What are the players doing on Christmas Day?

Saturday 25 December 2021 07:00

What is the Manchester United squad doing on Christmas Day?

It is a question that interim manager Ralf Rangnick revealed the answer to during his latest press conference with journalists on Thursday afternoon. 

Our German boss explained the players have been given time off to spend the festive holiday with their loved ones at home and they will reconvene for training at Carrington on Sunday. 

As you may know, it is extremely common for United squads to train on Christmas Day each year in preparation for the traditional Boxing Day fixtures, but this year is different. 

The Reds will not play on 26 December for the first time in 12 years, dating all the way back to a 3-1 win over Hull City in 2009. 

The only other time we haven't played on the festive date since the inception of the Premier League came in 1995, ironically against our imminent opponents Newcastle.
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A UNITED FAMILY CHRISTMAS

As a father of young children, Nemanja Matic is looking forward to spending the day at home with his family, as the influential midfielder explained to us at Carrington this week. 

“Yeah it's a time to be together,” he said. “Of course, finally to sit all together at the table, to have a nice lunch, it's special always, a special day for everyone, of course also for my family.”
While the players are indeed off, minds remain fixed on the festive fixture list and Matic cannot wait to get started, beginning with the trip to Newcastle on Monday night. 

“There are so many games but we are used to that,” said the Serbian. “I've been in England for almost eight years and it's a special period, to play football around Christmas. Not every country has that and we have to be ready for every single game. 

“After you finish your first game you have to think straight away about recovery and preparing for the next one. We are all professionals and I'm sure everybody is happy to be in this position where we can show our qualities every three days.”
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BRING ON THE FESTIVE FOOTBALL

As everybody knows, the Christmas schedule can often have a massive influence on your overall season with so many matches packed into a short amount of time. Marcus Rashford loves this time of year, predictably, and the Manchester lad is confident that we will be successful. 

“Yeah, I definitely enjoy this time of year. I think the way you start the season and the way you play, and the results you get around the Christmas period, are probably the two most important points [in the season]. So, if we have a good Christmas period now, then we can keep that momentum going and that will take you into the big games where the trophies are, come the end of the season.”

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