Man Utd will play against schoolchildren in Perth Glory friendly in pre-season prep

Manchester United is preparing to face a Perth Glory team featuring school kids as they begin their pre-season tour here in Australia today.

Tony Popovic plans to include his two sons, Kristian, 17, and Gabriel, 15, in the team with Joshua Rawlins, 15.

The news was released Friday, according to local media. Perth does not count six of his best players.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has submitted his players to grueling double workout sessions with the aim of improving their physical condition and creating the energetic football that he intends to set up. next season.

But he might not get the job he was looking for against Perth.

"You want the kit," he said. "The training is good and we play at 11, but as soon as you have your equipment, you play with your teammates and against someone else. It's different.

"That's when we can see if the work we have done will take a little while or if they have already understood it."

United plays in Leeds here Wednesday before flying to Singapore and Shanghai for matches against Inter Milan and Tottenham.

Solskjaer is confident that his players will benefit from his intense training regimen after their alarming collapse at the end of last season, which has allowed them to win one of their last nine games.

"It's a pre-season issue and that's it," he said on the United website.

"They should feel tired, they should feel they are getting something out of it. We build fitness, robustness, mental toughness and that has been very encouraging. They were great.

"Of course, we've also been working on two new tactical approaches and ways that we think could be useful this year.

"You want to get everyone going and you want to get there without wasting your time and losing three or four days.

"I was part of it myself when the pre-seasons are stopped and started, you do not make your pace. But the season is long and if you have these six weeks, then the league starts and there are still three or four weeks where we only have one game a week, so we can also do a good job. Then, let's see.

"I'm sure when the league starts, we'll be ready, fit and fit enough."