Marcus, thanks for talking to us first of all.
Football Foundation - Your school, in fact was one of the beneficiaries of
Football Foundation back in the day.
Can you tell us a bit about what it was like when you first started playing football in your school?
You admitted yourself you weren’t the biggest kid in the playground,
so how did you know that you were on a different level to everyone else back then?
I think it all begins initially with you just having fun.
In a lot of schools there’s so many talented kids in the schools
covering a wide range of different sports.
In my school, it was lucky enough that there were a lot of people that loved and were good enough at football.
Pretty much all the time, whenever we could, we were all playing football together.
That’s how it all started.
Of course, the facilities have to be in place for you to be able to do that
and thankfully it was in place at the time and we had no issues in doing that.
You joined Manchester United, was it as a 12-year-old?
I was about seven.
What was the step up like to come out of an amateur environment and into a pro club?
I don’t think it was much of a big step up.
I remember at first there were 40/45 of us
and I’d say the real step up was when we got to maybe 10 or 11
when that number dropped down to about 20.
Then you know, it started to get a bit more serious.
Around that age, there were players coming from all over the world, so it got a bit more difficult.
The batch which I played first was a very talented group
and I think we all just moulded well together and a lot of us have become friends since then.
You played up the age groups as well with the likes of Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison and those guys.
For a young boy at that age, what was it like to play with guys who were 15/16?
What did you learn from them?
From the age of about 11/12, training with them more regularly was a massive part of my development
and the other kids’ development as well.
Basically, because training with your own age there’s a certain amount that you can learn.
But when you have the chance to train with older players, the level of learning,
it goes up to the ages of 18 and you’re learning the same thing as what 18/19-year-olds are learning.
So that was a massive, a big learning curve for us all.
I want you to talk about your experience in the summer, your first World Cup.
I was in Russia but back in England there was so much positivity surrounding the team.
What was it like to be at the very centre of that?
I think the timing was very good.
I think we needed something big to give the country some hope that we can win something in the near future.
We didn’t get all the way in the tournament,
but we definitely planted that seed where people can see that we’re growing and what we’re aspiring to be.
But the biggest thing is with the fans. I think it’s been a journey that none of us will forget
for both players and fans that were watching all over the country. As you said, back home was crazy.
And now you’ve got the UEFA Nations League as well.
You’ve been in good form for England since the World Cup finished.
With two tough games coming up, how are you feeling about England's current setup?
Very tough games. But I think this is the final step that we are at now.
Getting over the line against the biggest teams in the world.
There’s no added incentive than going there and beating them and
that’s what we’ll feed off and that’s what will take us to the next level.
You’ve got some new youth players in the squad. You're not exactly old yourself,
but what have you made of Jadon Sancho around training sessions since his arrival?
We’ve got the first proper session tomorrow.
To be honest I’ve seen a lot of the younger players when they’ve been playing not only first team football but
academy football as well. I think we all know their quality and the talent they have.
It’s just about nourishing it to get the best out of them for our games.
I guess it helps to drag up the standard.
You guys can’t be resting on your laurels when you see Mason Mount, James Maddison and Jason Sancho coming in.
There is big competition for places.
Yes of course, but that’s the enjoyment in football.
There’s always people ready to come in,
and I think just by their selection that shows the strength in depth we have throughout the nation.
Hopefully we can go into these two games and I hope that they do well.
Finally, one last question for you Marcus,
you’ve come second and third in the Golden Boy awards,
associated with the best upcoming players in the world.
When you look around the guys in your age category,
who do you see as contenders for such prizes in the next few years?
I think there’s quite a lot of players battling for that type of thing.
Obviously Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is here from Liverpool and he’s played quite a lot of games for his age.
He’s performed well throughout his time.
Consistency is the biggest thing so if you’re getting consistent minutes you improve
and that’s what really separates as they get a little bit older.
There’s probably around 10 players I could name from the ages of between 18 and 22.
There’s a lot of talent and we have a lot of them here.
Marcus thanks very much for your time, we really appreciate it.
No problem.