Worries grow over Tyrell Malacia as the defender was absent from the first day of preseason training.
Tyrell Malacia missed all of last season through injury and it was hoped that the off-season could see him make a strong return for the upcoming campaign. We described him as Manchester United’s biggest mystery heading into pre-season.
But the fact Malacia has missed the inaugural session of pre-season has fans scratching their heads as to when he will be able to play again.
Malacia’s injury problems
From July 2023 the player has been suffering an ongoing injury that is still yet to be resolved. This means that he will have been absent for over a year when the new Premier League campaign starts soon.
The massive 52 games missed has been hugely costly to player and club. For Manchester United the issues that Malacia has experienced meant that the side were without a back-up left back for the season when the club had an injury crisis and Luke Shaw’s injury issues recurred.
The makeshift backline of the team meant that many players were out of position and it led the side conceding a worrying 58 goals in the 2023/24 campaign. Erik ten Hag described Malacia’s absence as a key factor in the team’s struggles.
2024/25 a huge season For Malacia
The upcoming season will be incredibly important to manage Malacia’s workload and the side must be conservative with bringing the defender back.
The fact that the player has missed a year of football means there will be many areas of fitness he will have to work on, and this is going to have to be monitored to make sure that re-injury does not happen.
Also, fans need to be patient. Even when he has returned it will take him a long time to regain match sharpness and fitness levels, plus during this whole time his de-conditioned state means that he is likely to get re-injured.
The journey of an injury is also incredibly personal. One player may get through the stages more quickly than another, so it all depends on how Tyrell Malacia’s body reacts to each stage of his return. It is a very individualised process with a lot of testing to make sure that a player is cleared.
The absence of the player on the training pitch may not all be doom and gloom. He could be working on an individualised regime that gives him added protection so that he can focus on certain aspects he may be lacking in.
Positives
This season ahead could be a fresh start and age is on his side as he is only 24 years old. He may yet live up to the billing of the old cliche that he will be “like a new signing”.
Also, Manchester United are set on improving the medical facilities at the club with bringing in new staff and are now investing in improving training facilities too. This will all benefit Malacia’s road to recovery.
If he is able to complete a full pre-season with no setbacks he will be able to have a strong season ahead. The baseline fitness instilled before the season will be of utmost importance to make sure he will be healthy from start to finish.
This, in turn, could help improve the fortunes of Luke Shaw as the workload can be shared between the two of them rather than too much pressure on one player.
Manchester United could yet sign a new player at the left-back position, to ease the pressure on both players.
Shaw can also play at centre-back, while Malacia featured at right-back occasionally in his first season, so a new left-back could be the best option, giving the team more cover. This would also solve the problem that each of the current left-backs cannot be relied upon to sufficiently deputies for the other.
With both players injury prone, if one gets injured, the other is immediately tasked with playing twice a week – exacerbating their own chance of getting an injury of their own. A new face, one who is less injury-prone, would help solve this dilemma.
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