As reported by Daily Mail, Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has provided an injury update on four key players who missed the match against Aston Villa.
The manager had confirmed before the game that four of his first-team players had minor injury problems coming into the game against Aston Villa.
The Red Devils defeated the Villans at Old Trafford in the FA Cup Third Round for the first time. Scott McTominay’s header was enough to secure the victory, but there were some doubts before the game.
The roster was without Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, and Phil Jones. Ronaldo had started against Wolves, therefore it came as a shock to see them left out of the team. Before the game, though, Rangnick clarified the situation by stating that all four stars were suffering from muscular issues.
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He said:
“I spoke with Cristiano yesterday before training, he told me that he’s had some problems for the last couple of days. Minor problems, but in the end, we decided that it made more sense to not take any risks in a game that could easily last 120 minutes, so we just decided to rest him, not play him at all.”
“With Phil Jones, he’s having some minor problems with his calf, in a cup game tonight it doesn’t make any sense,’ he added. With Jadon, he was supposed to be in the quad, he had some issues with hamstring on both sides so it doesn’t make sense to take any risks.”
Despite the fact that each player is dealing with minor injuries, it is critical that they participate on Saturday. Ronaldo, in particular, must return as quickly as possible. Our strikers were great defensively in the FA Cup encounter, but they were just as bad going forward.
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Emiliano Martinez has never been concerned about Mason Greenwood, while Marcus Rashford appears to be out of form. Edinson Cavani struggled to get on the end of a counter-attack or create a goal-scoring opportunity. Bruno Fernandes was at the forefront of the press, but he was unable to create anything substantial in front of the goal.
It demonstrated Ronaldo’s importance to the team and the importance of his drive to score goals. Similarly, having Maguire and Jones back from their injuries would be fantastic.
Against Villa, Rangnick experimented with a back-three formation, which performed effectively. Instead of Shaw, another centre-back might be introduced, allowing the left-back to play as a wing-back, benefiting us even more.
Sancho may not be a perfect fit for this method, but with a little tweaking, his strengths might shine and his flaws vanish. Regardless, having a fully healthy squad would be beneficial as we prepare to travel to Villa Park this weekend.
