Manchester United have been plagued by injury all season, but no position has suffered more than that of left back.

After an impressive first season under Erik ten Hag, it looked like Luke Shaw was back to his best and new recruit, Tyrell Malacia, proved to be reliable back up, with a couple of highly credible performances, most notably in the 2-1 home win over Liverpool.

With highly-rated Alvaro Carreras coming through the academy, United seemed they had one position sorted for the foreseeable future. Wrong.

It was announced before the pre-season tour of the United States began that Tyrell Malacia had picked up a knee injury that has been shrouded in mystery ever since. Despite numerous reports that the player was close to a return throughout the season, it was finally revealed that he will most likely play no part in the rest of the current campaign.

Furthermore, Luke Shaw has only been available for 15 matches this campaign after picking up a muscle injury in August which saw him miss 92 days and he was hurt again last month. The United coach also revealed that the player only has an “outside” chance of making the last games of the season.

Carreras has also been sent on loan, first to Granada and then to Benfica, where his playing time has been minimal so far.

Logically, the Red Devils are very concerned about this particular position and as a consequence, they have bumped the left back position up the priority list according to well-respected journalist Fabrizio Romano, as they aim to definitely buy one this summer.

The question is, should this new left back be a backup replacement for Malacia or should it be someone who can relegate Shaw to a support role?

In defence of the Englishman, he is incredibly important to how United play and when he is on form, United tend to do well.

The Athletic have already justified the 28 year old’s importance to the Old Trafford side by stating, “the England left-back is not only their best defender in wide areas, he is also vital to how Ten Hag’s team progress the ball between the two penalty boxes. Shaw’s left-footedness is essential to Ten Hag’s tactics and the Dutchman values the passing angles and defensive orientation this brings”.

Furthermore, the player has developed a strong on-pitch connection with Marcus Rashford and it is possible that one of the reasons behind the forward’s poor form this season could be to do with the little game time Shaw has had.

The two England stars clearly work well together on the left with Rashford often finding Shaw on overlap runs. Rashford has spoken of the relationship they have claiming, “it’s something we’ve had a lot of time to work on and grow into understanding each other’s game”.

However, the player is 28 years old and the unfortunate reality is he has never shaken his persistent injury problems. He is in his 10th season for the club but has only pulled on the red shirt 275 times. Compare this to Bruno Fernandes who is in his fifth season for the club but has already played 222 times for the Red Devils.

Whilst the England international did only miss 13 days due to injury last season, this is sadly the exception to the rule. He has already racked up 117 missed days in this campaign and missed 85 days in the 2021/22 season.

In fact, the player has not been available for selection a scarcely believable 1223 days since he signed for United. Whilst the data is skewed a little from his serious leg break in 2015, the player on average misses 122 days a season.

Add to this, when the former Southampton player does play, he is hardly a model of consistency. As mentioned previously, when he is on top form, he is fantastic and objectively one of the best full backs in the league. However, he often isn’t. And at 28 years old, it is hard to imagine this will ever change.

Therefore, INEOS must be ruthless and aim to bring in a left back who will take Shaw’s place as first choice. The Red Devils have been linked to high level options such as Miguel Gutiérrez at Girona and Alejandro Balde at Barcelona.

Both players are young, Gutierrez at 22 years old and Balde at 20, yet have sufficient top level experience to be considered viable first choice options.

Moreover, Shaw would offer incredible depth as a backup and could be a major help to the new left back’s settling in period. United’s very own Jonny Evans is an example of a player who has been injury-ridden in the recent past, but with playing less and managing game time, has been a very valuable signing for the Mancunian team.

It stands to reason that if Shaw is not made to put his body through so much, especially with the physical rigours of being a modern day fullback, he will be injured less. A Balde or Gutierrez playing 35 games a season and a well-rested Shaw filling in for 15-20 games sounds like an exciting prospect for United fans as a way to solve at least one hole in the team that every passing day seems to more resemble a colander.

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It has been a challenging week for Manchester United’s array of young loanees and the loan experience in general has not been easy for many.

Will Fish at Hibernian and Radek Vitek are the two exceptions of United academy products that have grabbed their chance, or even been given one to show off their talents after their loan move.

Hannibal Mejbri started the season with increased minutes and scored a thunderous strike against Brighton in September. However that has certainly been the highlight of his club career to date.

The Tunisian barely featured for United after October and was sent out on loan to Sevilla. Speaking on the move, the 21 year old was clearly excited about the opportunity, praising the Spanish side’s project.

However, after falling out with teammates and not impressing the coach in training, Hannibal has rarely got off the bench for the Andalusian side, playing a total of 37 minutes over three La Liga games.

