The Dutch fitness specialist Raymond Verheijen has criticised the training methods of David Moyes, who claimed to have "overtrained" Robin van Persie "to build up his fitness". Though Moyes may simply have meant that Van Persie had been worked hard in Manchester United training sessions, Verheijen, who has been employed with Wales, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City, was unhappy.

Through his Twitter account, he observed that Van Persie had been withdrawn with muscle tightness in his thigh during United's friendly in Japan, inferring it to be a consequence of the fitness work he had done in the preceding days.

"The only way to solve this problem in Jurassic Park is to improve education of these dinosaur coaches, fitness clowns & scientific cowboys," he wrote. "All over the world in preseason you see the pattern overtraining-fatigue-injuries'. Always avoid accumulation of fatigue in pre-season."

And Verheijen was dubious as to football's ability to align with his recommendations. "As long as most dinosaurs are still in denial and ignore how things develop in other countries, nothing will ever change," he said. "Obviously, players like RVP should learn to protect themselves better against 'overtraining'."

However, Van Persie is expected to be fit for United's game against Cerezo Osaka. "It was just a precaution," explained Moyes in his pre-match press conference on Thursday. "I expect he will play tomorrow."