Louis Saha says that his former club Manchester United will certainly miss the services of Michael Carrick and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the EFL Cup final.
Both crucial players will be unavailable for selection due to injuries, as United prepare to take on Southampton in the EFL Cup final. The club are hoping to win their first major honour of the season, while United still remain in contention for three other trophies. The club are also fighting to finish in the top four of the league table. Once upon a time, Saha was regarded as one of the main forwards at Manchester United.
He ended up lifting the League Cup back in 2006. Aside from the League Cup, the Frenchman also won major honours like the league title and the Champions League with United. Saha is someone who knows the value of the best players being on the pitch when it comes to the big matches. Even though Henrikh Mkhitaryan may have struggled to get much game time in the first few months at United, the £ 30 million signing from Borussia Dortmund has been an influential player in reviving the club’s form.
Manchester United also seemed to rule out Michael Carrick as an ageing midfielder, but the 35-year-old has played a crucial role in Jose Mourinho’s team over the last few months.
“It will definitely make a difference because they are two very important players in terms of getting the right balance between attack and defence. But United show they are still very capable of finding solutions and the actual strength of the team is balance, it’s a really balanced team now,” said Saha. Jose Mourinho, however, downplayed the absence of both these players. “Obviously they are important players for us and not to have them both for the final is complicated but I think Marouane [Fellaini] and Bastian [Schweinsteiger] – two players who are normally not playing too much – is a good answer,” said Mourinho.