MANCHESTER, England — Erik ten Hag said he won’t take “risks” with his players in Saturday’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City despite the possibility of being left with just three fit senior defenders for the match.
Leny Yoro and Tyrell Malacia have already been ruled out and Ten Hag confirmed at a news conference on Thursday that there are “question marks” over the availability of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
It leaves just Jonny Evans, Lisandro Martínez and Diogo Dalot as the only fully fit senior defenders, alongside 17-year-old left-back Harry Amass, who started the friendly defeat to Liverpool in South Carolina on Saturday.
Martínez and Dalot have only just returned to training after playing in international tournaments in the summer and Ten Hag said he won’t risk players at Wembley ahead of the Premier League opener against Fulham next week.
“We always want to win, also in all the friendlies, it’s about a trophy, and we will put out a team that is very competitive to win this trophy,” Ten Hag said.
“But it’s also preseason. We don’t take big risks with players.”
Martínez and Dalot both missed the U.S. tour after taking part in the Copa América and European Championship, respectively.
Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho are also part of the group of international players who have returned to training at Carrington, but Ten Hag said they will have to be assessed before a decision is made about whether they can face City.
“It’s individual based,” Ten Hag said.
“Everyone has a different background. We put them on off-season programmes but they have different starts while we were in the USA. We will assess them and make a decision about whether they start, come from the bench or whether they don’t play.”
With Maguire and Lindelof both doubts, Ten Hag suggested that Martínez, in particular, would likely have to be involved.
“We are thinking about Licha to be involved in the game,” he said.
