Filed under: Manchester United, Premier League, Football
A concern has become a drama has become a crisis. When Sir Alex Ferguson announced in April that midfielder Darren Fletcher had been struck down by a viral infection the messages from Manchester United - both officially and off the record - were that the Scottish international was facing a minor setback.It now appears to be worse than that. Far, far worse. Fletcher's value to United seems to have grown exponentially with every passing season as he has matured from a bit-part player to an integral, aggressive and combative part of Ferguson's midfield.
Yet when will United see him snapping at opponents' heels again? United have revealed that Fletcher, far from suffering from a slight virus, is struggling to overcome a problem that has kept him out since March and he will miss United's pre-season tour of the United States as a result.
The club had expected - and planned - for him to have been back to full strength a month ago but it appears Fletcher simply cannot shift the virus.
He has lost a tremendous amount of weight and strength and Ferguson must now be deeply concerned about whether or not Fletcher will be ready for the new season.
United are hopeful that Fletcher could be back in time to play in Paul Scholes's testimonial against New York Cosmos on August 5, or the Community Shield against Manchester City 48 hours later.
But if he is not back for those occasions, questions will have to be asked about whether or not he can play a part in the early defense of United's Premier League title.
Fletcher has always been one of those players that are only missed when they are not there.
He does the unseen "hard yards" better than almost anyone else in the English game, harrying defenders, driving United forward and offering an energetic and passionate option.
It remains to be seen how long United will be without him but there is no doubt that they are better with him than without him and Ferguson already has a serious pre-season headache to contend with.
A United spokesman told the Manchester Evening News: "Darren will remain at Carrington to undergo an individualised conditioning programme given he missed a large proportion of last season.
"This will help him catch up fitness-wise to the levels of the rest of the team.
"We tried to accelerate things but we want to give him the best opportunity to be fully fit for the new season. We feel a reduction in the amount of time Darren spends travelling will help him achieve this."
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/07/09/manchester-united-darren-fletcher-illness-pre-season-us-tour/
Ze Roberto Zlatan Ibrahimovic Adam Scott Adrian Mutu Albert Montanes
No comments:
Post a Comment