Is it confirmed that Manchester United's departing medical staff were veterinarians? Currently, Amorin’s squad has zero injuries, which is not solely due to fewer matches.

Last week, following Lisandro Martínez’s return to regular training after 9 months, Manchester United saw a rare occurrence with the whole team free from injuries. Naturally, besides Lima, some players were not in their best shape, like Harry Maguire and Mason Mount, who missed recent matches due to fitness concerns.

However, compared to the situation under Ten Hag, this is astonishing. During Ten Hag’s tenure, Manchester United recorded 66 different injury incidents. At the start of the 2023/24 season, in the Champions League away match against Bayern Munich in September, up to 10 players were sidelined due to injuries.

When facing the threat of dismissal, Ten Hag presented an analysis showing the number of different centre-back partnerships at Manchester United to demonstrate the difficulty he faced due to numerous player injuries. He unfolded a paper with the number “32” written on it, earning him the nickname “Manchester United Yang Kun” among Chinese fans.

This season, Manchester United’s injury record has been quite favorable, with only Lima, Mazraoui, Cunha, Mason Mount, Diogo Dalot, and Maguire suffering injuries. Excluding the long-term injured Lima, the Red Devils have collectively missed just 9 games due to injury. The longest absence was Mazraoui’s 4-week recovery, but the October international break helped reduce his missed matches.

One key reason for the sharp decline in injuries at Manchester United is undoubtedly the reduced number of matches. Last season, the team played as many as 60 games, whereas this season it might be as few as 40, depending on their FA Cup progress. Having only one game per week naturally reduces fatigue and injury risk.

In contrast, during Van Gaal’s first season managing Manchester United, they played only 44 games but still suffered from many injuries. Carrick missed 20 games, Daley Blind was out for two months, and Di María and Falcao frequently struggled with injuries. On one occasion before training, Van Gaal joked, “Can you imagine only one player is injured?”

The team’s most experienced player at 30, Luke Shaw, has had persistent injuries over 12 years. His first season at the club was under Van Gaal’s management, during which he suffered six injuries and played only 20 out of 44 games. This season, however, Shaw has remained injury-free since recovering in April and has started all 10 Premier League matches. This is partly due to his shift to centre-back, which requires less constant running up and down the pitch.

Another coincidence noticed is that Luke Shaw’s injury-free period coincides with the departure of two team doctors — head of sports medicine Gary O’Driscoll and injury management chief Jim Moxon in March 2025. Fans jokingly confirm the “veterinarian” identity of these former medics!

Of course, the official explanation is the opposite. They say O’Driscoll from Arsenal and Moxon, formerly of Liverpool, laid a solid foundation for medical department reforms and chose to leave only after effective adjustments to pursue new challenges.

Manchester United has several outstanding ironmen in the squad: Bruno Fernandes has missed only 3 matches due to injury in his career, Mbeumo was substituted off for just 3 minutes in 38 Premier League games last season, and centre-back De Ligt is the new durable mainstay.

The UK’s The Sun reports that the reduction in Manchester United’s injuries may be related to proper recovery training after matches. After last month’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield, players returned to Carrington the next day and immediately used the sauna and ice baths. The previously criticized cramped sauna, which Cristiano Ronaldo had complained about, has been renovated.

The £50 million refurbished first-team training facilities at Carrington now offer improved support. A new rehabilitation room has been built, providing yoga and Pilates sessions.

One of the most notable new features is the high-altitude training room, capable of accommodating multiple players simultaneously, making training less monotonous. The staff at the base highly praise this equipment, considering it more advanced than most Premier League clubs.

Manchester United’s first-team building basement includes steam rooms, saunas, hot and cold plunge pools, and zero-gravity rehabilitation equipment. The latter allows injured players to run underwater to reduce gravitational stress, with their movements monitored by screens on nearby walls.

Additionally, unlike Ten Hag, Amorin brought his own fitness coach, Paulo Barrera, who previously worked at Liverpool and Arsenal and earned a doctorate from Liverpool John Moores University with a thesis on hamstring injury prevention.

Some Manchester United players believe Ten Hag’s training intensity was too high, causing serious injury problems. He also often risked playing players who were not fully fit. In contrast, Amorin organizes midweek training sessions with intensity varying from match load to recovery days. He avoids risking players just returning from injury, as recently seen with Mount and Maguire.