How Ole will manage player welfare

The Reds face 12 games in just under six weeks, in three different competitions, before the end of 2020. That run starts with a Premier League clash against West Brom at Old Trafford on Saturday evening as United look to secure a first domestic home victory of the season.

During an exclusive chat with reporter Stewart Gardner, ahead of the meeting with the Baggies, Ole reflected on a positive international break for many of his players and explained how he plans to manage his squad over the coming period…

Firstly Ole, that’s it for international football for four months. Will it be good to have everything focused on United for that time now?
“Yeah, I would like to say so. Now we’ve got a chance to create momentum and the players’ focus is on the club and the roles and responsibilities here. Of course, it’s fantastic for them to go away and play with the national teams but now there is a different mentality. It almost feels like the season is going to start now because we’ve got time together.”

There was lots of international football to take in but I suppose Scott McTominay has got the biggest smile of all, hasn’t he?
“Yeah, it was brilliant. A penalty shoot-out with all the nerves… but Scotty put a good penalty away. For any international to be able to play for your country in a major tournament is massive. We had loads of positives from this international break I felt. We got goals from Harry, Donny, Edi, Dan James scored a fantastic goal and Dean Henderson made his [England] debut, which is great for him and us as a club and the Academy. Of course, Paul and Anthony have qualified [with France] and Spain have qualified with David for the Nations League tournament. So it’s been a good spell and the ones who have been here have trained really hard and, of course, we had some days off too. It’s been a good two weeks and now we’re ready to go.”