Daniel James reveals the advice he has received from Ryan Giggs

Daniel James has been enjoying a positive season at the club and international level of late. James has overcome his problems from his first season at Manchester United to become a regular in the current campaign. Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he is getting more minutes on the pitch this season. The Welsh international is also a vital cog of the Wales national team. Notably on Tuesday’s World Cup qualifying win over Czech Republic, he scored a crucial headed goal.

The 23-year-old is being coached by former Manchester United stalwarts at both club and international front. In the domestic scenario, James’ growth is being constantly monitored by the watchful eyes of Solskjaer at Old Trafford. Whereas, the former club legend Ryan Giggs has handled him efficiently as the Wales coach. Being coached by a former winger in Giggs is another positive for James in his career growth.

In the most recent episode of the UTD Podcast, James has revealed the best advice he has received till now. “When people ask me what’s the best advice you’ve ever been given, it would probably be from him [Giggs]. It was just ‘be yourself’,” he said.

“I relate back to maybe the end of last season, I came away from that and tried to be like other players, I looked at other players and thought I need to be like him and be like that,” he added. “It was this season and I kind of thought I’m here for a reason and I looked back at loads of old clips of me being me and then looked at my new clips [and thought] I’m not doing that [anymore].”

James also explained how much the words from Giggs helped him lay out his progression path. “It was a reality to check for me in that you can take from him and you can take from different players around you but ultimately, you’re here because of what you do, and it goes back to what Giggsy said to me to just ‘be yourself’, that was so important.”