Manchester United players will reportedly no longer be given a day off after matches once Mauricio Pochettino takes over as head coach.
Michael Carrick is said to have rarely required the squad to be at Carrington the day after matches. However, the incoming head coach will apparently have them report to their training ground for recovery sessions.
Change to Post-Match Routine
Carrick and the United players were notably not due in at Carrington on Monday after their 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford. However, with the international break underway, several squad members were en route to join their national teams after being called up for this fortnight.
The Sun claims Pochettino is making the change to improve their fitness. His eldest son, Sebastiano, is also coming in as a specialist coach who focuses on that area.
Fitness Staff Additions
Charlie Owen is already employed in that role by the club and has been for over seven years, since being promoted from the academy. He has been part of the first team set-up under Carrick, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruben Amorim.
The latter, like Pochettino, was joined at United by his own fitness coach, Paulo Berreira. However, he too left in January, and they have since reunited at Milan.
Former Player's View on Pochettino's Methods
Toby Alderweireld, who spent five seasons working with Pochettino at Tottenham Hotspur, has told the BBC: "First of all, he made us very fit. Pre-season was brutal."
"The way he wants to play - on the front foot, putting people under pressure, a high line, very dynamic play - you need to run. You need to be capable of running and be capable of high-intensity runs - the basic is to be fit."
"Every manager wants a good pre-season and time to give the players their ideas and the fitness, but the players are going to feel straight away that it's a different level. This is every day at the training ground; it's 100% - that's what he asks, what he demands. It will be a big difference for the players, and they're going to see results there straight away."
Alderweireld also recalls: "In the Champions League semi-final, we were 3-0 down [against Ajax] and he didn't have a tactical half-time talk. He just said, 'You're going to be physical, you're going to fight, you only need one goal to be back in the game, believe that everything is possible.'"
"That was a big moment because we were nowhere near Ajax at that time, especially in that game. But we changed everything by intensity, by duels."
"I remember the long ball to [Fernando] Llorente and just fighting and asking, 'How badly do you want it?' It changed from that moment."
