With the gruelling Christmas schedule on the near horizon for Manchester United, we look at how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are going to deal with its demands.
The holiday season for some involves relaxing and catching up with loved ones, however, for football teams, it’s a whole lot of games. With games so quickly one after another, it can be tough, even for elite-level footballers and with the unprecedented events that have been affecting football, this year could be most players’ hardest yet.
COVID-19 has brought about one of the busiest football schedules we’ve seen, and since the previous season ended much later than normal, fixture congestion for Manchester United is much worse now more than ever.
With a number premier league games being played, including the annual boxing day game, United have been the victims of bad luck as the calendar looks to be shaping out poorly for them.
Solskjaer is amongst a number of managers to speak out against the busy schedules. He has recently said:
“Of course (I’m) very happy with Bruno and the performance but I think that it’s (fixture congestion) such a serious issue that the times we’re in, we don’t look after these players. They’re not robots. They’re human beings”.
Due to the importance of the fixtures upcoming and the worries about players’ wellbeing, United have taken the decision to adjust their training schedule as they face 8 fixtures in the space of 24 days. Despite this precaution, injuries have already caught up with Ole’s side as Edison Cavani and Anthony Martial both picked up muscle strains in the recent 3-1 victory over David Moyes’ West Ham side.
In an even more recent press conference, Ole mentioned that:
“Sometimes when you play late on, say 5:30 even or 8pm, you might have a session in the morning. There’s loads of different things we have to do but we have to try and stay true to our own identity.”
There is a really high chance that United will quickly fatigue.
According to the Independent, United actually have the busiest Christmas schedule, with an average of only 2 rest days between fixtures, alongside Everton and Manchester City. Surprisingly, the current champions and United’s rivals, Liverpool are lucky enough to have the highest average at 4.5 days of rest.
Injuries can be a real worry when the matches begin to come thick and fast, and positive COVID tests can set the team back massively, just like we saw with Alex Telles earlier in the season.
Two players are already facing some muscle problems are Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes. The pair were rested in the first half for the trip to the London Stadium, despite being forced to come on in the second. Rotation will be crucial ahead of the gruelling schedule.
Facundo Pellistri, one of the names mentioned for cup games within December and the Uruguayan international will be looking to impress.
Let us know, what are you most looking forward to over the festive season in terms of United? Are there any youngsters you’d like to see make the squad or should Ole stick to his strongest squad? Tweet us @NewsUnitedStand and give us your thoughts!
Originally published for The United Stand.
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