Manchester United have been dealt another blow following the injury to winger Ashley Young. The former England star played in the 1-0 win over Celta de Vigo in the semi-final of the Europa League. This was a crucial result for United, as taking the lead in the first leg puts them in a strong position to reach the final in Stockholm. However, the club had to be a huge price for this victory with Young Young reportedly suffering a hamstring injury. According to Manchester Evening News, the winger has suffered a hamstring injury and it is expected that the former Aston Villa man will be analysed over the next 48 hours in order to find out the true extent of the injury.
However, there is a significant possibility that the player may be ruled out for the rest of the campaign due to this injury. There are only a couple of weeks left of the season and hamstring injuries usually require about 3 to 4 weeks of recovery time.
Jose Mourinho has already been plagued with plenty of injury problems at the worst possible time in the campaign. The likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Marcos Rojo are some of the players on the sidelines for United at the moment. The addition of Young could put further strain on the team’s resources. Jose Mourinho says that United are paying the price for success this season, as they have had to been involved in a huge number of games. This, in turn, has taken a toll on the players due to less time for recovery.
United have been playing two games a week for several months due to their involvement in the latter stages of all the cup competitions. The club went on to win the League Cup earlier in the campaign. Jose Mourinho is suffering quite badly with regard to injuries to his squad that he has even threatened the possibility of playing a weakened team for the game against Arsenal during the weekend. It is an extremely important match for United as their top four hopes hinge on this result. Yet, it appears that Mourinho has prioritised the Europa League above finishing in the top four in order to qualify for the Champions League.
The draw with Swansea was a damaging blow to the team during the weekend. Arsenal come into the game with an extremely poor record against the top four teams in recent times. More importantly, manager Arsenal Wenger has never been able to win a league game against a Jose Mourinho managed outfit. Young was set to start against Arsenal during the weekend. He will be a big miss.
