Old Trafford, “the theater of the wounded”

European professional football clubs all buy leg insurance for their players. To date, Premier League clubs have spent a total of £134.2m on treatment and wages for players who have been sidelined due to injury.

Theatre of the wounded

With a series of injuries like that, coach Jose Mourinho decided to put young midfielder Scott McTominay, born in 1996, on the field. Photo: Internet

Surprisingly, despite having a good medical team and a style of play that is not too physical, MU is leading the way in terms of player injuries. More than 10% of the treatment and salary in the Premier League belongs to the team currently ranked 2nd in the table - Manchester United - with a cost of 15.6 million pounds for "wounded soldiers".

According to reports, currently in the Old Trafford team's squad, there are up to 6 players who are out due to injuries. Those are defenders Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind, the central midfielder duo Marouane Fellaini - Ander Herrera and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and all have no return date yet.

Among these, except for Blind, the remaining players have had at least one relapse this season, especially Fellaini, when the Belgian midfielder had to sit in the stands for the third time watching his teammates compete, after not being able to completely cure the knee injury he suffered while playing for the national team last October.

The Red Devils are also in the top 10 teams with the most injuries this season with 20 "hospitalizations" of important pillars in the squad.

Leading the league is West Ham FC with 41 times, followed by Arsenal (36), West Brom and Liverpool (both 27) and Bournemouth (25). The "London Gunners" are also the team right after Manchester United in the category of costs for "wounded soldiers", with a total of 13.6 million pounds to treat and pay the salaries of injured key players this season.

With a series of injuries like that, coach Jose Mourinho decided to put young midfielder Scott McTominay, born in 1996, on the field to play alongside Paul Pogba and Matic. In fact, McTominay played not badly, but compared to Fellaini and Ander Herrera, there was still a big gap in terms of experience in handling the ball against big teams.

Adjust the target

Fellaini will be the player to return to the field soonest. Photo: Internet

Explaining this, medical experts said that the UK has been suffering from cold weather conditions for many months, when heavy snow fell across the Manchester area and the UK. Mourinho admitted that the "Beast from the East", as the press everywhere called the cold air mass, has affected the health and injury status of the team.

Injuries have taken away the best players in the first team and the gap between MU and the top team is now 16 points while there are only 9 rounds left in the tournament. Coach Mourinho believes that by all means, defending the 2nd place is the most practical thing to do at this time. Among the above players, Fellaini seems to be the one who will return to the field soonest, the player MU is in dire need of in the central midfield position. The irony is that Fellaini is the player who has not yet agreed to extend his contract, it is very possible that he will be injured for almost half the season but when he is healthy, this Belgian player will leave Old Trafford.