Phelan blames Van Gaal for injuries

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 21: Angel Di Maria of Manchester United gets past Dean Hammond of Leicester during the Barclays Premier League match between Leicester City and Manchester United at The King Power Stadium on September 21, 2014 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 21: Angel Di Maria of Manchester United gets past Dean Hammond of Leicester during the Barclays Premier League match between Leicester City and Manchester United at The King Power Stadium on September 21, 2014 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Published Dec 10, 2014

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Former Manchester United coach Mike Phelan has blamed Louis van Gaal’s fitness regime for the catalogue of injuries at Old Trafford after Chris Smalling became the club’s 43rd casualty of the season.

It is also the third time that Smalling has been sidelined since Van Gaal’s arrival last summer after he limped out of Monday’s win at Southampton with a groin strain.

The England defender will be assessed today but is rated extremely doubtful for Sunday’s game at home to Liverpool.United are also without summer signings Angel di Maria, Daley Blind and Luke Shaw, while Rafael and Phil Jones have just returned to training.

Phelan, who spent 12 years alongside Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, believes Van Gaal’s decision to bring in fitness specialist Jos van Dijk to oversee first-team training at the start of the season and give Tony Strudwick a broader role has led to the injury pile-up.

‘What’s happened is a continuation of the same players getting injured all the time, so you have to look at the reasons why,’ said Phelan, who is now first-team coach at Norwich City.

‘Manchester United changed their thoughts on the fitness regime. They looked at it a little bit differently. Tony Strudwick was operating as head of sports science and was involved day to day with the team. He understood the ins and outs of how to keep players fit, how to keep them ready for competition.

‘Then suddenly they moved him sideways and did something completely different. That may have had an effect. That one area has changed.

‘They’ve brought in people with a different way of doing things. The intensity of training may be one thing — it may be too intense, or not intense enough — but obviously slight changes have been made.

‘The squad is big enough at United, because they can get players in, but obviously they keep breaking down and they don’t seem to be getting any better. They seem to get one back and lose another two.’

Smalling went off after just 18 minutes at St Mary’s with what Van Gaal said was a ‘suspected muscle tear’. The problem is understood to be in the player’s groin. The 25-year-old has already been sidelined for two months of the season after a groin strain at Sunderland in August and picking up a thigh injury in training in September just a game into his comeback.

Smalling missed another match through suspension after what Van Gaal called a ‘stupid’ red card in the Manchester derby.

His future at United has been the subject of speculation, with Arsenal ready to swoop.

However, United are unlikely to let any players leave — particularly centre backs — while they are plagued by injuries, and Van Gaal has ruled out trying to solve the problem by buying more players in the January window.

‘(That will not) solve the problem,’ said the United boss. ‘Do we have to buy players? No, we have more than enough.’– Daily Mail

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