Manchester United aren’t the only team to be tied down by injuries this year, but how will United fix this in order to get back into the top 4.
Ever since the arrival of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United have flourished under the Norwegian manager and have pushed themselves up to fifth in the table.
Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, and Jesse Lingard were all lost to hamstring injuries in the Liverpool tie last Sunday. On top of that, in-form Marcus Rashford played the 90 minutes but with obvious discomfort.
Anthony Martial and Nemanja Matic were both missing for the Old Trafford clash between them and the Reds. While Antonio Valencia remains absent long-term with a calf problem. Matteo Darmian has not featured since January 19 and, with Phil Jones ill, the injuries see more and more problems for the Red Devils. Nonetheless, United was able to push themselves past Crystal Palace despite the injury problems.
Brazilian forward Fred has yet to impress at Old Trafford since signing his five-year contract last summer. While only starting seven games this term Manager Solskjaer spoke about Fred’s absence in an interview with Sky Sports:
"[Fred needs to] play well when he gets the chance, keeping training, keep working as he does. We have had a midfield three of [Ander] Herrera, [Paul] Pogba and [Nemanja] Matic and they have played really well together.It is not like we have been bogged down with too many games. Scott McTominay was the obvious choice against Liverpool because he was an academy kid – we had five academy kids at one point on the pitch. He knows what it means.You have to look at the time it needs to settle. You look at Juan [Sebastian Veron] – he is one of the best players that I played with – and it took him time to settle. And I am sure that when given the chance and a run in the team Fred will grab the opportunity. Fred will get his chances"
After two fine finishes, you've voted @RomeluLukaku9 as your #MUFC Man of the Match ✨
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 27, 2019
Now you can hear from the man himself... pic.twitter.com/u57z8mJwki
I don’t believe that giving youngsters time to shine is the wrong idea at all. It was the smartest decision that was made by Solskjaer. When your starters are unable to play, the youngsters deserve the opportunity to get some experience. That 3-1 win against Palace was a huge result for the Red Devils.
United must stick with this during their injury-driven time and the rewards will be reclaimed later.