Neville talks about injury issues at Manchester United

Manchester United beat Fulham 1-0 in their opening day fixture in the Premier League, thanks to Joshua Zirkzee’s strike on his debut for the club. While the result is certainly a good way to start the season, Erik ten Hag still has some problems to deal with behind the scenes as far as injuries are concerned.

It is starting to look like a similar story to last season when a number of fitness problems at regular intervals proved very costly at the end of the campaign, primarily in the Premier League. Gary Neville has now addressed the issue on his podcast, where he said the below (starting from 11:50):

“They changed the center back pairing again during the game which is just a little bit of a worry. You know Erik ten Hag said that with Maguire it was precautionary, it wasn’t an injury but it’s just something they have to monitor. I think they have to try and keep the players fit. I don’t think you can we can be sat here in October where you know Erik ten Hag is talking about excuses. That can’t happen this year you know if you have injuries in one season it can be deemed unlucky if you have injuries in the second season that’s not unlucky it’s a pattern, it’s what you are, it’s your recruitment, it’s your training, it’s your preparation, it’s your medical department, it’s your sports science. All those things come into question when you get repetitive injuries so they’ve got to deal with that and make sure they get the players out on the pitch and the players as well. I mean no player gets injured on purpose so it’s usually through a stress or some sort of what would be fault that they have within their system and body that you know has been probably coming for a number of years”

Gary Neville may not have been the best of managers but following a lengthy and very successful career, he certainly knows what it takes to remain fit on the highest level, not least when playing matches every few days at Manchester United.

There have been injuries in the United camp since pre-season, which is not the most promising sign of the players’ fitness.

Erik ten Hag needs to take a good look at his training regime as after an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, the Dutchman is going to be under pressure earlier on in 2024/25. Ten Hag has also landed the players he has wanted, which warrants him meeting the club’s targets – the most important of which is set to be a top-four finish to secure Champions League qualification next year.

The medical department is also partially to blame due to repetitive injuries. The left-back position is the best example of that as Luke Shaw has been laid off with fitness snags multiple times and Tyrell Malacia has almost become a forgotten figure due to not playing for the team in a year.

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The coach and medical team will not be receiving as much time as last season. Ten Hag was specifically under pressure for most of the summer and it would not at all be a surprise if he were to be relieved of his duties if similar issues persist.