Manchester United have been handed another damaging blow, with Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko now expected to miss the rest of the calendar year.<\/p>\n
According to The Athletic, the Slovenia international is not due back until January, a timeline that only adds to the pressure around the United boss, who could by then already be out of a job. The setback is a serious one for a side already battling through a difficult spell.<\/p>\n
\u0160e\u0161ko is believed to have played through the final two months of last season with the shin problem that is still affecting him. Even so, he played a part in helping United secure Champions League qualification. That history makes the current decision easier to understand, but no less painful for the club.<\/p>\n
United chose not to send the 23-year-old for surgery over the summer. Instead, they opted for an extended period of rest in the hope that it would help him recover fully. The club has now concluded that he needs a longer spell out to reduce the risk of the problem returning later.<\/p>\n
For Carrick, the timing could hardly be worse. United\u2019s wider crisis has already included mutiny, humiliation and supporter unrest, and this latest development arrives just as the season enters a decisive phase.<\/p>\n
Their issues in front of goal have been obvious across the opening two months. In \u0160e\u0161ko\u2019s absence, United have largely relied on improvised solutions at centre forward. Joshua Zirkzee remains the only other natural No. 9, yet his return of 10 goals in 83 appearances underlines why he has not been the answer.<\/p>\n
Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes have all been used as stand-in strikers ahead of him, but none has thrived there. Carrick now faces the task of finding a lasting fix to a growing problem, with his own position potentially tied to the outcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u0160e\u0161ko\u2019s delayed return leaves United short of options and increases pressure on Carrick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[1047,242,180],"class_list":["post-22111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-champions-league","tag-injury","tag-player-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}