Manchester United: Sir Alex Ferguson Takes Red Devils on Country Relaxation Trip

Late breaking developments today in the science of player motivation.

It seems that Sir Alex Ferguson has taken his team on a short holiday to ease some of their growing title-race tension.

And, well, this isn't the first time. Not even this month.

From the Daily Mail:

"

Sir Alex Ferguson will take his players to Cardiff on Thursday to escape the pressure building up around their Barclays Premier League showdown with Manchester City.

Ferguson has not told his squad yet but they are set to leave early in the morning for a two-day stay at the Vale Resort, a golf and spa retreat in the Vale of Glamorgan.

"

Heh. They didn't know yet? Well, it's Thursday now, so I'm guessing they know.

If you don't know where the Vale of Glamorgan is (or, if you're like me and the name made you think of Game of Thrones), here's the Wikipedia entry.

From what I can tell, it's a bunch of farm land in southern Wales. So, in that case, some farmers had better hide their daughters from Ryan Giggs.

Kidding aside, it turns out Ferguson already did something just like this—and it was earlier this month.

"

Ferguson organised a similar break at St Andrews before United's last Monday night game against Blackburn at the start of this month.

The Old Trafford boss felt some of his younger players were feeling the pressure and was delighted with the outcome as United won 2-0 at Ewood Park to go five points clear at the top.

Ferguson said: 'The little trip to St Andrews was fantastic. The players loved it. It helped with the unity of the players. When players stay together, they become a team very easily.”

"

Is the title race really stressing out United's players that much? I thought they were the experienced group in this situation?

I guess we'll find out Monday.

Follow @MikeCummings37