Chris Smalling: Manchester United have our 'fear factor' back under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Interview: The United centre-half discusses his early years, life under Solskjaer and becoming the patron of a football charity

Life could have turned out very differently for Chris Smalling.

His path - from an uncontracted youth team player at non-league Maidstone to a Manchester United centre-half of more than 300 appearances - is the one less travelled by players at the very top of the modern game.

Growing up largely outside of the academy system, it was challenging to balance football, home and school. In a single-parent household from the age of five after his father Lloyd passed away, he once lost his place in a youth team because his mother could not afford to pay his bus fare to training.

Becoming a professional simply did not seem realistic. “It was always the dream, but it wasn’t,” Smalling says. “It was always a distant dream up until 18, when I was literally about to go to uni.” His future, at that point, appeared to be studying financial economics at Loughborough.

“I was literally five weeks away from doing that,” he adds. “I think I would just have continued to play for a non-league team probably. I would always have played football because I always enjoyed it, but not as a professional.”

But that summer, Fulham offered Smalling a full-time contract. Within a year, he had a made his Premier League debut. Within two, he was a United player and in December, he signed a new contract which will stretch his spell at Old Trafford into its twelfth year.

He feels that now is the right time to give back. This week, Smalling became a patron of Football Beyond Borders, a London-based charity which uses football to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve in education.

His job is to expand the charity's work in Manchester and the surrounding areas, where Smalling already has ties with Dogs Trust and homeless charity Barnabus. But working with football-mad kids to help improve their prospects is a cause close to his own personal experiences.

“One of things which struck me straight away is that for a lot of them this programme is the only stable thing in their lives,” he says. “You hear a lot of kids say it’s changed their lives and so it’s something I wanted to get involved in.

“I’ve had many setbacks, even when I was 11 and not getting in for your county or having setbacks in your career or just in life in general, I think it is about kids having a dream and seeing a pathway to realise that.

Smalling returned from injury in a win against Fulham (Getty)

“That’s massively important with this programme – I think when you speak to the young kids, they have also dreams but a lot of people say it’s impossible, so I think it’s about never giving up, [an attitude] which I had.”

It is that attitude which has helped him survive for almost a decade at Old Trafford, despite intense scrutiny and criticism of his performances at times, and in spite of an less-than-fortunate record with injuries too.

Last weekend, Smalling returned from a foot problem, sustained shortly before signing his new contract and Jose Mourinho’s departure from the club. Much has changed in the time since under caretaker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Ten wins in 12 games have transformed the atmosphere around the club. A top-four finish now seems possible once more and though the unbeaten run was ended by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, Smalling knows United are now moving in the right direction.

“A lot of people ask what Ole’s done and what he’s changed, but he’s kept it quite simple,” he says. “Just in terms of trying to give people confidence in training and belief. Ultimately it’s the simple things that make a difference.

“Obviously it was unfortunate to be injured as soon as he took over. I’ve trained a lot with him recently and talked a lot as well. I was involved in all the meetings even though I couldn’t train so I was picking up on everything.

“Injured players don’t have to go to the meetings but I thought it was important that I was involved. I didn’t want to miss out on anything so that when I did get back – Fulham was my first game – I could hit the ground running and impress.”

And before a crucial week in the club’s season, with Chelsea and Liverpool around the corner, there is a sense that the old United aura is returning.

“Confidence has been good the last couple of months, you can sense if you give us a lot of chances we'll score a lot of goals, and that's that fear factor,” he says.

“Obviously PSG is that step up in the Champions League that we need consistency for. But we're definitely feeling that Old Trafford fear factor and teams come here now where they're maybe relying on getting a draw or getting a lucky result whereas before they maybe had more hope.

“The Burnley game, we were two down and even when it went to 2-2 it wasn’t just a case of celebrating, we felt like were going to win. Maybe before we would have just snatched the 2-2. There’s definitely that feeling.”

And confidence has been restored to the extent that those closest to Smalling, who supported him on his way up, are enjoying watching his career once again.

“Even my own family and friends, and people who stop you in the street, there is that feel good factor,” he says. “It’s going through the team and that translates to the fans.

“Ole just wants us to try and play with a smile on our face and bring that belief that we are good players. He just wants to bring that out. There's a reason we were all brought to Man United and I think once we play with a smile on our faces, you'll see what we can do.”