This season, Manchester United has sustained more than 50 injuries, and Dutch manager Erik ten Hag has advised his team to become more resilient if they hope to remain in the Premier League.
Erik ten Hag was has told his team to toughen up (Image: Getty Images)
If the Manchester United players wish to stay in the Premier League, Erik ten Hag has advised them to become more resilient.
Ten Hag’s chances of taking home awards and qualifying for the Champions League have been severely damaged by the numerous injuries he has suffered this season. For the duration of the current campaign, the Dutchman has had to deal with 50 different injuries.
Defenders Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof of Ten Hag were both sidelined for at least a month due to muscular strains that they sustained even this week. Luke Shaw, Martinez, Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia, Anthony Martial, and Altay Bayindir are among those who are presently receiving treatment.
Ten Hag is alleged to have overtrained his team. He has, however, denied the allegations and maintained that his players must be extremely fit to handle the rigors of English football.
“No, we don’t train too hard,” he remarked. We must maintain our fitness. You can’t match the standards expected of you in a game if you’re not fit enough to meet the standards in this league. We don’t train excessively.
“We have excellent departments and knowledgeable staff members in our vicinity. We base our decisions on information. Strong players are required. When you have a lot of injuries going into Christmas and then you have to bring them back, that is the requirement.
However, they are not match-fit even when they are injury-free. They take a few games to get back into the rhythm and don’t immediately return to the previous form.”
Bruno Fernandes, the captain, is the role model that Ten Hag wants his players to emulate. This season, the Portuguese international has not missed a match due to injury and has occasionally overcome discomfort to further the cause.
Ten Hag stated, “I think we have more players who are very robust like Bruno is, but that is the type of player you need. I think an overbooked calendar is hot helping the situation.”
“I am aware that the enormous number of games we have played over the past 18 months still has an impact. The players become so overwhelmed that they are unable to perform as well. We have already passed the stage where we expect our best players to perform to our standards.
“Last weekend, you witnessed Manchester City playing without John Stones and without Kyle Walker. They were missing, and the levels were falling.
“The team we faced was not the same as this one. If you continue in this process, where we are overloading in the international competition, the levels for teams will continue to decline.
Five times a year, we have international breaks for our national teams. You can give the players away and it makes no difference. We manage the programs and have excellent relationships with some national teams, but some teams just do what they want.”
