Breaking news: Ralf Rangnick explains what he did to prepare Manchester United players while training ground was closed, he also reveals players that made it to his squad to face Newcastle

 Ralf Rangnick used Manchester United's

 training ground closure to prepare video 

footage for the players as the team strives

 for a clear identity.

United closed their Carrighton training 

complex last Thursday for five days following

 an outbreak of Covid-19 in the first-team 

squad and the majority of the players did 

not return until Tuesday.

Due to United not playing on Boxing Day 

this year, they have still had six days to prepare

 for tonight's premier League fixture at 

Newcastle in what will be United's first 

game in 16 days.

Rangnick is a major advocate of video analysis

 and United recruited Ewan Sharp as a coach 

and analyst last week. Rangnick is temporarily

 residing at The Lowry Hotel, as are Sharp,

 assistant coach Chris Armas and sports 

psychologist Sascha Lense, and the quartet

 have had had ample time to strategise for 

United's forthcoming fixtures.

"I spoke with most of the players who were

 either in isolation or positively tested, so 

I spoke with 16 or 17 players individually 

over the phone to hear how they are and how

 they were feeling," Rangnick said.

"But we did a lot of work in between together

 with my coaching staff, preparing video footage

, and we have started to show this video 

footage to them from Tuesday, yesterday 

(Wednesday) and also today.

"We'll follow up on that tomorrow and 

on Sunday because it’s important that they 

really know what it’s about, how we should

 play, how to find the best possible balance

 of playing offensively and make use of 

the offensive players we have, but at the 

same time being able to defend and make 

sure that we get further clean sheets in the future.

"Physically they look good, they had a very

 intense training session yesterday. The energy

 level was high, all the players were fully 

engaged and everybody was on board. It 

was a very intense training session, so I'm 

not worried about the physical state the team

 is in, they seem to be extremely fit.

"But it’s also important for each game to 

have all the players not only available but 

in the best possible physical state. It could 

also happen that we rotate from one game 

to the next, especially when you play every

 three days.

"But right now everyone is available 

apart from Paul Pogba. It will not be so easy

 to decide not only on the first XI but also 

the eight (outfield) players on the bench."