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Eric den Haag believes English football has reached a tipping point in terms of the demands placed on Premier League stars by club and international football's punishment table.
Manchester United have struggled with a crippling injury throughout ten Hoag's second season at Old Trafford, with more than 50 separate cases recorded after Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof were sidelined again this week.
At least Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans are back in training to ease the defensive injury crisis ahead of Thursday's clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
But the problems are being felt by other Premier League clubs and Den Haag insists they are the result of an overload that stretched into last season and the mid-winter World Cup.
The United boss said: 'Obviously, players are overburdened at any position and can't bring in any more performances.' „We have already reached a point where we demand what we want from our best players.
Eric den Haag has called for a punishment schedule for players on duty for club and country
The Dutch manager's latest injury is Victor Lindelof, who was forced off against Brentford.
Den Haag will also miss the services of Lisandro Martinez, with both players ruled out for at least a month this week.
'The huge amount of games we've played in the last 18 months. That still affects our team, the accumulation of players.
'You see last weekend City were playing without (Kyle) Walker and (John) Stones. Without them levels fell. It was a different team to what we faced.'
Den Haag believes the problem is getting worse as more international football and some countries ignore their clubs' interests when they are away from them.
He added: 'If you continue with this process the levels for the teams will continue to decline and we are overloading the international competition.
„It cannot be avoided 100 percent, it cannot be. You depend on certain facts. Also, we have national teams five times a year. You will give up players and you will have no damage.
'Some national teams we have good connections with and we manage the programmes, but there are others who do what they want. You have nothing to do with what they do there.'
Manchester City have also been hit by injuries and will be without John Stones
Both Stones and his compatriot Kyle Walker picked up the issues during England's recent friendlies.
Den Haag has dismissed suggestions that his training regime is too rigid and has contributed to United's injury problems this season.
'No, we didn't train too hard,' he insisted. 'With the quality in this league, you have to be fit. Otherwise, you won't be able to match the standards you need in a game.
You need very strong players, that's what it takes. When you go to Christmas with a lot of injuries and then you bring them back, they're injury free but they're not fit.
'They didn't return to form straight away. It also takes a couple of games before you get back into the rhythm. Its impact is still there.'
