Manchester United's Defensive Woes Under Scrutiny
Manchester United’s soft centre is back under the microscope – and Danny Simpson has seen enough.
A third-place finish last season looked respectable on paper and dragged the club back into the Champions League. The numbers behind it told a different story. United shipped 50 goals in 38 league games, while champions Arsenal let in almost half that. The warning lights were flashing. They stayed on.
Carrick and the recruitment team chose not to address the back line in the summer of 2026. Money went into the midfield after the attack had been reinforced a year earlier. The logic was clear; the risk was huge. Four games into the new campaign, the bill is already arriving.
No clean sheets. Four points from a possible 12. Two goals conceded at Hull, two more at home to Ipswich, another pair away at Everton. Then came the derby at Old Trafford, where Erling Haaland twisted the knife with a controversial winner for City. The pattern is ugly, and it is familiar.
Simpson, a former United full-back and Premier League winner, does not dress it up.
“They're conceding too many goals,” he told GOAL, speaking on behalf of Free Bets. “Yes, we're good going forward though, most of the time.”
The issue, in his eyes, starts on the left.
Left-back load and full-back chaos
Luke Shaw was outstanding last season. He also pushed his body to the limit. United knew that. They also knew what the calendar looked like: a new Champions League format with eight group games, domestic cups, and the expectation to go deep in every competition.
“I think it was well documented that we needed a left-back with Luke,” Simpson said. “Even though Luke was fantastic last season, I think everyone knows Luke can't play two games a week.”
The club turned to Patrick Dorgu. He started at left-back in the derby against City, having impressed higher up the pitch last season before injury, where his threat was more attacking than defensive. It is a big role, in a fragile structure.
At centre-back, Simpson is clearer. “I think Harry [Maguire] and [Lisandro] Martinez are the two.” That pairing, in his view, should be the spine. The problem lies outside them.
“I do worry about full-backs,” he admitted. “I think the inconsistency – one week it's [Noussair] Mazraoui, then it's [Diogo] Dalot, then one week they are an eight, next week they are five.”
The swings in performance are killing United’s stability.
“I don't think anyone in any league, whether you're playing in the Premier League, the Champions League, trying to do well, you can't have players in your defence that are one week doing eight and the next week five.
“I think up top you can, because if you've got a winger that's playing a five, you're going to change him and he normally gets swapped after six or seven. You can't do that with your defence. You need a set back four that's a seven every week. And then if they're not playing, who comes in?”
Right now, Carrick does have options. He just doesn’t have many answers.
Yoro under the spotlight
Leny Yoro sits at the heart of Simpson’s concern. The French defender arrived from Lille in 2024 with huge potential and has already made 69 appearances for United. He is still only 20. The expectation was that he would grow into the role, physically and mentally. Simpson is not seeing that growth.
“Yoro hasn't kicked on at all,” he said. “He's been here two years now? You look at everything, when he came in he was young and slight, why is he not in the gym? Why has he not got any bigger? Why is he not stronger?
“He doesn't look like he's done anything in two years in terms of his physique. You know the Premier League is tough.”
That is the crux of it. The league is unforgiving. It exposes defenders who are not ready, not robust, not consistent. United’s defensive depth looks more like a list than a plan.
Dalot is injured. Ayden Heaven has vanished from the picture since the opening-day trip to Hull, where he was thrown into a bruising battle with Oliver McBurnie.
“[Ayden] Heaven, we haven't seen him since the Hull game, not surprised, probably the wrong game for him to play in. Hull away in the start of the season against Oliver McBurnie, probably not the best,” Simpson reflected.
The conclusion he draws is blunt.
“So, your back four is your back four – which is Shaw, Martinez, Maguire and Dalot.”
That is the unit Simpson trusts. That is the group he believes must carry United through a season loaded with fixtures and pressure. The question now is whether Carrick can keep them fit, settled and performing at “sevens” every week – or whether another campaign will be defined by a defence that never truly learns its lesson.
