Danny Welbeck has revealed that a combination of experience, a different role and the “right graft” are behind the veteran striker playing the best football of his career at 33.
Welbeck was regarded as a teenage prodigy when he emerged from Manchester United’s academy aged 17, becoming a regular under Sir Alex Ferguson before turning 21. His move to Arsenal in 2014 was a shock, followed by a nightmare few years of injuries that led to one season at Watford.
The former England star has enjoyed a new lease of life since joining Brighton in 2020 and 11 months after 2024, it’s been an injury-free year for him so far. Lined up as the Seagulls’ ‘number nine’, Welbeck has started 2024/25 with six Premier League goals in nine games, already better than his 2023/24 league tally and equal to 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022. /23.
Welbeck never scored more than five Premier League goals in any of his five seasons arsenalalthough he may have done it without the injuries, while his best league record remains the new per Manchester United in their great 2011/12 campaign more than a decade ago. Double figures (and then some) for the first time in his Premier League career seem eminently achievable.
Welbeck has explained to him The Times it has a lot to do with how his role has changed.
“It’s a new coach, different ideas and maybe this season I’ve been putting myself in much more dangerous positions and the ball is putting me in good positions for my teammates, and I’ve been leaving them out,” he said. , leaving out several important factors.
Experience is also a big part of it, knowing things at 33 that I didn’t have at 20.
“You learn things over the years as a forward,” he added. “When I was younger, watching the bigger players at United you always thought they were one step ahead. Then you get that experience, the repetition of being in those positions so many times, seeing as many times as someone is going to do. close- te, or how a ball can be swinging… You almost like to know that you’ve played certain situations before. I used to look at the older players and say, ‘How did they do it?’
Hard work also deserves a mention. By Welbeck’s own admission, he was “properly grafting” over the summer, working on his fitness even on a daily basis during family holidays.
Some might consider Welbeck unfortunate not to have been on Lee Carsley’s call list in front of this international parenthesis, either in the original template or when eight players dropped out. Manchester United also took notice of his sustained fitness even before the goals started to flow this season, as an approach to bring him to Old Trafford in the summer was mooted.
Welbeck called the United rumors “speculation” and said it was to be expected given their connection.
“I’m just focusing on what I can control and everything else is pretty irrelevant,” he said.
