Patrice Evra Evra was named to the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 2 Team of the Year in the left-back position. Following the season, Evra was recruited by Nice's Derby de la Côte d'Azur rivals Monaco. Despite wanting to play as a left winger again, Evra was advised by manager Didier Deschamps he would only play as a left-back. Evra has since credited Deschamps for allowing him to become a better defender after initially describing the role as being not fun. Evra was inserted into a back four that consisted of centre-backs Rafael Márquez and Sébastien Squillaci and right-back Franck
Patrice Evra left-back Jean-Charles Cirilli, who was starting in place of the regular starter José Cobos, suffered an injury, which required the player to be substituted out. As a consequence, Evra dropped back into the role and played out the rest of the match in the position. Following the match, due to injuries to both Cobos and Cirilli, Evra was informed by Salvioni he would take over the position. The young player disagreed with the manager's decision, declaring he was a forward, however after Salvioni informed him, "If you want to be in the team you play there," Evra agreed to fill