Manchester United are investigating the patterns behind their lengthy injury list, football director John Murtough has confirmed.
The club has six first-team players out with long-term injuries: Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Lisandro Martinez,Tyrell Malacia, Kobbie Mainoo, and Amad. The latter three are yet to make a competitive appearance this season as they continue rehabilitation from injuries sustained before the start of the campaign.
Several other players have also missed games due to injury this season including Sergio Reguillon, Raphael Varane, and Mason Mount.
Murtough said: “There are some strong mitigations for the mixed results so far, including 16 first-team players being injured or unavailable for periods since the start of the season.
“That’s two-thirds of the squad and means that Erik has not been able to pick his strongest XI once this season. Thankfully, we’ve started to see some of the injured players returning and that should make a difference, including our new signings Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount who are still bedding into the team.
“We’re also looking at why we’ve had so many injuries to see if there’s any patterns to improve prevention in future. Some of them have been impact injuries such as Kobbie’s and Amad’s, which are unpredictable. Others have been muscular and could reflect the sheer volume of games played over the past year, including last year’s World Cup.”
Arsenal’s head of medical services Gary O’Driscoll joined United as the club’s new head of sports medicine in September.
Erik ten Hag spoke of his concern regarding his side’s injury problems last month, saying: “It’s a concern, but we knew that before. That’s why we constructed the squad like that. We can deal with it.
“I don’t know if we have to go to the doctors and officials because they are dealing with the problems. First of all, injuries always come in top football because we’re living on the edge and injuries are coming up.
“We analyse why things happen but we also have to deal with the facts and it’s always about the players available, a strong side and we have to get the best out of it and tomorrow get a good team, next step, integrate Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo (and) to get a result.”
Manchester United return to action on October 21 with a trip to Sheffield United.
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Ten Hag says it’s a ‘concern’ - why do United have so many injuries?
Why do Manchester United have so many injuries?
Analysis from Manchester United Correspondent Laurie Whitwell
Erik Ten Hag says injuries are an occupational hazard but has hinted at frustration over the length of United’s list of absentees.
Senior figures at United feel the issues are an accumulation of many fixtures over several seasons played at an unrelenting pace. That is true of all Premier League clubs who had players at the World Cup last November and December, but United did play 62 matches in 2022-23 — more than any other club in Europe’s top five leagues. Liverpool also had injuries at the start of last season, coming off a campaign that ran to 63 games.
Chief executive Richard Arnold told staff during an all-hands meeting that the majority of injuries have been impact ones. But when it comes to the muscular injuries sustained by Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Mason Mount and Raphael Varane, questions have been asked about United’s pre-season tour to the United States, where Ten Hag’s squad racked up more than 13,500 air miles in the space of 12 days.
How much the travel played a part in United’s issues at the start of this season is unquantifiable, but picking through the situation is Gary O’Driscoll, United’s new head of sports medicine, who started in September.
(Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images)
