EXCLUSIVE By
MARTIN SAMUEL, Chief
Sports Writer
Fletcher, is what Eric Cantona would refer to disdainfully
as a water carrier.
If there is a defining moment in the career of Darren
Fletcher, it came in the aftermath of a match in which he did not
play. As substitute Fletcher joined the rest of the
Manchester
United squad celebrating their
Champions League final victory over
Chelsea in Moscow, Ryan Giggs
stuck his head into the huddle of players.
‘He said, “Lads, this is what it’s all about — let’s have it
next year as well”,’ Fletcher recalls. ‘And we were looking at this
trophy, which hadn’t even been presented to us, and there was Ryan
already talking about next year. It brought home to me what this
club is about.
‘Later, we were sitting in the dressing room and there were so
many players already talking about winning it again. Gary Neville,
Rio Ferdinand marching around telling everybody, “I like this
feeling, let’s keep it going”. That is why the club gets stronger
and stronger. I know nobody has retained the Champions League but
we are definitely capable of it.
‘If we do not at least get near it, the club will see that as a
disappointment, just as we were disappointed we didn’t do the
Treble last year. We always think we can achieve more. Look at
Ryan: I’m sure he sees the Premier League as his trophy and why
shouldn’t he? He has won it so many times it’s as if he lends it
out for the odd year.’
Strangely, there is not a trace of arrogance in Fletcher’s voice
as he speaks. Coming from another player, such pronouncements might
be interpreted in a negative way — as too flash by half. Fletcher,
however, is what Eric Cantona would refer to disdainfully as a
water carrier.
He is the man Sir Alex Ferguson sends into key matches against
Chelsea and Inter Milan, utilising his energy levels to win the
battle in midfield. Had Owen Hargreaves stayed fit, he might have
been a peripheral figure this season. Instead, he was recently
described by Ferdinand as one of United’s most important
players.
Last weekend, Fletcher was paid one of his biggest compliments
yet, left to stand on the touchline in a suit as Manchester United
lifted the Carling Cup trophy. Sometimes, with a squad as strong as
Ferguson’s, it is the matches a player misses that are the true
measure of his worth.
Next week brings a visit from Inter Milan and Fletcher is
expected to reprise the role he played in the San Siro stadium. He
partnered Giggs in the midfield that took Chelsea apart at Old
Trafford in January — a selection that was greeted with general
bemusement when announced — yet was an unused substitute in the two
games preceding it.
‘I knew I was playing against Chelsea for two weeks because when
I didn’t play in those other games the manager was saying to me,
“Think about Chelsea, focus on Chelsea, get ready for Chelsea”,’
Fletcher reveals.
Central figure: Ryan Giggs bursts through the
midfield against Inter Milan's Esteban Cambiasso
‘People thought he had gone mad that day but he knew
what he was doing. I’ve played against Ryan in training and his
skill as a central midfielder is that he turns the opposing central
midfield player into a right back.
‘Nobody in that position runs at you. A central midfielder gets
the ball and looks to play it wide, or beyond to the striker. Ryan
gets it and dribbles and that makes you uncomfortable, thinking:
this isn’t what I’m supposed to do, this is not how I defend.
‘That day my job was to cover for him and for Cristiano
(Ronaldo), to win tackles and get about the Chelsea midfield, not
give them a minute. And it worked to perfection. Ryan controlled
the game. We hurt them. It was the first time we had dominated
Chelsea, a step forward for us.
‘People ask me why I do well in those games but I don’t think I
do anything differently. I think I always play like that but it is
only when you are up against the best teams that people notice the
work being done in midfield.’
Fletcher, 25, is a contrary sort, on one hand a player whose
game depends on utter selflessness, on the other a man who must be
completely convinced of his own ability when setting about the best
teams in Europe. The contradiction is reflected in his route to the
first team.
Born in Mayfield, one of Scotland’s largest council estates,
south of Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, he was spotted by Manchester
United at the age of 12 but, under Scottish laws, could not sign
for an English club until he was 16.
Celtic and
Rangers were interested even before his teenage years
and were prepared to guarantee a professional contract, but
Fletcher held firm, without a club, until he could make the move
south. So, for a water carrier, he must have also fancied himself a
bit.
‘It was hard to turn down Rangers and Celtic, but it was a time
when both clubs had a lot of money and the young Scottish players
were not coming through,’ Fletcher says.
Title test: Nemanja Vidic celebrates with Jonny
Evans (left) after scoring in United's 3-0 victory against Chelsea
in January - a match in which Fletcher (background) played a key
role
‘They were buying from outside: John Hartson, Tore Andre
Flo, Andrei Kanchelskis, Chris Sutton. Barry Ferguson was the
exception as a young player. Even Hearts and Hibernian were buying
foreigners for a few hundred grand. At the time, Manchester United
offered more opportunity.
‘I was never one of those Scottish guys who hated the English,
anyway; my dad did not bring me up like that. We wanted England to
do well in the World Cup, still do.
‘I came down and I had a three-year scholarship and it was
absolutely drummed into me that this was my chance.
