Sometimes commentators are really harsh but it’s because people are frustrated,’ the Frenchman added.

‘When you love your club so much and you get disappointed by some performances, of course, some times when I was working for Sky Sports, I was begging to not commentate on any game for Manchester United when it was that 5-0 loss against Tottenham.

‘You could see my face on TV, I couldn’t hide my feelings. No matter if you work for Sky Sports and you need to be neutral, when your club is not performing well of course it hurts.’

According to Evra, the talent emerging from United’s academy ranks is one ‘positive’ to take amid the club’s recent struggles.

‘I had a chat with Kobbie and said, “Wow, keep doing what you’re doing, this is United”,’ Evra continued.

‘Back in the day we were talking about Nicky Butt, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and now to see we’ve still got that, even if the first-team’s results are not great, but I think this is the positive side.

‘Seeing those young players come in and play with no fear, I feel like when I see Garnacho and Mainoo, they have the Manchester United DNA and that’s what we want to see.’

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