Manchester United are entering a potentially decisive week in their increasingly desperate bid for Champions League qualification amid yet another injury crisis.
Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof will be sidelined for at least a month with muscle problems and will miss Thursday’s trip to Chelsea and the visit of Premier League leaders Liverpool as well as fellow defenders Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia three days later.
Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans have returned to training after their own injury problems, but manager Erik ten Hag must decide whether to risk the pair.
Premier Injuries – According to the Sports Injury Insights website, United have suffered 30 separate injuries this season which have resulted in a player missing at least one fixture in the Premier League. Only Newcastle (32) have a worse injury record this season.
United have suffered an average of 8.5 injuries every 1,000 minutes across all competitions this season, losing a total of 1,136 days due to injury until the last international break.
Telegraph Sport investigates some of the factors behind the injury nightmares that triggered an internal investigation in the autumn.
training loads
Some United players have expressed concerns about the volume of high-intensity training sessions between matches, and have privately voiced concerns that this approach could contribute to the team’s injury problems this season. These doubts date back to the summer, when Christian Eriksen complained that he had “probably been moved around too much” on the club’s pre-season tour of the US. United’s summer tour included matches in Norway, Edinburgh, New Jersey, San Diego, Houston, Las Vegas and Dublin. However, Ten Hag denied allegations that the team was overworked. “We need to be fit [but] “We don’t train very much,” he said. The Dutchman also insisted United are barely training at the moment given the emphasis on recovery between matches. “We don’t train because we’re recovering, then we move on to the next game,” he said.
No fitness trainer
Ten Hag wanted to bring Ajax fitness coach Alessandro Schoenmaker to Old Trafford with him, but the Brazilian player remained at the Eredivisie club. Ten Hag argued at a quiz on the subject on Wednesday that the absence of a specialist fitness trainer was a problem. “We have good departments, we have good people with a lot of knowledge,” he said. “We make our decisions based on data.” However, United are one of very few top-flight clubs not to employ a fitness coach and this could change under Ineos, with performance and physiological conditions being one of the areas examined by Sir Dave Brailsford, who backed the appointment of a performance director. .
Internal injury examination
United’s director of football, John Murtough, confirmed in October that the club had launched an investigation into injury issues as part of a wider review of the medical regulation led by Gary O’Driscoll, who took over as head of sports medicine. September after 14 years at Arsenal. United’s long-serving chief physiotherapist Robin Sadler left in January as part of the change. Ten Hag said the review revealed some answers, but he would not disclose them. “We have an idea, we will work on it,” he said. “We’ll handle this inside.” However, Ten Hag admitted that he cannot be sure that everything will be better next season. “You can’t avoid it 100 percent,” he added. “This is impossible.”
tight calendar
United have played just 13 matches over 91 days in 2024; That’s eight fewer games than the same period last year, when they endured a 62-game marathon – but injuries continue to mount. But Ten Hag says this is a result of the accumulation of matches and fatigue leading up to the World Cup in Qatar in the middle of last season. “The sheer number of games we have played in the last 18 months still has an impact on our squad,” he said. Ten Hag believes it is the duty of those in power in the game to rethink the increasingly chaotic schedule. “Absolutely,” he said. “The players are overloaded and can no longer perform. We’re already at the point where we demand what we want from our best players. “If you continue this process by overloading international competitions, the teams’ levels will continue to decrease.”
More ‘solid’ players needed
Captain Bruno Fernandes started all 29 of United’s Premier League matches and Diogo Dalot played in 26 league matches. But United’s squad is littered with players who fail to meet the demands of top-flight football every few days. Recruiting players with the physical and mental attributes to handle such a workload will be a pressing issue for Ineos. “You need very strong players, that’s the requirement,” Ten Hag said. “I think we have more players like Bruno who are very strong but yeah, that’s the kind of player you need.”
international issues
United had 13 players on international duty in March and Ten Hag believes the international calendar is becoming an increasing issue, particularly with countries ignoring clubs’ suggestions on player workload. Casemiro suffered an ankle injury in Brazil’s draw with Venezuela in October but was declared healthy enough to play the full 90 minutes in the defeat against Uruguay four days later, but was later ruled out of United’s next two league matches against Sheffield United and Manchester City. missed. “We have national teams five times a year,” Ten Hag said. “You give players away and you have no impact [on them]. OK, we have a very good connection with some national teams [with] We manage the programs, but there are also people who do what they want. “You have nothing on what they were doing there.”