Patrice Evra claims he labeled Arsenal as ‘babies’ a year ago only due to treatment he received from Cesc Fabregas.

The Gunners were sucker-punched in the second leg of last season’s Champions League semi-final and following a 3-1 defeat at the Emirates, United’s left-back concluded that the clash with Wenger’s men was simply ‘men vs boys’.

That statement forced a feisty reaction from the Arsenal faithful and to date, Evra’s name has been very unpopular in north London.

But speaking in an interview on Saturday, the Frenchman attempted to amend opinions about his personality, and insists his slamming of Arsenal was only down to a dirty confrontation with Fabregas – an incident in the 0-0 league clash at Old Trfford which was actually after the Champions League semi-final.

According to Evra, he struggles to control his temper but is no ‘bad boy’.

“I remember Eric Cantona saying that while he sometimes could not control his fire he would not have been the same player without it. I am the same. I need the fire.” Evra said.

“But I am not a bad boy. When I go into a challenge I go to win the ball. Never to hurt someone. It’s why I was upset when Fabregas did it to me at the end of last season.”

“It was probably why I said afterwards that Arsenal were like babies. I was upset because of the challenge. If you want to hurt someone, you invite them outside, away from the pitch, away from people and the referee. Just me and you. You don’t try to hurt people on the pitch.”

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