Manchester United 'launch internal investigation' as crisis worsens under Erik ten Hag

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says the club will launch an internal investigation in order to get to the bottom of the side's crippling injury problems.

Ten Hag hasn't had the season he would have been hoping for after a relatively successful first year in charge which saw the club win the Carabao Cup and qualify for the Champions League with an impressive third-place finish.

Any sort of momentum has quickly been squashed in 2023/24, with the club sitting outside of the Champions League positions in 6th place. Ten Hag's men also faced disaster in their Champions League campaign, finishing bottom of their group.

While it doesn't really feel like an excuse given the levels of performance all season, United have been dealing with a pretty excessive injury list for a lot of the season.

Ten Hag spoke about the club's issues on Wednesday ahead of his side's clash with fellow underachievers Chelsea.

"We have an idea but we will work on that internally and deal with it," The Dutchmen explained.

The crisis is predominantly in defence, which was worsened at the weekend in the club's 1-1 draw with Brentford as Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof now ruled out for a month. They join Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia as defensive casualties on the sidelines.

Despite the investigation, Ten Hag was quick to direct some blame on the jam-packed fixture list the club is dealing with this season despite no European football.

"You can't prevent it, it's not only us who've had this. The standards of the Premier League from an intensity perspective are so high, the overload of the schedule, international football is so huge, and we have internationals in our squad," Ten Hag told the media.

Lisandro Martinez- Getty

Luckily for United fans there is some good news as the United manager also confirmed there are no fresh problems, and also provided an update on those close to returning to the squad.

"There are no more issues, we don't need any!' In the front line and midfield, we are okay and we have options there, but in the back line, we have a lack of options,' The 54-year-old explained.

"The good thing is back that Rapha Varane and Jonny Evans are in training this afternoon. Yesterday Harry Maguire was back in training."