Inside Man Utd's pre-season tour routine as Ruben Amorim CANCELS double training sessions and stars go undetected in US

The Sun

2 days ago

RUBEN AMORIM has been so impressed by the dedication of his Manchester United squad that he has CANCELLED the planned double training sessions.
In a stark change from the dictatorial regime the United squad endured under former boss Erik tan Hag on their Asian tour last summer, Old Trafford chief Amorim and his fitness team have seen enough to ensure a relaxed environment at their Chicago base.
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And the buy-in from the players has been clear, with a growing feeling that United might, at last, be back on the right track.
SunSport has been given an insight into how Amorim and his players have spent their time since arriving in the USA last week.
That includes the gym and fitness demands, how he has managed the sauna-like conditions to develop tactical plans and down-time for the players to ensure they are ready to take more on board.
Amorim and his staff, aware of how far behind the Prem elite they were last season, were determined to make a flying start when the players returned to Carrington at the start of July.
All the first team squad were given pretty detailed and intensive fitness programmes to do during their holidays, including reporting their performance in specific physical tasks.
From day one, it was clear to the club's sports science staff, when the numbers clocked matched their reports, that the players had been treating the demands seriously.
A bleep test-style sprint exercise, ramping up the requirements, brought extra intensity to the initial sessions, as Amorim and his staff wanted confirmation that the players recognised how much was needed.
But the positive statistical feedback was proof that the squad wanted to be part of a new approach, with that push for fitness continuing over the past four weeks.
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The gym work has started at 10:30 each day, with the players gathering for breakfast from 7.30am onwards - although without a rigid timeline, except for Amorim, who has done his own hour's gym work before the players have finished their morning meal.
But the coach to training - at Chicago Fire's impressive Endeavour complex - has left on the dot at 9.15am.
Sessions have seen a lot of running on the Endeavour pitches, with one nominal 'shooting' drill including stamina work on sprints between the stations.
And with the heat in mind, Amorim - with not even the club cameras rolling - has started his tactical work with the squad.
That is about making players feel emboldened to make decisions under pressure, with just two or three bullet-point style instructions.
Set-piece work is overseen by assistant manager Carlos Fernandes, viewed by Amorim as his trusted confident and second set of eyes - not dissimilar to the role Jose Mourinho had under Bobby Robson at Porto.
However, Amorim's initial plans for his side to do two training sessions each day have not been required because of the high fitness levels.
That has allowed Amorim to give his players their afternoons largely off, with the extra free time providing an opportunity for them to strengthen their internal relationships.
Players have relaxed in cafes and gone shopping - with Chicago offering a relative anonymity they would not get at home.
Unlike on previous tours, though, few of Amorim's side have utilsed the games room install at their Waldorf Astoria hotel, mainly as it is sited on the third floor, two stories below the main rooms level.
Amorim is understood to believe he needs to treat the players as adults rather than petulant or truculent children, as happened under Ten Hag.
Skipper Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire have been influential figures, speaking to the various player groups and staff to help foster the collective environment the manager has been determined to achieve.
That has all helped, especially for the players who remember the Ten Hag pre-season tours with a shudder.
It is about discipline within an agreed system, rather than a draconian crackdown.
That was shown when Ten Hag and his players were in the Thai capital Bangkok.
The lifts in their hotel were very slow and with Ten Hag imposing punishments for anybody who was late to attend a meeting or a meal, many of the players ended up using the stairs to ensure they were on time.
It meant stairwells packed with players hauling themselves up 40 flights of stairs to get to the dining room.
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