Source: Daily_Mail
Darren Fletcher's now the mean man! Midfielder is proving Roy Keane wrong
Head to head: Fletcher (right) and Robin van Persie[LNB]Of all the questions hehas been asked alreadythis season, there is onethat Sir Alex Fergusonwill not answer. Why didyou lose the Champions Leaguefinal last May? [LNB]However, it is not difficult to work itout for ourselves with the benefit ofhindsight. [LNB]Poor defending. The anonymity of CristianoRonaldo and the Brazilian Anderson.And the absence of Darren Fletcher. [LNB]'If they ever needed Fletcher it was inthe Champions League final againstBarcelona,' former Scotland and Liverpoolmidfielder Graeme Souness toldSportsmail this week.[LNB] 'On the night,Anderson wasn't up to the task of stoppingtheir footballers from playing.Fletcher would have done that andgiven his defenders protection and providedthe platform for the front players.He would have made the difference.' [LNB]Who would have thought it? DarrenFletcher the difference between winningand losing the greatest club prize onearth. The same Darren Fletcher whowas ridiculed by supporters they usedto call him 'Fergie's son' and dismissedby his former captain and teammateRoy Keane.[LNB]'I can't understand why people inScotland rave about Darren Fletcher,'Keane is thought to have said in theinfamous MUTV rant that was neveraired back in 2005.[LNB]Perhaps he can now. Fletcher, after all,is Scotland's captain and a midfielderreferred to as a big-game player by hismanager. Less than two weeks ago onetabloid newspaper even described himas the 'new Roy Keane' in the wake of Manchester United's unlikely Barclays PremierLeague victory over Arsenal.[LNB]It has, it must be said, been a remarkabletransformation and pictures of himin midweek squaring up to Arsenal'sRobin van Persie as Scotland lost athome to Holland perhaps indicate howa callow boy has become a man. [LNB]'For a while I have wanted Darren totake hold of games and now he doesthat for me,' said Ferguson.[LNB] 'I thoughthe was fantastic against Arsenal. I said right after the game that, forme, he was the star man. Wayne Rooney,who got the man-of-the-match award,said it should have gone to Fletcher andwe all agreed.'[LNB]It is six-and-a-half years since Fletchermade his debut for United in a 1-1Champions League draw against Basel.He is now 218 appearances into his professional career and it has not alwaysbeen a straightforward path. [LNB]Graeme Souness is a massive fan of Fletcher's combative qualities[LNB]Fletcher has always had the ability topass well; to see and understand angles.But he was too often unable to find thepace of games and apply himselfphysically, which only serves to make hisrecent reincarnation as a hard man allthe more fascinating.[LNB]Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger accusedthe 25-year-old of dirty play at OldTrafford a fortnight ago, something thatFletcher would deny but perhaps notworry about too much. Such thingscertainly never bothered Keane, a player who actually did much toshepherd his younger colleague throughdifficult early times at Old Trafford. [LNB]'I know Arsene Wenger was critical ofUnited's aggressive tactics the otherweek but British football isn't just aboutplaying pretty passing styles,' addedSouness, a man whose autobiographywas aptly entitled No Half Measures.[LNB]'You have to win the battles on thepitch first. It's what we all love to see inthe British game and please may it continue.The art of tackling, being strongand then using the ball wisely. [LNB]'Fletcher can do all this. I'm not sayinghe's just a destructive force, he hasother assets, too. When I first saw him I thought hewould be just an up-and-down player, but he has matured and is full of confidence. [LNB] 'He's been well-schooled, tackle hardenedand the experience he hasgained is shining through now. I'm a big fan. He is the modern midfielder.Tall, great athleticism and traditionalqualities. Last year he wasUnited's most effective performer.[LNB]'Forinstance, United like to combat Arsenalwith aggression and in the ChampionsLeague semi-final he was the instigator.He was the man that set the tempo andraised his team's performance.[LNB] [LNB]'I believe he will be, arguably, United'smost important player for the nextseven years.' [LNB]Souness's words constitute highpraise and it is something Fletcher apatriot will appreciate.Fletcher has long since been one ofUnited's more approachable players.Rather than revel in the media blanketthat United throw over theirsquad, he actually approached a clubPR person and asked why it was. [LNB] Car's the star as green Gary Neville enjoys the joy of text while driving - Manchester United star's road safety blipMartin Samuel: Why is puffed-up Lord Triesman so smug? Simples! MANCHESTER UNITED
