Harry Marra has explained the fundamentals required to achieve good performances for Manchester United.
English Premier League giants Manchester United have brought in the world-leading athletics coach Harry Marra to try and improve their on-field fortunes.
Marra, 78, last worked with Olympic champion decathlete Ashton Eaton. He has linked up with the new Red Devils coach Ruben Amorim who believes athleticism is crucial in football for quality performance.
The EPL has entered a crucial stage. Title fight is heating up, relegation battle is a looming for most teams and fight for Champions League places gets even tougher.
Marra, speaking on his expertise on YouTube channel Coaching The Standard, in a past episode, said fundamentals are the most important thing in any sport. He maintained that movement is part of the skill that must be incorporated and if it is not working then there supposedly be a problem.
“The most important thing a coach should focus on … are the fundamentals. Those are the things I try to stress. It all starts on the initial movement on the part of the skill. If it’s incorrect, then there’s a problem.”
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The Red Devils forced Arsenal into a post-match penalty shootout despite playing with 10 men for most of the game to secure a morale-boosting victory in the FA Cup third round.
United players do not cover a lot of ground during matches, contributing to their insipid performances this season.
Amorim expressed concerns over body-fat and conditioning levels of the struggling squad, after replacing Erik ten Hag as manager back in November. United have failed to replicate their form of yesteryears and their 11-year EPL title drought sums up the desperation to get the team up to speed.
Marra is expected to work with the United players for several weeks in a bid to address these issues. Eaton secured two Olympic gold medals in the decathlon at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games under Marra’s guidance and it is anticipated that he is the right man to get United hit peak condition.
In December, Amorim had stated, “Even with the best starting XI on the planet, without running, they will not win anything. It’s very clear. If you want to win the Premier League, you have to run like mad dogs. If not, we are not going to do it, that is clear.”
Manchester United are 12th on the log with 29 points-24 points adrift of leaders Liverpool. They take on Crystal Palace this weekend.
