Evra looking forward to Van Gaal reign
Patrice Evra has welcomed Louis van Gaal's impending arrival at Manchester United and warned his France team-mates to keep their feet on the ground at the World Cup.
After seeing United take up an option to extend his contract beyond its expiry this month, Evra, 33, will start the 2014/15 Premier League campaign under Van Gaal.
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The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss is currently attempting to guide the Netherlands to glory at the World Cup, and Evra has been speaking to United team-mate and Dutch international Robin van Persie to get the inside track on the new man in charge at Old Trafford, who has already taken De Oranje into the knockout stages.
"Van Gaal is a great coach. They have started well, the Dutch. According to Robin, he's someone who is very disciplined and loves discipline. So he's a good choice for Manchester United."
Evra may find himself face-to-face with his new boss in the latter stages of the tournament in Brazil should their respective countries maintain the impressive form they have shown up until now.
Evra helped Les Bleus register a fine 3-0 win over Honduras in their opening Group E fixture, and will likely fill the left-back berth in Didier Deschamps' side again when they meet Switzerland on Friday.
Forever notorious for being the captain when the squad went on strike at the 2010 World Cup, Evra endures a love-hate relationship with the French media and public.
He insisted the current crop of players were unlikely to repeat that episode given the team spirit that has persisted since their dramatic play-off triumph over Ukraine in November.
"It's true that I have been in several squads, and this one, it makes you afraid because everything is going well. All the lights are green. When we're eating, some of them say to me, 'Pat, imagine we all played at the same club.' The boys don't want this adventure to stop now. I told them, 'We all play for the same country, that's even better.' Since France-Ukraine, there is pride in wearing this shirt. That's the difference.
"Our spirit is irreproachable. The day that we start to believe everything is easy, when we start behaving like stars, we'll trip up. But if we continue rolling our sleeves up in each game, and I have a lot of respect for all the other teams, such as Honduras, Switzerland and Ecuador, our number one opponent is the French national team. I have thought that for a while now."
