Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists his stars will be fit for purpose next season — although he accepts he can’t turn pre-season training into a military-style Boot Camp.
New Manchester United boss Solskjaer has been disappointed by the fitness levels of the players he inherited from the sacked Jose Mourinho in December, with team and individual stats on work-rate, sprinting and mileage way behind Premier League sides above and even below them.
But the former Red Devils striker is planning an intensive pre-season programme to make certain his stars will be fitter to implement the faster-paced football he wants to play next season.
“Were the fans shocked when I questioned the fitness of the players? If you look at the stats over the last few years, I don’t think anyone would be shocked or surprised by them,” said Solskjaer .
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“We’re going to build on their fitness. The fitter you are, the more you can do. It’s a basic principle I’ve got.
“It’s not going to be like an old, military-style pre-season. You’ve got to be clever about everything. We want the best practice — how to get players ready for when the season starts. It’s not going to be a boot camp.
“We’ve got to find a way of playing, the best style for us. The style here has always been attacking quickly, playing forward, running forward, chasing back, winning the ball back.
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"I want to get to the stage where we have a set system, but it hasn’t worked that way yet.”
Solskjaer says he's made it plain to the United top brass that putting a club now on its fourth permanent manager since last winning the title in Alex Ferguson's 2012-13 retirement season back on top is going to take time.
“I’ve got regular meetings with Ed Woodward, and I’ve seen Joel [Glazer] and the owners. They are very realistic on where we are, where we want to get, and how long that will take," he said. "You don’t suddenly make up 27 points in one season. You’ve got to take it gradually.”
