It was supposed to be a tough tie against Burnley in the EFL Cup due to the big names being out due to the World Cup and the blurring of some.
Despite losing their three best central defenders, Erik ten Hag’s side managed to reach the Cup quarter-finals and now have a real chance of winning the silver medal.
But the Premier League is not such a forgiving arena and with Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers to follow, the Dutchman has a massive hole to patch.
World Cup winner Lisandro Martínez and runner-up Raphael Varane are not expected to return before the end of the year and that means the Red Devils will be without their two best centre-backs for the final two league games. of the year.
BC problems
Another big hit has been Harry Maguire’s illness. The English centre-back lost his starting job under the current manager, but he impressed with some strong performances for the Three Lions in Qatar.
The former Ajax boss has not revealed when the club captain is expected to return. “Harry, unfortunately, is sick,” the Dutch boss told MUTV.
“It’s a problem because Rapha and Licha were in the World Cup final, but we chose Case [Casemiro]plays more often there and also Luke [Shaw] he himself reported: ‘I can play center back’, which is really good, so everyone is committed and wants to play.
Casemiro lined up at the back for the match against Burnley, but his presence will be needed in midfield against superior teams.
???????????? Ten Hag on Maguire’s availability: “I can’t answer because Harry is sick. I don’t know how that plays out. We have to wait. Maybe in the next few hours, maybe in the next few days, and then we’ll see if he’s available for Forest.” [MU] #MUFC pic.twitter.com/kgCEPDQMDy
— United Radar (@UnitedRadar) December 23, 2022
As Luke Shaw suggested, he can play as a makeshift defender like he did during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign on certain occasions.
Gary Neville brought it up on Sky Sports after witnessing the Red Devils battle their way to the EFL Cup quarter-final.
“Martínez looks like he’s going to be there for at least a couple of weeks, Varane was obviously injured and you don’t know when he’s going to return.
ETH has a big problem to solve
“And if Harry Maguire is sick, they will potentially go with a really weakened defense to those Premier League games.
“I think if they had been playing a Premier League team tonight they would have been punished so they need to get some players back quickly.”
Solutions include playing Scott McTominay along with the only fit senior centre-back in Victor Lindelof.
The Scottish star has played in that position for José Mourinho and Solskjaer, not to mention his national team.
That would allow Ten Hag to continue playing his preferred midfield pairing of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, which in turn would allow his team to dominate the ball and win it back as quickly as possible.
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