Manchester United to make moves to protect players’ mental health if lockdown continues as club doctor reveals stars have suffered unusual injuries including cooking related issues… and one squad member was even bitten by his dog!
- Manchester United are prepared to take steps to protect players’ mental health
- Club will give players access to resources to help them mentally if required
- Some United players were injured while cooking and one was bitten by his dog
- United have begun looking at ways to social distance players if training resumes
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Manchester United will take steps to protect the mental health of their players if the coronavirus lockdown threatens to keep them in isolation for too long.
Club doctor Steve McNally has revealed that United are monitoring the mental impact on their players of being forced to stay at home for the last month, and are ready to take further action if the team cannot return to full training soon.
‘If things go as we hope and we get back to some sort of group training in the next month or two then that will be a positive thing, but the longer it goes on we may have to be a bit more proactive on the mental side,’ said Dr McNally.
Manchester United are prepared to take steps to protect the mental health of their players
‘We thought about this as we knew we were going to be in lockdown and put together a package for them to give them a number of resources to tap into if they wanted.
‘We don’t want them to feel that they should be having mental health issues, but we’re very vigilant as a staff generally. We have a look out for one or two lads depending on our gut feeling and knowledge of them as individuals. It’s an important thing.
‘Training every day is very competitive and they will be missing that, the daily banter and the positivity. I know they will be doing it in their WhatsApp groups, but it’s not the same.
Club doctor Steve McNally says players will have access to different resources if required
‘There will be different circumstances. There will be some boys with distractions around them but some with a lot of time to kill.’
United’s coaching staff have already begun looking at ways of social distancing the players in smaller groups at Carrington if the squad is allowed to return to training under certain restrictions.
Currently, the players are following individual training programmes at home and can choose their own hampers of food to be delivered, although they are subject to a weigh-in every Friday morning.
United have started to looking at ways to social distance players if training gets back underway
Team nutritionists have also been advising some of the players on how to cook for themselves at home, and McNally revealed that it has already resulted in a couple of injuries – while another player sought medical advice after being bitten by his dog.
‘The nutritionist got the boys on an Instagram page looking at cooking lessons,’ he added. ‘A lot of them have started to develop a new skill and one or two got injured in the process.
‘Fortunately most of the boys have been well. We’re not getting injuries although there have been a few unusual complaints because they have tried their hand at cooking or have been bitten by the dog. That type of thing, it’s just a different focus.’
