Ralf Rangnick has sent his Manchester United squad back to school with homework – in a bid to salvage their season and clinch a top-four place.
Interim United boss Rangnick is renowned for his analytical approach and meticulous attention to detail, leaving nothing to chance to bring out the best in his teams.
The German places a heavy emphasis on video analysis and is sending United's players home from training with emails showing footage of their performances from games, for them to study.
Rangnick and his coaching staff have tailored the footage for every individual United player, with advice and pointers on where they can improve their performance level, based on the clips.
United's players have already had to adapt to Rangnick's preference to switch training sessions from their traditional morning slot to the afternoon, a change that was met with some resistance.
Now the extra workload is said to be causing dismay among some United players, who feel the video analysis homework – which can take up to two hours – is interfering with their home life.
A United source said: "This involves hours and hours of video footage to watch as homework.
"It's based on their own performances, but includes advice on how to improve.
“Some of the players have accepted it, but others are less than impressed."
Rangnick's homework move echoes the approach of former United boss Louis van Gaal, who used to send players individual emails detailing their mistakes, with video clips to show the errors.
United's players were so enraged by van Gaal's critical emails, they started deleting them as soon as they landed in their inboxes.
Van Gaal suspected that was the case so had a tracker installed, which allowed him to check if the emails were opened and, if so, for how long.
