Giggsy spurs United on

The Star

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs is back in Malaysia to promote Red Devils' friendly against ASEAN All-Stars.   The Star Managing Editor Brian Martin met up with him to talk about his return to Malaysia and his legendary career.   Read more at https://tinyurl.com/yy6psafb   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news  SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar  LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Hello readers of the style, we've got one of the most iconic footballers of his generation,

00:22in fact of any generation, and UK's most decorated footballer, Mr Ryan Giggs here.

00:30Hi, welcome. Thank you, good to be here. I'll get straight to it. So, you've been to Malaysia a few times now, right?

00:37Yes. Yeah. And even back in 2000, probably was that your first time back in 2000?

00:43I think I was here late 90s. 95? Yeah. Yes, in 95. So, since Malaysia is kind of familiar to you right now,

00:55what would your favourite food be? Ooh, good question. I've sampled quite a bit of the local food,

01:03actually. So, but I remember getting on, I think, one of my first flights and they were serving satay,

01:09beef satay, chicken satay. So, not too spicy, but a little bit spicy. So, I've always had a soft spot

01:16for satay. The flight over today, we had the same. So, excellent, excellent. So, welcome back. Good to

01:23have you back with us. You're coming at a time, you know, as a United fan, where the team isn't

01:31doing that well, you know. But what do you attribute United's mellies to this drop in form, you know,

01:3818 games in the Premier League now lost, which is going back to the, when they were relegated in the

01:44early 70s. So, they've really hit a bad run of form. But what do you attribute it to, really?

01:52I think it's an accumulation over time, really, over the last, I would say, eight, nine years

01:58in recruitment. And obviously, the change of managers as well. So, you have managers coming in

02:06who likes a player, another manager, the next manager coming in who doesn't like the player.

02:10So, you have players from different regimes, costing a lot of money, not playing or not

02:17performing. And then, all of a sudden, you have a team of players that just aren't a system or aren't

02:26a philosophy or, and aren't used to winning. They've not got that, that feeling of consistency and of

02:35winning and that feeling. So, yeah, I think it's a difficult time at the moment. It's a long road

02:43back. We will be back. I've no doubt. It's just a matter of when.

02:48Okay. Interesting that you mentioned that the players probably aren't used to the system

02:54or not used to winning because I remember, I mean, you were an integral part of the class of 92.

03:00And when you broke into the team, you had big figures like Brian Robson, Pauline, Steve Bruce.

03:07And do you think that the current batch of young players, you know, people like Chido Obi,

03:15people like Harry Amas, do you think they need that they're coming into a team that isn't doing well

03:23and you don't have those big characters? The big characters that lead the young ones on. Do you think

03:28that's the current situation? Yeah, I mean, it's hard to know without actually being in

03:35the training ground or around the team. I think you have good pros in the team.

03:41But like you just mentioned, when I came into the team, Brian Robson, Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes,

03:50Brian McClare, Schmeichel, Paul Ince, just so many characters, but winners as well. And just,

03:58you could see that every day in training. They wanted to win the small sided games. They wanted to win

04:04in training every day. And I come into that environment. And all of a sudden, I had to jump

04:10up to that. I had to elevate to my playing, my performances, my consistency to their level.

04:19Otherwise, I would have fallen away. So it's very difficult to compare areas and compare teams. But

04:25I was lucky in that I come into an environment that was really sort of, and sometimes clashing

04:32with each other. But ultimately, you go out on the Saturday, you're part of the same team. But now

04:38it's a different area. It's a different mentality. It's a different world, really. But somehow we need

04:47to get that back. Because I agree, you need the young players coming through, but also you need them

04:52young players to aspire to the older players. Right. But United have always had this tradition,

04:59this history of bloody youngsters coming to the side, way back from the time of the

05:05Busby Babes. Back to your era, Fergus Pleasant. And do you see that continuing? We've got some good

05:12young players coming from the academy now. Do you see that continuing?

