Football

What Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had planned before Premier League postponement


Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given his squad individualised training programmes (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had planned on putting his players through a military-style bootcamp to preserve his squad’s fitness levels before the club were forced to cancel training in line with government advice over coronavirus.

The Premier League was initially suspended until April 3rd, meaning a three-week break before the next set of fixtures.

Solskjaer’s side had been on a 12-match unbeaten run in all competitions, meaning the postponement came at the worst possible time. But in a bid to stay positive, it meant the likes of Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba could step-up their recoveries during the break.

United had to cancel training last Tuesday (Picture: Getty)

The Norwegian, with the help of his backroom staff and conditioning coaches, designed a military-style training camp that limited contact between each player.

With behind-closed-doors friendlies and matches against younger age groups out the window, Solskjaer believed the period could be used much in the same way as the early weeks of pre-season and opted for non-ball work drills that focused purely on fitness.

As of last Monday, Solskjaer expected to put his players through their paces 24 hours later but on Tuesday United were forced to indefinitely cancel training.

‘We continue to review the situation day by day, but in light of [the] evolving situation and latest governmental guidance the team will now be training individually away from the ATC [Aon training complex],’ United said.

Players have been given individual training programmes and urged to make the use of their home gyms. Solskjaer placed great emphasis on his squad’s fitness last summer, demanding that no opposition side outruns his own this season.

But the Premier League has since postponed the season further, confirming that fixtures will return on April 30th at the earliest. In truth, most clubs believe the date will be pushed back further and are readying themselves to complete their remaining league fixtures in a six-week period at the start of June.

United are in favour of completing the Premier League season but it remains to be seen how the Europa League and FA Cup competitions will be played out.

The Red Devils are all but through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, while they face Norwich City in the last-eight of the FA Cup.

MORE: Coronavirus UK: Who falls into the government’s vulnerable list and must stay at home for 12 weeks?





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