Tom Heaton

Tom Heaton: The final game of ours was against Burnley on the Saturday, 3 o’clock kick-off (United won 3-2).

So there’s a plan in place for the players that aren’t going away, but it’s a loose plan. The ones who are tend to disappear straight away after the game with their international teams, to various places around the world. For the players that don’t go away, there’s some form of training schedule for that week.

To be honest, it’s not always the same. Ours was pretty good recently, I think probably on the back of a good ending to the game, beating Burnley in the last minute.

The Manager gave us a good few days off and we were back in training the following Monday, albeit with the caveat of having to take away a schedule and a heart rate monitor to make sure you get through the work in the week.

So there was a programme to follow – and we were in on the Sunday, closed the game off and the lads that didn’t play in the game do the work. From then on we were off, with some work to do.

A real moment for the football club. I was just about there at the time that Carrington first opened, I think in 2001. I think I signed full-time in 2002e. It was obviously a brilliant facility at the time and it’s continued to be updated, but more on a sort of ad hoc basis really, as and when it’s required.

We were out of it for a year, moved into temporary facilities, and coming back into it recently has been fantastic. It’s a real, real good space and place for the whole staff, players, everyone to come together to try and help achieve the objective, which is getting Man United to win in the Premier League again.

Yeah, I think it’s a fair thought really. I think you’ve got to be cautious of it. You don’t want to pamper players.

I’ve been pretty consistent in my message with the new facility amongst the players – yes, brilliant to have the facilities, but at the end of the day, it’s performances on the pitch that do the talking and the people inside that facility that bring it to life. 

Yes, you want everything you need in terms of performing; yes, you want a nice environment. But the highest priority of all is delivering out on the pitch and making sure the people inside that are all geared towards it. 

So that is certainly the case at this moment in time, but you’re definitely correct in terms of a facility is just a facility. You’ve got to be very, very conscious of overdoing it, but at the same time providing a brilliant space to deliver elite level performances.

As a senior player, you try and influence players, influence the group, influence staff members in a positive way.

I think with my own personal background at the football club, I try and give people an understanding of the values, what’s gone on previously, what it takes, where our ambitions are, what the demands are. You naturally try and deliver that anyway.

I’ve been very fortunate to grow up at the football club and see it in a very successful period, see it very closely. So in terms of the new leadership group, it was a new season, the manager was starting out and I think he wanted some support around Bruno (Fernandes), the captain, to sort of help.

And he really has given the leadership group some real power in amongst the dressing room to have a big effect on players and take responsibility. I think that’s probably the key word here – making sure that players, and especially the leadership group, take responsibility for what’s going on.

That’s exactly right.

Having grown up there – I didn’t play in the first team as an Academy player, but got in amongst it, I was in the travelling squad for the 2008 Champions League – you see how it’s done, you see how it works, you see the real success, what it takes, what it is.

And then going away for 11 years, coming back, it’s different. The club, when I came back, hadn’t had a lot of success in recent times – not for the want of trying – but for whatever reason after of Sir Alex’s era, just hasn’t quite found where it wanted to be. 

And that’s a real challenge, in terms of thinking this is how it’s been done in the past, this is what was successful, but the game evolves, society evolves, football evolves, everything moves forward. 

So it’s then trying not to lose what’s important – the values of the football club and what matters – but then bringing it into the requirements of the modern day.

Since the new ownership have come in with INEOS, that’s been prevalent with them, bringing the club up to speed with the modern game and trying to bring the football club up to where it needs to be to be successful. 

Last season was challenging, we can’t get away from that. Manchester United finishing 15th in the league is difficult and a long way away from where it needs to be, where it should be.

But at the end of the day, that’s where it was. So there’s a marker in the ground – that’s gone and the start of this season there’s been a fresh energy from everyone really. I think it helps coming into the new facility. All the players were aligned, and I think at a low point you can often come out of it with a fresh impetus.

