Man United defender, Jonny Evans, was forced to play through pain against Crystal Palace, despite failing a late fitness test.
Manchester United’s injury issues are well documented. Erik ten Hag has largely gotten away with it, with fans willing to put it down to just sheer bad luck.
However, as time goes on, the Dutchman is starting to receive more stick for these treatment table woes. At the end of the day, he’s the manager and these vast amounts of injuries were not happening before he arrived.
Last night’s game against Crystal Palace was the final straw for me, particularly when Attacking Football ran an exclusive about Jonny Evans’ fitness.
The Northern Irishman had been missing for a few weeks through injury, though he was pictured back in training over the weekend.
To everyone’s surprise, Evans was given a start. Eyebrows were raised purely due to the fact he hadn’t had many training sessions under his belt…
According to Attacking Football, the United star failed a late fitness test ahead of the Palace game, though Ten Hag decided to start Evans anyway. Here in lies a major problem. This is pure carelessness from the boss.
He’s risking Evans’ fitness in what was pretty much a dead rubber for United. They’re not going to finish inside the top four, so why risk it? It’s just meaningless and I’ll never get my head around the decision.
Suddenly, I’m starting to question Ten Hag’s decision-making when it comes to injuries. If he’s willing to put Evans’ body on the line in that situation, how many times has this happened that we do not know about? It’s majorly concerning.
Evans, no doubt, was feeling the pressure from the gaffer and he decided to be the warrior that we all know he is. Sadly, it was far from a vintage performance from the veteran last night, which was to be expected given the fact he wasn’t anywhere close to fitness…
Do you think Jonny Evans will be given another one-year contract next season? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.