LVG Deserves The Blame For Man Utd’s Injury Problems?

FORMER Manchester United assistant boss Mike Phelan has blamed Louis van Gaal’s fitness regime for the catalogue of injuries at Old Trafford after Chris Smalling became the club’s 43rd casualty of the season.
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It is also the third time that Smalling has been sidelined since van Gaal’s arrival last summer after he limped out of Monday’s win at Southampton with a groin strain.
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The England defender was to assessed further yesterday but is rated extremely doubtful for Sunday’s game at home to Liverpool.
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United are currently also without summer signings Angel di Maria, Daley Blind and Luke Shaw, while Rafael and Phil Jones have just returned to training.
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Phelan, who spent 12 years working alongside Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, believes that Van Gaal’s decision to bring in his own fitness specialist Jos van Dijk to oversee first-team training at the start of the season and give Tony Strudwick a broader role has led to the injury pile-up with so many players ‘breaking down’.
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“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, who is now first-team coach at Norwich City.
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“I think Manchester United changed their thoughts on the fitness regime. They looked at it a little bit differently.
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“Tony Strudwick, who was operating as head of sports science and was involved day to day with the first-team. He understood the ins and outs of how to keep players fit, how to keep them ready for competition.
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“Then suddenly they moved him sideways and did something completely different. That may have had an effect. That one area has changed.
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“They’ve brought in new people with a different way of doing things. The intensity of training may be one thing — it may be too intense, or not intense enough — but obviously slight changes have been made with the present way of doing things.
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“I would have thought the squad is big enough at Manchester United, because they can go out and get players in, but obviously they keep breaking down and they don’t seem to be getting any better. They seem to get one back and lose another two.”
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Smalling went off after just 18 minutes at St Mary’s with what Van Gaal later said was a suspected muscle tear. The problem is understood to be in the player’s groin and he is set to go undergo further tests.
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The 25-year-old has already been sidelined for two months of the season after suffering a groin strain at Sunderland in August and then picking up a thigh injury in training in September just one game into his comeback.
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Smalling missed another match through suspension after collecting what Van Gaal called a ‘stupid’ red card in the Manchester derby.
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His future at United has been the subject of some speculation with Arsenal continuing to show an interest.
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However, United are unlikely to let any players leave — particularly centre-backs — while they continue to be plagued by injuries, and Van Gaal has ruled out trying to solve the problem by simply buying more players in the January transfer window.
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“When you have injuries you cannot solve the problem otherwise,” said the United boss. “Do we have to buy players? No, we have more than enough.”