Manchester United’s injury problems in 2023-24: How bad is the problem?

Erik ten Hag has compared managing Manchester United this season to “swimming with your hands tied behind your back”.

The United manager referred to the number of injuries to players in his squad, highlighting how difficult it has been for the side to progress after they finished third last year and are now on course to end the 2023-24 campaign on either seventh or eighth place. .

In total, Ten Hag had to deal with over 60 individual cases of injury or illness.

United’s absences have been a talking point throughout the season and the Ten Hag has made it crystal clear on several occasions that he has never experienced such setbacks before, while also noting that he has rarely been able to pick his best XI its owner.

Gary O’Driscoll joined United from Arsenal last summer to lead the club’s medical department as head of sports medicine, responsible for overseeing all medical work across the men’s, women’s and academy teams.

Premier Injuries’ Ben Dinnery has compiled the data on Manchester United’s injury-plagued season and, up to and including May 13, reveals that the Old Trafford side have had more time lost to injury than any other top-flight side.

Dinnery defines a time-loss injury as one that results in a player missing at least one game, and his data covers all competitions.

“Manchester United are up there, well above any other team in the league, but it’s important to note that some teams have played a lot more games than other teams,” explains Dinnery. “The more you expose your team to those minutes, the more likely you are to get injured.”

When checking the data, Dinnery only uses injuries reported since the season’s opening weekend — meaning he doesn’t count those that occurred during the preseason, so Kobbie Mainoo’s knee injury in July isn’t shown .

The dinner also ignores fatigue-related absences, such as muscle fatigue, and only includes first-team players. So Ethan Wheatley picked up a knock and missed a first-team game, having been on the bench the previous week, would not count for United’s overall figures.

At various stages of the season, the Ten Hag have been without Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans, Willy Kambwala, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Victor Lindelof – and those are just the defenders. Tyrell Malacia has not appeared at all since 2022-23.

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Where is Tyrell Malacia?

In midfield, Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen and Sofyan Amrabat were injured. In attack, Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, Amad, Antony and Anthony Martial all spent time on the sidelines.

To make matters worse, the Ten Hag often got a boost for a returning player, only for them to suffer another injury.

This was particularly the case with Martinez and Shaw, who both chose to join their respective national teams – Argentina and England – on different international breaks to continue their recovery away from Carrington.

(Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)

United, particularly in the case of Martinez, note that he was coordinated with Argentina and that it made more sense for him to travel to a warmer climate rather than stay at Carrington with a few teammates.

Although he has not played this season, Malacia has opted to return to Holland to complete his rehabilitation rather than stay in Manchester.

There is a feeling in some quarters that Ten Hag has been too quick to bring players back from injury, while others have noted that the club’s medical department is overstretched.

Shaw, for example, returned from a hamstring strain on January 28 to play against Newport County in the FA Cup. He then played five times until 18 February before limping off with the same injury away at Luton Town. Since then he has not played for United.

“There will always be a calculated risk when a player crosses the white line and the Premier League is unique in the physical demands it places on players,” says Dinnery.

“There are a lot of injuries in that Manchester United team and some will be unfortunate, but you are looking at a high rate of muscle injuries. This will create more worries internally as to why this is happening.

“Manchester United will be looking for some sort of common factor as to why these injuries are happening.”

(Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Ten Hag revealed at the start of the season that the club, in particular the medical department, were looking into why the number of muscle injuries was so high. The United boss admitted he was “frustrated” by the medical team after they assured him Shaw and Malacia would be fit until the end of January.

While Manchester United have had more time-loss injuries than any other top-flight team this season, Newcastle United have lost the most days due to players being sent off.

Eddie Howe’s injured players have been out for a total of 1,915 days, with United seventh on 1,584 days.

Sheffield United (1,713), Chelsea (1,712), Crystal Palace (1,676), Brighton (1,662) and Brentford (1,653) are ahead of them.

But if you break it down to injury burden per 1,000 minutes, as Dinnery did, then United come out as the most affected team with 10.3, ahead of Crystal Palace (10), Chelsea (9.4), Tottenham (9) and Newcastle. (8,9).

This table also highlights how good Manchester City and Arsenal’s injury records have been this season, even though City have had injuries to key players at times.

After United’s defeat to Arsenal, Wayne Rooney, the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, questioned whether certain members of the squad had thrown in the towel by opting not to return from injury for the FA Cup final.

“As we look at the injuries they’ve had, some of these players can play 100 per cent,” Rooney told Sky Sports.

“With the European Championship and an FA Cup final coming up, it’s easy for players to sit out for a bit, come back for the final and make sure they’re ready for the European Championship. I’ve seen it myself over the years.

“Players who are injured don’t get any credit at the moment. The manager will take all the beating for that.”

The Ten Hag dismissed Rooney’s comments in the strongest terms, saying his players were “desperate” to get back and play.

One of Ten Hag’s biggest gripes this season has been the week-to-week inconsistency of the XI.

According to Opta, the Dutchman has named an unchanged XI on five occasions in the Premier League – not including Wednesday’s game against Newcastle – and has made 70 changes to his starting XI, which does not include the season opener at home to Wolves in August. 14.

(Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)

If you compare that to last season’s figures, the Ten Hag made 89 changes to his starting XI during the campaign and also named an unchanged XI on five occasions.

However, where he has been hit the hardest this year is on defense.

Ten Hag routinely bemoaned the number of injuries to the back line, particularly to his centre-backs, which disrupted the club’s campaign.

Not including Wednesday’s game against Newcastle, Ten Hag have used 14 different centre-back partnerships, six more than they deployed in 2022-23. Compared to other Premier League teams, Luton Town have used 17 different centre-back pairings, with Manchester City using the same number as United.

Arsenal, whose defense have conceded the fewest goals this season (28), have deployed just three different partnerships, which is the fewest of any team.

The combination of Evans and Varane – they played together six times – was his most frequent partnership, with Casemiro also forced to play in defense to cover injuries.

In contrast, Martinez and Varane have played alongside each other 16 times in 2022-23, and that consistency has been a key reason why United have kept more Premier League clean sheets (17) than any other team.

Further highlighting the number of injuries United have had to deal with this year, Dinnery’s strike rates are the highest since 2018-19, which began with Jose Mourinho in charge and ended with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the dugout.

More alarmingly for the Ten Hag, this season’s 10.3 incidence rate is a 66% increase from 6.2 in 2022-23.

Earlier this month, Ten Hag noted that he had never experienced such a spate of injuries in his 12 years in charge. All he can do is hope that it happens once in a decade and that next season will look different.

However, there are no guarantees that the Ten Hag will be in the United dugout come August, and if he isn’t, then it will be because he has fallen below the standards required. But there’s no denying that his team’s injuries have been a significant factor in that.

And if questions are asked of Ten Hag, then surely they will also be asked of the club’s medical department.

(Header photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)