Louis Van Gaal has ordered his first major change as Manchester United manager. Unfortunately for those of us expecting it to be a one way ticket out of Manchester for Nani and Anderson, Van Gaal’s demand is for the training pitches at Carrington to be ripped up and replaced with the same surface in place at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman is in the States where United will take on LA Galaxy in their first pre-season friendly of their North American tour but that hasn’t stopped him from demanding changes to be made on the training pitches.
Van Gaal inspected the training facilities at Carrington for the first time last Wednesday and wasted no time in asking the club to fit them with the same Desso Grass-Master system currently in place at Old Trafford, as he believes his players will benefit from training on the same high-tech surface they’ll be playing on every two weeks.
Far from the “yes man” attitude United’s hierarchy would have enjoyed under David Moyes, Van Gaal also demanded floodlights to be installed in the training complex to allow the team to train outside in winter – and, hopefully, to force those who indulge in a drink or two over the festive period to run their extra pounds off under glorious artificial light.
Installing floodlights at Carrington could cost up to £4m according to the Mirror, while Van Gaal also wants trees to be planted around the training pitches to create a more intimate atmosphere, after deeming them too “windy” and “exposed”.
One would have thought that, with all the long balls they obviously practised in training last season, United players would have realised the pitches were too windy. Is there the reason why Moyes’ masterplan failed so miserably?
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