Although Manchester United aren’t the only side with an injury crisis right now, Erik ten Hag is more worried about the squad’s fitness issues than most managers.
The majority of United’s injured players are concentrated in one region of the field. Only five senior defenders are left for Ten Hag to choose from after losing Lisandro Martinez to a foot injury and losing no less than five other defenders, some for lengthy periods of time.
Here are some of the choices Ten Hag has.
Players hurt include Aaron Wan-Bissaka (hamstring).
Having lost Aaron Wan-Bissaka to a hamstring injury, United’s senior team is down to just one natural right-back.
Diogo Dalot has recently played a lot of minutes, but he will need to push through his exhaustion until Wan-Bissaka returns.
Should Ten Hag seek additional assistance from the United academy, he might turn to people like Willy Kambwala, Habeeb Ogunneye, James Nolan, or Marcus Lawrence.
injured athletes: (Foot) Lisandro Martinez
When Ten Hag proposed that keeping Jonny Evans around for cover was a wise move, many people scoffed. Martinez is expected to miss three months of action, therefore the 35-year-old may need to play additional time after dominating in his first season start against Burnley.
Fortunately for United, there aren’t any serious injuries at center back at the moment. Raphael Varane will saunter back into the starting lineup and be joined by either Evans, Harry Maguire, or Victor Lindelof.
Players with injuries include Sergio Reguilon (unknown), Tyrell Malacia (unknown), and Luke Shaw (muscle).
This is when things get a little complicated.
Since Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw’s replacement, was still dealing with an injury from preseason, United was without Luke Shaw for the majority of this year. Sergio Reguilon, a loan player from Tottenham Hotspur, was chosen, but he is now also out.
In the absence of both Lisandro Martinez and the Argentine, Ten Hag will need to come up with another solution, much as how he used midfielder Sofyan Amrabat against Crystal Palace.
Prior to his summer transfer to Espanyol, Marc Jurado was the top candidate in the academy. As a result, United only had the most senior choices in right-back James Nolan and midfielder Sam Murray.
Harry Amass, 16, signed from Watford this summer and is highly regarded, but Ten Hag would be crazy to put him right in the senior setup.
Ten Hag should be able to survive till the end of the year, when Martinez should be prepared to make his comeback, thanks to four healthy center backs.
