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SMITH ENJOYS UNITED MIDFIELD ROLE
Alan Smith is willing to abandon his World Cup dream by turning himself into a Manchester United midfielder this season.
When he splashed out £6million to take Smith from Leeds 12 months ago, Sir Alex Ferguson declared the Yorkshireman to be a forward and nothing else.
But it now appears the United boss is having second thoughts.
With competition for striking places intense and attempts to recruit a likely successor for skipper Roy Keane so far meeting with failure, Ferguson has decided to pursue the experiment of Smith operating in his captain’s central midfield holding role.
Ferguson believes the early signs are encouraging while Smith is so happy in the job, he wants to retain it, even though it could cost him the chance of making Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad for the finals in Germany next summer.
“Everybody has to realise Alan Smith getting to the World Cup comes second to Manchester United trying to win the Premiership,” he said.
“The manager feels I can play in that position and it is something I enjoy because I am always involved in the game.
“As a centre-forward, sometimes you can get quite isolated and frustrated but sometimes I do have to remind myself to get back when an attack breaks down. And if I forget, I can usually rely on Rio Ferdinand to remind me.”
Smith and his team-mates found out om Friday that Hungarian champions Debrecen will almost certainly await them in the Champions League qualifiers next month.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW
United’s second successive third place finish prompted Ferguson to bring his team back for pre-season training a week earlier than planned.
Although the Red Devils squad were restricted to half-day sessions during that opening spell in the Algarve, Smith thinks they are already feeling the benefits.
And by the time United entertain Debrecen, who will advance to the third qualifying round providing they hold on to a 3-0 first leg lead over Hajduk Split in Croatia on August 3, the 24-year-old is confident they will be prepared to perfection.
“Tours like this can be difficult because of the travelling and the time spent away from home but they are arranged so we can get our fitness right,” he said.
“The extra week in Portugal really helped us and the matches have now started to get more difficult as well.
“I suppose the main thing is to come through this period without any injuries. Last year we had so many players away because of Euro 2004 it disrupted our whole season.
“We don’t want to experience that again this year. It all starts properly for us a week on Wednesday in the Champions League qualifier.” |
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