90 Seconds With... Ryan Giggs

The title race is a well-worn trail for United's most experienced campaigner and with the Premier League seemingly set for its tightest finish in years, Ryan Giggs' know-how could prove vital. He tells Red View why United have to be prepared to win ugly...

Earlier in the season, the media only seemed to be eulogising one team for its beautiful football - Arsenal. Did that annoy you?
I did notice it but it didn’t really bother me. Arsenal were playing good football but we felt we were as well. I just thought, ‘Right, you keep talking about Arsenal, put the pressure on them. Keep saying that Arsenal have won the league already and they’re going to walk it.’ I think Chelsea are in a similar situation now. Everyone’s talking about Arsenal and United but Chelsea are still getting the results and they’ll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

Is there a determination at United not just to win but to win beautifully?
That’s always been the United way, but the ability to win ugly as well has been a trademark of the last 15 years or so. In the majority of games we’re going to try and play attractive football and score lots of goals.

United have proved to be capable of mixing it up as well though...
That's right. We also need that added steel for games like Liverpool away this season and last. We didn’t play particularly well in either of the last two games at Anfield, but we managed to sneak a win. They’re the kind of results that do win leagues, not the six-nils against Newcastle.

Are we likely to see more ugly wins as the season wears on, particularly when playing two games a week is starting to take its toll?
Yes, especially with the Champions League coming up and you find that every team you play against in the Premier League is playing for something whether it’s trying to stay up, trying to get into Europe or trying to win the title. Many of those teams would consider a point against United to be a good result so you’re coming up against teams that maybe don’t want to win, they just want to defend and get men behind the ball. That’s what we’ll have to try and overcome, the teams that are trying to stifle us. But, like I said, we always aim to play good football and most of the times that is the case.