Ahead of Man Utd's opener in the Europa League against the side that Erik ten Hag made his professional debut with as a player, FC Twente, the Dutchman and Noussair Mazraoui spoke to the media about United's run in the Europa League, facing a side ten Hag "loves" and injury news.
But the big news from the MUFC boss was what he said regarding the new European formats and adding extra games.
"There are too many games, too many competitions, it's clear. The players are overloaded, this is not good for football. Maybe it's good for commercial."
On having a congested fixture list, the manager said that as one club, they cannot change things but that it's about several clubs, players and coaches that can make a difference. "We have to work on this to improve the game and find the right balance. We are professional, and revenues have to come, but we have to balance it out."
The Europa League is a competition MUFC have won once in their history which was with Jose Mourinho in 2017, a manager United will face soon as the Red Devils travel to Turkey to take on the Special One's Fenerbahce in match 3.
The current manager says that there are "more roads to achieve the targets you want" but that he and his club "don't look to far ahead. We have to go game-by-game."
Discussing his former club, Erik ten Hag says that Twente "brought him a lot" and that he "would have preferred to play against somebody else. It's not nice to hurt something you love."
He also spoke about Luke Shaw and how the plan is for him to return before the next international break (in two weeks) but admitted that that return "can be a short while after."
ten Hag also hit back (again) at Jamie Redknapp after the pundit said that Marcus Rashford had been dropped for Saturday's draw at Crystal Palace because of 'something untoward' going on in the background at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman said that he "didn't understand the criticism" and that "people are not entitled to bring speculation."
Noussair Mazraoui says that he felt he "needed another step" and that he "could feel more comfortable somewhere else" when talking about why he left Bayern Munich.
The Moroccan also says that he has a lot more to give when it comes to his ability on the field.
Quotes via The United Stand on X.
Final Thoughts
I fully agree with the manager when it comes to too many games. Most of the top teams are playing on average around 60-70 games without internationals. This would come to a total of around 80+ without any international tournaments, just friendlies and qualifiers. Add a World Cup or Euros and a lot are playing around 90-100 games.
There's then the pre-season matches all around the world that takes a couple of weeks as well. This all results in the players having around just two weeks of time off.
I also believe that due to the overload, players get injured far too often. Rodri spoke about this last week and how players are potentially close to going on strike because of the amounts of football. He is now injured for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
As much as we all love the game, too much football is detrimental to the game itself as we aren't seeing as many top quality matches as we should. Too many players are getting sidelined and no one really cares about the wellbeing of the players themselves.
A lot of people think that players should just get on with it thanks to the large wages they're being paid. That doesn't lessen the load as it takes tremendous amounts of mental and physical strength to get through a season.
It is indeed, all for commercial reasons.
As for the competition itself, we know that ten Hag takes each trophy very seriously as most of the time, his teams go to the latter stages of the tournament. I see no changes for this year's EL campaign.
The new format will make things a little more interesting but I do believe United will be one of the favorites to lift the trophy. That is the aim of Erik ten Hag.
I would also like to win it because it means another trophy, a route into next season's Champions League and we've only won it once, I'd like to pump those numbers up as well.
Luke Shaw potentially being out until after the next international break shouldn't be a surprise. It is a little frustrating that he isn't back already given the reports when he was announced injured at the start of the season but with his record, the fact that he could return at all should be something we're thankful for.
I also feel that we should keep the full-backs as they are because Dalot and Mazraoui have been two of our standout players this season.
I'm sure it does really suck to have to play a team that means so much to you. For ten Hag to say that he loves Twente and that he watches them a lot, it shows that they still have a special place for him in his heart. But the fact that he also said that you have to hurt something that you loves says to me that he isn't going to hold back tomorrow night.
I think Mazraoui has been brilliant. I was a fan of his at Bayern and always felt that he was underrated. When we got him, I was more excited for him than De Ligt even though his Dutch counterpart is a bigger name.
Mazraoui has been one of our most consistent players and one of the best this season. Every game, he's put in a 7/10 performance and plays like he's been playing for United for many years.
He does exactly what you want and doesn't really generate any drama. The fact that he also believes that his levels can improve is worrying,
for the opposition 😄.
What a steal he was at £15m.
Background Image: Erik ten Hag in Man Utd training | Image credit: Getty Images via Eurosport