Danny Welbeck has revealed that after Manchester United lost last season's championship in the final moments to Manchester City Sir Alex Ferguson told the younger players to remember the feeling as it would "win them titles".
United travel to Everton on Monday evening to begin their tilt at claiming the Premier League trophy back. The memory of the 4-4 draw with David Moyes' side in April is still fresh for Ferguson's players as the pivotal match in their failure to win a 20th crown. On the final day of last season, United defeated Sunderland 1-0 but Sergio Agüero's late strike gave City a 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers to secure a first title in 44 years on goal difference.
Welbeck said: "We were travelling home from Sunderland on the coach and he went round all the young players and said to them: 'Never forget this – because this will win you titles.' He said: 'This will make some of you into men and be the best you can be.'
"When the manager says things like that to you, you really want to take note of it. It's good motivation to have. Obviously it was an epic finish to last season, not good for us but good for the other side of Manchester. I was a United fan [as a boy] and we lost it to our biggest rivals. It's not something that you forget so easy. It hurts. You never forget it, it's something you want to put right. To win it back would be massive for us. Maybe because I'm a United fan it did hurt that bit more because it was City."
Regarding the Everton match, Welbeck said: "Yes it was a key game but there's plenty of times over the season where you think: 'Why didn't we win that?' That's football and you can't change it. But certain games get focused on the most."
Wayne Rooney, who will partner either Welbeck or Robin van Persie in attack at Goodison Park, also pointed to that 4-4 draw. "That game probably did cost us the league," he said. "That was really disappointing for us, so we hope we can go there and get the three points this time. It's a really tough first game even though, over the last few years, Everton haven't really started well in the league."
Rooney celebrates a decade since his debut at 16 for Everton, leaving for Old Trafford in 2004. "It feels like a long time ago," he said. "I'm still fairly young – well, I feel young anyway. It's great to have played in the Premier League for 10 years. It's an exciting league and I still get just as excited by playing football as I did when I made my debut. I just hope I can play for another 10 years and have as much enjoyment."