And it’s certainly felt like that so far this season. Pre-season was one of the best I’ve been involved in in terms of that sort of fresh energy, the desire, demand from each other. And I think the first performance against Arsenal, yes, the result didn’t go our way and unfortunately at the end a set piece, but I think that showed probably where we’re at in terms of performance and where we can get to. 

And I think we’re close to getting back to delivering results now. 

Yeah, I think that’s important for people behind the scenes, to have that long-term vision and to stick to the strategy towards that. From a player’s point of view, certainly having been in and around it for quite a long time, Man United comes with its own challenges.

In my opinion. It’s the biggest football club in the world. I think in everyone’s opinion, one of the biggest football clubs in the world. So there’s an awful lot of noise around. The good things are extremely good and the bad things are extremely bad. Whereas I think certainly, as players, you have to find that level of neutrality really, to try and find that smoothness through.

There are always going to be bumps in the road, but I think the key is to keep focusing on what’s important and that’s one game at a time and putting wins on the board. In terms of the vision, I think the people behind the scenes have to be clear with that. As players, take one game at a time, not get too high, not get too low.

I remember Giggsy saying that to me quite often – it’s important you just keep stable and consistent and I think that’s as true as ever today.

Yeah, Senne’s come in. I didn’t know too much about him before.

It’s only been two or three days’ training but he seems like a really good lad: calm, but a strong personality. His goalkeeping fundamentals are very impressive. I said that to him after a couple of days’ training.

He’s 23-years-old and coming to Manchester United in the first few days training he’s been very impressive so far. 

I really like his goalkeeping fundamentals. Fantastic.

No, I just try and focus on my own game. It’s sometimes hard not to share an opinion, as I try and offer support and maybe a different way to view things, but obviously we have two very good goalkeeper coaches and that’s their job.

My main focus is always playing. But, you know, if I saw someone on a grassroots game and I thought I could say something, I’d try and help. And the same goes with the other goalkeepers at the football club – I try and offer an opinion if I think it’s warranted.

I went on a trial at 11-years-old, down at Littleton Road, one of the old training grounds. I still use it now. I signed there at 11 and came all the way through. 

It was a School of Excellence when I first signed and I think it turned into an Academy a few years into it. So, look, I think Academies have grown. I think the Premier League have affected that in terms of they’ve got the EPPP system and everything in place.

So there’s a lot more structure to it. There’s a lot more restrictions, some pros to that, some cons to that. I think when we came through, it was a brilliant foundation to go and build a career. And as you got through the system and as you got higher, it was also about creating good human beings as well as good footballers.

And I still think that’s in place now. Nick Cox, that’s a big point for him in terms of getting the Academy lads to make sure that they behave right; it’s not just about the on-pitch stuff, it’s the off-pitch stuff as well. But certainly in the time I came through that was a big feature.

Whenever I went out on loan to different clubs, people would talk about a Manchester United Academy player with a real sort of idea of how they’re going to be. They’re going to have a good attitude, good work ethic, good ability. That came with a package really and a reputation.

And one that I think the Academy was very proud of. I think it was Les Kershaw, Paul McGuinness, Tony Whelan, Dave Bushell, that sort of era. I was a bit older when it came to Brian McClair, but again the same ideas really, and that’s not been lost at all.

You were brought up to know that he was the one that everything was filtering down from.

We’d often see him. I remember playing at Littleton Road. I can’t remember who we were playing, but he’s walking around the pitches, he’s looking at all the games. Brilliant to have that connection. I remember as a 16, 17-year-old, him coming in after a poor performance and a bad defeat and he ripped into the lads.

We didn’t see that much of him on a day-to-day business, but there was a real sort of connection through the football club with that and how much of a handle he had on it from top to bottom.

(Before signing for Cardiff City in 2010, Heaton had six loans as a Manchester United player – at Swindon Town, Royal Antwerp, Cardiff City, QPR. Rochdale and Wycombe).

