Manchester United's Defensive Woes: Simpson's Insights

Manchester United’s defence is creaking again, and Danny Simpson has seen enough.

A third-place finish last season brought a return to the Champions League, but it came with a glaring warning sign: 50 goals conceded in 38 league games. Arsenal, who took the title, shipped almost half that. United rode their luck. They are paying for it now.

Michael Carrick’s side have taken just four points from their first four Premier League fixtures this term and are still waiting for a first clean sheet. They let in two at Hull, two at home to Ipswich, two more at Everton. Then came the derby at Old Trafford, where Erling Haaland’s controversial winner for City exposed them yet again.

The club chose not to address that soft underbelly in the 2026 summer window. Money went into the midfield after the attack had been upgraded a year earlier. The back line was left largely as it was. The recruitment model is under fire, and Simpson, speaking to GOAL via Free Bets, is not dancing around the issue.

“They're conceding too many goals,” the former United full-back 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.”

United want to fight on all fronts. There are now eight games in the Champions League group phase and a long route through the domestic cups. Shaw cannot carry that load alone. So Patrick Dorgu has been dropped in at left-back, including in the derby against City.

Simpson can see the logic in that move. He remembers Dorgu’s more advanced performances last season before injury, when the youngster offered a genuine threat higher up the pitch. But the bigger picture, in his eyes, is about stability and standards.

“Centre-back? I think Harry [Maguire] and [Lisandro] Martinez are the two,” he said. That part of the pitch, at least, feels settled to him.

The full-back positions are a different story.

“I do worry about full-backs,” Simpson 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.”

Attackers can blow hot and cold. Wingers can be hooked on 60 minutes if they are off it. Defenders do not get that luxury.

“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,” Simpson said. “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?”

United do have options on paper. In reality, several have yet to convince.

Leny Yoro, signed from Lille in 2024, sits at the heart of that concern. He is still only 20 and has already made 69 appearances for the club, but Simpson is blunt: the progress has stalled.

“Yoro hasn't kicked on at all. He's been here two years now?” Simpson said. “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.”

Dalot’s injury has thinned the numbers further. Ayden Heaven, thrown in at Hull on the opening weekend, has not been seen since.

“[Ayden] Heaven, we haven't seen him since the Hull game, not surprised, probably the wrong game for him to play in,” Simpson said. “Hull away in the start of the season against Oliver McBurnie, probably not the best.”

For Simpson, all roads lead back to one conclusion. However many squad players sit behind them, United’s defensive spine must be clear, consistent and durable.

“So, your back four is your back four – which is Shaw, Martinez, Maguire and Dalot,” he said.

That is the unit he trusts. The question now is whether Carrick, and the club’s hierarchy, trust it enough to ride out the storm, or whether this season’s defensive cracks force them into a rethink long before the next window opens.