PLAYERS TALKING THE TALK AGAIN

Last updated : 12 July 2005 By editor

Alan Smith, "Everyone at United is buzzing. We came back to training early and are up for the fight. We know we are good enough. I've never won anything, so it's about time I did - and United is the place to do it.

"I've been reading a lot of rubbish about how I might want to go and need a new challenge to rescue my career. Why? I don't want to go anywhere. This club is the best in the world and I never want to leave.

"If I play every game for United, we win the big trophies and I don’t get in the England World Cup squad, it won’t bother me one bit. This season is not about whether Alan Smith gets to the World Cup, it's about United and how we perform as a team."

Gary Neville, “This is the biggest test we have had as players for a long time. It’s the first time as a squad we have gone two seasons without winning the championship. That is unacceptable for Manchester United and we have to respond in the right way.

"What happened last year was that Chelsea had an exceptional season, just as Arsenal did the year before. If you don't lose, or only lose once, you are going to win the championship We are capable of doing that, as we have proved with our results in the past, but we simply have to hit the ground running."