Erik Ten Hag has warned that his players are suffering from an ‘overload’ of work this season as Manchester United continue to challenge on four fronts.
Ten Hag confirmed that Antony, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial are unlikely to be back for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Leeds at Elland Road and the first leg of next week’s Europa League play-off against Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
The three players have joined long-term casualties Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek on the injury list, while Casemiro is still serving a domestic ban and will miss United’s second meeting with Leeds in the space of five days.
United face eight games in February, ending with the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, and there will be further disruption to their Premier League schedule if they progress in the Europe and FA Cup.
Erik ten Hag has concerns the intense fixture list is overloading the Manchester United squad
Antony will miss matches against Leeds and Barcelona after suffering an injury
‘Definitely, it’s a tough season,’ said Ten Hag. ‘With the World Cup in between, there’s an overload on the players, that’s quite clear. The load on them is too much.’
Alejandro Garnacho replaced Antony against Leeds but was frustrated to be substituted for the second game in a row after missing several chances.
Ten Hag says he understands Garnacho’s feelings, but told United’s rising star that he needs to score or create goals to justify a place in the team.
‘He’s quite emotional, that is his strength,’ added the United boss. ‘He wants to win, he wants to play football, he doesn’t want to miss any minute, and I think that is a good thing.
‘He had good actions (against Leeds) but he had to score. We expect a Man Utd player to have an impact, to positively influence the game by scoring goals and having an assist.’ Meanwhile, Ten Hag believes plans for a new European Super League could turn out to be a good thing if it improves football across the continent.
Although English teams would not be part of the proposed new league, he said: ‘I think the current structure is good but there will always be initiatives to make it better. If it is in favour of football, it is always good.’
Alejandro Garnacho was frustrated against Leeds in midweek after being substituted
source:dailymail
