Manchester United icon Jaap Stam has revealed how Paul Scholes scolded Steve McClaren when he arrived as a coach at the club for trying to introduce stretching to the players.
The former defender has been speaking on the Cor Potcast about his career, which included a discussion about fitness training and conditioning.
The Dutchman enjoyed a long, varied career that saw him play for the likes of Cambuur, Willem II, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Lazio.
He was considered one of the greatest defenders of his generation thanks to his time at Manchester United, whom he joined in 1998 for £10.6m, a world record fee for a defender at the time.
He won three consecutive Premier League titles, the FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and the intercontinental cup with the Red Devils, as well as being voted the best defender in Europe on two separate occasions.
Like most of the Manchester United players at the time he was an established star, to say the least, playing for one of the biggest teams in the world and competing at the highest level.
They knew what they were doing, to say the least, and it seems that meant when the idea of change was introduced by a new coach, it was not welcomed with open arms.
“The physical, I didn’t start to grow until I came to the first of DOS Kampen,” he said.
“My legs got bigger and then my upper body. I don’t know how that happened. And when I got into football in paid football, that was how it was. I never did strength training. At Zwolle, at Cambuur perhaps once, at Willem II not and we have never done strength training at PSV.”
“At Manchester United, there was nothing at all. Steve McClaren arrived with stretches and was completely rocked by Paul Scholes.
“Stretching? “Stretching”? We also performed without you and your stretching, huh, McClaren was told.”
