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The wise head of Uncle Pat: Why Deschamps is relying heavily on Evra

Reuters

Didier Deschamps does not have all the answers. At times during Euro 2016, the France manager has given the impression of a man still learning on the job. He has vacillated between a 4-3- 3 formation and a 4-2- 3-1, churned through endless different combinations out wide and only recently seemed to consider that Antoine Griezmann might be effective in the same central position from which he scored 32 times this season for Atletico Madrid.

When it comes to team selection, there are only two areas in which Deschamps appears totally certain. The first is in goal, where Hugo Lloris’ status as captain and keeper has never been in doubt. The second is at full-back. Patrice Evra and Bacary Sagna are the only two outfield players to have played every minute of this tournament for France so far.

This despite the fact that they are the two oldest players in the squad. And that Evra has also been one of the most criticised. A poll in L’Equipe after France’s tournament-opening 2-1 win over Romania found that 52 percent of readers considered him to be the single biggest problem with the host nation’s team.

The timing of this survey needs to be taken into consideration. Evra had very nearly cost France that first victory - gifting Romania its equaliser when he gave away a penalty with a senseless lunge at Nicolae Stanciu. L’Equipe gave him a three out of 10 in their player ratings.

But if you were to base your judgements entirely on the verdicts of that newspaper, you might conclude that Evra has been continuously awful ever since. He managed a barely-acceptable five out of 10 rating against each of Albania and Switzerland, and was back down to four during wins over the Republic of Ireland and Iceland.

If his performances were truly that bad, then why has Deschamps not contemplated a change? This is a manager bold enough to drop Paul Pogba to the bench (even if only briefly) after a disappointing first game. It’s not as though France lacks alternatives at Evra’s position, either. Lucas Digne is coming off a highly impressive campaign at Roma.

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Personal relationships may have played a part. It was Deschamps who signed Evra for Monaco back in 2002, and two years later they reached a Champions League final together. The manager moved on to Juventus, and the player to Manchester United, but the bond between them stayed strong. Evra told the Journal du Dimanche before the start of this tournament that he would "give my life" for Deschamps.

But there are other relationships that matter here. Evra might have lost the respect of the French public when he led that infamous training-ground boycott at the 2010 World Cup, but amongst his peers he is seen in a very different light.

It was Pogba who christened him as 'Zio Pat' - Uncle Pat - at Juventus, hailing him as "a guide to everyone, always ready to help his younger teammates." Kingsley Coman has expressed similar thoughts, noting how Evra would pump him up on a daily basis at training in Turin, praising his quality but reminding him of the importance of hard work.

It is this leadership, above all, that Deschamps knows his old friend can provide. Evra was stripped of the France captaincy after 2010 but, as the youngest of eight children growing up in the tough Parisian suburb of Les Ulis, he learned early in life how to always make his voice heard.

"I never knew how to stay in my place," he told Le Parisien. "I really want to protect everyone ... Even in the difficult moments, I want to say to [my teammates]: 'I’m here, if someone has to take the fall, it’s me, not you.' I will continue in this role until the end of my career.

"They took the armband off me, but I’m not going to stop doing my job because of that. For me, I’ve already had the armband, so that’s not a problem."

Evra has lived up to those words this summer, launching a strident defence of Olivier Giroud after home crowds turned on the misfiring striker. His vocal presence on the pitch, furthermore, looks all the more valuable in light of the turmoil at centre-back, where first Adil Rami and then the uncapped Samuel Umtiti have been forced into the line-up following a raft of injuries and suspensions.

All this would not be enough if Evra truly had failed to improve after that debacle against Romania. In reality, though, the picture is more nuanced. The stats website Whoscored ranked him as the single best player on the pitch against Albania, a judgement presumably informed by his extraordinary success in winning 17 aerial duels.

Giovanni De Biasi’s side had made a clear attempt to expose Evra as France’s weak link by pumping high balls down his flank, but found him more than equal to the task.

His performances since have been a mix of good and bad. He was beaten for Iceland’s second goal in the quarter-final, but by that stage the intensity of the match had diminished. Before that, Evra neutralised his (admittedly unambitious) Juventus teammate Stephan Lichtsteiner against Switzerland, and could not be blamed for the penalty that Pogba gave away against Ireland.

Germany will provide a far sterner challenge, with Thomas Muller likely to line up on Evra’s flank. It was he who scored Bayern Munich’s last-gasp equaliser when they met in the Champions League last-16 this March, after a mistake from the full-back in the build-up.

But before French fans get too anxious about a repeat of that scenario, they should remember that it was Coman who put in the cross. Perhaps, on this one occasion, it will be Evra’s turn to go to his younger teammate for words of advice.

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