This has led to it being reported that Sevilla have no interest in activating the buy option they have or United in keeping him beyond the summer.

Moreover, it seems unlikely that United will get good money for him anywhere, or be persuaded to make him an integral member of their own first team squad, after six months of bench warming at such a critical stage in his career.

Another season that started with early promise but has fizzled out of late has been that of Alvaro Carreras.

The Spaniard started really well on loan at Granada getting numerous minutes but once the autumn got into full swing, he fell down the pecking order and was swiftly moved onto Benfica in Portugal.

The Galician left back has once again struggled for minutes and whilst not playing too badly when given a chance, he has been limited to 201 minutes of action, largely off the bench.

The defender was once again an unused sub in Benfica’s last game at the weekend against Portimonense.

Joe Hugill is another case of a young United loanee going out to experience professional football, but barely getting a kick.

The 2022 Youth Cup winner’s start could hardly have gone better when he scored on debut for Burton off the bench and racked up an assist in his next game.

Lately however, the striker’s appearances have been limited to half an hour off the bench, where he has hardly been able to influence the game at all.

The Youth Cup winning captain, Rhys Bennett, has also only managed one game for Stockport and that was a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Tranmere.

An even more extreme case is the highly rated academy product, Dan Gore has only played one game for League One strugglers Port Vale. The midfielder was hooked off after 54 minutes in a 0-1 home loss to Portsmouth and has been missing in action since.

Finally, defensive midfielder, Maxi Oyedele, is another Carrington product that has been limited to brief cameos off the bench, making little to no impact in League Two for Forest Green.

Obviously, not everyone can have the success Amad Diallo had at Sunderland last season, where he won the PFA Fans Championship player of the year, where he scored 14 goals and provided four assists for the North-East side.

However, it is very worrying that very few of these highly-rated academy products can make any sort of impact at third and fourth division level.

Of course entering a new team is tough in January and especially in teams like Port Vale and Burton who are fighting for their lives in their respective divisions but it begs the questions, what is wrong with the club’s broken loan system.

The club rightly prides itself on its wonderful youth record, but that will only suffer if they cannot find a way to make loans more productive for the player and the club. Very few youngsters like Alejandro Garnacho or Kobbie Mainoo are good or lucky enough to break through right into the first team.

Of course some blame must lie with the players but arguably more must reside with the club, when time and time again players are sent on loan with little return for any of the interested parties.

Perhaps the club needs to rethink its approach and also reassess where they are sending their loan players to.

Stockport are fighting for promotion, so in the crucial spring months, may not want to rely on a 20 year old. As previously mentioned, Port Vale and Burton are fighting for their lives in the lower regions of their divisions. Forest Green also sit 23rd in League Two, so once again, they may not trust a 19 year old to hold their midfield together.

It might be prudent if the club chose teams who are more stable or have less at stake, who might be more prepared to blood youngsters and help foster their talent.

Sometimes, to the untrained eye, it feels the club just accepts anyone who will take them.

This is yet another issue that new part owners INEOS will have to try and rectify over the course of the next few years.

The post Manchester United’s disastrous winter loans highlight major problem for INEOS appeared first on Man United News And Transfer News | The Peoples Person.

Alvaro Carreras got his first taste of European action yesterday when he was included in the starting line-up for Benfica’s first leg tie against Toulouse.

The Portuguese side narrowly won the match 2-1 with a penalty at the death from Angel Di Maria in the 98th minute after the Ligue 1 side were reduced to ten men just two minutes before.

Benfica had originally taken the lead via another penalty from the former United winger midway through the second half but the French side soon found an equaliser in the 76th minute through Mikkel Desler.

The side from the Estádio da Luz were dominant throughout as they clocked 27 shots to Toulouse’s six and also enjoyed the lion’s share of possession with 59% of the ball.

United’s young Spaniard made only his second start for Benfica since joining in January and being his first European tie, it will surely have been special.

The 20 year old played 59 minutes of action before being subbed off around the hour mark when the scores were still level.

He was awarded a score of 6.8 on Sofascore for his night’s work.

Due to the home side’s dominance of the ball, Carreras kept the ball well with a pass completion rate of 85%.

He was also heavily involved in the Eagles’ build up play, as he had 42 touches of the ball.

The youngster even had a shot on target that was saved well by Toulouse keeper, Guillaume Restes.

The left back also contributed defensively as he made two clearances and also made one interception.

Carreras was not so effective in his duels though as he only won 50% of his ground duels and 0% of his aerial battles.

This is certainly something that he will want to make more impact on, as his loan continues.

The young defender was also wasteful from his crossing, as neither of his two attempts found their intended target.

The United academy product will be hoping to retain his starting berth as Benfica take on Vizela on Sunday evening in the league.

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