Fletcher: I'm Fatter And More Selfish

Darren Fletcher is enjoying the best season of his United career so far, which certainly bodes well for the future when considering he is just 24-years-old.

Fletcher has had his criticis over the years but he is finally starting to answer them (myself included). He has attributed his improved form to putting on weight, progress in the gym, and a more selfish streak in his game.

“I’ve put on weight since the summer,” said Fletcher. “I consciously gained five kilos, which has really helped. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the gym and that has really paid off. In previous years, I’d go into the gym and it just didn’t seem to have any effect physically. I didn’t see much improvement. But this year it has worked. I’ve also made a deliberate effort to be more selfish, getting into the box and taking up goalscoring positions. Usually in games I’d sit back and concern myself with the other team’s counter-attacking.”

Fletcher then went on to talk about what is required of a player to stay in our team and how he has focussed to ensure that’s what he does.

“To stay in the United team you can’t just go out there and do just enough,” Fletcher added. “You need to do more. I didn’t want to tie myself down to be a one-dimensional midfield player. I felt I had to add goals. I want to be the player that gets back and puts in tackles, the player that can hold the midfield and someone who scores – be it a late run, a header, anything. I started this season wanting to be flexible, and all-rounder – to show I can pass, shoot, defend and have all the responsibilities of the modern midfielder. That comes with confidence, age, maturity and experience gained in previous seasons. I’m playing the best football of my career and a lot of it is down to playing a lot of games. If you get a consistent run in the team, then your form improves.”