When Jonny Evans and Altay Bayindir were ruled out of the Liverpool clash due to injuries, it made 50 instances of a player missing a game this season due to injury.
In a season where Manchester United’s schedule has, in fact, been much lighter than usual, that’s a frightening figure.
It doesn’t reflect well on the medical staff, the players or the manager himself, whose handling of the returning players has come under scrutiny this season.
Erik ten Hag seems to have confirmed some of those fears in an interview with Astro SuperSport.
Ten Hag said that while they do work a lot to prevent injuries, the issues sometimes arise when “you push your player to the limits”.
He added that “they want to play games” and “like the challenges” and you “have to deal with it (the injuries)”.
Below are his comments in full:
Of course, we work to prevent it. But sometimes you just have to deal with injuries. And sometimes you push your players to the limits…and sometimes they get injured from it. And you have to deal with it. But of course, it’s not helpful. You have to use the injury situation and aim for better prevention, but at the end of the day…they want to play games. They like the challenges.
The comments confirm the suspicion that some of the injury issues could have been better managed with more care and thought.
Pushing the players to the limit and the player himself willing to go the extra mile is generally part and parcel of the game.
However, in some cases, the medical staff’s opinion and the long-term outlook should win over the player’s insistence on playing a game or the manager’s preference for having him available.
Luke Shaw is a good recent example where he was clearly rushed after suffering a hamstring issue and had to be subbed off at half-time in the next game after looking uncomfortable, only to be ruled out for nearly three months.
Common sense needs to prevail in such instances otherwise the ever-increasing number of matches will make it impossible for Ten Hag to ever have a first-choice team on the field for a sustained spell.
