Ratcliffe should take a look at 5 issues to repair Man Utd’s damage woes, says Ferdinand

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has advised Sir Jim Ratcliffe to investigate five potential causes for their injury crisis.

The Red Devils have been hampered by injuries all season, losing 4-0 at Crystal Palace last night without 10 first-team players in another low point of Erik ten Hag’s reign. United fans have been seeking answers as to why the squad struggles to stay fit.

Ferdinand discussed possible explanations on his Vibe with FIVE podcast before the Palace match, which was their record-breaking 13th defeat in a Premier League season. “I think you can say maybe a bit of training, but I just think sometimes it’s bad luck as well,” he said.

READ MORE: Jamie Carragher tells Man Utd stars to ‘shut up and get off the pitch’ after Palace embarrassment

READ MORE: Man Utd star told he’s got “three games left at the top level” after Palace humbling

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“You’ve got to look at the training, the nutrition, the loads that they put through the training sessions, that’s got to be looked at. But also sometimes it’s down to bad luck as well. I would definitely be looking and analysing through data, all those areas.

“Nutrition, the loads through training, the amount of training, the time in training and also game time and game load. Is he putting too much on players through too many games?

“I don’t know, it’s difficult. That’s the job of INEOS, to go in there and to check out that data and to find out because it has been a problem. We can’t have this repeated next season.”

What would you suggest? Let us know in the comments section.

Erik ten Hag has defended his position, reports the Mirror. He was adamant about his role as boss, telling Sky Sports “absolutely” to whether he’s the right man for the job.

He owned up to the defeat but pointed out their defensive woes were compounded by having seven defenders out of action. Ten Hag stated: “I will keep fighting.

“I prepared the team in the best way I could do. It was not good enough – by far not good enough – I have to take the responsibility for that.

“But I will find energy and I will prepare them for Sunday’s game [against Arsenal]. At the end of the day I have to do it with the players who are available. All season we have huge problems and right now this is the fourth defeat in this calendar year, which is not a lot.

“Every time we had huge problems and many times we saw it out, today we didn’t. If the right players are there and available, we have a good squad, but we missed almost a whole back line and then we have problems.”