LET’S GET PHYSICAL

Ole’s Dubai boot camp toughens up stars

proper training week. The players have a spring in their step this week. Obviously we’ve had a focus on going forward more quickly. But, looking at the stats from the five games we’ve played, we do out-sprint teams. In every single game we’ve had a higher intensity than the other team.

“We have played against teams at the bottom of the league and, if you are Man

United and you outrun teams in the lower part of the table, that’s a big compliment to the players. One of the best compliments you can get as a coach is when the other manager says, ‘ Your boys worked hard’. And I know that if my boys work as hard as this, it will take a lot to beat us.

“So I can’t complain about the way they’ve performed physically – but there is always room for improvement.” Solskjaer also spent time in the Middle East trying to get into the heads of players who underperformed during Mourinho’s regime.

He has had individual meetings with players to forge the kind of personal touch that has been missing at the club. Solskjaer said: “I haven’t managed to speak to every single player on this trip, but we have had quite a few individual chats, both formal and informal. That’s just the way I believe in things. It’s probably easier for them to speak to me rather than in front of a big group.

“That was the way I enjoyed being coached as well. I always loved one-toone coaching here, with chats to the gaffer (Ferguson), Rene (Meulensteen), Carlos (Queiroz), Steve McClaren and Kiddo (Brian Kidd).

“Every single player needs that connection because they want to know what is expected of them.

“It’s not just me telling them what to do. It’s about me asking, ‘ What are your strengths? What do you feel? What can you give to the team?’.”