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Scott McTominay explains Manchester United’s need for a full pre-season
Speaking on United Review, the official Manchester United matchday programme, Scott McTominay highlighted the importance of a full pre-season for the team ahead of the new season.
The Red Devils only had a week of pre-season last year due to Covid-19 truncating the new Premier League season. But now, they have had a full training camp under their belt, of course, with the exception of a few players.
United stars who reached the Copa America and UEFA Euro finals joined up late, but for the rest of the team, this has been an important few weeks to gel and understand the manager’s tactics.
And that, according to McTominay, was something United lacked last season. The Red Devils have already played against Derby County, QPR and Brentford, while their game against Preston North End was abandoned.
“That’s one of the main things over the last couple of seasons we’ve missed out on, that real baseline of work and getting the whole group together. It’s important that bulk of work you do in pre-season – it’s absolutely vital for the rest of the season.”
Pre-season offers players a chance to adhere to the manager’s instructions without having to worry about competitive games. That is tough to replicate during a regular season, which is why the Scottish midfielder is glad United have this time to work on all details before the real action begins.
“It’s impossible for us to train in this way through the season. This has been a really good chance to nail down the finer details to put into practice this season and to allow us to keep pushing forward to be ready for the start of the season.”
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United are scheduled to take on Everton in their penultimate friendly fixture against Everton on Saturday. That will conclude the club’s pre-season fixtures and they can then prepare for the Premier League curtain-raiser against Leeds United in a week’s time.
