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Danny Welbeck knows what is required from him and his Brighton teammates in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday and, above all, it comes down to cold-hearted professionalism.
Aged 32 and in his 15th season as a Premier League player, he is ready to do the job, to blot out the emotion – a part of which takes in Brighton’s pursuit of a first trophy, the crowning glory perhaps of a season in which they have been cutting edge and authentically cool.
There is something else for Welbeck and he insists that he is fine with it: facing the team from his city, the one he supported as a kid, where it all began for him as a player, up through the youth ranks and into the senior setup. But he will not lie. It was not always this way.
“I’ve played games against United multiple times and to be honest it’s not as weird as it once was,” Welbeck says. “The first couple of times it was really strange.”
Welbeck lived the dream, making his United debut as a 17-year-old at the start of 2008-09. The previous season, the club’s last truly great team had won the Champions League. They would sweep to the Club World Cup, Carling Cup and league title in Welbeck’s debut campaign in which he made 13 appearances, including a Wembley start against Tottenham in the Carling Cup final.
There were plenty of other stellar memories before Welbeck left for Arsenal in September 2014, not least the league title in 2012-13. And then, for a while, everything felt the wrong way round with regard to United, especially at Old Trafford.
“It was worse when I went there,” Welbeck says. “You go into the away dressing room, you’re warming up on a different side of the pitch and walking out on the other side. It’s just little weird things like that because you’re so used to going to a certain place. It’s normal for you to do what you’ve been doing your whole life. And early on I was playing against players I’d been with previously.”
The first return was the strangest – the FA Cup quarter-final in 2015, Welbeck scoring Arsenal’s winner to fire his love affair with the competition. “It was one of those things with all my friends, all United fans … although they were rooting for me,” he says.
Welbeck would start in the semi-final win over Reading but miss the victory over Aston Villa in the final through injury; he still earned his medal. Two years later, having made an impact as a substitute in Arsenal’s semi-final win over Manchester City, he started in the final against Chelsea. He remembers how Arsenal were “pretty much the underdogs”. They won. “A career highlight, definitely,” he adds. “It also gives you that hunger to do it again.”
Welbeck’s other FA Cup semi-final was for United in 2009; they lost to Everton on penalties. And if we keep going back to United, it is because there is something inexorable about his connection with the club. He became known as “Dat Guy” – the nickname given to him by Ravel Morrison, his former United teammate. Morrison tweeted it, Mancunian slang for “The Man”, and it stuck. Really, though, Welbeck ought to be “Dat United Guy”.
The striker left the club nine years ago and he was a first-team player for only four and a half seasons; there was the loan to Preston in the Championship in January 2010 – cut short by injury – and he spent the next campaign on loan at Sunderland in the top flight. He was not a prolific United scorer, 29 goals in 142 appearances (he never has been across his career). Yet Welbeck and United are intrinsically linked; for many football fans, it is the first association.
Brighton are not having that. Welbeck has been an important element of their journey, signing for Graham Potter in October 2020 after a relegation season at Watford, embracing new responsibilities on and off the pitch.
There was a funny tweet from him towards the end of last season, a picture of him and the young full-back Tariq Lamptey looking smart at an official function, Welbeck towering over him. “Good report at parents evening. Happy meal on the way home for my liccle one,” Welbeck wrote, and there is no doubt that he is revelling in the role of dressing-room elder.
Evan Ferguson, the 18-year-old striker, has spoken about how Welbeck has given him tips, even though they are in competition for the same place and these days there is a different nickname said to be doing the rounds. Is he “Daddy Welbz”? He chuckles. “I think I’m just same old, really. Just with kids! Same old with kids. When I go away from football, I’m just Daniel to my family. That’s it.
“There are a few senior members within the group at Brighton and we’re always there to give advice. I had it when I was coming through at United. There was Darren Fletcher, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown … too many to name.
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“I’ve been in Evan’s shoes and to have that older pro to speak to about certain things – about new positions, new runs. The position that me and Evan are playing now is probably new to both of us.”
Welbeck is fascinating when he discusses Brighton’s style under Roberto De Zerbi, who took over from Potter last September. And De Zerbi himself. “I’ve been lucky enough to play under some great managers,” Welbeck says, and he does not need to spell out that he means Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger. “He [De Zerbi] is definitely a special manager.”
What makes De Zerbi so is his passion and obsessiveness, particularly with the fine details. He lives and breathes the game, always demanding more. Is he as fiery in training as he is during matches? “Yes,” Welbeck replies. “Maybe more. We have one-on-ones in the morning, fights, everything. I’m joking. To give off that energy … it rubs off on to the players.”
What sets De Zerbi apart is his tactical boldness, his belief in building from the very back. His team will recycle the ball in extremely dangerous areas, trying to draw the opposition in before playing out incisively, rushing into the spaces they have created. It is about technical ability and dominating possession, about shifting systems.
“There’s no No 9, really,” Welbeck says. “You’re working for the buildup play, for the defenders and the midfielders, also. You’re involved in that buildup and then, as quickly as possible, it’s about progressing up the pitch and exploiting certain areas of whoever we’re coming up against.
“We could start in one formation [in the buildup] and end up in another if we’re farther up the pitch. It depends on the opposition. Sometimes we go into a game and we’ve got three ways of playing because we’ve worked on it in the week. The opposition might play as a back five or back four, with one or two up top. We’ve always got a way around it because we’re always ready.”
De Zerbi has been described by some as countercultural, including Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, who knows a thing or two about innovation. The tactical battle at Wembley with Erik ten Hag will enthral; the United manager loves to transition after winning possession, ideally high up.
“We all know what options each player should have on the ball when they are receiving it,” Welbeck says. “He [De Zerbi] wants everybody to know, the players who are not even starting, we always go through that. It’s massive. If he is getting a bit animated, it’s maybe because the player on the ball isn’t getting the options he should have. He wants you to play the way he wants to play but he still gives you that freedom to do what you want in certain situations.”
Welbeck has been struck this season by the respect that Brighton have received from rival players. “After games, we have them coming up to us saying: ‘You guys are bopping it,’” he says. “We do get a lot of good feedback.”
All Welbeck wants now is victory. Nothing can blur the focus, including the ruptured hand ligament and chip to the bone he suffered in last Saturday’s win at Chelsea. He is expected to wear a protective strapping. In 11 matches against United, Welbeck has four victories and four goals. A further return would be quite the story.
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