The Manchester United boss saw his side struggled with injuries as they finished eighth – their worst-ever Premier League finish – with a goal difference of minus one and is pointing the finger at the mental fortitude of his players
Erik ten Hag reckons some of his Manchester United players were so badly affected by the negativity surrounding the club last season it caused them to be injured.
Ten Hag is of the belief that several of his squad were not mentally tough enough to cope with the criticism that came their way, with some unable to play through the pain barrier. United suffered an unprecedented number of injuries to key players as they toiled to eighth place, their worst-ever Premier League finish, with a goal difference of minus one.
Although United ended the season on a high by beating Manchester City to win the FA Cup and claim a Europa League place, it was a season of major under-achievement and frustration.
Ten Hag lacked the personnel, particularly at the back, to achieve any kind of consistency with his team selection, the United boss forced to use more than 30 different defensive combinations. But Ten Hag has confided that he felt a lot of the negativity surrounding United last season fed into the minds of the players and left many of them unable to play with the slightest injury issue.
Ten Hag is known to have felt that way about forward Anthony Martial, who last played for United on December 9 last year, spending the remainder of the season injured.
Martial, who spent nine years at United after joining from Monaco for an initial fee of £36million, left the club this summer when his contract expired, after a poor return of 90 goals from 317 games.
Jonny Evans was brought in last season, ostensibly as defensive cover, but played regularly at the back because of injuries to United’s first-choice centre-backs, with Lisandro Martinez restricted to 14 appearances.
Teenage defender Willy Kambwala was not even on United’s pre-season tour last summer but was drafted in to address the injury crisis, with Ten Hag confiding to those close to him that it was “crazy” to have to throw such an inexperienced defender straight into the side.
Ten Hag also wanted to ration the appearances of rising midfield star Kobbie Mainoo, 19, but was forced to continue playing him regularly because of a lack of midfield options.
The same was true of Alejandro Garnacho, also 19, who started United’s last 38 games of last season, although both youngsters scored the goals in the 2-1 FA Cup win over City.
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