Robin van Persie's pre-season injury niggle is down to 'dinosaur coaching' methods, says Dutch fitness expert
David Moyes’s pre-season handling of Robin van Persie has been called into question by a Dutch fitness specialist who has worked with several leading clubs and was assistant to the late Wales manager Gary Speed.
Van Persie was withdrawn at half-time during United’s friendly in Japan on Tuesday because he had experienced tightness in a thigh.
Moyes said the substitution was pre*cautionary and that he expected the striker to be fine, but the new Manchester United manager was still subjected to stinging criticism from Raymond Verheijen, who has worked with Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City among others and has a reputation for being outspoken.
Writing on his Twitter account, Verheijin noted that Moyes had previously said United had ‘overtrained’ Van Persie at the start of pre-season.
He wrote: “In Sydney Moyes said: ‘We’ve overtrained Robin this week to build up his fitness’. [In Japan] he picked up muscle injury. It really makes you wonder how these prehistoric training methods can still take place at the highest level.
"The only way to solve this problem in Jurassic Park is to improve education of these dinosaur coaches, fitness clowns & scientific cowboys.
"All over the world in pre-season you see the pattern ‘overtraining-fatigue-injuries’. Always avoid accumulation of fatigue in pre-season.
"But as long as most dinosaurs are still in denial & ignore how things develop in other countries, nothing will ever change in Jurassic Park. Obviously, players like RVP should learn to protect themselves better against ‘overtraining’ & ‘punishing training’.”
Moyes admits he will be forced to rely on Ryan Giggs to guide him through the early stages of United’s Champions League campaign after admitting he has much to learn about the competition.
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