Manchester United’s match vs West Brom at The Hawthorns saw the centre back pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand both limp off injured. So what is the injury situation like for Manchester United?
First and foremost, Rafael Da Silva dislocated his shoulder on Friday and will need to have an operation in the next few days. He is expected to be out for 10 weeks.
Rio Ferdinand limped off holding his hamstring. In a post match interview Sir Alex Ferguson did say that he will be out for 6 weeks meaning he will miss quite a lot of games at the start of the season including Arsenal and Chelsea at Old Trafford however he should be back by the time we meet Manchester City on 23rd October.
The first prognosis of Nemanja Vidic’s injury from Sir Alex Ferguson led us to believe that he would be out for 2 weeks meaning that he could miss the Arsenal on 28th August however Mike Phelan told BBC that he will only be missing for a week. Nemanja Vidic was thought to be carrying his injury into the game which only aggrevated it further.
Chicharito has also been out since picking up a concussion in training on tour in the USA. He has been ruled out until after the September international break to overcome it. Patrice Evra has also been out after pulling out of the France squad however he is expected to return for Manchester United’s next game at home against Tottenham.
Darren Fletcher only today completed a full 90 minutes for the reserves at Arsenal on his return from injury, hinting that he shall be with the first team sooner rather than later. Antonio Valencia was also expected to feature in that game however he did not, leaving us with no definitive date for his return.
So who can fill in while these players are out? Manchester United currently have 7 strikers contracted to the club at the club. I don’t particularly think that striking options is an issue. Manchester United’s main ‘injury worries’ are in the defensive positions. In previous seasons there may have been suggestions that we are a bit thin in defensive cover. Interestingly we can still field a strong yet young and fit defence in Fabio, Evans, Smalling and Jones this time round. Injury crisis? What crisis?
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Well, it will be so hard 4 utd in there first six games this season. For the young defenders, lets see whats gonna happen… United are not so good at there defensive area. They make mistakes and that kills them:)
Looks like the Jones signing is hardly just “one for the future” after all. That move is is continually looking more brilliant as we see him play and now with this “crisis”.
The only possible concern is at full back. I don’t worry about the defensive side of that position, but I’m not too sure how much offense Smalling, Jones and co. can offer going forward.