Fletcher’s will to win is still key for United
Former team-mate Brown views Darren as the ideal man to help Ten Hag succeed
THE stars of Manchester United’s 2008 Champions League-winning squad like to meet up from time to time for a game of five-a-side football.
And whenever the old team-mates are reunited, it is the ferocious will-to-win of Old Trafford’s current technical director that tends to stand out.
‘It’s very competitive but Darren Fletcher probably takes it the most seriously,’ explained former United right-back Wes Brown. ‘After Darren, it’s Wayne Rooney. I’m the most chilled one. I just try to ’meg people.
‘We don’t play as often because obviously Darren has got a tough job at the moment. But whenever we can, we try and get a few teams together and play against each other.
‘There are quite a few other ex-players who join in and both teams want to win!’
Fletcher has a Champions League winner’s medal from being an unused substitute in the final in Moscow when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side prevailed against Chelsea on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw.
The midfielder also won five Premier Leagues, an FA Cup and a League Cup with the Old Trafford side.
The biggest ‘what-if’ in the 80-times-capped Scotland international’s career, however, involved the Champions League final in 2009. Unfairly suspended due to an unjust red card in the semi-final against Arsenal, Ferguson would lament the loss of his ‘big-game player’ in the 2-0 loss to Barcelona at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Brown still recalls Fletcher coming on with the job of seeing out a tense Champions League semi-final second leg 1-0 home win over Barca in 2008.
He believes his often-unsung team-mate may just have made the difference against the La Liga giants in the 2009 final.
‘There are loads of ifs and buts, but that’s part of sport,’ said Brown, who was injured for the 2009 final but won 11 trophies in 19 years at Manchester United.
‘But he definitely would have contributed. Especially at that time, because Fletch was coming into his own as a player.
‘Fletch was a big-game player, like a lot of the squad. Maybe he was underrated by some but he wasn’t underrated by us.
‘We knew what Darren could do. We had known him since he came through the youth team and we knew what he brought to the team. He was fantastic when he played and that’s why he’s won so many trophies.
‘So you just never know, but that final is one of the times we regret, because it was a great opportunity to win back-to-back Champions Leagues.’
Nobody can rewrite the past but Brown believes Fletcher is the ideal man to help current United boss Erik ten Hag usher in a bright future at Old Trafford.
A key part of his role as technical director is to keep an eye on the pathway from the academy to the first team.
Dutch boss Ten Hag recently praised the Dalkeith-born 39-year-old’s work mentoring loan players such as Amad Diallo, who was at Rangers last year and has dazzled this season at Sunderland. A player steeped in the Manchester United traditions of the legendary Ferguson, Fletcher can relate to players from young starlets hoping to make it at Old Trafford all the way up to high-end stars shooting for European glory.
In a career that saw him win the respect of the football world and beyond for how he handled his health battle with debilitating, career-threatening ulcerative colitis, Fletcher is also a poster boy for resilience and determination.
‘Yes, the benefits are all there,’ said Brown. ‘Darren has been through the good times and the bad times in his career and he is there now to assist and help the Manchester United manager any way he is needed.
‘For me, Darren has always been the one who just loves football. He’s always known all his stuff, he knows every single player and for him to be at Manchester United now as technical director is something I think the club needed. ‘He gets on well with the manager, as well, and he will be involved in every sort of way going forward. He loves his job and he will do it to the best of his ability.’ Brown enjoyed an unforgettable first season at Old Trafford, winning the treble of English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 1998-99.
Next month, Manchester United will be aiming to stop Manchester City winning a treble when the city foes clash in the FA Cup final for the first time ever.
Of course, Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid could beat them to it in tonight’s Champions League semi-final at the Etihad with the scores 1-1 from the first leg at the Bernabeu.
So will Brown be cheering on Carlo Ancelotti’s holders against Pep Guardiola’s men who are favourites to be crowned champions of Europe?
‘I’m going to say no comment — but let’s go, Benzema!’ said Brown. ‘I’m joking! I think it will be a tough away game at City but if there’s one team that can do it in this competition it’s Madrid. They are Champions League specialists.’
• Wes Brown was speaking to promote Manchester United v Olympique Lyonnais in a preseason friendly at Murrayfield on Wednesday, July 19. Tickets for the game are on sale at midday on Thursday, May 18 from Ticketmaster and Ticketek