05:16Yeah, I mean, I do. But it's difficult because they're coming into an environment where

05:21instantly the pressure is on. And every game, every game for Man United is big anyway. But every game,

05:27it seems at the moment, a lot of criticism, and it's not easy for a young player to come into that

05:33environment. And when you're not winning, your confidence, you maybe not do things that you did

05:40in the youth team or the reserves. So it is difficult. And like I said, we will come back. But at the moment,

05:49it is difficult for a young player to come into the team because of the lack of consistency.

05:54Exactly. Right. That's it. And 11 years ago, almost to the date, was your last game,

06:02last competitive football game. 19 of May, 2014. Correct? Right.

06:09You must miss it. I mean, you're still relatively young. Still as good looking. No, no, no. You must miss it.

06:19Yeah, do you know what? I obviously played until I was 40. And I was in the team when I was 17. So

06:27at the time, I was ready to sort of finish. I felt I'd done everything. And I was ready for the next

06:33stage of my career. But I think what you do miss, you miss sort of, you know, we've got a final,

06:39you miss the big games, you miss the big games at Old Trafford, the Champions League games,

06:44and also you miss training. You know, football is the best job in the world, going in every day,

06:49playing football, some with your friends. So I miss that. I miss the big games and I miss going in

06:55every day at training. Okay. How do you keep yourself fit? It's difficult. I think the main

07:03thing is just watching your diet. I think when you play, you've always got an excuse to

07:09maybe not eat the wrong foods or too much, have too many beers or wine. When you finish,

07:16you haven't got an excuse anymore. So, you know, you can indulge, you can have a few drinks. And it's

07:22just mainly just concentrating on what you eat really. And I've always been pretty disciplined

07:27with that. And also, yeah, I like to play paddle. I like to play five-a-side still. I'm lucky I've got

07:34no injuries. I've got no bad knees, no bad ankles, no aching joints. So I'm still able to exercise at a

07:40pretty high level. I read that when you were at your peak in the 90s and the 2000s, you turned to yoga

07:47to maintain your flexibility. Do you still do that? No. It was the hardest thing that I did. So

07:56I did it purely because it was good for me. It was it was good for me. It was good for my career.

08:02My injuries got less and less. My availability for games and training become more and more.

08:09So yoga was really, really good for me physically and spiritually and mentally to prepare myself to be a

08:15footballer. But it was hard. And I am not flexible. So you have to be quite flexible to do yoga. So

08:25as soon as I finish, I've done Pilates. I've done a little bit of yoga, but I hate. I don't like it.

08:31But the feeling it gives me is really good. But if I choose to exercise, I'd rather play golf or play

08:37paddle or play five a side rather than do yoga. Your last managerial job was 2022.

08:47Okay. And I understand that you're a director of football for Salford.

08:51But somewhere in the future, in the near future, is there a managerial role for Ryan Diggs?

08:57Yeah, I hope so. I mean, I loved my time with Wales. I loved working under Louis van Gaal's assistant at United.

09:06And I'm still as a coach relatively young. So yeah, I still hope to still have aspirations to be a manager.

09:13And yeah, I feel I've got a lot to offer.

09:16And you've obviously you've got your U4 class A license, right? Which allows you to coach anywhere in Europe?

09:23Yeah. Yeah, I did that while I was still playing. So I did all my badges while I was still playing.

09:29I'm 39. I got my pro license where you can coach manage anywhere. So yeah, I was always conscious that

09:37while I was still playing, I was always looking for the next step and preparing myself. So yeah, I'm ready to go.

09:45Okay. If you are a United fan of a certain age, like I am, you will always have your particular

09:54favourite Ryan Diggs goal. Mine was obviously the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay. You know,

10:02to me, I can still replay the goal in my head. But what's your favourite goal for United?

10:07Yeah, I enjoyed that goal so much purely. It was a good goal, but the occasion as well.

