Ahead of Man Utd's tough test at Selhurst Park this Saturday to face a struggling Crystal Palace, Erik ten Hag spoke to the media discussing the returns of Hojlund and Mount, managing injuries and last season's hiding at The Eagles.
The Dutchman says that "it's very good news" that the pair of Hojlund and Mount are back as the two of them have hardly played any football this season or in Hojlund's case, no football.
"They are back in team training" continued ten Hag, "we have to decide whether they are fit enough to start [on Saturday] but it is very pleasing they are fit and back in the squad."
Due to the amount of fixtures in this short period between international breaks, ten Hag says that he is "very very happy" to have a couple of players back although tomorrow will be the day they make the final call on if Hojlund and Mount will participate in the game, at least to some extent.
When it comes to managing injuries in general, the MUFC boss says that it's unavoidable but that when you have all your players ready to go "then it's easier to manage the load." He talked about how last season, he wasn't afforded such a luxury as most of his squad were hammered by injuries resulting in the over playing of a lot of players.
On the trip to Selhurst Park, ten Hag says that last season's 4-0 loss was "totally deserved" but that this Saturday "will be different." He talks about how he doesn't compare different situations as from February onwards, "we had to find 11 players to construct a team. Now it is 18 and we can pick one."
Quotes via The United Stand official X.
Final Thoughts
It is pretty great news to have Hojlund and Mount back even if they're not fully ready. We've known that they were back training from yesterday but to have the manager confirm that they could take part on Saturday is encouraging news.
We've seen just how important it is to have a squad as ten Hag rotated almost his entire team from last Saturday at Southampton to Tuesday against Barnsley. This wasn't something that he was able to do last season.
With more players coming back (and even more on top of this with Yoro, Malacia and Shaw), it just makes things easier as he said. The competition for places will also heat up and has already had an effect on some of the squad.
We saw improved performances by Antony and Casemiro, and Rashford continued his good form on Tuesday night. Mount was also doing well as false 9 before his injury so he would want to try and work his way back as soon as possible.
It is interesting to hear him say that the 4-0 defeat at Palace last season was "totally deserved." Not saying he's wrong but still, totally deserved is quite strong.
But I like the fact that he says that that game compared to this is two different situations and that we shouldn't actually compare them.
In a way, it is flipped for the two sides as Palace have had a poor start to the season sitting 16th with two draws and two losses whereas United had a morale boosting victory at Southampton and a thumping 7-0 win in the Carabao Cup to add even more motivation and confidence.
Palace also sold their best player in Michael Olise while United have strengthened their squad over the summer and have 18 players to choose from rather than having to scrap to find players just to make a starting XI.
As I said, there is a lot of competition for places as several players are performing well to a point where it is difficult for the manager to select a team. Whoever he picks though, it's great to know that he has options that can make a difference off the bench, something he didn't have last year.
Background Image: Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount return to Man Utd training | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)