I look back on the loan moves as being extremely positive. They weren’t all positive loans in terms of the football at the time, but when I look back and see the experience that I got at different levels – the challenges that came up, sometimes going and not playing, all different things going on – I think there was a real, real good foundation to build a career from. 

A goalkeeper at Man United, certainly a young goalkeeper, opportunities are going to be limited in the first team. My burning desire has been – and weirdly still is, even though I don’t play that often at the minute – performing and playing, that is my driver.

I get out of bed every morning to go and be that number one playing the games. So they were a real pivotal part of getting that experience, to do that. Some of them were good, some of them were not so good, but they were all good in terms of me developing and building the experience forward.

We had, from the Under-18s, a real good standard of football. The reserves at the time, now the U21s, we had a fantastic reserve team.

We won the reserve league, the likes of (Gerard) Pique, Giuseppe Rossi, Sylvan Blake, Paul McShane, Kieron Richardson, David Jones – numerous top players that have done really well – but there’s still a difference between the reserve football and going to play in League Two, League One, where lads are playing for a win bonus, where it means they can pay the mortgage or not.

There’s a practicality element. I try and say to our young lads at the football club at the minute, ‘training’s training’. You can replicate it to a certain amount, but when you get to actually playing, where you’re playing for real, there’s an element of, yeah, you might want to take a risk with this pass in training, but when it comes to actually mattering, if you take a risk and get that wrong, you’re gonna have a problem here if you’re going to give the ball away in your own box.

For me there is an element of practicality in there. And finding a way that works for real. So yeah, fundamental for me in terms of getting that experience. 

You often find that with young goalkeepers anyway – you get a little bit of good and bad, up and down. But you have to almost go through that really, it’s difficult to circumvent it. You need to go through the experience. But brilliant for me and very, very grateful for managers, teams giving me the opportunity of making my way through that.

It would be ridiculous of me to sit here and say I was turning up expecting to play every week.

I was 35 at the time, I was on the back of an ACL injury. I’d got fit again at Aston Villa, which had been a really good six months where I played pretty much every game, did my ACL and was out for 12 to 18 months. Six months of that was probably getting back up to speed and then the opportunity to come back to United.

And I think the big driver for me was playing for United competitively. You know, having spent so much time there, being involved in the first team for two, three years at the time, when I was a bit younger, and not actually playing competitive was a bit of a burn for me. So that was probably a driver at that point.

When that moment came, it was Young Boys in the Champions League at Old Trafford – incredible moment. That was probably a bit of the driver. But still, even at that point in my career, 35, 36, even now, 39, every day I’m waking up trying to get in that team, you know, working to get in the team and play because that drives been there.

That was why I left United in the first place, to go and play games, to go and forge a career. So for me that has been the driver. Yes, it’s evolved slightly in certain ways, but it’s still the driving force. 

I think the club had grown exponentially really. It was a much bigger beast than when I left. It was quite tight knit, staff, players, people in the building. When I came back, it was much bigger. The commercial side had gone massive, the football side had gone massive.

So there’s a natural evolution with time. You know, 10, 11 years in football is an age really. There’s still a big connection to the values that matter, which was brilliant to see, but at the same time it was different. 

So there was a little bit of me adjusting to that and then, then there’s the adjustment of getting aligned with the club probably not being as successful as it wanted to be, but driving and demanding to get back to that.

So I want to be on that boat, I’m still on that boat, to try and push the club back to that, to the winning and successful times.

I’d done two years at Cardiff – I’d went on loan there and then signed on a free.

Had a real good time there. Played in the final of the League Cup against Liverpool, saving Steven Gerrard’s penalty in the shoot-out, which was a big moment for me at the time. So I’d just come to the end of that season and Dychey rang me and there was an idea to go to Watford. 

So went down there, met him, met his staff, met all the people behind the scenes at the football club. Real sort of big moment. I think I signed the contract, but there was one signature missing. The club was involved in a takeover at the time.

