FOSTER: WE HAVE WAT IT TAKES
CHARACTER is clearly a commodity in abundance at Manchester United right now.
Jose Mourinho had talked the talk on Friday with his vitriolic attack on the TV pundits he described as “liars” in that combustible press conference.
And Chris Smalling and his team-mates walked the walk here, 24 hours later, with a real backs-to-the-wall triumph. Smalling epitomised the fighting spirit of the fallen giants, still under the microscope as they bid to keep pace with their biggest rivals Liverpool and
Manchester City.
Smalling was among the players ruthlessly cast aside by Gareth Southgate last year as the
England boss opted for youth and his own men building up to the World
Cup.
The 28-year-old centre-back has been licking his wounds ever since, but the quality of his Vicarage Road finish – cushioning the ball on his chest before swivelling to slam it home – suggests his confidence is back.
“It was obviously a difficult time for me personally, said Smalling. “I am not going to lie. You want to be involved for your country when you are at a top club.
“It was a disappointment but I had to turn it into a positive where I had my rest and a full pre-season which I hadn’t had for a while. You take it from there and hit the ground running but it was a difficult time.”
Tellingly, Smalling revealed he had not spoken to Southgate before being dumped in that big Three Lions purge. Asked if he BEN FOSTER believes Watford are still a force to be reckoned with despite losing their
100 per cent record.
Javi Gracia (right) and his men go to Fulham on Saturday and keeper
Foster insists they are not downhearted by this defeat. He said: “It’s been a really good start for us.
“We are disappointed and rightly so. But first half we were sloppy. We even remembered his last squad, he added: “I think it was September or October. Not for a while. I have not had any discussions with the manager.
“I am lucky I play for a top club and that is where my focus is now. United is my sole focus. I’ve played a lot of games and I also hope to play a lot more games this season and contribute as much as possible.”
United scored through Romelu Lukaku and Smalling from two setpieces in three minutes before half-time. They lost Nemanja Matic to a stoppage-time second yellow card but have now won back-to-back Premier League matches after shock defeats against Brighton and Spurs.
Watford – previously unbeaten – were seen as potential banana skins and got one back through Andre Gray, but Smalling believes his side reaped the rewards for doing their homework.
“We had been working a little bit on set plays – obviously not volleys like mine,” he laughed. “But when we play a team like Watford we have a lot of height. We do not always threaten enough at set plays but we caused them a few problems.”
United face a trip to Switzerland to play Young Boys in the Champions League on Wednesday, followed by a run of winnable games that should give Mourinho (above) the chance to build on his side’s confidence before they go back to Chelsea on October 20.
The Young Boys tie could be a tricky one on a synthetic 3G pitch, but Smalling maintains he has no fears. “I have played on one before,” he said. “For England when we played Lithuania a couple of times.
“We will be travelling there a bit earlier to make sure we train on this pitch, but we will get used to it and on the back of three away wins we will look to build momentum for this month.” didn’t do what we are good at. I think we got a bit giddy because winning four on the bounce you get carried away with it all and think you can do stuff you can’t.
“We are really good at getting the ball forward to Troy Deeney and Andre Gray and getting round the opposition. We didn’t do that in the first half. In the second we went out, played to our strengths and I thought we were unlucky.”