Manchester United players and staff pose with the helpful staff at the WACA cricket ground in Perth, Australia

Thank you Perth, it's been perfect!

Thursday 18 July 2019 08:19

Manchester United completed a final training session in Perth, Australia on Thursday morning before boarding a flight to Singapore for the Asian leg of Tour 2019.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were back at the WACA for a session designed to aid recovery after the previous evening's 4-0 win over Leeds United. The Reds produced a confident performance at Optus Stadium to brush aside the club’s old rivals from Yorkshire, with Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones and Anthony Martial scoring the goals.

The manager gave playing time to 23 members of his travelling squad against Marcelo Bielsa's Championship side, just like he did versus Perth Glory last weekend, by once again changing the entire team at half-time and then bringing on James Garner as a further substitute during the latter stages of the second half.
As a result, Thursday's workout was only a very light one for the players who faced Leeds with plenty of stretching, a little jogging and some gym work. Garner joined match absentee Luke Shaw and unused sub Axel Tuanzebe in completing the most energetic workouts as they trained away from the main group, completing drills with coaches Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick.

Only two of the squad’s four goalkeepers, Sergio Romero and Joel Pereira, participated, due to David De Gea feeling unwell and Lee Grant nursing a slight injury.

A DIFFERENT BALL GAME

Throughout a fruitful 11-day stay in Perth, the Reds' training sessions have all been based at the home of Western Australian cricket, the WACA. 

Although Solskjaer admitted his knowledge of the sport is limited, as it is not popular in Norway, the manager could not resist the temptation to test his ability with a bat on Thursday morning. After watching the technically impressive Carrick at the crease, as well as goalkeeping coach Emilio Alvarez, Ole stepped up and stared down a fast bowl… only to be caught out for a duck!

The United squad and staff expressed gratitude and said goodbye to the friendly and helpful staff at the WACA by posing for the above group photo, while some of our passionate fans in Perth seized the opportunity for a final selfie or signature by waving the players off from the hotel that has been our home since 8 July.

NEXT UP FOR UNITED

Solskjaer’s men will arrive in Singapore early this Thursday evening local time, ahead of another beneficial training session on Friday.

The Reds are set to have three more players in the group in Asia - defender Matteo Darmian, midfielder Fred and young goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

Serie A club Internazionale provide the opposition on Saturday (12:30 BST) at the Singapore National Stadium, and as with all our pre-season games, it will be shown live on MUTV.

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