Pre-season with Jesus Perez...
Assistant Head Coach Jesus Perez takes us closer to pre-season with his insight into preparations for the Premier League opener at Old Trafford on August 8.
TUESDAY, JULY 21
Saturday was a test against a Championship team in Reading , who really pressed us. It was a good game and the ideal way to finish the second week of pre-season.
Monday was the first opportunity to bring the all players together. We still have players in different processes, we adjust as we go, but we can now start to work all together as a squad. We are now in the final clear week of training and as a squad, we have to work hard in terms of volume, principles and intensity because in the next two weeks we start to travel and play pre-season matches against strong teams from the MLS and then the Audi Cup.
Below: Mauricio, Jesus and Toni Jimenez watch training on Monday
So this week we'll keep pushing fitness levels but always in specific situations, working on defensive and offensive principles. That is most important. This will be a tough week and we expect a good response from the players.
We have two sessions today (Tuesday) and we're focused on tactical principles in the morning and afternoon. It will be a tough day!