Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has revealed he will not risk playing Anthony Martial in their crucial Premier League match against West Ham United on Tuesday for fear the Frenchman’s injury could be further exacerbated.
Manchester United face a crucial battle against West Ham with the chance to leapfrog arch-rivals Manchester City into fourth place, but they will have to do so without their top scorer this season. Anthony Martial picked up a tendon injury while warming up for the Red Devils’ last game against Norwich City, and Van Gaal has now revealed that he would rather not risk playing him.
“I cannot say because we have to wait,” said LVG, according to the Guardian.
“If his muscles are still tight I don’t take any risks because he is a very important player. We don’t want a rupture and that is very important for us.”
The Dutchman further added that he would not hesitate to drop other first team players, and it would all depend on how tired they were.
“It is always dependable on the data from my fatigue specialist.
“We are going home and Sunday [was] recovery and the day after is recovery. I have to decide then on the data of my fatigue specialist who I am taking with me. It’s always like that. It can happen that I leave players at home because they are too tired.”
With Martial out of the equation, teenager Marcus Rashford will be leading the line for United ahead of an attacking midfield trio of Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard. Marouane Fellaini is also out with a suspension and Van Gaal would probably play Morgan Schneiderlin and Michael Carrick in central midfield.
Marcos Rojo starts at left-back once again with Uruguayan youngster Guillermo Varela replacing the injured Matteo Darmian at right-back, and Chris Smalling and Daley Blind will form the center of defence in front of David de Gea.
