Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag says 2024/25 season will be ‘survival of the fittest’

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes the 2024/25 campaign will be the ‘survival of the fittest’ amid rising fitness concerns.

The Red Devils were racked with injuries throughout the 2023/24 campaign, with the likes of Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Sofyan Amrabat and Lisandro Martinez suffering with serious issues at various points in the campaign, among a host of other players.

But United — who finished eighth in the Premier League and won the FA Cup — weren’t the only team to be hit by fitness issues, with a brutal schedule at both club at international level resulting in more and more squads being stretched.

United have taken steps this summer to alleviate their own issues with the signings of Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro, while they’ve added Gary O’Driscoll and Jordan Reece from Arsenal to head of sports medicine and head physio roles, respectively.

However, Ten Hag still believes this season will provide a serious test to the bodies of Premier League and European players.

“Even more than before, this season will be the survival of the fittest,” Ten Hag said ahead of this weekend’s friendly clash with Arsenal in California (via BBC Sport).

“The load on the players is so high. We are not the only team with so many injuries and we were not even the worst. It was our bad luck. We had them at the end of the season in the back four and it cost us a lot of points. But the pressure on players is immense, with the new model in Europe.”