The winning team in training.

The story behind the 'winning team' posts

Saturday 15 January 2022 07:00

We've all seen the pics as they have become a regular feature this season - the players' 'winning team' photographs on social media.

There is clearly a lot of pride at stake and it does not take a creative mind to imagine how competitive the matches and tournaments must be, behind the scenes at Carrington.

Indeed, Nemanja Matic goaded Cristiano Ronaldo over one of the outcomes just before Christmas and there has been a lot of light-hearted toing and froing between the squad on the social channels over the course of the campaign.

Matic also told us his team-mates refer to him as 'The Wolf' because, in his own words, he always finds a way to be on the winning side in the training sessions.

However, our official Twitter account @ManUtd has spotted Amad is gaining quite the reputation for being on the team that comes out on top of late.

The young Ivorian clearly revelled in this week's triumph, with Matic one of his colleagues in the line-up he published on Instagram.

But what is the background to this competitive environment, which is great preparation for the action the Reds face at home and abroad over the course of the season?

Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has lifted the lid on the sessions and provided unique insight to them during an exclusive interview with MUTV's Mark Sullivan on Friday afternoon.

"I mean, yesterday, we played 7v7 in a tournament with three teams," explained Rangnick. "The other week, we did the same with 5v5 so we do that, depending on the number of players that are available.

"I’m a big fan of doing that once per week, those kind of competitions, because the players need to perform on a high level. The workload is good and you can see nobody can hide if you play 7v7 or 5v5. Everyone has to show up. If he doesn’t do that, it becomes obvious for the head coach and the team members."

So there you have it. Nowhere to hide and, it would seem, no escaping the celebrations of those on the successful side!

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