Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, was rueing injuries when his side were in the thick of a top-four battle, as well as a UEFA Europa League and FA Cup run, but United are now set to make a crucial appointment that could ease the injury burden next season.
According to The Athletic’s, David Ornstein, Arsenal’s head of medical services, Gary O’Driscoll, is to depart North London and looks set to be heading to Manchester, joining up with United for the beginning of the new season.
The highly regarded doctor joined Arsenal back in 2009 but is set to depart after 14 years in the role.
O’Driscoll was, according to the same report, also on the verge of joining Liverpool back in 2020 but nothing materialised. The 52-year-old now looks set to join United.
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Erik ten Hag will be delighted with this
When the former Ajax manager was rueing his side’s injury crisis, on the flip side, Arsenal were enjoying a relatively great streak of luck with injuries.
“In just one game we had the squad available totally – that was against Manchester City. Every other time we have injuries, suspensions, or illnesses. We have to deal with it well but Arsenal, all the time their squad is totally available,” said a frustrated Ten Hag, back in March.
Now, whether this was a thinly veiled dig at Arsenal or just a compliment remains to be seen, but those words must have carried some truth for United to have acquired Arsenal’s head of medical services. Ten Hag will have seen Arsenal’s availability, despite the Gunners also playing Europa League games.
The United squad have struggled with injuries for years, whether it’s the likes of Anthony Martial who only featured 21 times in the Premier League last season due to injury, or Phil Jones who hasn’t featured in over 18 months – injuries have always been an issue at Old Trafford.
The hope for the current United boss is that O’Driscoll can help address the culture of injuries that has permeated United for years.
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