Wes Sets Sights High

It's been an up-and-down start to the season for Wes Brown, and for United. But the Reds defender is confident that, with hard work and plenty of focus, he and his team-mates can scale the heights of 2008 and 2009...

United’s defence has been rock-solid in recent seasons, so it’s surprising we’ve conceded a few goals lately. What do you put that down to?
Going back to what the gaffer said, I don’t think it’s necessarily the players. It’s a lack of concentration, particularly in the last ten or fifteen minutes of games away from home. That’s when we’ve let goals in. We’ve got the defence covered in terms of strength in numbers in all positions. It just seems like a lack of concentration at crucial times.

It’s not like last season where we’ve got players out injured…
Exactly, we’ve got good players. We can only blame ourselves, really. We’ve been in the position to win games, then we have a lapse in concentration and the other teams have managed punished us. We’ve not had a lot of luck in the last ten minutes, it’s gone against us a little bit. But we know we have to tighten up because it’s happened a few times now.

Is that something you can work at in training, or do you just have to ride out a bad spell knowing you have the players to get you through?
You can do things on the training ground. It helps talking about it and getting it out in the open too. All the players discuss how we’ve performed, that that happens between us in the dressing room at Carrington or after games. You can deal with certain things like that. Mostly it’s recognising where you’ve gone wrong, and if it’s a case of concentrating at certain times in games then you just have to remind yourself at that point to focus that little bit harder. I’m sure we’ll get there.

Are you frustrated at not having a regular first-team spot this season?
Yeah, a little bit. But I’ve always had to deal with that situation throughout my career. It’s something I’ve learned to handle. We’ve got lots of good players in defensive positions. I’m not in there at the moment. I have to keep training hard and, when I do get a chance, play well.

When you’re not in the team, how do you get back in it? Can a good week in training make all the difference?
All you can do is train hard. There’s no point sulking and letting it get to you. It might be difficult, but you have to remember that everyone wants to play every week. Unfortunately, that can’t happen.

Lots of fans would like to see in the right-back slot you excelled in during the 2007/08 double-winning campaign. Was that your best season?
Yeah, it probably was. It was my most consistent season and I didn’t really come out of the team. I played nearly every game. It was great for me. To achieve what we did that season made it even more special because I was playing every week. As a team, we were outstanding and it was a privilege to be a part of it.

Does that season still inspire you, and I suppose the rest of the team?
Yeah, definitely. I’m glad I was part of it. I was on the bench in the ’99 season and that was special, but I wasn’t a regular. So to be in the team most weeks and win the League and Champions League felt even better because I was fully a part of it.

And do you see yourself as a right-back now?
No. I always say that I’m a centre-back. I love playing at centre-back. Due to circumstances I’ve mainly played right-back. I’m 30 now, but I still see myself as a centre-back even though I’ve never really held that position down. When you’re trying to get into the first-team, though, you’ll play anywhere you’re asked to.

How does it feel that your song has become one of the most frequently sung by fans? It was the soundtrack to last season…
Yeah, I know. It’s great. I don’t know who came up with that but it’s quality. I love it. The fans sang it loads last season, even a lot of the time when I wasn’t playing. So that was good. Sometimes I’d be in the stands and I’d hear people singing it so I’d put my head down a little bit. But it’s great to have a song, I do like it.

Do the players talk about their songs?
Honestly, we don’t. Not really. We might have a mess about, but it’s not something we discuss too much. If we’re having an end of season do, sometimes we’ll have a sing-song in bar. But that’s about it.

Which other players’ songs do you like?
I like Roy Keane’s one. [Starts singing the words] ‘Oh Keano’s … magic’. Yeah, that’s my favourite one.

What was it like playing alongside your brother in the Reserves recently?
That was good, yeah. It was better for my mum. My mum came to the game and she was very excited about it! It was a good experience. He’s a big lad, he’s turning into a man now.

Who’s hardest?
No, that’s definitely still me! But we’ll see what he can do. He’s got good potential and a good chance of making it as a professional footballer. He’s young and he’s still learning, and as long as keeps doing that, he’s got a chance.

You’ve come back from some serious knee injuries during your career. Presumably you must have plenty of sympathy with what Owen Hargreaves has been through?
He’s been training with us. He’s looked really sharp. He says he feels really good, even compared with last season when he was still feeling a bit of pain. It’s difficult. He’s not had this sort of injury before so it must be tough what he’s gone through. It’s taken him a long time to overcome it, but gradually he’s getting there. Going off how he has looked in training, he’s doing very well now though.

What are your personal aims this season, and your hopes for the team?
The main one for me is to help the team win the Premier League. We need to win that back. The Champions League is up there too. We’ve had some great seasons in recent years, particularly in 2008 and 2009. Even getting to [the Champions League final in] Rome was brilliant, it was just such a disappointing night the way it panned out. But we know we’ve got roughly the same set of players, plus a few more. So we’re confident we can do it again.

So, that’s set the benchmark?
I think it has, yeah. We know we can do it, that’s the thing. We’ve just got to prove it on the pitch. I’m sure if we give everything we’ve got then we can have another good season this time around.