The Mancunian Injury Crisis
Every season, the English Premier League witnesses one of its biggies succumb to an injury crisis. Usually it is Arsenal which falls prey to this with Abou Diaby (who incidentally is still injured) as a regular name on their injured list. However, this season, things are different. It is the Red side of Manchester that has been hit by the crisis, and the timing could not be worse for the red devils.
The last two years have been very difficult for Manchester United. They have lost a great leader as Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement after an illustrious 27 year reign. The successor David Moyes, could not take them out of the hangover as they faced their worst season of the premier league era, ending up at 7th position in the league table, their first time out of the top four. To add to United’s slump, the 2013–14 season saw the rise of several new powers such as Everton and Southampton in addition to a massive development done by the other top teams. As a result, the English Premier League has emerged to be the most competitive league in Europe.
When Louis Van Gaal took over Manchester United this summer, he was expected to lead them back to the champions league. His intentions were clear right from the beginning as he splashed over 150 m GBP in the transfer market leading to a major facelift to the United team. However, this metamorphosis seems unbalanced as United could boast of an attacking line up that could threaten Europe but have no proper defensive line.
To add to this defensive crisis, United have now been hit by a severe injury crisis. To add to their defensive troubles, defenders Rafael, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw and Marco Rojo have been hit by injuries. Their attacking department has also been hit badly as attackers Falcao, Young, Carrick and Lingard.
The international break has made life worse for the red devils as it saw not one but four of their key players injured. They saw holding midfielders Michael Carrick and Daley Blind, who could have helped in the defence area, injured which makes Chris Smalling their most experienced defender! The Mancunians also lost their best player, goalkeeper De Gea, without whom they would have shipped out atleast 10 league goals this season. Their attacking department has been hit too as Di Maria, arguably their best attacker this season, suffered an ankle injury through a tackle from another red devil Nani (the irony!)
As a result, it is going to be really hard for LVG and Manchester United to make a bid for the top 4 this season, as all their transfer activity has been nulled by a whopping injury incidents this season. It is high time Rooney displayed his captaincy and bring back his killer instinct and the Manchester United Reserves to step up for the team. The timing makes it even worse, their next game is against Arsenal and Arsene can finally avenge the 8–2 massacre of the 2011–12 season!
Originally published at undertheknees.com on November 20, 2014.
