Despite being just 5 points behind current league leaders, Manchester City, Manchester United haven’t really impressed many with their performances this season. Indeed, the lack of intensity is bothering the self-proclaimed Portuguese manager, Jose Mourinho, as he called for his players to show more intensity while playing the matches.
And he may have a point; at least stats reveal so as the Red Devils rank the lowest among the 20 teams when it comes to the distance covered.
After about two weeks of international break, club football will be back again this weekend. United will restart their campaign in a much-awaited encounter against Liverpool, the team that ranks the highest in the same category.
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It is no surprise that Jurgen Klopp’s men have covered the most distance as the former Borussia Dortmund manager is renowned for his gung-ho all-guns-blazing heavy metal approach.
According to Sky Sports statistics, the Merseyside club have thus far, covered 814.8 kilometers in the Premier League. They are followed by Manchester City (803.9 km) and Tottenham Hotspurs (803.4 km) at second and third place, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Old Trafford club ranks the lowest as they have covered only 735.6 km so far this season.
It is not only bound to the distance covered as Jose Mourinho’s men are far behind their closest rivals when it comes to sprints made.
Predictably, the self-proclaimed ‘Group One’, Jurgen Klopp, leads the way here as well as his Liverpool players have, collectively, made 4165 sprints. These numbers are way ahead of second-placed Manchester City and third-placed Tottenham Hotspurs.
The former Bayern Munich boss’ City have made 4014 sprints while Mauricio Pochettino’s highly-motivated Spurs side have completed 3755 sprints.
These stats might not be of high importance, but it is a telling testament that Jose Mourinho’s men aren’t putting in the shift that is being asked of them by their controversial manager.
However, what remains to be seen is whether Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City can continue with the same intensity during the latter part of the season. We have often seen players burn out during the business end, resulting in late-season implosion.
By the looks of it, it seems as though the United players are treating the league more like a marathon; unlike Spurs, Liverpool and City players, who are running like it is a 100m sprint race.
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