Solskjaer Reveals Man United Using Cristiano Ronaldo Blueprint On Two Rising Stars

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been strengthening two Manchester United rising stars the same way as Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester United is once again stacked with a host of young talents. However, Solskjaer is well aware that natural talent is never enough, especially when the competition reaches the highest level.

With that in mind, the Manchester United boss has decided to work on Donny Van de Beek and Mason Greenwood’s physical conditioning.

While some may think that it is just normal for young players to bulk up, Solskjaer has kicked up a notch by applying Ronaldo’s previous workout approach on the pair’s physical development training.

"I think it’s a combination of many things," Solskjaer told Manchester Evening News of his players' physical developments. "With Donny [Van de Beek], he’s had a summer away, he was injured and had his own fitness regime and fitness program. I think he felt [English] Premier League is different and he needs to build up that physical strength and he’s looking good. [He] Still not lost his endurance and movement, so that’s very good.”

"Mason [Greenwood] is a combination of age because he is just filling out, he’s still a young boy,” he continued. “The common denominator is the work they do with the fitness staff here. I’ve got some unbelievable staff. We’ve done it with so many players. Cristiano [Ronaldo] was one of the prime examples of how you come in as a kid and get this physical development with the quality of staff that I’ve got and it’s imperative in the Premier League you do have that robustness.”

It is widely known in the sport that Ronaldo is one of the most hardworking players there is.

At 36 years old, the Portuguese has shown little to almost zero signs of aging inside the pitch, and his physique certainly does as well.

Apart from eyeing to see similar results to Ronaldo’s blueprint in physical training, Solskjaer also emphasized the need to maintain “discipline” and a winning mentality.

"We need that to be able to challenge at the top, we can’t be too nice,” the manager stressed. “We can’t have [an] ‘oh it’s another game next week’, it’s every game and every single training it matters. If you want to be successful that’s the discipline you need and hopefully, and it looks like it.

"If we want to win, we all need that discipline and that hunger, and the fear of losing, you have to have that edge of being afraid of failure,” he added. “Fear of failure is a good feeling to have."