MY ACCOUNT
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea says “every moment” working under Ralf Rangnick has been intense since the German’s arrival at Old Trafford.
Rangnick was appointed as interim manager last month following the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the wake of United’s 4-1 Premier League defeat to Watford.
The impact of coronavirus on the Red Devils’ schedule means they have played just three games under the former Schalke and RB Leipzig boss: consecutive 1-0 league wins over Crystal Palace and Norwich City, and a 1-1 Champions League draw with Young Boys.
United have recovered the majority of the first-team group following a spike in COVID-19 cases that forced the club to close the training ground last week, with all but the injured Paul Pogba now likely to be available for Monday’s trip to Newcastle United.
De Gea is delighted to have United largely at full strength once more and hopes the demanding nature of their training sessions will start to have a greater impact in matches.
“It’s great. It’s good to have the whole team back to train properly altogether and then, of course, see they are all safe,” he told United media.
“They are back, they are all training, they are fine, so it’s great to be together again.
“We’ve been training hard, of course. It’s very intense, every training session, every moment with him [Rangnick] is intense.
“You have to give 100 per cent every time in training and in the games. Let’s see. It’s just the beginning, it’s been a couple of weeks, so let’s see in the future.
“The team is training with energy, with pace, and now we have to show that in big games.”
United are on a four-match winning run against Newcastle in the top flight, their best such streak since a run of five between 2004 and 2006, but they have lost on two of their four most recent visits to St James’ Park.
The struggling Magpies were beaten 4-1 in the reverse fixture in September, when Cristiano Ronaldo marked his return to the club with two goals at Old Trafford.
Should Rangnick’s men score on Monday, it will mean Newcastle will set a new record for goals conceded by a team in a calendar year in the Premier League: they have let in 79 goals in 2021, the same figure as Ipswich Town back in 1994.
