Manchester United told to ask 'the real question' over injury crisis after Erik ten Hag comments

Erik ten Hag has pinned a large portion of the blame on injuries when explaining what has gone wrong at Manchester United this season.

233 games have been missed by injured United players this term, the fourth most of any team in the Premier League according to Transfermarkt. Muscle problems have been a key reason for many of United's absentees across the campaign, with Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw among the current players out of action due to this.

Speaking before Monday's 4-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace, Ten Hag could not hide his exasperation at the huge number of injury problems within his squad. "For over 10 years I am managing, I never had this experience," he said.

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"So huge, so many injury issues, so I trust all my experience, it can happen once in 10 years. Hopefully, now I have to wait another 10 to have so many injuries to deal with."

And a possible explanation has been provided by Stephen Smith, CEO of Kitman Labs. Smith's company are experts on sports science and performance intelligence, having worked with the Premier League and hundreds of other sports clubs and organisations.

When asked aboutany specific factors which could contribute to a muscle injury, he said: "We know that there are myriad different potential risk factors and that's what makes this so complex. There are several factors that all potentially influence or contribute to muscle injury, such as stress, strain and load in athletes and their own personal physicality and fitness levels.

"Additionally you have the