Man United's genius training and testing detail shows they are one step ahead

Manchester United have a number of principles in place that have helped them become the most successful club in the Premier League.

But one of the lesser known elements of their way of doing things involves focusing on improving their players' eyes and some fascinating detail has been shared on just why they do it.

Vision is of course very important in football, allowing you to find your teammates with ease by spotting passes and seeing things that others simply do not see.

Some, like Lionel Messi, appear to have eyes on their back of their head and have never needed to train their peripheral awareness.

But not every player is as naturally gifted as the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner and so United place a focus on training eyes.

“[It’s] very important, you’ve got to have good eyesight, obviously,” seven-time Premier League winner and legendary full-back Denis Irwin told The Mirror on the subject.

“We had different things on the board - reaction, fake tests.”

Bryan Robson, United's longest-serving captain, concurred with his former teammate and believes the emphasis results in improvement.

He said: "They can control your eyes, and when I say that I mean give you an exercise to improve your vision. How good is your vision straight ahead or to the right?

“They can tell if your vision is stronger on one side or the other. They can help the weaker side and make you a better player.”

And there is also the case of Wes Brown, who was not lacking physically when he came through the ranks at United.

However, he was made to do exercises to improve his vision when looking to his right.

Image: Alamy

“I was 18 and thought my eyesight was brilliant until I started taking tests,” Brown revealed.

“Where I played right-back, we realised that anything to the left was impeccable but looking to my right, where I never looked, wasn’t good at all. Doing exercises to help that shows there’s always ways you can improve.”

All three ex players are United ambassadors and with the way they are talking, it makes sense that United have an official vision partner in Maui Jim, who supply the first team, academy and women’s teams with glasses from their sun and optical ranges.

Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Erik Ten Hag, Sir Alex Ferguson

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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