Manchester United stars no longer stay in team hotel before matches as Jose Mourinho changes pre-match routine for home matches
Mourinho tells players they can stay at home instead of meeting day before Old Trafford matches in show of faith in his squad
MANCHESTER UNITED boss Jose Mourinho has shown his trust in his players by telling them they no longer have to stay in the team hotel the night before a home match.
The United squad have been spending the night before a game at the Lowry Hotel, Salford, ever since Sir Alex Ferguson introduced the routine.
But Mourinho has decided to shake up the preparations before Old Trafford matches in an effort to help performances on the pitch.
And one of his new ideas is to let his players spend the night before each game at their own homes rather than locked away in a hotel.
The thinking behind the change is the players should be more settled and relaxed staying in their usual surroundings than they will be if the sleep in a hotel.
On game day they have to report at the Lowry for a pre-match meal and team briefing, before making the journey to Old Trafford together on the coach.
United tried the new routine for the first time when they took on West Ham on the opening day of the season, which saw them win 4-0.
And they will again operate the policy this weekend as Leicester visit when United will look to make it three wins out of three to begin their season.
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According to the Mail, the club will monitor the success of the new programme to ensure no players break strict rules on how they prepare for the matches.
But it is another example of how Mourinho is gradually stamping his own authority on the way United as a club is run in his second season in the job.
When he arrived at Old Trafford he inherited a squad used to the ultra-strict regime of Louis van Gaal which many felt stifled the players.
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Van Gaal insisted on his players all staying together the night before matches, when each evening he would take the squad through a series of meetings.
The players would then have to report for a supper club before being ordered to bed at 10.30pm.
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