Jonny Evans has described the transition from playing to coaching as natural and educational, during an exclusive interview out in the Republic of Ireland.
Evans retired from football last summer, after a glittering career that saw him win all three major domestic trophies on multiple occasions, plus the UEFA Champions League.
The former defender soon returned to the club, overseeing loans for young players, before joining the backroom staff, initially under caretaker Darren Fletcher.
He’s now part of Michael Carrick’s team, alongside Steve Holland, Jonathan Woodgate and Travis Binnion, and is enjoying every moment so far.
“It’s been really good,”
he began.
“Obviously I’ve known Michael a long time, and it’s been really easy to come in with Steve and Woody and Trav, [who has] obviously worked with the Under-21s.
“The club’s like my home almost, so day to day just feels natural for me. On the coaching side of it, I just feel like I’m learning every day.
“Your mind’s thinking in different ways. I’ve really enjoyed it and hopefully I can continue that on and learn more towards the end of the season.”
The Northern Irishman has gone from featuring in a backline alongside the likes of Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw to overseeing sessions involving the long-serving pair.
Evans admits that took a little bit of time to get used to initially.
“The first couple of days felt a little bit strange, I can’t lie,”
he added.
“I’ve got for example big Harry, he’s my centre-back partner and I’ve played with him for two different clubs, and all of a sudden that’s flipped now and I’m now coaching him.
“We would have talked about the game in the past and I suppose you can still make it a bit of a conversation and a discussion, but there’s lads like Shawy and that.
“He was 19 when he signed here the first time and I was already playing in the first team, so little dynamics like that.
“Obviously now I’m trying to put sessions on for them, so it probably took me a week or two to adjust but after that you just feel it flowing.”
Evans went on to explain how he and his fellow coaches have been designing the sessions to meet the demands of the schedule.
The squad came back together this week following the internationals, but with seven days still to work before the meeting with Leeds United at Old Trafford.
That will be our first match in 24 days, and Jonny has no doubt that the best preparations have gone in before we make the last push this season.
“We probably feel similar to fans in a way. Everyone loves that stimulus of a matchday and how the adrenaline gets up, so when you haven’t got that for a while, it can be quite difficult to keep the training going and keep the ideas flowing.
“Especially for the players, keeping their minds active, but that’s why I said before we gave them a few days off after internationals and then hopefully now we’ve got a little run, almost looking towards the end of the season.
“We’ve got little blocks of games and you can break it down into two and three games at a time, leading up to the end of the season.”