Brandon Williams opened his struggles in Manchester United – and admitted that he could not be “100 percent” at the time about the fear of what could happen.
Williams, 24, was taught by the Red Devils last July after a spell of loan movements and a drop-off in shape.
The full-back has not played a competitive game since December 2023 and has been without a club since last summer.
Now Williams has opened the “dark” times and off-the-pack problems that are Old Trafford exit and his loan period in the championship with Ipswich Town.
Chester Crown Court heard that William's speeds of 99 km / h reached a balloon in his mouth before he was involved in the crash of 74 MPH in August 2023. He will be convicted on May 9.
Williams was sent back halfway through his loan to Manchester in Ipswich after Baas Kieran McKenna-Die told him of his days at the United Academy Kende-Hem told some time to concentrate on his off-the-pitch problems.
Speaking about the Fozcast -Podcast of former goalkeeper Ben Foster Ben Foster, Williams said that he could not get out of bed and his family and friends have been worried about him lately – with the problems that partially came to light by friends “put him in the back”.
He said, “My friends were worried about me, Angel Gomes, Jimmy [James] Garner and D'Mani Mellor. Because I did not train, I stayed in my apartment, I did not move, did not come out. “
He added: “At that moment I did that [fall out of love with football]At that moment it just got too much for me. They were problems with friends, friends who went behind my back – put me in my back.
“I ignored my family, I didn't really speak to them. They were really worried about me, my friends were also to be honest. They could see it. It wasn't good.”
The former England U20 and U21 International also revealed that he was about to train with Man Utd, where he “could not take the trouble” after he had held the first three years after he was broken into the team.
Williams knew that something was wrong and went to Manchester United Club -Psychologist Mick Farrell for help.
He explained: “Yes, I did [speak to someone}. It was Mick Farrell at United. He was the psychologist there, I’ve known him since I was like 15. He used to bring me in all the time.
“When I wasn’t moving out of my apartment, I was literally staying in bed. He used to turn up at like 9 o’clock or something at my bedside. Trying to do something like ‘let’s go on a walk, let’s go for a coffee’.”
Williams, who made over 50 appearances for Man Utd, pointed at the intense pressure of playing for a club the size of United as one of the reasons for “falling out of love with football”.
He added: “With social media, it’s United. You can have the best game and you’ll still get criticism, and my family is reading that.
“It’s hard to explain to them. It’s literally impossible to explain and make them understand that the club is THAT big. You don’t realise how big the club is until you actually play there.
“100 per cent [it’s the hardest club to play for in the world]100 percent. I didn't know how big the club was.
“I knew how big it was, but until I went to the preseason or went to another country – even when I am on vacation to different countries.
“I am just like, I am in the middle of nowhere and people know me. It is ridiculous how big the club is.”
But navigating through that pressure was never easy for Williams, who explained that – in his experience – football has no open culture when it comes to talking about your problems.
He explained: “No. Nobody does [talk about it]. Nobody really talks about whether someone has a problem. I've never experienced that. “
It was that culture, and a fear of what consequences of speaking, that meant that Williams could not even be honest about his own problems when he talked to club psychologists.
He explained: “If I have these conversations [with club psychologists] I may not give him the truth.
“It's true, if I tell him that and he just tells a person … literally in a football club it is a small world. If a person does one thing wrong, it is discovered within five minutes. It spreads so quickly.
“I was always wary of what I should say and what I shouldn't say.
“In retrospect, I prefer to speak with someone outside the club or just be 100 percent honest with him.”
Although Williams could not even be 100 percent sure, he could also trust the people around him, and added: “It is dark. It is also difficult because many people care, but many people give it because they may not want to lose the lifestyle they had.
“So they are like” Come on, come on, we need you to come back. We need you to do all this. “
Now he feels that he is ready to return to action, after months of working on his fitness in a Taekwondo center full of Olympic athletes and hard work in individual training.
And he will not be short of options, revealing that he has already had phone calls from all over the world to sign him since last summer.
He said to Foster: “I'll have my conversation [with my current agent] And see what that situation is. But I have had a lot of teams, since even August I have had a lot of teams that try to get me out.
“America, Europe, England, championship. I have literally had a lot of teams, but I just didn't finish.
“I want to go 100 percent somewhere [where I] 100 percent know where I am going, 100 percent focused and just stairs. If it comes in that phase, we will eventually have a conversation. '
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