Manchester Utd Receive Injury Boost On Herrera, Jones, Smalling & Evans

Slowly but surely, Manchester United’s injury worries seem to be thinning out as the news that several senior players have now returned to training and in fact could be available for selection against West Brom. One very relieving news report is that the rib fracture that summer arrival Ander Herrera suffered is not as serious as initially feared. Also van Gaal can now look to Phil Jones and probably Jonny Evans to pair Marcos Rojo in the centre of the defence. It means that the risk the manager has been taking with Tyler Blacklet and the recently injured Paddy McNair can now stop.

With the recent news that Antonio Valencia is also injured, Louis van Gaal will be thankful to have more options to call on. Now that Manchester United have forced their way back into the top four, there is a serious need to strive to sustain the tempo of their new found form. Louis van Gaal can now deploy whichever formation he desires.

For the first time since his arrival at Manchester, his job will be much easier having a very experienced midfielder like Michael Carrick in the midfield and with Wayne Rooney’s absence and Juan Mata’s ineptitude, Louis van Gaal might just switch to the conventional 4-4-2 formation which will see Angel Di Maria and Adnan Janujaz move to the flanks while Daley Blind and Michael Carrick will bolster the midfield. If Ander Herrera makes the cut, then he will move into the attacking midfield position just behind Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie.

If these ploy pan out as planned, most of these players will have attained full match fitness before they fact their harshest test yet this season against Chelsea next weekend. Manchester United started their season on an uninspiring note losing their first game to Swansea and also crashing out of the League Cup when they fell to an ignominious 4-0 defeat against the MK Dons.

Although most of this ineptitude has been aligned to the injury worries faced by the team and now that the senior players are returning at a time when the team will be facing the top clubs in the league, more desirable results are expected.