Manchester United can consider themselves extremely fortunate being able to on the 3rd Position in the league table despite the crippling amount of injuries this season. This injury crisis has led Manchester United to their worst start to a league season since 1986. With a total of 55 injuries this season, it has been a miracle how Louis Van Gaal has managed to steer the team into top 3. Reports suggest that Van Gaal’s approach and training method may be a big factor in the cause of injuries as he demands his squad have double sessions so as to increase their fitness level.
Players like Marcos Rojo, Radamel Falacao, Ashley Young, Phil Jones, Ander Herrera , Antonio Valencia, Luke Shaw, Paddy McNair, James Wilson, Chris Smalling, Johnny Evans, Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini, Jesse Lingard, Michael Carrick, Rafael, Daley Blind, Angel Di Maria, Anderson, Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie, David De Gea, Danny Wellbeck and Shinji Kagawa (while at the club) have all been injured this season with some players having multiple injuries.
The Manchester United defence has been plagued with a lot of injuries as no defender has been able to successfully play a consistent string of games. The defence has taken multiple forms and different shapes this season conceding a total of 20 goals, one more than Chelsea. Many would hail Louis Van Gaal as a miracle worker for being able to achieve this feat, but fans should not forget the brilliance of David De Gea this season.
David De Gea has proven time without number why he is the first choice at Manchester United with breathtaking saves made with all parts of his body registering an average saves of 2.35 per game and 6 Clean Sheets in 20 appearances. The Spanish Goalkeeper has been left unprotected this season a couple of times and has not failed to produce some fine moments of magic. It is of no wonder Real Madrid are trying to lure the Spanish Goalkeeper to Bernabeu with Manchester United set to tie him down with a bumper contract. Speaking at the press conference building up to the Southampton game Louis Van Gaal delivered positive team news to the fan base saying ‘’They {Shaw and Rafael} can play,They are both not injured.
Rafael Da Silva was of course operated on his cheekbone and maybe we don’t take any risk with him, but Shaw can also play” while he also added that Daley Blind has been training with training with the team as well as Marouane Fellaini who also trained with the team this past week. Meanwhile centre-back Marcos Rojo has also returned to training, but Ashley Young will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks with a muscular problem. When asked about how he felt about the injury list, Van Gaal replied “Ï have to tell you that we have only one injured player, Ashley Young, it’s unbelievable”. Even Ashley Young took to twitter to joke about the sudden emptiness in the Manchester United Physio room after being the only one left injured. With a fit squad and the probability of January additions, Coach Van Gaal will be expected to make a decent push for the title and at least make a top 4 spot provided our injury crisis do not come back to haunt us.