Manchester United might want to send a fruit basket, a box of chocolates or a gift of some sort to Coventry City. The West Midlands based club upset Stoke City 2-1 in the third round of the FA Cup, and with it, gave Man United more time off. Now the Red Devils will face Stoke on Jan 15th, a week from Monday, instead of having the Premier League fixture moved up.
Had United drawn against Derby County (Man United won 2-0) or Coventry-Stoke ended in a draw, the Red Devils-Potters clash could have been held Saturday instead.
Now Man United will use the well deserved extended time off to do some warm weather training. The team will now head to Dubai and hold their training sessions there, escaping the cold clutches of winter brutality. It’s also a chance for Man United forwards Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford to obtain a couple more stamps in their passports, having just gone on a weekend holiday to Paris.
After the FA Cup win Friday night, United boss Jose Mourinho said: “If you have a replay, we don’t go to Dubai and everybody wants to go.
“Did you see the players celebrating the second goal? Everybody wants to have a week of good training, good facilities, sun. It still depends on Stoke’s result. If Stoke get a draw we don’t go to Dubai.”
Mourinho and Man United got exactly what they wanted- a chance to catch some rays, and increase natural intake of Vitamin D.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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