O’Shea: cutting edge to new-look United
John O'Shea, Wes Brown and new signing Liam Miller were on hand to re-assure United fans that, with the new shirt, comes new hope. Not that there is reason to dread the new campaign.
"The results against Arsenal showed we are not that far behind them," O'Shea tells the assortment of snappers, hacks and autograph-hunters gathered in Champions Sport at the Jervis Centre.
"When you look back at the season we let ourselves down against the so-called weaker teams in the Premiership. Especially at home, in some games, we let ourselves badly down against mid-table teams, didn't play as well as we can.
"Whenever we played Arsenal, there was very little between the teams. The game at Old Trafford, we should have won that game, and in Highbury, there was very little in that game. There is very little between the teams and we will show that this season.
"We have to look at last season as progression, the signings the manager made and the young players that came in. Last season, we won a trophy. Obviously, we are disappointed in the other competitions, but we have something to build on."
O'Shea says he is looking forward to the new season, and, after his patchy form of last season, nobody can blame him. However, the signing of Argentinean defender Gabriel Heinze from PSG means the United defence has serious depth to it, depth that will test O'Shea's resilience.
"I am not worried," the Waterford man says. "The manager doesn't inform any player who he is going to sign. When you are at a team like United, it is all about a squad game and there is only one or two players who are assured of their position on the team. There is a few positions I can play in."
O'Shea is still recovering from a groin operation and hopes to start pre-season training next week. He still resembles the same confident young lad who broke into the United first team, whether hardmen from Argentina are eyeing his place or not.
"I can't be too worried about other people, just worry about myself. I am at a club where new people are going to be arriving all the time and you just have to adapt to it and help the players settle in."
He admits last season was a bit of a damp squib. "I am a little bit disappointed in my consistency compared to my first year. It's something I am going to have to learn from and use the experience of last season to try and perform better this season."
Throughout the interview, Wes Brown maintains a dignified silence, as if he knew he was the side-show. He should have been given some of the bewilderingly wide-ranging United merchandise to play with.
Brown's form was enigmatic when he returned from his long-term knee injury, but, like O'Shea, he's looking ahead to the season with renewed optimism.
"Chelsea have made some big signings now and that makes the Premiership a lot better than what it was, it makes the games a lot better and it will make our first match against Chelsea even better to watch."
As for his knee? "The little bit of the rest over the summer helped me. I have only started pre-season whereas, if I went to the Euros, I wouldn't have got as much rest and it has settled my knee down."
Their optimism for the coming season could be based around the continued development of Cristiano Ronaldo. His Euro 2004 performances didn't go unnoticed by his team-mates. "All the players knew about him when we first played against him in pre-season against Sporting and it was just a case of him adapting to the Premiership. We thought he was doing fantastic but because he was so young, the manager wasn't using him all the time.
"He was unleashed on the European Championships and defenders weren't able to cope with him and those who were calling him a one-trick pony are going to be eating their words he is going to turn out to be a world-class player," says O'Shea.
Speaking of class players, O'Shea's opinion was sought on the Waterford hurling team. His mouth curls into a smile. "I actually missed the Munster final because I was in for an operation and I am going to miss the All-Ireland semi-final because it is on the same day as the Charity Shield, but hopefully I get the day off for the All-Ireland final. I was at the Munster semi-final. That was special."
New season, new shirt, new hope. Chelsea are less than a month away. Tougher questions to come.
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