Erik ten Hag faces eight-player Manchester United crisis if he avoids sack
Erik ten Hag's Man Utd future remains unclear, with the under-pressure Dutchman facing fresh injury problems, with eight of his squad currently out in a repeat of last season's woes
All the current talk around Manchester United may be focused on Erik ten Hag's future, but of more immediate concern to the Dutchman is getting injured players back to rescue the season.
United have won just two of their opening seven Premier League fixtures, leaving them down in 14th place in the table, having scored a paltry five goals and conceded eight.
Against that backdrop, Ten Hag's future is under major scrutiny and was discussed at meeting of United's football executive team in London on Tuesday, with the 54-year-old still unsure of his future.
But while Ten Hag relaxes on a sunshine holiday during the international break, before his planned return to Manchester next week, his thoughts will also be occupied by the injured players he needs back as soon as possible.
During Sunday's drab 0-0 draw at Aston Villa, Ten Hag suffered another blow, with defender Harry Maguire forced off with a muscle tear that is expected to sideline him for up to four weeks.
With his first-choice central defensive pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs De Ligt horribly out of form and benched at Villa Park, the loss of Maguire is another injury setback for Ten Hag.
Jonny Evans, who partnered Maguire in the goalless draw and was named man of the match following his outstanding defensive display, remains a class act at the back, but at 36 he cannot be expected to play every game, meaning De Ligt and Martinez need to find their form again quickly.
Yet Ten Hag could soon be boosted by the return to training of £52million summer signing Leny Yoro, whose United career got off to a frustrating start when he suffered a broken metatarsal in the opening game of the US summer tour against Arsenal in Los Angeles on July 27.
The recovery timeline for Yoro was set at three months, with United in no mood to rush him back too soon and risk losing him for longer, but the 18-year-old's rehabilitation is progressing as expected, with no setbacks, with a return date likely after next month's international break.
While the impact of Yoro's injury was eased by the cover available to Ten Hag at centre-back, the same cannot be said of left-back, where Diogo Dalot has been forced to play this season, given the continued unavailability of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.
Shaw has not played for United since February, despite featuring for England at Euro 2024, and is currently making his way back from a calf problem, with Ten Hag hopeful he can return to action after the current international break, while Malacia, who missed the whole of last season, has returned to light individual training.
Ten Hag is also without Mason Mount, who missed United's last two games after receiving a cut to the head in the 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham 10 days ago, while young stars Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo were forced to pull out of international duty with injury issues, as was right-back Noussair Mazraoui.
With eight of his 24-man squad currently sidelined by injury, Ten Hag can ill-afford to lose any more players during the international break, with United's next opponents Brentford a week on Saturday. Ten Hag's side needed two goals in added time from substitute Scott McTominay to beat Thomas Frank's side at Old Trafford last season.
But McTominay is now at Napoli and Ten Hag – if he is still in the Old Trafford dugout for that game – will need those players he has available to raise their level for what is certain to be another tough test in an already taxing season for the United boss and his struggling squad.
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