An answer to a simple question reveals the complexity of Danny Welbeck. What has been the best match of his England career? “Individually?” he replies, mistrusting the word. “I don’t know.”
Against Sweden at Euro 2012, when he conjured a brilliant finish for the winning goal?
“That was a nice moment but I’ve played better in different games and not scored,” Welbeck says.
“I don’t know,” he repeats. “You can’t just say your best game [is one in which you’ve scored.] There are nice moments in every game but it’s when you get them on a consistent basis throughout the whole match that you’ve had your best game. I might have had mine in a game when I haven’t scored.”
You could ask 20 strikers the same question and from the 19 others there would be no agonising: they would think of when they produced an important goal and declare the game in which it came their best match.
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Why is Welbeck different? He is the conundrum who prefers playing in football’s most individual outfield position yet struggles to think beyond the collective. He is at St George’s Park, the national football centre, facing a group of writers because Daniel Sturridge, who was supposed to sit down with us, injured his thigh an hour ago. Short notice, ask Danny — he’ll take one for the team.
Welbeck makes no apologies for his mentality. When he is praised it is usually by teammates or his manager for selflessness. But aren’t such compliments backhanded? Goalscoring is not about generosity.
“Listen,” says Welbeck, “if I get my opportunity to do what I know I can do then things might change, but until then…” He is happy to be known as a worker. “I’ll work hard if I’m playing as a No 9 as well. That won’t change.”
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Tomorrow, in Basel, in England’s most testing Euro 2016 qualifying fixture, Welbeck must replace Sturridge again. It is a big responsibility but exactly what Welbeck wants. He has just cut the umbilical cord with Manchester United, whom he joined when he was eight, and moved to Arsenal. It was because of his desire to establish himself as a main striker on the big stage.
He knows that people doubt his record, a modest 37 goals in 178 games in club football, and eight in 27 England appearances, but he has the conviction that he can be a prolific scorer. For a second time he talks about opportunities in his favourite role. “I prefer to play as a centre- forward,” he says. “We’ll see [about that scoring rate] when I get my opportunity to do that. I’ve never had the opportunity to get a consistent run of games as No 9 but have faith in my ability.”
Roy Hodgson, England’s manager, says Welbeck’s goals-to-games ratio is skewed by substitute appearances: 47 of those club games were as a sub. He has played only eight complete matches for England and his goals to minutes-on-the-pitch record for his country is better than that of Sturridge. Welbeck is unwilling to discuss his transfer because he wants the focus to remain on England, but Wayne Rooney believes Welbeck could grow if Arsenal give him the chance to lead their forward line.
“Danny is a lively player, he’s an impact player because he’s quick,” says Rooney. “He can score goals and I’m sure now he’s got his move to Arsenal — and him playing up front for them — that can only help England. It’s a big moment for him. He’s a Manchester lad. I spoke with him a few times and it was a really tough decision for him to move. But for his professional career he felt he had to. He was a popular lad [at United]. We all respected him and we’re friends. We’ll miss him in the dressing room but I wish him all the best. Hopefully he does well.”
The crux for Welbeck is whether he can marry mindset with the essentially solo act of going for goal. Watch him receive the ball in the box: his first instinct is often to look to pass. That needs to be rewired. He turns 24 in November and admits that the time for his game to reach maturity is now.
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“I’m no longer a young player. There are a lot of younger players than me in the [England] squad, by quite a few years. It’s good to see that youngsters are being given the opportunity to play in the national side. You see in training the outstanding talent they’ve got and how it can have a massive impact. Coming to this stage of my career, I really want to push on and be the best I can be.”
He finds himself the sixth most-capped player in the squad, and suddenly a senior figure. “Whoever comes into the squad I will speak to them,” he says. “We have two players from the under-20s training with us [Paul Digby of Barnsley and Southampton’s Harrison Reed] and I’ve gone over to introduce myself, help them feel comfortable and tell them to play their normal game.”
Welbeck himself has sometimes seemed more comfortable in an England shirt than a club jersey, and he says that Hodgson’s confidence in him has made him feel valued in a way he sometimes did not at United, where he was in and out of the team.
“With England I’ve played further up the pitch and that’s maybe been better for me,” he says. At United, both David Moyes and Sir Alex Ferguson often had him dropping into midfield.
In the friendly against Norway last week, England’s best period followed Welbeck’s introduction: he, Sturridge and Raheem Sterling quickly found a common wavelength.
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“They’re players I enjoy playing with,” he says.
“They’re trying to get you to drop Wayne Rooney,” Hodgson warned.
Welbeck also dovetailed well with Sterling, Sturridge — and Rooney — during England’s brightest spell at the World Cup, their first half against Italy.
“I don’t think we got bullied or obliterated [in Brazil],” he says. “ Two results didn’t go our way and it was disappointing for the whole nation. The players really felt it. After the Uruguay game in the dressing room it was one of those moments you will remember for ever.
“I remember when we lost the league on the last day of the season [2011-2012] with Man United and the manager told us to never forget that moment. The next season we won the league. It [a disappointment] is always in you and you don’t want to feel it again.”