Manchester United were considering a February trip to Qatar or Dubai, for some warm weather training, but now that’s definitely not going to happen. Amid the current tension between the United States and Iran, and the potential for the situation to dangerously escalate, the club scrapped the idea.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer cited concerns for the security and safety of his team.
“We were looking at Middle East but that is definitely not going to happen,” Solskjaer said at today’s news conference ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup third round replay against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“If there is one thing that worries me it’s not on the football pitch, there are other things that will worry me more than football.”
On the second and third day of 2020, “World War 3” was a top trending term on Twitter. “Death to America” was a top trending term on the final day of 2019. These key words and hash tags were in reference to altercations between Iran and the U.S. and the narrow avoidance of war between the two nations.
United are off for pretty much the entire first half of February, having earned a break as this month will see them play eight fixtures. United visited Dubai for training last January. Some of the players even made some animal friends during that trip.
The Norwegian said he will give his club some time off.
“I am going to give them a few days off. I don’t know where they will all scatter around but we will stay in Europe.”
“This mid-season break will be very important for everyone,” said Solskjaer.
The side will be looking to escape winter’s gloom and get some sunshine!
“We have five or six games until then and we are just going to stick at it and hang in there until then and get some Vitamin D and get ready for the last three months.”
Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers FA Cup 3rd Round Replay FYIs
MUFC starting XI prediction: go to this link
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Kickoff: Wed. Jan 15, Old Trafford 7:45pm
TV: BT Sport 1
Referee: Kevin Friend
Key Stat: Wolves have lost nine of their 10 previous FA Cup third round replays
United 2, Wolves 2 (United advances on penalties)
The Red Devils are winless in their last five against the Midlands club across all competitions, but it’s time for them to finally take the next stop and move forward to the next round.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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