Jermaine Jenas names three former Man Utd players who set the standards in England training

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Jermaine Jenas has reflected on his England career when Manchester United players would set the highest of standards in training.

There was a time when Manchester United would have many players in the England squad. It led to famous stories about how they hardly interact with rival players while on duty, such as Steven Gerrard and John Terry.

Sir Alex Ferguson had his grievances with international football, but that didn’t stop United’s best players from representing their countries.

Those days are now gone. Marcus Rashford was the only United player, albeit on loan, to get selected in Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad. That means there are at least four United players at risk of missing out on the World Cup next year.

In previous years, United also had players who were under-appreciated in the England setup. They include Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick. There was also a time when the England fanbase turned on David Beckham, only for the United faithful to rally behind their young midfielder in the late 90s.

Jermaine Jenas admits Man Utd players set standards in England training

Former Premier League midfielder Jermaine Jenas had a career with the England national team that saw him earn 21 caps for his country between 2003 and 2009.

Jenas played under managers Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, which meant he played with many United players during that time.

Speaking on the Beast Mode Podcast, Jenas reflects on how Beckham, Scholes and even Phil Neville put on a show in England training.

Jenas explains that the other players wouldn’t take part due to fear they wouldn’t be able to match the standards shown between Beckham’s free-kicks and Scholes’ volleying.

“After training, he [David Beckham] might go and take 30 or 40 free-kicks from all different positions,” said Jenas.

“I remember one story when we was in South Africa. We were playing in Lucas Radebe’s testimonial and we’d finished training. Becks is taking free-kicks, Phil Neville is on the corner and he was floating these balls to Scholesy on the edge of the 18-yard box.

“So, the rhythm went like this… he’d float the ball, Scholesy would run onto it… volley, goal! Then Becks would be stood there by the free-kick and David James is in goal. It was just like one after the other and we all sat there watching it. They used to do things where like that standard is so high that even if you wanted to join in, you just wouldn’t. You were like, ‘that’s a different level…’

Jermaine Jenas record against Man Utd

Interestingly, Jenas has played against United and Arsenal more times (20) than he has faced any other opponent in his career.

Unlike Arsenal, however, Jenas never won a game against United.

Jenas lost 16 and drew four, scoring a total of three goals.

That means the standards set at United were rarely met when Jenas was on the pitch.