Man United will participate in the 2024/25 season’s curtain raiser on Saturday as they take on bitter rivals Man City in the FA Community Shield with Erik ten Hag confirming another crisis ahead of the clash.
Last term was a very underwhelming campaign for Ten Hag and Man United with the Dutch coach’s job likely saved having beaten City in the FA Cup final.
Before that things were not looking good for the 54-year-old at Old Trafford with the Red Devils finishing eighth in the Premier League and finishing bottom of their Champions League group. Ten Hag looked out of his depth at times but many attributed his failings down to the Manchester club’s injury crisis at centre-back.
That now looks to be happening again ahead of Saturday’s FA Community Shield with the Man United manager confirming to the media on Thursday that Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw are all doubts for the Man City match, reports Samuel Luckhurst.
New signing Leny Yoro picked up an injury during pre-season and will be out of action for three months, which leaves Jonny Evans and Lisandro Martinez as Man United’s only fit centre-backs with first-team experience.
Diogo Dalot is the Manchester club’s only fit senior full-back for Saturday and Luckhurst states that Harry Amass is now in line for his United debut against Man City should Shaw fail to recover.
Erik ten Hag needs to get Man United off to a good start this season
This will be a big worry for Ten Hag as he needs to get Man United off to a good start this season as the Dutch coach is not out of the woods regarding his job at Old Trafford. Should the campaign begin badly, questions will start to be asked once again and having another injury crisis in his backline doesn’t help.
A hammering from Man City on Saturday will already put the spotlight on the Man United boss but the Community Shield is not the end of the world, with the 54-year-old likely to be more concerned about the Red Devils’ Premier League opener against Fulham next Friday.