Friday, 26th September, 2014
Louis van Gaal admits that he is growing concerned by the injury prone nature of a number of Manchester United players.
The Red Devils have Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard out injured, while Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick are still edging back to fitness after injury issues; Luke Shaw has just recovered from a hamstring problem.
Defence, with Tyler Blackett suspended to add to Van Gaal's woes, is the Dutchman's biggest problem area.
But on a more general basis he is concerned about players picking up injuries and then struggling to recover, or worse, picking up a fresh injury.
The former Barcelona coach told MUTV: "The amount of injuries is worrying me and they are not coming back.
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"Smalling is already, for the third time, injured. Evans also. Jones had one injury in the national team, which was unfortunate."
The Dutchman concedes that the situation is one he finds baffling as he has not encountered its like before, with players continually succumbing to injuries.
"I am a coach who has a lot of experience and I believe I was never in this situation before so it is surprising me.
"I am evaluating myself and my staff and also the players and what is wrong.
"But I cannot imagine what we are doing is at another level to [what I did at] my former clubs.
"So I have already adapted to a certain level that I think we can play during a game but I cannot train at a lower level."
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