Manchester Uniteds 47 injuries revealed in full after Louis van Gaals intense training sessions were blamed for breaking players Manchester United have suffered an incredible 47 injuries since Louis van Gaal held his first press conference at Old Trafford on July 16. Van Gaal’s squad has been seriously depleted all season and he remains without eight players. Those currently suffering at United are Chris Smalling with a groin tear, Angel di Maria with a hamstring problem, Daley Blind after knee ligament damage, as well as Tom Thorpe, Luke Shaw, Rafael, Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard. Former Wales assistant manager Raymond Verheijen accused his fellow Dutchman of working players too hard, insisting the 63-year-old manager risks injuries by holding frequent double sessions. What LVG proves is that top coaches are not perfect, Verheijen said. Even the worlds best have deficiencies. LVG is tactically superior to most other coaches but planning and periodisation is not his strongest point: double sessions & muscle injuries. Club insiders told Sportsmail in September that Van Gaal was working his players harder than ever as he was given the unenviable task of rebuilding the Old Trafford club after David Moyes tenure. The injuries appear to be effecting the squad in other ways, too, as defender Jonny Evans admits. The way the injury situation has been youre always expecting someone to get injured, said the 26-year-old. So I have to prepare myself mentally for that. Mike Phelan, the former United assistant manager, reiterated Verheijens comments on Tuesday, suggesting Van Gaals fitness regime was too intense and that his training methods are to blame for the growing list of casualties. ‘What’s happened is a continuation of the same players getting injured all the time, so you have to look to the reasons why,’ said Phelan, now a first-team coach at Norwich City. ‘I think Manchester United changed their thoughts on the fitness regime. They looked at it a little bit differently.’ He was reacting to Van Gaals latest injured star after Smalling limped out of Mondays win at Southampton with a groin strain, which will force the England defender out for two weeks. Phelan, who spent 12 years working alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, feels Van Gaals decision to bring in his own fitness specialist in Jos van Dijk and give regular coach Tony Strudwick a broader role has led to players ‘breaking down’. ‘Tony Strudwick, who was operating as head of sports science and was involved day to day with the first-team,’ continued Phelan. ‘He understood the ins and outs of how to keep players fit, how to keep them ready for competition. Then suddenly they moved him sideways and did something completely different. That may have had an effect. That one area has changed. Van Gaal held his first press conference one week after Holland were knocked out of the 2014 World Cup by Argentina. The manager landed to news that Michael Carrick was his first unlucky casualty, having suffered ankle ligament damage during training which required surgery and ruled him out until November. From that injury being revealed on July 17, it has spiralled - from Lingards knee injury during a Barclays Premier League match to Jones shin splints in October. Of the 47 injuries, 14 were inflicted during United training, such as Radamel Falcaos calf in October or Ashley Youngs groin a month before. Of the rest, 18 were in Premier League matches and seven were while on international duty. Record-signing Di Maria, who missed Uniteds last two matches against Southampton and Stoke, may return against Liverpool on Saturday.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 12:11:06 +0000
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