Erik ten Hag has said that footballers cannot cope with the workload of an ever-greater schedule and he believes Manchester United’s injury list is because players are overworked.
The United manager complained that more games are added to the fixture list – with the Champions League set to expand next season and more teams to be involved in the Club World Cup from 2025.
So far this season, 16 United players have already been injured or unwell and Ten Hag will be without five sidelined defenders for Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace.
Lisandro Martinez and Sergio Reguilon have joined Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in missing this weekend’s game, while Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo are also out, though Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen are back.
Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund, Sofyan Amrabat and Tom Heaton have also had issues with injuries or illness.
Ten Hag, whose side played 62 games last season, said: “We already expanded the squad this season because we make the reason clear. We had a World Cup in the middle of the season, we had a longer season, we had to play a longer season as well, with the FA Cup, then Nations League games [and] a shorter break.
“Every time the schedule is expanding, the load on the players is too much, it’s such a great overload. Many colleagues of mine have pointed to that and I have pointed to that as well. But it keeps going.
“We keep expanding the schedule. Anywhere, it won’t stop. Players can’t deal anymore with this overload and I think that’s what you say in this squad at the moment.”
