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BIOGRAPHY AND CARRER |
| Fletcher joined Manchester United as
a trainee in July 2000 and he signed a professional
contract in February 2001. He was initially seen as a
right midfielder in the David Beckham mould - in fact
Shoot! Monthly tipped him as the next David Beckham -
and was tipped by many to break into the first team with
ease and stay there for many years to come. His first
few seasons at the club, however, were marred by injury,
and as he developed he came to be viewed more as a
central midfielder. Fletcher broke into the Manchester
United team during the 2003-04 campaign, playing a
number of important matches. He started in United's FA
Cup Final win over Millwall in May 2004. Despite a slow
start to the 2004-05 campaign, in which in the early
part of the season he made very few competitive
appearances, Fletcher again broke into the United first
team. On 1 January 2005, Fletcher scored his first goal
at club level, (he had already scored twice for
Scotland). The goal was the opener in the Premiership
match against Middlesbrough. Fletcher was one of the
players singled out for harsh criticism by club captain
Roy Keane in the wake of United's embarrassing 4-1
defeat to Middlesbrough in October 2005. Keane
reportedly said, "I can't understand why people in
Scotland rave about Darren Fletcher." However, Keane
later attempted to set the record straight stating, "If
you listen to any of my comments over the last two or
three years, if I've given any player credit over the
years it would be Fletch. Fletch will tell you that
himself." Fletcher went some way towards answering his
critics on 6 November 2005, with his performance in the
vital league match at home to Chelsea, scoring the only
goal of the game with a looping header. His winning goal
ended Chelsea's 40-match unbeaten run in the Premier
League. In 2006-07, he retained his starting position in
the first team at the start of the season and scored in
an away win over Charlton Athletic, as well as scoring
the headed winner in the away game with Middlesbrough in
December and another headed goal in the home win against
Charlton in February, making it a double against the
club that season. As the season progressed, Alex
Ferguson preferred the midfield quartet of Cristiano
Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs,
limiting Fletcher to substitute appearances. However,
due to Paul Scholes's suspension, he made a starting
appearance in United's 7-1 rout of AS Roma in the
Champions League quarter-final. During the semi-final
first leg against AC Milan at Old Trafford, Fletcher
almost scored his first Champions League goal only to be
denied by Dida. United eventually saw themselves
eliminated from the Champions League after Milan beat
them 3-0 in the second leg of the tie. He faces a new
threat to his first team place for the 2007-08 season
after the arrival of Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich.
In February of 2008, Fletcher recieved a rare start,
against Arsenal, in the FA Cup 5th Round, Fletcher
scored two goals as United knocked Arsenal out of the
competition with an incredible 4-0 win. |
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