‘My family are agricultural workers. They worked all year round,
barely a week off, so I was taught to appreciate the life of a
footballer, because I didn’t want to end up doing what they were
doing. It’s all done by machinery now, there are no jobs like that
any more, but in the holidays I would be sent to give my dad a
hand, because they wanted me to recognise the chance I was being
given.
‘It was literally back-breaking work because you are bent over
all day; I’ve got uncles with problems like that, from working
every week in the field, picking potatoes.
‘I’m teetotal, my mum was, too. A teetotal Scotsman draws plenty
of laughs, but when I went to Manchester it was on the absolute
understanding that there could be no going out to all hours. It
stuck with me.
‘I took it upon myself to give it everything to become a
professional footballer and then, when I made it, I didn’t feel the
need to start drinking. I do think that played a part. I don’t
begrudge anyone who does drink but I had three years to make
professional and I feel you should dedicate your life in that time.
You shouldn’t be out every weekend.
‘I’m the only one still here from my year group. There were
others who could control, pass and shoot the ball as good as me but
I think football is played in your head.
Millennium milestone: Darren Fletcher tries to
dodge a tackle from Millwall's Dennis Wise on his way to winning a
first FA Cup medal in Cardiff
‘It is the way you deal with everything: being at
Manchester United, the expectation, the crowd, the nervousness, all
of that pressure. The game is played up there before you go on the
pitch, and I had that strength.
‘When I won my first medal, for the FA Cup, I was still staying
in one room, in digs. That was where I went after the game. It kept
you grounded. We didn’t have to clean boots but we had jobs. Mine
was to pump up the first-team footballs to the right size. If you
didn’t get it right, you got told in no uncertain terms.’
By whom?
‘Roy Keane and Gary Neville. That was enough.’
According to Fletcher, Keane is the unsung hero behind
Manchester United’s present dominance.
The playing squad still adheres to his rules, his discipline,
still remembers the monsterings he would give players who failed to
conform to his exacting standards. Fletcher was a favourite target,
apparently, although he bears no grudges, or nervous ticks, as a
result.
‘Roy was probably the biggest influence on my career,’ he says.
‘He would come down hard on me if I ever did anything wrong but he
made me realise what it meant to be a Manchester United player.
‘I can remember coming in from training one day and checking my
mobile phone for text messages. Well, that was it. He absolutely
hammered me, all the way into the gym.
‘He was a great influence, really. If Roy had a go at you, he
did it because he cared. He was the best captain you could wish
for. He would tear you to shreds on the pitch if you gave away the
ball, “get your effing touch right, effing this, effing that” but,
as soon as you got into the dressing room, it was over. He was a
winner. I’ve met dedicated professionals but he had something
else.
Learn from the master: Fletcher with his mentor Roy
Keane, and then United team-mate Phil Neville (No 3) in September
2003
‘The first time was scary, you thought, “Oh, I can’t
make a mistake here”, but it was actually the best schooling you
could get.
‘It was a shame the way it ended for him here. It’s hard to talk
about the criticism and what he said, because we all looked up to
him so much, he was respected by everybody.
‘We all just wish it hadn’t happened. He was our captain, he was
our leader and he left a mark: where we are now is down to him, our
dedication comes from the standards he set. The rules about
time-keeping, about getting in a half-hour early, they were his
instructions back in the day and those traditions continue.
‘Even now as a first-team player you make sure the young lads
are in check, you make sure they are on time. It is so professional
now. Everyone is in the gym after training trying to get that edge,
urine samples before training, readiness tests to see if your body
is up for training.
‘Team spirit is built differently these days, too. It used to be
about going drinking, now it is about gym work, being on the bike
by 10 o’clock, giving people stick if they are late, we even have a
countdown clock.
‘We have PSP games that we can play on for an hour, six-a-side.
We get the foreign lads involved, but the only problem is all their
first words end up as army instructions, “kill him, get down, get
me up”, that sort of thing. But it brings us together. How about
this? Carlos Tevez, Ji-sung Park and Patrice Evra are best mates. I
don’t know how it works.
‘What language do they speak? One is Argentine, one is Korean
and the other is French, but they walk around together, they banter
with each other. What they have in common, I don’t know.’
Fletcher’s most obvious national connection is with his manager
and countryman, Ferguson, and do not think it goes unnoticed by
team-mates.
‘They call him my dad or grandad,’ he says, ‘but I don’t think
my nationality is anything to do with my time here.
‘Let’s face it, the manager wouldn’t have won much had he built
his career on being sympathetic to Scottish footballers!
‘He is just one of those guys who is very patriotic about
Scotland. Any Scottish team, any Scottish sportsman. It puts a lot
of pressure on me, actually, all these little side bets he puts on
during international week. Nothing like going off to play France,
with the manager shouting “if you lose, don’t come back” after
you.’
Except Fletcher did not lose. His Scotland team beat France in
European Championship qualification, twice. That must have been
worth a few quid to Ferguson. No wonder he likes him around for
those big games.
