Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
STRIKER LIGHT!
Ten Hag: Unavailable front men is our biggest curse
FULHAM v MAN UNITED Craven Cottage: Tomorrow, 4.30pm
@Mirroranderson
ERIK TEN HAG is worried Manchester United’s problems up front could scupper their Champions League hopes.
Ten Hag’s main target this season is to finish in the top four but he fears his team could fall short because his strikers can’t stay fit.
Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo (above) have all been ill or injured for parts of this season and Ten Hag says United struggle without them.
“In the front line, the unavailability of players is a concern for us,” he said. “We had so many games where we had to improvise to construct a proper offensive line.
“If you keep doing that then it’s difficult to get into the first four.”
Ten Hag (right) is particularly frustrated by Martial’s repeated problems – the French striker has already missed 15 games this season because of hamstring, Achilles and back injuries.
The former Ajax coach sees Martial as his main striker and he showed his capabilities by scoring against Aston
Villa in Thursday’s
Carabao Cup win in what was only his second start under the
Dutchman.
Ten Hag says the club and the player are working hard to try and limit the amount of time he spends in the treatment room.
“Of course, we analyse what we can do to change things,” he said.
“I’m so happy he’s back now and I hope he stays fit because he is an important part of the squad.
“I like the type of player that
Anthony Martial is because he can hold the ball, he’s a target, he can link up, he can also run behind, he has speed, he can finish, and he’s a good presser.”
Ten Hag, whose side tomorrow visit Fulham for the final Premier League match before the World Cup, can wrap Martial up in cotton wool because he is not in France’s squad and Jadon Sancho has also missed out on Qatar. He says the England winger can have no complaints because of a poor start to the season. “It’s been up and down,” Ten Hag said of former Borussia Dortmund star Sancho. “He had some really good performances and I think he was going in a good direction. But over the last weeks he struggled with illness and then it’s normal that you don’t get selected because every manager will only take fit players to the World Cup.”
Craven Cottage is a happy hunting ground for United, who have won there on their last five Premier League visits. On their last visit, two seasons ago, they won 2-1 with goals from Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba after falling behind in the fifth minute.
Manchester United lost their first two games of the season in humiliating fashion and were written out of top-four contention but since then Ten Hag has managed to get a tune out of them and they are now just three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand.
And they will fancy their chances of climbing the table following the World Cup break – after tomorrow’s visit to Fulham they are at home to Nottingham Forest on December 27, away to Wolves on December 31, and home to Bournemouth on January 3.