...and this boyhood United fan is out to seal his fate
AS a kid, Zak Whitbread was a Manchester United fan on the books at Liverpool. More recently, he was a player without a club being offered contracts on less money than he could earn tiling kitchens with his friend. In a bid to find a deal he flew to America two days after the birth of his first child in August last year, but returned home to spend six months without employment. His story underlines the fluctuating fortunes of a footballer. Tonight the centre back, who joined Shrewsbury in October, will be in front of the TV cameras battling to beat the club he supported as a boy and looking for a win that would increase the pressure on Louis Van Gaal. ‘It’s not a side you could compare with those of the past,’ he said. ‘The fans are unhappy with the style of play because they’ve been used to playing one way for so many years. But on any given day, Man Utd can turn on the style. Van Gaal or no Van Gaal, they’ve got special players.’ Whitbread (right) was at Liverpool between the ages of eight and 22 but kept his allegiance to their fierce rivals quiet. ‘I was still going to the odd United game when I was at Liverpool,’ he recalled. ‘I remember the Cantona dinked goal against Sunderland. He was my idol. ‘When you see someone doing that as a kid, you think, “That’s the man”. I was lucky enough to be mascot for my 10th birthday for a game against Chelsea and that was special.’ As Whitbread moved up through the ranks he came up against a young Wayne Rooney in an Under 19s match against Everton. ‘We were 1-0 up with 10 minutes to go when he came on and went like a tornado, here, there, everywhere,’ he said. ‘He scored two and they won 2-1. He was only 15 or 16. You could hear the buzz around the city. Nick Barmby (who was in the firstteam squad) pulled me aside and said: “What is this Rooney like?” The next minute he scores that goal against Arsenal and he was gone.’ Now 31, Whitbread had been looking forward to another encounter with Rooney and feels United will be weaker without their injured star. After Liverpool, Whitbread went on to play for Millwall and Norwich, where he saw first hand the ability of Ryan Giggs, who scored a last-minute winner at Carrow Road in 2012. ‘He really celebrated that goal. When it’s you against him and you’ve got to get the ball off him, that’s when you realise how good he was. He was 38 so it was frightening to think what he would have been like at 17, 18.’ After a spell at Leicester Whitbread was released by Derby last summer. ‘It was tough. I couldn’t even get into a Championship club to trial or train. That was a bit of a wake-up call,’ he said. ‘In August I trained in the States with New England with a view to signing there. But the timing wasn’t great as we had just had my baby boy Ezra. ‘I waited until my missus Rachel gave birth and I flew out two days later for a week. I just got photos of her and mounds of nappies! ‘I felt I still had a lot more to offer in England. Clubs try and get you on the cheap, it gets quite brutal. I could have earned more working with my mate tiling kitchens. ‘You get forgotten very quickly and there are days when you question it and have a little sulk. It was only about three years ago I was playing Premier League football and did quite well. You get frustrated when you are going out for runs on your own or going down the gym day in day out. ‘You have to think about that when you have a new baby and mortgages to pay — that motivates you. But Shrewsbury has been a good place to rebuild my career and enjoy my football. ‘The club are aware I want to play as high as possible. I re-signed in January on the understanding if a Championship club comes in for me I can go.’ A good performance against United would help.