Manchester United news: Nemanja Matic injury still a concern
By Josh McSwain
Nemanja Matic was the prized acquisition of the offseason for Manchester United, but suffered a small knock against Watford a couple of weeks ago. Though he started against Arsenal he was kept out of Tuesday’s Champions League contest.
Jose Mourinho did not leave much ambiguity when talking about the status of Matic. Mourinho said, “Matic is injured and when I say he is injured, he is injured. I am not going to make him play tomorrow so Matic is out,” he told a news conference on Monday.
A muscle problem caused the Serbian midfielder to limp off while at Vicarage Road last month. While discussing the injury to Matic, Mourinho said that it was an important muscle that he had injured. It was the main reason that he was pulled after just 54 minutes of that contest.
More from Playing for 90
- Alexia Putellas reaches 400 games with Barcelona
- Everything you need to know ahead of the 250th ‘Super Clásico’
- Barcelona put five past Real Betis
- Manchester City suffer but come away with win over West Ham
- Baffling Liga MX ruling strips Puebla of a hard-earned victory
While the injury was not severe enough to keep Matic off the field for a long period of time, it is one that must be closely monitored. He did not take the field against CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford. United must continue to have his services if they want to contend in the Premier League and Champions League.
In addition to Matic, the list of players with some injury is exceedingly long. Marouane Fellaini is nursing a knee injury, Michael Carrick is out following a procedure on his heart, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is coming back slowly from his knee injury, Phil Jones has been out for a few games (as if that’s anything new) and Eric Bailly has been in and out of the lineup–missing the last few games with a knock.
This is the point at which the depth of the squad will be tested. Right now Manchester City leads the Premier League because they have so much depth to their squad. United’s depth is still unproven. With Ander Herrera having an up and down season, Paul Pogba now suspended for three games and Fellaini on the mend, the midfield for United is pretty thin. United cannot jeopardize losing Matic for an extended period of time.
Next: Zlatan's top 10 goals of all-time
That said, Matic will play in the Manchester Derby barring something unforeseen. However, he needs to be in a position where he is not chasing all over the field and put at a greater risk of getting hurt. His skill will be needed for the game, but the rest of the year must also be kept in mind. It would not surprise me if he doesn’t go the full 90 in the game. Also knowing Mourinho I doubt we will see much aggression from the attack in the game.