Anyway, two, three weeks went by, me thinking it’s done, wasn’t done. Turns out that it got torn up. Then the takeover happened and they wanted to go in a different direction. So I was left adrift a little bit. Ended up signing at Bristol City in the Championship, I think Dychey got the bullet at Watford at a similar sort of time.

He rang me and said, ‘Look, this isn’t at all what I had in mind, I didn’t foresee it, I’m sorry this has happened. But if I get the opportunity to come and get you, I’ll come and get you again.’

Fast forward 12 months after a season of playing with Bristol City, he came to get me at Burnley. I think he’d been in place for a few months and he signed me that summer from, as he tells everyone, a relegated Bristol City side.

That Burnley time – I think at certain times players find the club at the right time, it fits the player at the right time, and for me that was certainly Burnley Football Club. 

That first season we were third favourites to get relegated out of the Championship and we ended up finishing second and getting promoted to the Premier League, out of nowhere really. In terms of seasons and moments in your life, that group of players, that group of staff, it was special.

Obviously keep in contact with most people from that era and everyone feels the same about it, it was incredible. Yes, we were in portakabins, which is why I think the dynamic within the facilities is paramount really, because you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing pretty much the entire squad.

He couldn’t walk 30 yards without seeing everyone. So we were real tight knit group and the dynamic was brilliant. And we just found that momentum. Dychey had a saying – you’re stood in the tunnel ready to go out and you want to look across at the opposition and go, ‘You’d better be ready lads, because we’re having it.’

We had that mentality where we just knew each and every one of the people in that building was going to give everything they’ve got. It’s a powerful weapon when you’ve got that. 

You talk about alignment – well that just aligned at the right moment at the right time. And then the success comes with it, when you’re third favourites to get relegated and you get promoted and then narrowly get relegated, but then you come back again and then you stay there and then we make Europe.

Yeah, real special time and special era. 

There was a lot of detail in there, especially defensively.I think we were a real solid defensive unit. Underestimated, attacking wise, I will say, but in terms of my side of it, the defensive idea was really good.

We used to work on it all week – the unit playing together, the recovery lines that they’re dropping back into, body shapes, understanding what the player on the ball is doing, working as a unit – and it worked really well. And one thing he did do was make it real, real simple for everyone coming into the team.

So, you know, even if you hadn’t played for a few weeks, you came in the team, you were really clear on what the requirement was. For me and the defensive side there was real clarity on what we were doing.

Yeah, Billy Mercer and also Craig Mawson, Billy’s number two, who is obviously at Manchester United now, so I still have a connection there with him. I had a brilliant relationship with Billy.

A real, real interesting time. In my time there, Popey obviously came in. Adam Legston’s, Joe Hart, Paul Robinson, numerous goalkeepers. Anders Lindegaard.

But, yeah, just a real good spell of goalkeepers for the football club. I think to be fair to Dychey and Bill, they valued having a real solid goalkeeper behind the team. Makes a big difference I think and certainly he valued it. 

Evolution of the goalkeeper

I think it’s a little bit dependent these days on the strategy of the team and what they want to do and how they want to play. My own personal view is there’s a risk-reward in terms of how much risk you want your goalkeeper playing the furthest point away from the opposition goal.

So if you take risk there, I suppose it’s the knock-on effect of how much reward are you getting from it.

There is reward there, because when you lure teams out there’s more space for your attacking players to go and get it, I 100% get that. I think it’s all in balance. My version of goalkeeping – and it’s my own – is to try and give away as little away as possible.

And what I mean by that is don’t give anything away, save as much as you can that you should save, and then hopefully once every few games you produce something that might win you the game, might win you some points, the top level. But make sure the base level is as good as it can be and as solid and consistent as it can be. 

I think that builds a little bit of reliability. Reliability builds trust with your players and that’s a big thing. I think goalkeepers and trust with the rest of the team is a massive factor. To build that you need to be consistent, players need to know what you’re doing. That’s one part of it and then obviously the other side of it is the distribution side.

