Don't know when Robin van Persie will be back: Man Utd boss Louis van Gaal

Louis van Gaal unsure when Robin van Persie will return from injury

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal is unsure of the return date of Dutch striker Robin van Persie. Van Persie suffered an ankle injury during the 2-1 loss against Swansea City, and will be missing the upcoming fixture against Newcastle United.

The medical team at United are still assessing the Dutchman's situation and are unsure when he will be available. Van Persie, who has scored 10 times for United this year, missed out on the 2-0 victory against Sunderland.

United have to face Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool in their next three fixtures after Newcastle and the Dutchman, although hoping his striker is back as soon as the FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal, said that Van Persie will not be able to make a quick recovery from his injury.

Playing Carrick against Sunderland was risky: Van Gaal

Van Gaal also stated that he won’t risk playing Michael Carrick against Newcastle, although the midfielder was on the bench against Sunderland.

“I took a risk with that,” he told a news conference. “As a substitute you can play 20 minutes, which he can do.”

The 63-year old manager said he was forced to play Carrick due to the unavailability of players, Luke Shaw and Phil Jones.

“It is difficult to say as, in every training session, you can be injured or the fatigue specialist can say he [the player] is not fit enough to play a game,” Van Gaal added. “And then I have to decide not to use that player. So it's always difficult to say but the only injured player is Van Persie. It is too quick to say anything about that [a length of absence for the striker].”

Van Gaal expects a tough competition from Newcastle United and says John Craver’s side is not to be taken lightly.

“They always play with a very high rhythm, they want to give a lot of energy and the fans are supporting a lot,” he told MUTV. “They want to play football – I like that. I hope it shall be a good game and we shall win.”

youtube-cover

Quick Links

Edited by Staff Editor