Manchester United’s underachieving stars have spent some time alongside Argentine legend Diego Maradona – and hopefully picked up some tips along the way.
Having endured a horrendous campaign, David Moyes decided to take his players to the United Arab Emirates in the hope that the warm weather would provide an antidote.
While at the Dubai training camp they were paid a visit by the star of the 1986 World Cup.
Maradona is widely regarded of one of the world’s greatest ever players, but also gained notoriety for his ‘hand of god’ goal in Mexico ’86 and testing positive for illicit narcotics eight years later.
The 53-year-old, who had a spell managing in UAE with Al Wasl, was pictured with several United players, including star striker Robin van Persie and new signing Juan Mata.
Several of the players took to Twitter to pay their respects to Maradona, with Van Persie posting that it was ‘so great to meet my hero again the best ever Diego’.
United’s Spanish contingent, Mata and David De Gea, described Maradona as having ‘the best left foot ever’ and being ‘the best number 10’, respectively.
Mata, who arrived at Old Trafford from Chelsea for £37.1 million in January, used his online blog to highlight the importance of the break with regard to building camaraderie with his new teammates.
“Following our game against Arsenal, since we didn’t have any fixtures scheduled on the weekend, the club thought a few days of work far from Manchester would be good for us, in order to recharge our batteries with a view to the final stage of the season” he wrote.
“This kind of break always helps to make the group even stronger and to switch off a bit from the different competitions and the tight schedule.
“Personally, these days are good for me to settle even more in the team and share these moments with my team-mates. And also, obviously, to train hard and get used to the new working patterns after just three weeks in the club.”
Mata also spoke of how the demands of being abroad were balanced with being able to enjoy some leisure time.
“These are long days, with training sessions and events with sponsors – we spend a lot of time together but there is free time too, so I can discover this country and its culture,” said the 25-year-old.
“It’s true the weather here is great and every day has been sunny.”
But while the United players are currently sunning themselves, they are aware of having to retain their focus upon returning to England.
“Our last game was a draw at the Emirates against Arsenal,” said Mata. “It’s not a bad result, but the truth is we had chances to win and that is what we need. That’s what we are working for, now that the end of the season is approaching.”
Picture courtesy of Slaff via Flickr, with thanks
