- Manchester United in Dublin for training camp
- 24 day gap between last Premier League fixture
- Interim boss Michael Carrick sees positives
It’s always busy where Manchester United are concerned – except for this season.
The 24-day gap between the last game against Bournemouth and the next fixture against Leeds is staggering. Much of it is a consequence of the club playing its fewest games in a season since 1914/15.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which forced a six-week break, and the three-month gap during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown are recent instances of mid-season gaps. Even further back, the ‘Big Freeze’ in the 1962/63 season was also enforced. This means that United fans would have to look back more than over 60 years to find the last time that the Reds were purposefully left twiddling their thumbs.
Carrick Draws Positives From Big Gap
Interim boss Michael Carrick was still able to draw the silver linings from this gap. His team are still flying high, sitting in third place in the Premier League with seven games to go.
Via UtdDistrict, Carrick drew out the positives. He said: “The 24-day gap, it feels a lot or seems like a long time, but factoring in the internationals, it’s worked out alright, to be honest.
“The players are still playing, still training, going away and getting a bit of a fresh environment as well and then not having a rush back from internationals. And giving the boys an extra few days just to spend time with the families or wherever they’ve ended up being. So I think it doesn’t feel as long.”
One of the reasons is that the team have been busy in Dublin. They are currently on an intensive training camp. Carrick spoke more about this planned trip last week on Inside Carrington.
He said: “I think we’ve ended up doing quite a bit of training, because of the games, obviously, the way they’ve been. And it’s [Carrington] a fantastic place to be, don’t get me wrong. But I think there’s a little bit of freshness, little bit of focus again, of getting everyone back together and spending some time here.”
The Dublin trip comes days before they return to Manchester to welcome the Premier League anthem back to Old Trafford. Leeds United are up next, with the Reds looking to do one better than the 1-1 draw in January.
Medical Team Aided by Break
One department that has benefitted from the long break is the medical team. The extensive break has allowed players like Patrick Dorgu and Lisandro Martinez to move closer to full fitness. Both players travelled to Ireland with the squad.
Dorgu has been injured since the 3-2 win against Arsenal, which was only Carrick’s second game in charge. His return will add a layer of depth to the left side, ideally in a similar vein of form as January.
Martinez missed five games, but has been injured for around eight weeks. In any other ‘normal’ season, he would have missed a crucial part of the run-in. His return is a big boost, since Harry Maguire is suspended after being sent off against Bournemouth.
Carrick’s team are freshly positioned to finish the season strongly. Moreover, it will make his case for the permanent manager role even stronger.
