A few years ago it would be unforgivable for a Manchester United defender to admit he had grown up as an Arsenal fan. Thankfully for Chris Smalling, who was 15-years-old when Arsene Wenger’s men last won a trophy, the rivalry between the two clubs has almost disappeared thanks to a lack of competition between them. Both teams began a transnational period in 2005 but only Manchester United have emerged on the other side as a successful team, whilst Arsenal have failed to recreate the success of Wenger’s early years.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Telegraph<\/em>, Smalling has spoken about the winning mentality that is ingrained at United, as well as his Arsenal supporting past.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a fan,”<\/em> he replied, when asked of his early support for Arsenal. “Tony Adams was a true leader. Him and Martin Keown\u2019s relationship was very good at the heart of that defence. I liked Thierry Henry. I watched Arsenal so much on TV. I did get the chance to go to Highbury and the Emirates when it first opened.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In the past week, Roberto Mancini claimed that Manchester United were “lucky” to be 12 points clear at the top of the table, but Smalling suggests that it is the winning mentality at the club that they have to thank for their advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this club it\u2019s always drilled in to me: \u2018Make sure you\u2019re a winner, go about off the pitch like you\u2019re a winner,\u2019”<\/em> he said. “It helps when you have players like Giggsy and Rio who\u2019ve won a lot. You see them side-by-side with you and that really drives you on. It doesn\u2019t matter whether it\u2019s the 93rd minute, Giggsy is making his jinky, mazy little runs. You could forgive him for maybe not coming out training every day, because he\u2019s done so much in the game, but every day he\u2019s out there. He doesn\u2019t seem to need a rest. He\u2019s not one of the noisiest ones in the dressing room but as we come in from the warm-up, he goes round, talks to everybody, gives them little information or says \u2018good luck\u2019. He\u2019s very mellow. If one of the young lads might be nervous, it\u2019s nice to see someone not getting too pumped up. When you see Ryan like that it chills you out.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few years ago it would be unforgivable for a Manchester United defender to admit he had grown up as an Arsenal fan. Thankfully for Chris Smalling, who was 15-years-old when Arsene Wenger’s men last won a trophy, the rivalry between the two clubs has almost disappeared thanks to a lack of competition between them. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[560,207,556],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n