The game’s evolved with that. I think it comes in phases and cycles. It feels like it’s coming a bit more round where there’s a little bit more of a practical element coming in, that when it’s getting too tight now, teams are going forward a little bit more.

It’s always in balance. For me, the fundamental of your goalkeeper needs to keep the ball out of the net and not give too much away is my own perspective on goalkeeping.

From when I started that’s exactly it. You’re much more involved in possessions, in the tactical work, in the build-up work.

There’s also the element of higher lines, in terms of defending with higher lines and so much more space to defend in behind that, depending on how your team plays. And then there’s also the actual training methods and methodologies. I think there’s a bit more specific on what the opposition are doing to what the challenge is going to be at the weekend to then taper into the training. 

For me, there’s still fundamentals that don’t change. It’s a reactive position, where you never really want to pre-empt what people are doing. A goalkeeper is a reactive position. 

But if you know Arsenal have got inverted wingers that are going to cut in and bend the ball around, then you might add a little bit of that into the week.

So, yeah, there’s probably more detail goes into it, probably some added factors with the possessions and the tactical work and the build-up, so there’s probably just more to consider than when I started. 

That’s a good question. Being brutally honest, I tend not to think too much like that at this moment in time.

Still currently playing, totally honest I try and focus on what I’m doing. I admire most goalkeepers, especially at Premier League level. I think growing up, for me, especially at United, Peter Schmeichel was my real, real idol. The way he played, how he affected the team, how he affected others around him in a real high, aggressive sort of manner.

Really enjoyed watching him. And then as I grew up at the football club, Peter moved on. Edwin was signed. He was fantastic with me. I had a brilliant relationship with him. And then he filled that void of inspiration really. I was so, so impressed with how he went about it.

Again, had a real big effect on the team, but did it in a different way. He was calmer, he was composed, he spread that through the team, so affected the team but in a different way. So yeah, opposite ends of the spectrum probably in terms of personalities, but both had areal, real strength to what they were doing and a real effect on the team.

And both, you know, brilliant goalkeepers. So I was very fortunate to sort of see, see both close at hand.

Yeah, I’m open minded at this moment in time. I think I’ve probably surpassed where I thought I would have gone, but at the end of the day it’s gone on feel for me. I think the big, big thing for me is I wouldn’t still be playing if I didn’t think I could affect the team in terms of playing. 

While I still feel I can affect it and others think I can affect it and I feel okay, I’d still play. Once either me or someone else decides that that’s not the case or I don’t feel quite right, then that will be the right time.

But I’m not dead set on whether it’s the end of this season, the end of next season – I’ll just see how it goes. I’m enjoying competing with the other goalkeepers, I still am. I still get out of bed with that real drive to keep the ball out the net.

So while that’s still there, and the other things are in place,, we’ll keep going I think.

Yeah, it’s another good question. I love football. I’ve loved football my entire life. I’ve still got a real passion for it. Having not played as much over the last few years, spent a bit of time doing different courses and also in the background understanding a little bit more the detail about what goes on, whether that’s in the sports science department, the analyst department, understand the tactical side of it, even some of the operation side of it. So at the minute I’m very open minded.

I’ve done a couple of courses in the background of the business side of football clubs. Done a little bit on the Sporting Director side, done quite a bit on the coaching side. A lot will probably depend on how I feel at the time, what opportunities come around. Again, I’m not dead set on terms of which direction to go, which I have to be honest is a little bit away from my personality.

All through my life really I’ve just been playing, playing, to try and be the number one. Try and embrace the uncertainty a little more as I get a bit older. It’s tricky, but I am trying to. 

I have my outfield coaching UEFA B, my outfield coaching  UEFA A licence, I’ve got the goalkeeping B licence. I actually considered trying to do the Pro Licence this year, but I thought I didn’t want to take away from the playing. Really, it’s quite a big undertaking. 

