http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=337021&cc=5739 Even before a ball is kicked in anger there is a nice steady list of injuries to contend with, Keane, Brown, Fortune, Heinze... We do seem to be plagued with injuries for the last couple of seasons and I was wondering if anybody had any thoughts as to why? My initial thought was that it could be that we are working them too hard in training? God by the time we are through the Asia Tour we will be into the reserves at this rate!
its not good, missing pre-season is a massive blow, hopefully they won't be out too long.. on a more positive note, atleast there will be room for a few youngsters from the reserves in the squad if the 21 man squad going to asia is correct.
Heinze is not hurt. He is at home resting, due to the Confederation Cup, and grooming his newly worn beard. He will be back soon. Brown and Fortune are infamous for their injuries. This should come as no surprise. Actually, I'm surprised it didn't happen earlier, like on the flight to Portugal. It's not so bad, with the exception of Keane (why didn't we try to have a suitable back-up before, again?). Now, fingers crossed, if only P Neville can trip and tear something while getting out of bed. Please, Lord?
JC is right. Heinze is being rested. Keane is the only worriesome injury as he's the only other key player in the current list. However, it's either good that they aren't disclosing the injury simply because they don't need to risk him on a promotional tour - plus we need to settle on his number 1 backup - or, it could be a bigger problem that we don't know about yet. For now, let's just say that he has a "niggle" and is just getting the extra time off. Of our current squad, I'd say Keane is the one that needs to be rested as much as possible. Hopefully, that's the case....
I think Keane has bad memories of his last trip to that part of the world Seriously though, Brown injured? Is that news? It is actually more unusual to see him not injured. As for Keane, he is getting older and we cannot rely on him to be consistantly available.
Which is why this Asia tour can be a good opportunity for some of the Reserves to get games, though meaningless ones, with the first team to see what they can do. Hopefully between Fletcher, Neville, O'Shea, and Jones they can provide sufficient strength to enable Keane to rest more this year.
I'd love to have a healthy Keano for a full season just one more time. Seems unlikely though. Even if he's at his healthiest you would still count on him being rested for at least one or two matches a month. He's very well in the twilight of his footballing career, but I think he's still got one or two good years left in his bag. C'mon Keano. Get well and get out there. And then lend us some money so we can buy a decent replacement.
It's no secret that SAF feels that the USA tour last year caused serious problems for the team. I would not be surprised if he is taking preventive measures this summer and keeping some players out of the Far East tour by declaring them unfit.
we played scrubs on the USA tour so I dont see how it affected the first team... I do think that Brown is a worry at this stage though... he did so well last season, I'd really love to see him start the season as Rio's partner as opposed to Silvestre. However, Fergie said it was not serious that he was just taking notice of his achilles... neither Keane nor Brown have been withdrawn from the squad to go to the far east, they are just being rested. I doubt Keane's injured at all... they are saying hamstrings, which is not good, but its not horrid either. More than likely though, its an issue of not risking him too often simply because he's the last guy who needs to be told be fit for the start of the season. He still covers the most ground on the team (well, perhaps save Rooney on a busy day) so him missing out on actual match fitness is not that big a deal.
Come on, folks. These are the same "injuries" that keep our players out of international friendlies. I seriously doubt there is anything to panic over.
I think its more precautionary than anything else. They should be fine for the start of the season. In a way I think having Keane out of the Far East tour could be a good thing for Fletcher and Jones, and maybe Klebs if he is still with us.
I'm hoping this is the year where we really see Fletch come of age. I know Fergie really rates him, but for the most part my jury is still out on him.
It's not a Fletcher thread, but that's so true. He does some things so well (long passing, creative, workrate), but other things so poorly (short passing, slow on the ball, runs forward).
Perhaps everyone will be just fine... http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=199521&itype=466&icategoryid=120