10:14Yeah. And you know, you want to score. I scored many sort of goals where I dribble,

10:19but probably none that was more important. And

10:24when you score important goals, there's the winning goal and makes a difference.

10:28And it's a good goal as well. Then yeah, I think that's always something special.

10:33Okay. I mean, you've scored a lot of goals during your career.

10:39Would you have a particular trophy or title that you look back on and think this is it? Was it the 99

10:50trouble? Perhaps?

10:51I think growing up as a United fan and not winning the league for so long, that first league was special.

10:58And it gave you the confidence and especially the year before we'd lost to Leeds so narrowly.

11:03And I was so disappointed that I couldn't wait to get back for pre-season the next year and

11:10make a, well, not have that feeling that I had after that that season ended. So when we eventually

11:22won the league and we were playing Blackburn at home and the whole stadium is buzzing and your

11:28friends and your family are there, that was a real special trophy. Remember you scored a free kick?

11:33It's got a free kick. Yeah, it's a great goal. Okay. And fast forward to the president and the United

11:42side. We've got a big game coming up in a few days time. I'm going to put you on the spot.

11:49Anything's going to happen? Yeah, I do. It's strange because we've been so poor in the league,

11:54but so good in Europe. You know, I think we're the only unbeaten team in Europe in all the competitions.

12:00So I don't know if it's Ruben's tactics or if it's just the players have just,

12:05it's sort of a release, a sort of escape from the domestic game and they just embrace it and enjoy

12:12it. Of course, you need a bit of luck and late drama, which we had against Leon. But yeah,

12:19the team have looked really good in Europe. So I think we'll be okay. I think, I mean,

12:26it'll be a tough game because Tottenham, especially the last few years, had better results against us.

12:32But I always fancy us in the final. Okay. Can I just ask, is it true or is it

12:40like one of those urban legends, before every Spurs game, Sir Alex comes into the restroom and says,

12:47is it true? It was said a few times, yeah. I think Roy had said it and Sir Alex had said it. I think

12:56historically, when we went to White Hart Lane, they'd always had, you know, Hoddle, Gascoigne,

13:02Ginola, sort of these flair players, but they didn't have a, you know, a Roy Keane or, you know,

13:09a bit of steel behind them. So they were historically, we always enjoyed playing them and they liked to play

13:14football. So we knew that we were in for a football game, but they didn't really have that. We had

13:21football, we had footballers in the team, but also that steel as well, which they were probably lacking.

13:26So I always enjoyed playing against Tottenham because it was always really good, enjoyable

13:32football games, but we were always confident we could beat them. Awesome. And then after that,

13:37United have one final game, home game against Aston Villa and they take a flight immediately after

13:42that and they come to Malaysia. Yeah. One last question for the friendly, you've played many

13:47friendlies over your career and in Malaysia also. How did it, how would the lads view the friendly

13:54game like this? Or how did you view a friendly game when you're going into a pre-season? Yeah,

14:01I think it's the overall experience really where you're going rather than the game because it's very

14:06difficult to sort of, you know, the humidity and the heat to train properly and the game obviously is

14:11going to be hot and it's the end of the season. I think it's more the experience of coming to

14:16another country, seeing the fan base, interacting with the fans and just trying to enjoy yourself

14:23really. Trying to get out and see Guadalupe if you can and yeah, just try and enjoy the experience

14:31rather than the football. Of course the football is a big part of it, but for me it was always about

14:37getting fit because it was pre-season. This is slightly different because it's at the end of

14:42the season. Correct. So I would rather just, you know, the lads, hopefully, they've won the Europa

14:47League, they're in the Champs, the fingers crossed they're in the Champions League and they can embrace

14:52it and enjoy themselves. Okay, cool. I think that's about it for my, for the podcast. Okay,

14:58thank you so much. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Enjoy the next few days. Thank you. Thanks. Cheers. Thanks.

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