O'Neill: Follow United's example April 07 2008
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has urged his players to learn from the examples of Manchester United strike duo Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo in combining individual brilliance with hard work.
O'Neill is happy to sing the praises of the likes of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor, who have played major roles in Villa's push for a European spot this season.
But he believes they would become even better players from watching DVDs of Red Devils pair Rooney and Ronaldo, who destroyed the midlands club in the recent meeting at Old Trafford.
O'Neill said: "Ashley has set enormously high standards this season, so much so that the expectation when he picks the ball up is extremely high.
"He is capable of beating all defenders and it is a matter of getting him on the ball as close to the opposition goal as possible. He has the ability. You mentally relax when he has the ball.
"Ashley has the ability, the natural talent to be a top quality player for a long time. He was tremendous against Bolton.
"He gets encouraged to take people on. If we can get him into areas where he can cause damage, the closer to the opposition goal, the better we will be.
"Everyone also knows what I think of Gabby (Agbonlahor) who has been tremendous for us since I came here.
"But, if there are things to be learnt about playing against brilliant players, then it was a real lesson for us at Old Trafford last week against Manchester United."
He added: "We generally work very hard in games but sometimes, if we don't work too hard, we are not as good as we think we are.
"The Manchester United players, when they have lost possession of the ball, work exceptionally hard to get it back. Add that to their immense ability, the Ronaldos and Rooneys, and you have tremendous all-round players.
"It would be hard not to have a look at the DVD and watch them play and pick up things from watching those players - although I am not suggesting Gabby and Ashley have not worked."