Manchester United's Defensive Woes: Recruitment and Inconsistency Under Scrutiny

Manchester United got their Champions League place back last season. On paper, third looked respectable. Underneath that, the numbers told a different story.

Fifty goals conceded in 38 league games. Arsenal, who went on to win the title, shipped almost half that.

United’s soft underbelly was no secret. Yet when the 2026 summer window opened, the club chose not to fix it. Money went into the midfield. The attack had been refreshed a year earlier. The back line, the obvious problem area, was largely left alone.

Now the questions are coming. And they are not gentle.

Four games into the new Premier League campaign, Michael Carrick’s side have collected just four points and are still waiting for a first clean sheet. They leaked two at Hull, two more at home to Ipswich, and again on the road at Everton. Then came the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, where Erling Haaland struck a controversial winner for City to twist the knife.

For former United full-back Danny Simpson, speaking to GOAL on behalf of Free Bets, the picture is painfully clear.

“They're conceding too many goals,” he said. “Yes, we're good going forward though, most of the time. But I think it was well documented that we needed a left-back with Luke [Shaw]. Even though Luke was fantastic last season, I think everyone knows Luke can't play two games a week. We want to be in all the competitions. So there's now eight games in the Champions League, and you want to go far in the cups.”

United did move for Patrick Dorgu, who has been used at left-back, including in the derby against City. Simpson can see the logic, but also the compromise.

“Patrick Dorgu, he's in at left-back. We've seen that at the weekend [against City]. The way he played last season before he got injured, higher up, was a decent threat. Centre-back? I think Harry [Maguire] and [Lisandro] Martinez are the two.”

That central pairing, in Simpson’s eyes, is the foundation. Everything around it, though, looks unstable.

“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. 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?”

That last question cuts to the heart of United’s planning. There is cover in numbers. There is far less in certainty.

Leny Yoro is the most pointed example. Signed from Lille in 2024, the defender is still only 20 and has already racked up 69 appearances for the club. For Simpson, the raw talent has not been matched by visible development.

“Dalot's injured, [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 said, turning to the wider defensive group.

“Yoro hasn't kicked on at all. 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. So, your back four is your back four - which is Shaw, Martinez, Maguire and Dalot.”

That, in Simpson’s view, is the spine Carrick must lean on. Shaw, Martinez, Maguire, Dalot: a fixed unit, a reliable seven out of 10 every week, carrying United through league battles, Champions League nights and deep cup runs.

Right now, though, United look a long way from that kind of defensive certainty. The goals against keep stacking up, the rotation at full-back continues, and the scrutiny on those recruitment choices grows sharper with every shot that finds the back of their net.