Gibson: I'll Win More Medals At United Than Anywhere Else

Darron Gibson has revealed his frustrations at not playing regularly for United but is determined to get in to the first XI one day.

“I’m nearly 23 and I need to be playing games,” said Gibson. “There is a lot of pressure at Manchester United. The manager can’t really afford to throw me in; if we lose I’ll get the blame for it. Well I don’t think I’d get the blame totally. But if you start to play young players for experience when you’ve got the likes of Giggs and Scholes, people start to ask questions. You can only get so much experience from sitting on the bench. You need to play eventually. But the way I see it, if I go in there and play as well as I can every time I play, I think I’ll be a valuable asset. I’d rather be first choice every week. It’s going to take me a while to get there, so I’m not going to give up on it. I think I’ll win more medals at Manchester United than anywhere else and, obviously, if I’m playing for Manchester United then I’ll play for Ireland as well.”

Derby County’s Paul Green got in the team ahead of Gibson recently, a decision that our midfielder claims to understand. Yorkshireman Green, who qualifies to represent Ireland because he has an Irish grandfather, was criticised for his performance against the Irish U-23 side in a training game, yet still gets the nod ahead of Gibson, who has had limited playing time so far this season.

He played for 90 minutes against Rangers in the Champions League, 90 minutes against Scunthorpe in the League Cup, where he scored a cracking goal, and replaced Dimitar Berbatov with two minutes to go against Liverpool in the league.

“I’m not expecting to start the games but I’ll be ready if he needs me,” he continued. “I’m not really concerned because I think if I start playing for Manchester United every game I’ll eventually play for Ireland every game. I’m just going to concentrate on getting into the United team. Obviously I’m ready to play when I go away with Ireland. If I don’t get picked I’ll be on the bench and ready to come on, what else can I do? Obviously I’m disappointed with not playing but Paul Green’s a good player. He’s scored a lot of goals and obviously he’s playing every week, which I’m not. I can see why Trap (Giovanni Trapattoni) picked him ahead of me. Things like that happen in football so you can either get on with it or sulk about it. I’ll be ready to take the chance when he puts me in. I would have liked to have been involved a bit more this season but I’m going to have to wait for my chance, like I did last season, and hopefully take it when it comes.”