Things Spotted in Manchester United training

All eyes are on Manchester United right now, and how they can recover from a couple of poor results to secure their top four status.

The clash with Leicester on Sunday is virtually a play-off for Champions League football, albeit United hold the upper hand as they only need a draw.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been preparing his players at United’s Carrington training ground. Can they shake off the fatigue that’s played a part in their recent games? Can their attack click back into gear?

Here are the things we spotted in the Friday afternoon training session

New looks for the Lads

This is no normal July. Ordinarily, United would be training in a foreign land while on pre-season tour, concentrating on getting themselves fit rather than coming to the end of a gruelling season.

But there were some signs in this session that it was July; firstly because United were wearing a new black and orange training kit, with the coaches now in white tops rather than the black or coral kit they were wearing earlier this term.

Andreas Pereira also sported a new bleached haircut, something you tend to see happening at the start of a season rather than the end.

Solskjaer will be hoping his team are as fresh as they would normally be in July when they take on Leciester.

Bailly is back

One picture of Eric Bailly told you everything you need to know about him: a snapshot of the centre-back upside down in mid-air performing a bicycle kick.

This is, let’s not forget, a player who has endured more than his fair share of injury problems. The latest of those was a concussion in the FA Cup defeat to Chelsea.

But Bailly is always willing to stretch his body to the limit and put it on the line for his team. He looks to be his normal self once again, which United fans will be glad to see.

Football tennis

It’s common to see the usual drills and fitness tests scrapped as the season heads into its final few weeks, with the players already battling fatigue.

So maybe United fans will have been heartened to see the emphasis placed on fun rather than fitness in this session. ‘Football tennis’ was the order of the day, with the likes of Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire and Nemanja Matic all wearing broad smiles as they stretched to keep the ball in play. There were only one or two more gentle drills and the players appeared to be moving well.

Solskjaer has harnessed a positive spirit in this United squad and that doesn’t appear to have been dampened by one or two poor results. If they get the desired result at Leicester, it will be all smiles.

Key players happy

There has been some harsh criticism for Pogba and Maguire, among others in the past two United games. The Frenchman’s handball against West Ham wasn’t wise, but he’s still been excellent since returning from injury, while Maguire gets a fair amount of flak despite United’s defensive improvement since his arrival.

Both looked content during the latest training session, as did Bruno Fernandes who practiced his knee-slide celebration – all important if he nets at the King Power Stadium, of course.