Archives: Laurent Blanc

People have criticised the defence this season. Are you confident you can help them settle?
People are criticising the defence because they are conceding goals but it is up to the whole team to stop the opposition scoring. If you are letting in goals, you don't have to blame the goalkeeper or defenders because everybody is part of the team and has to help. When a defence plays with confidence, they are very strong. When they don't play with confidence, they let in goals. It's nothing to do with age, everyone has something to say and something to give. If each defender can bring a bit of confidence to the team, then we can build big confidence in each other.

The papers have mentioned your age, are you confident you can still perform well for United?
You get used to it. When I went to Italy, to Inter, people were mentioning my age but, after three months, everybody had stopped talking about it. People were questioning my age because Bergomi had retired the season before and I was only a little younger than him. But I showed straight away that I could still play well and they didn't talk about it any more. I don't think it matters what age you are, the truth comes in what you do out on the pitch.

Do you wish you could have come here earlier?
I was very close to coming here on those previous occasions, at least four or five times over the last seven years. What I'd like to stress is that, despite my age and it being the final year of my career, I'm pleased to be here and confident I can do well.

So have you definitely decided what you are going to do at the end of the season?
I'll stop. I'll retire. I've decided I'll stop playing at the end of the year but I'm trying to focus on now and what happens this season. I may stay in football and I'm