A report has detailed how Mauricio Pochettino plans to whip the work-shy Manchester United players into shape, and one star in particular is in for a rude awakening.

Man Utd sacked Michael Carrick on Thursday morning, with 54-year-old Pochettino lined up as his successor. An agreement with the Argentine has already been sealed and United will now activate his $10m release clause with US Soccer.

Pochettino is expected to remain in charge for both of the USA’s two matches with Haiti in the international break.

As such, he’ll have minimal time to prep his squad for United’s first match back – a daunting trip to Anfield.

But once Pochettino is settled in at Old Trafford, the latest from The Sun claims he’ll quickly set about raising fitness levels within the squad.

Man Utd feature towards the very bottom of the running stats this term, though in Pochettino, the players will have a manager known for working his squad extremely hard in the stamina department.

The Sun stated: ‘Poch is known for his belief in working his players extremely hard, both in pre-season and during the campaign, to ensure they are in peak physical condition.’

They added: ‘Pochettino’s relentless methods – which include the knackering ‘Gacon test’ – could have quite the impact on the current United squad, given their apparent lack of running under Carrick during pre-season.’

The Gacon test is, as the Sun termed it, ‘an intermittent shuttle run that is painfully familiar to any Spurs player who worked under Poch.

‘The task involves running a distance which increases with every stage, but the time to complete each stage stays the same at 45 seconds.

‘To complete the whole distance means running a total 5,000metres in 25 stages – but few players manage to make it that far.’

Youri Tielemans in for rude awakening

One player in for a rude awakening, per the report, is summer signing Youri Tielemans.

The Belgian can never be accused of being the most athletic member of the squad, and when speaking to Rio Ferdinand during pre-season, he hinted Carrick had given his players an easy ride with regards to putting in the hard yards.

That was much to Tielemans’ delight, with the grinning midfielder stating: “No. When you come back from the World Cup, you don’t do lots of running. Just chill.”

A visibly shocked Ferdinand simply replied: “What?”

The Sun concluded: ‘Tielemans has been one of a number of leggy United players who has failed to impress this term as the team plunged towards the relegation zone, winning just one of their opening ten league games.

‘So it would be understandable if Pochettino, should he take charge, will be putting his newly-acquired, undercooked squad through their paces with routines he has favoured throughout his managerial career.’