Manchester United’s bad luck with injuries is back with a force, and Erik ten Hag will have to make changes to his team choices going forward because of it.
Luke Shaw is hurt, so the club doesn’t have a specialist left-back. Instead of Victor Lindelof and Sofyan Amrabat, the boss has to trust school youngster Harry Amass.
Rasmus Hojlund will be out for a few weeks, which makes it even harder for the Dutch manager to choose an attacking trio.
The Dane, who has been playing great lately, needs to be replaced, but the boss has to take a big risk because Marcus Rashford is having trouble up front and Anthony Martial is out for three months.
Problems with injuries
This is exactly why the manager was desperate to add an attacker in January, but FFP rules meant that nothing came through.
In order to solve this problem, Ten Hag said he would have to be smart about which players he chose for his teams. Now, according to the X account Academy Scoop, he is about to throw Omari Forson into the deep end.
The product of the school came on as a striker in the game against Wolves and helped set up Kobbie Mainoo’s goal in extra time.
He might not be physically ready yet, but he has the skills and technical know-how to do well, and Ten Hag thinks the 19-year-old has a higher goal than Amad Diallo.
The Ivorian played very well for Sunderland in the Championship last year, but he has had trouble getting playing time since coming back from illness.
Ten Hag tried him out as a false nine in his first preseason game as manager of the club, but it looks like the coaches like Forson more than the former Atalanta talent.
“Omari Forson is set to make his first Premier League start tomorrow afternoon against Fulham because Manchester United are still having a lot of injuries.”
“This comes after hearing that Rasmus Højlund had a fitness setback, which made Ten Hag rethink his attack on personnel.”
“Omari is thought to be very much liked by Ten Hag and his staff.” Erik and his teachers think that Forson is a better fit for the team than Amad based on his skills and promise, not on how well they train or how hard they work.
Time will tell if this is true or not. However, it has been clear that the boss chose Forson over Amad.
The high school graduate is in a trade dispute with the club right now, and Ten Hag’s plan to give him more playing time could help the club keep their star player.
If Forson does play, it will be interesting to see how the boss sets him up. Rashford was great last year, but he’s much better on the left wing. During pre-season, the 19-year-old played on the right side.