These are indeed not interesting times for Jose Mourinho and Manchester United as we enter the defining stage of our campaign this season. The numbers in the treatment room keep swelling leaving Mourinho with selection headaches ahead of the busy schedule.
Champions League qualification is no doubt the club’s priority presently and the importance of that cannot be undermined as United’s continued commercial success as well as success in the transfer market hinge on that.
Mourinho definitely need a full strength squad at the moment and injuries don’t seem to be helping the situation on ground as we play nine games in April, including the Europa league semi-final against Anderlecht.
Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Paul Pogba are all out with various degrees of injuries, and now Juan Mata has joined the list with the reports that the Spain international could miss the rest of the season after undergoing a surgery on a groin injury.
The absence of these players will surely affect Man United as the season runs down. No set return date yet for Pogba who picked up a hamstring injury in the game against FC Rostov.
Though the French star has not really been impressive he has been important for United especially in the midfield and has formed a proficient partnership with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Central defenders Jones and Smalling got injured while on international duty with England. They may have endured a difficult season, their availability would have eased the burden on Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo – who are both prone to injuries – during the hectic fixtures.
Mata has played a key role for us this season and has been instrumental in the final third, his 10 goals and six assists in all competitions this season – a record bettered only by Ibrahimovic – has not gone unnoticed.
