Louis van Gaal will not be able to call on Radamel Falcao, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Rafael Da Silva when he selects his team for Manchester United’s trip to Arsenal on Saturday next week because of injuries.
Falcao has a calf injury, Evans a foot problem, Da Silva a muscular injury and Jones a shin problem. All the issues are so bad that none of the players will even make the bench on the 22 November at the Emirates.
Asked if any of the quartet might return, Van Gaal said: “No, I don’t think so because now some of them have already not played for five, six, seven weeks. They could sit on the bench because they can play 20 minutes but I cannot put a lot of players who are not 100% fit on the bench. You saw what happened with [Paddy] McNair [getting cramp against Crystal Palace] because the rhythm of the game is very high in the Premier League.”
Robin Van Persie has a minor problem as well and will miss Holland’s game against Mexico on Wednesday, yet there is confidence the United striker will return for Sunday’s Euro qualifier against Latvia.
“Van Persie is not quite fit,” said Guus Hiddink, the Holland coach. “He trained today but he did not fully participate. I don’t think he will be used against Mexico.”
Injuries have limited Luis Van Gaal choice of players for a better part of the season especially in defence. The manager has been forced to field 11 different combinations at centre-back and along with Da Silva’s injury, Luke shaw has also been injured.
David de Gea has said that this has provided a challenge to him as goalkeeper. “It obviously makes things very difficult but that’s football and it’s my job to be able to adapt to different situations.
“As a goalkeeper it’s important to form a good understanding with your back four and become familiar with each other’s positions on the pitch. It’s difficult when the players aren’t there but you have to adapt and concentrate on your job. The experience has definitely helped me improve.
“We would never use excuses but it’s always going to be a big setback when we have injuries and some sendings-off as well. It makes everyone’s work that bit more difficult.
“In terms of maintaining a solid level of performance we need to have the consistency of players in the squad so hopefully everyone will be fit very soon. That will help us continue to improve.”