Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag has come out to react to the injury picked up by Marcus Rashford during the 2-0 Premier League win against Everton on Saturday. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, the fixture schedule is definitely the reason for the strain because he cannot understand why the EPL gave his team a late match vs Newcastle on Sunday, and then an early Saturday game days later.
Erik added that the fact is that no manager at this stage of the season will rotate his team so much.
His words, “I can’t say in this moment, you are doctor, maybe?”
“I am not. We have to wait, how bad or how good it is. Obviously he went off with a complaint, now we have to wait, set a diagnosis and we will see.
“Some things you can’t avoid but it was avoidable. Why is the Premier League giving us the late Sunday night game [last week vs. Newcastle] and giving us the early Saturday game? I think it’s not right.
“You run the risk, the players can’t recover that quickly, we know all research that players need a certain period to recover and it accumulates. So then you run even more of a risk. It’s also part of the schedule that we now find ourselves in this situation and now we can only pray he is not dropping off.
“Not any manager at this stage of the season will rotate so much. I know it’s the toughest league, of all the leagues we are in you need a squad to rotate to a certain point.
“But this was avoidable, it was not necessary to set the schedule like we have now. I think another fact is more important than the sporting element like protecting the players. Today we have seen a very entertaining afternoon but players can’t do it so often when they’re not fresh.
“We create a lot of chances but missing the chances is part of a lack of freshness in the final moment and the risk of injuries. We have to protect the players and it’s in the interests of the total football. Everyone, the audience, wants to see great football and you need to have your best players.
“I had that consideration but in that moment, you want also Anthony Martial, just coming back, you want to bring them back into routines and togetherness. Because when they are together we have two goal-scoring players, clinical players, who can finish games and that’s what we need in the final stage of the season to be successful. That’s the reason why we kept them on.
“Also, there was no indication, when there was an indication in the last days or this game, then of course I would have taken him off.”
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