Erik ten Hag faces unprecedented Man Utd challenge & can't use his three main excuses - with Liverpool up next

As Manchester United crashed out of Europe on Tuesday night, Erik ten Hag was keen to highlight one major issue that has been the scourge of the Red Devils’ season to date: injuries.

Lisandro Martinez was limited to one appearance in the Champions League group stages, Luke Shaw played just a game and half, and Casemiro missed four matches through injury and suspension. It could have been an entirely different European experience had Ten Hag’s most trusted personnel been fit throughout.

“We are losing players and players who are very decisive for our game, who can make the difference,” the United manager said post-match. “In many games it was also the case in this campaign, we had not always the players available we want to play. That’s definitely a part. 

“Now I give you a reason but don’t see it as an excuse because even when we are not all on board, we still have to win because they are targets that belong to Manchester United.”

Ten Hag may claim injuries are not an excuse, but the Dutchman is very much pushing the narrative that one of his biggest problems this season has been far beyond his control. 

“One thing is true, from the start of last season I don't think I ever started with, in my opinion, the best starting XI,” Ten Hag said in October, while ahead of the Bayern Munich game he claimed the inability to name a ‘regular team’ has resulted in the team’s lack of consistency.

“You get the routines in so we have to wait with that. Until that moment we deal with it as every team has to deal with it,” he said. “I’m sure when we get back to a regular base we will get better and you have a better opportunity to win games and a better chance you are consistent.”

In Ten Hag’s defence, Andre Onana, Altay Bayindor, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial are the only first-team regulars who haven’t missed a game through injury this season, although the latter sat out the Bayern match due to illness. Ten Hag isn’t necessarily blameless though, and there were reports last month that the manager’s intense training regime has, in part, led to the plethora of injuries.

Ten Hag has been insistent on playing Shaw since his return from a three-month layoff, yet an immediate six starts in 17 days resulted in the England international coming off at half-time against Bayern with a tight hamstring. He’s now a doubt for Sunday’s trip to Anfield.

The lack of recovery time for his players has been a regular bone of contention for Ten Hag, who in April claimed the injury Marcus Rashford suffered at home to Everton was due to fixture scheduling. “You run the risk that players can't recover that quickly. All the science and research tells you the players need a certain period to recover. If it is one game after another, it accumulates.”

It’s not just this season that has been impacted by a lack of recuperation for his players, and the 62-game marathon campaign in 2022/23 evidently took its toll on a squad during a season that was already stretched by the World Cup.

The Champions League exit does at least change that and United should have greater recovery time and fewer injuries in the second half of the campaign, in addition to more hours on the training ground for Ten Hag to implement his tactical plan.

The latter is particularly salient given United’s approach has often been baffling this season, with no clear offensive strategy, attackers who struggle to score goals, a midfield that is alarmingly porous and a defence that are still adjusting to Andre Onana’s dramatically different style compared to his predecessor David de Gea.

These are uncharted waters for Ten Hag; there’s an argument that he has never before had the resources available to fully shape this team in his image. United only have two fixtures currently scheduled for January, that’s a lot of recovery and training time.

But this unprecedented opportunity for the manager does remove a thick layer of armour for the 53-year-old, and he may no longer be able to point to fixture congestion, injuries and a lack of consistency to explain the team’s faltering performances.

United have lost 12 of the opening 24 matches of the season and Ten Hag has largely managed to retain the trust of match-going fans, but a repeat of that form in the second half of the campaign simply will not be accepted.

Sunday's game at Liverpool isn't the ideal start for United 2.0, with Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Shaw, Rashford and Martial doubts, Mason Mount and Christian Erisken expected to miss out, while Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro and Jadon Sancho definitely won't be involved. That's 11 players Ten Hag could be without, a problem that should be resolved in the new year.