I probably need more experience before I go and undertake the Pro Licence, so I put that on the back burner. It’s something I’ll maybe look at, or try and look at, in the next few years. So, yeah, the Pro Licence would be the next step for me. But, as I say, the priority is the playing and whilst I’m still playing that is always going to be the top priority.

The courses I’ve sort of managed in terms of whether it’s been injuries or an appropriate time, where I’ve got enough time to go and do it, but I think it’s important that the focus remains on the playing and that’s been my thinking throughout, really. 

On the back burner for now. We’ll see in the next few years. 

You know what, I absolutely loved it. Gareth (Southgate) gave me the call about three or four weeks before the end of the season, sort of explained the scenario, that, with the training load they need more than the three goalkeepers.

Didn’t think they were going to have enough senior players, perhaps with different experiences, and obviously he and I had a brilliant relationship and had worked together quite a bit over the years when he first got the England manager’s job and stayed in touch, even when I was sort of away from that.

The opportunity came up and I jumped at it. It was brilliant, to be honest. Even though I wasn’t playing, just being in the tournament, the team getting so far, sort of half an understanding of what’s going on in the background, with John McDermott, the Technical Director, Gareth, the coaching staff, helping Martin Margetson the goalie coach with certain things, but also then really being a player at the same time and doing everything but sat in the stand for the games. 

It was a real amazing experience and a real good overview. The only slight downside was it was five weeks away during the summer and the day of getting back and telling the wife that I’ve had the best five weeks of my life was probably not the best thing I should have done! But it really was fantastic, just a brilliant football experience on a number of different levels really. 

I actually got delivered my legacy cap on the trip, where the FA are doing the legacy caps, what number you are in terms of, you know, I think there’s 1200, 1300 players that have ever played for England, yu get your own specific number, the games you played around the side. The only slightly disappointing thing was I assumed once I got your legacy cap, it’s difficult to get any more caps, which I did mention at the time!

But no, I was only joking. It was a nice mark in front of the group to get that towards the ack end of the trip and nice to reflect on three of the biggest moments in my career, represent your country. Really fantastic.

It’s becoming even bigger, really. Having just completed the course recently, I think it probably opened my eyes into how much that role actually takes on – it’s the entire football club.

Yes, it’d be something that I’d be open to, as with anything else. I think having grown up in the era with, Sir Alex, Sean Dyche at Burnley, Gareth – it’s very much a manager that. 

Whereas the model of Sporting Director, Head Coach, I’m still a little unsure exactly what my own ideas would be in terms of where to find the balance of that. For me as a player, I like the idea of a manager controlling the  players in the club and having the power and the players respond to that, I think.

But I also see the club’s point of view of needing continuity. Managers can come and go, but you need continuity as a football club, the business side of it, having a theme through. So again, it’s a balance. I’m not I’m not quite sure exactly how I see that balance at the minute, but hopefully the next few years that might become clear.

I think it was on the Continent first and has come over here.

A lot of the foreign players I’ve played with, when we have the discussion, say that it’s always been the case over there. I can see it from an ownership point of view. It’s just about making sure you’re maximising what you’ve got at that moment in time and it’s all aligned. I think that’s probably the key to it.

I am. You know, after a real strong pre-season, the results haven’t been as good as we wanted so far, but honestly I think the signs are there and the feeling’s there.

So I’m very optimistic that this season is going to be a success and a real good point and a good marker for bringing the club back up to the top. I don’t think it’ll be one big jump, but I think it’s going to be a real stepping stone to then kick on again and move it forward.

The signs are there. Very, very optimistic. There’s a real hunger and desire from the players and the staff to bring that forward. Yeah, I can see a real strong season. 

I’m really looking forward to being on. Giggsy is Giggsy – I spent a lot of time with him, he was brilliant with me as a young lad. Tony Strudwick was the Head of Sports Science, Head Fitness Coach at the time, so really looking forward to the conference. Really appreciate having me on.