David Moyes revealed on Tuesday that Danny Welbeck has been told to follow the example of his Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney and put in extra target practice after training.
Welbeck deputised for injured Robin van Persie as lone striker in Sunday’s win at Aston Villa and hit a brace to take his total this season to five.
Moyes hopes it’s due to the overtime Welbeck is putting in at Carrington after United’s coaching staff urged him not to let his standards slip.
‘I’ve got to say we had a word with him about a month ago and we said that he needs to be the last off the training field,’ admitted Moyes ahead of Wednesday night’s Capital One quarter-final clash at Stoke.
‘Wayne’s out there practising his finishing each day, whether it’s taking free-kicks, shooting from tight angles or bending them in. Whatever it may be, Wayne’s practising and I said, “Danny, you need to be out there every day finishing, even if it’s 15 minutes at the end”. He took heed and he’s out there.’
Asked if he was surprised that Welbeck had to be reminded, Moyes added: ‘A little bit, yes. I think the young boys here are educated to keep improving and practise, but sometimes you can, without knowing, slip away from that.
‘So we said, “Every day, take an extra 10-15 minutes at the end of every session to practise all different types of finishing. Let’s see if we can get more goals from you”.
‘He was really sharp and incisive getting the goals (against Villa). All round I think Danny has got an awful lot of attributes and he just has to say, “Hey, come on, I’m going to have to take this on to another level”.’
Welbeck, who has been hampered by knee problems recently, was pushed into a wider position last season following the arrival of Van Persie and scored just one Premier League goal for United.
The 23-year-old is happier in a central role, but Moyes warned him the only way to stay there is by scoring. ‘If you asked Danny, he would see himself as a striker,’ said Moyes. ‘What gets you a game as a striker? Goals.
‘If you’re a centre forward you need the games, but you also need to show the reason you’re going to get another game is because you keep scoring.
‘We challenged them a bit on Sunday and I thought Danny rose to the challenge. He said, “OK, I’ll show you”. Without Robin, he stood up and took it on.’
Sir Alex Ferguson has said that winning any trophy would be ‘an incredible achievement’ for Moyes in his first season at Old Trafford, and the United boss is unlikely to make as many changes as his predecessor in this competition.
‘Folk used to say, “Why are you weakening teams and why are you doing this?”, but every manager I know wants to win every competition they are in,’ said Moyes.
‘Some might be more important than others, but at this football club, and any I have been involved in, I have tried to win every trophy; I will do everything I can to win this one.’
Written by Steve Milne – Have your say below 🙂
