Just having them available again after such a long time out will be a boost to the other squad members.
Paul Pogba
United started the season very well and were neck-and-neck with City after five games. They started to slide when Pogba was injured against Basel in the Champion’s League group game.
We always find it amazing that great players can be so good without being noticed so much and that it is only when they are injured or out of the team for some other reason that we realise how important they are!
His strength and power in midfield have been sorely missed and the likes of Herrera, Mkhitaryan, Mata and Matić are different types of players, so there has been no direct replacement for him.
He also represents a goal threat from anywhere within thirty yards of the opposition goal and it is no coincidence that Lukaku is not scoring regularly since Pogba picked up his injury.
His return can’t come soon enough for both the team and the fans who want to get back on the winning trail after defeats against Huddersfield and Chelsea and low level performances against Tottenham and Liverpool.
Marcos Rojo
Marcos Rojo is a player who, a year or so ago, wouldn’t have been missed and his future at Old Trafford was the subject of some debate at the time.
Since then, however, he had been putting in some solid performances until his injury and had formed a decent partnership with Eric Bailly. Then, of course, he got injured. Bailly, as we know, went on to form another good partnership, this time with United’s own “sicknote” Phil Jones. It was only ever a matter of time before he was injured!
With new signing Victor Lindelof struggling to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League this has meant a recall for the donkey that is Chris Smalling and it is no surprise that United’s results and performances have suffered since his return, (and Pogba’s injury, in fairness).
Now that Rojo appears to have regained his fitness he needs to be reintroduced to the team as quickly as possible to resume his partnership with Eric Bailly.
Jones, on the odd occasion he is fit, is useful to have around in case Mourinho wants to play a back three and, hopefully, Lindelof, at some point, will overcome his nerves on the big stage and begin to feature regularly.
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan wasn’t missed initially as Romelu Lukaku set off as though he was going to score in every game in which he played.
When he started to go through his mini-drought, as it will no doubt prove to be, there was no plan B. He couldn’t really be taken off after an hour, even when not playing well or not getting the service, because there wasn’t an alternative. Granted that Fellaini is just as big and probably, just as daft, but he isn’t the goalscorer that his fellow Belgian is.
So Lukaku has had to suffer in silence and just be patient until the chances start to come again, which they surely will.
As for Zlatan, well he has been telling anybody who is willing to listen how important the number ten role is in a team and why it is the most important position on the pitch, (an opinion, the nascence of which, coincides remarkably with him being given the number ten shirt at Old Trafford).
If he can play that role as well as he seems to think he can, then there will be games when he and Lukaku can play together. In other games it will be one or the other but at least it will give Mourinho a happy headache which wasn’t there before.
The most important thing is that they are all fit again and add much needed strength to the squad. Let’s just hope they can stay fit for the rest of the season because, if they can, it could be a busy one.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 