Welbeck's Winning Mind

Danny Welbeck speaks to Inside United and ManUtd.com about his fine start to 2011/12...

Your start to the season must have been what you dreamed of having returned from Sunderland to fight for a first-team place?
Definitely. When the chance came along, I wasn’t going to sit back. Pre-season went really well, everyone got a few games under their belt and I just went out there against Barcelona and played my normal game. I didn’t really think ‘this is my chance’, I just played my normal game and, thankfully, the manager stuck with me for the first couple of matches of the season. I felt I’d really come into my own when I scored my first goal of the season against Tottenham. There’s no better feeling than scoring in front of the Stretford End. I aim to emulate that feeling so many more times.

Has it helped you having Tom Cleverley break through at the same time?
Yes. We’ve been playing with each other since we were little kids. Just to come through to the first-team is a big positive. We’re good friends on and off the pitch, we’ve got a good relationship. We’ve been at England Under-21s together and, if we’re rooming, it’s us two together. We are close friends and have got a good understanding on the pitch. He knows my game and I know his. He’s come up through the same Academy, with the same coaches and it’s great. The coaches take credit for everything. From the Under-9s coach Eddie Leach up to the Reserves with Warren Joyce – and Paul McGuinness with the Under-18s, who is a really good coach and probably taught us the main trade of our game.

How frustrating was it to get injured against Arsenal?
I was devastated to pull up like that, after getting a few starts under my belt in Premier League games and feeling really good. I got the scan done and, from then on, we knew what the problem was. I couldn’t sit back and moan. I had to get into training every single day and just follow the programme the physios put down for me. You’ve just got to make sure you come back as flying as you were before you got injured.

You look a more powerful player since returning from Sunderland. Have you been consciously working hard at the gym?
I think it’s just that I’ve literally grown into a man now. I’ve turned into a man and filled out naturally. I have been doing a bit of gym work but it’s more based around my legs, not so much my upper body. It’s all coming together. My physique is getting a lot better than before I went away. I need to be strong because some of the centre-backs are 90 kilograms and I’m only 70-something kilograms. I don’t have to be massive but I do need to be able to handle myself and I feel I’m doing that.

Did playing in the Under-21 European finals in the summer actually help you and the other lads in terms of fitness?
We got three weeks off on holiday, not as long as a few of the other boys. I’m still young and am always ready to push on and just keep improving as a player so to get straight back into pre-season was good for us. Maybe we were a bit fitter than some of the others in that three-week period but they still had another 10 days on us before we got back. We just had to make the time up and get back into the routine of training every single day.

England may have got knocked out but you had a great tournament personally...
It’s a big tournament and we were very disappointed. We lost in the last game, which I think was probably our best performance as a team. It was a bit disheartening to go out in the last couple of minutes – very disheartening, in fact. You’ve got to learn from every situation in football, whether it be in training or a match, or against different styles of teams and different cultures. You’ve go to learn to take it in your stride and make it of benefit to you.

Is experiencing defeat all part of the learning process, especially at United where it’s not happening too often?
It is really important at United that you’ve been brought up with that winning mentality. It’s bred into you to win everything you take part in. That’s Manchester United for you, a never-say-die attitude as you see time and time again. We’re going into different games but there’s always one aim – to win the game. We don’t go into a game and try to get one point thinking that’s okay. Being at United, you always get quite disappointed if you don’t get all three points as you believe you can go into every single game and win it.

Can your success provide a great example for United’s next generation, players such as Will Keane and Paul Pogba, to follow?
I’m still only 20 years old but I’ve trained with quite a lot of these players. I know the ability they’ve got and, if they’re called upon, they’ll be right there and there won’t be any negatives with them. I hope some of the younger lads get their chance to start in the Championship, like I did at Preston, and then go into the Premier League as well.

Do you prefer playing as part of a three-man attack, a partnership or up front on your own?
I like having a strike partner but when I was playing alone up top with the England Under-21s, we had midfielders behind willing to get up and help you. If you’re playing on your own, you always need to have a supporting midfielder close by, otherwise you’ll be a bit isolated. I’m just happy to be on the pitch first of all and it all depends on each different style of game. Whoever we play against, it’s got to be for the team and not just the individual.

You’ve scored a run of headers recently, is that something you’ve been practising?
Yes, I first started working on headers at Sunderland and I got a few goals for them like that. I have scored quite a few goals with my head now, I don’t know what’s happening – maybe I can’t kick it properly! I think I’ve learnt, when the ball is on the wings, when to get across the defender and make space for myself in the box to get my head onto it. Quite a few goals have come from it.

You played wide at times when coming through the ranks but did you always know your future would lie in the middle?
Yes, definitely. I’ve always classed myself as a striker. I think, growing up through the United Academy, if you’re an attacking player, you will play across the front three – on the right wing, left wing and up front. You always get mixed around and I think it’s a really good trait to have because you can play in different positions. When you get pushed out there in a game, it’s not alien to you. The first derby match of the season is coming up.

Do you see Manchester City as the biggest threat or is it too early to say?
I think, at the moment, we’re just focusing on ourselves. We just want to go into every game and our aim is to win it. There’s a lot of good teams in the Premier League and every match is going to be difficult. Each set of opponents have got their own style of play, it’s just how we counter that and play the Manchester United way.

Is this a really enjoyable time to be playing for United?
We’ve got off to a good start and I think the team is playing well. We have been really attacking, getting the ball back, winning it and attacking. It’s exciting to be part of it and in and around this squad. I think the morale is really good. Everyone’s really up for it.