Reds cancel training after advice on coronavirus
UNITED have cancelled firstteam training following drastic measures to counter the coronavirus outbreak announced by the government.
M.E.N. Sport reported on Sunday the players were due back at their Carrington training complex on Tuesday after two days off.
But on Monday prime minister Boris Johnson urged everyone in the country to avoid unnecessary social contact, so the players didn’t go to Carrington yesterday.
A United spokesperson told M.E.N. Sport yesterday: “In light of governmental advice and the evolving situation the team are not returning to training today.”
It is understood the players have provisionally been given three days off and issued personalised fitness programmes to follow.
United’s original plan was for players to report for training as normal, with days off spread out across the forthcoming weeks.
Some players were spotted out on errands over the weekend, when they were due to travel to Tottenham Hotspur for their Premier League fixture.
The English football calendar has been suspended until April 3 and the Premier League will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to establish plans for the remainder of the season.
The United players who would not have been on international duty this month would have been granted time off for the week beginning March 23, yet all international fixtures have been cancelled.
United have 14 Brits, two Spaniards, two Frenchmen, two Portuguese, a Serbian, and a Dutchman in their first-team squad.
United striker Odion Ighalo arrived at the club’s Carrington training complex on Friday morning wearing a face mask and gloves.
JAMES Garner celebrated his 19th birthday on Friday 13, and you have to wonder whether he has been rather unlucky.
The United youngster is approaching a career crossroads, having begun to outgrow the club’s Under-23s and development sides, for whom he’s scored eight goals in 10 games this season - most of them as captain.
If you’ve watched Garner in one
ODION Ighalo’s many sacrifices down the years are now paying off with United, his agent has revealed.
The former Watford striker has proven a big hit on loan at the Reds having moved from Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.
He has scored four goals already for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, despite many doubting the decision of those games for Neil Wood’s side recently, you will have seen a mature and skilful midfielder who often looks on a different plain to his peers.
Having only just turned 19, time remains very much on Garner’s side, though the fates (and potential fates) of Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong foreshadow the two possible paths that await the teenage midfielder.
Chong, 20, has just signed fresh terms and will stay at United while to pursue a loan deal, which was secured in the 11th hour on January transfer deadline day.
Ighalo has helped United to fifth in the Premier League and the brink of Europa League last eight, as well as the FA Cup quarter-finals, before all elite football in England was suspended. And his agent Patrick Bastianelli believes the 30-year-old deserves everything he achieves with United, the club the Nigerian
Gomes, 19, looks to be heading for the exit door.
Garner is now at the age where a brutal decision will have to be made. He probably should have headed out on loan in January, but United were uncertain about the fitness of midfielders Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba and kept Garner has back up.
United’s head of first team development Nicky Butt is big on getting players through the ranks at a young age, if they’re good enough, hence why the club don’t send as many youngsters out on loan.
“If you’re not in the first team by 23, it’s very rare that you’re going to get in,” he has said. “You need to be pushing at an earlier age.”
But despite all Garner’s potential and ability, despite him emulating what Mason Greenwood did last season and looking head and shoulders striker supported as a child.
“Odion is reaping what he deserves after many sacrifices, after many years around Europe. Manchester is a prize for everything he’s shown in recent years,” Bastianelli said.
He also lauded the striker’s mentality as the main reason behind his success at Old Trafford so far.
“It’s part of his character, of his great seriousness,” he added. “He above the rest at youth level, he has played less than 10 minutes in the Premier League and started just three senior games.
There are no contract issues with Garner like there have been with Chong or Gomes. His deal expires in June 2022, with the option for an extra year.
But he must be disappointed that he’s not had more chances in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team this season, especially considering the paucity of midfield options.
At one stage this term Fred was virtually United’s only fit central midfielder. And yes, Nemanja Matic came into form when Solskjaer needed him to, during the absences of Pogba and McTominay, but why didn’t Garner get more of a chance?
The 19-year-old will surely want to play regularly senior football next year. He would be within his rights
I you’re not in the first team by 23, it’s very rare that you’re going to get in
scored many goals. He always has a positive attitude. Odion is a person who always looks ahead, always in a positive way.”
On the moment Ighalo netted his first goal for United, latching onto Juan Mata’s pass in the 5-0 Europa League second leg victory over Club Brugge at Old Trafford, his agent added: “It was also exciting for us to see his reaction, the happiness in his eyes. Couldn’t believe it.”