MANCHESTER UNITED’s defensive woes are clear and evident.
So much so that manager Erik ten Hag has spent a whopping £144MILLION this summer trying to alleviate them.
Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte have all been brought in to try to fix the leaky defence.
The magnitude of the problem on his hands was laid bare in last weekend’s thumping at the hand of their bitter rivals Liverpool, who ran out 3-0 winners at Old Trafford.
Luis Diaz‘s brace and Mohamed Salah‘s breakaway goal have left United with a grim goal difference after only three games of the new season.
United are currently on MINUS-THREE as they’ve only found the back of the net twice so far this campaign.
But their goal difference from the start of last season makes for even grimmer reading for the Old Trafford faithful.
Ten Hag’s troops are on a MINUS since the start of the 2023/24 season, in which they won the FA Cup.
United’s leaky defence over the last 56 matches has left them with on -1 – if you exclude the goals they scored in extra-time.
If you include Amad Diallo’s strike against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final, they have a goal difference of zero.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
MANCHESTER UNITED had a horror show against Liverpool as they lost 3-0.
Casemiro was so bad he was taken off at half-time.
But were there any positive performances at Old Trafford?
Andre Onana – 5
Nothing he could do about any of Liverpool’s goals and made a few saves to prevent the scoreline from getting worse.
Noussair Mazraoui – 5
Came close to scoring in the first half and looked solid enough against Diaz although he did push up too high before Liverpool’s opener.
Matthijs de Ligt – 4
Left Diaz and Domink Szobozslai in acres of space for the opening goal but was left in a tricky spot thanks to Casemiro’s error.
Booked for a shocking late tackle on Diaz.
Lisandro Martinez – 3
Lost Diaz for the second goal which meant the Colombian was able to score unmarked from the penalty spot.
Also guilty of giving away the ball too easily and was not tight enough with his marking.
Diogo Dalot – 4
Was caught out pushing up too quickly for the first goal and did not do enough to stop Mo Salah’s cross in the build-up to Liverpool’s second.
Looked dangerous in attack at times but too infrequently as he had plenty of defensive work to do since Rashford did not track Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Casemiro – 2
A horror show in the first half as he gave the ball away in the lead up to both of Liverpool’s goals.
He was caught on the ball for the second after a shocking misplaced pass left his defence vulnerable for the opening goal. Hooked at half-time.
Kobbie Mainoo – 4
Fell victim to the Casemiro curse as he was shrugged off the ball in a terrible position, allowing Liverpool to add a third with ease.
Bruno Fernandes – 5
Was United’s most creative spark but that is not saying much. Tried to get his side going in the first half but looked short of ideas and inspiration after the break.
Alejandro Garnacho – 4
Still appears to be a little rusty and is yet to hit the heights he reached last season.
Marcus Rashford – 3
Nothing came off for the out-of-sorts forward who must be running out of chances before he is dropped.
Joshua Zirkzee – 4
Quiet up-front and had little influence on the wing as well, but missed a clear-cut chance with his head and should have turned in Rashford’s cross which he met at the far post.
Subs
Tom Collyer (for Casemiro, HT) – 5
A difficult game for the youngster to make his Premier League debut but he put himself about and won a few tackles.
Harry Maguire (for De Ligt, 69mins) – 5
Shored things up at the back as Liverpool took their foot off the pedal.
Amad (for Garnacho, 69mins) – 5
Provided a spark on the right and looked more lively than Garnacho.
Christian Eriksen (for Zirkzee, 86mins) – N/A
Not on long enough to make an impact.
The goal difference between United’s rivals over the last 57 matches, however, makes for impressive reading.
Premier League champions Manchester City have a goal difference of +93, while Liverpool are +79.
And last season’s runners-up Arsenal have a positive goal difference +78.
United fans will no doubt have been well aware of how weak their defence has been as of late.
But seeing their negative goal difference on paper will set alarm bells ringing and heap further pressure on Ten Hag.
One of the Old Trafford faithful wrote on X after the stat went viral: “Good grief.”
Another said: “What an awful stat?”
And another said: “Somebody should tell Erik this stat in his next presser.”
One remarked: “This stat says it all TBH doesn’t it?
“We’re just a s**t team that doesn’t score nowhere eat enough goals. Depressing stuff.”
Ten Hag inked a new one-year deal at The Theatre of Dreams in the summer but is already facing calls to be sacked.
After the defeat to the Reds, he insisted “it will take time” for his new signings to settle in and results on the pitch to improve.
“It’s not like I’m Harry Potter,” the Dutchman definitely said. “That’s what you have to acknowledge.
“Manuel Ugarte, our new signing, hasn’t played a single minute this season.
“He needs to build his fitness and then we have to integrate him into the team. I’m confident he’ll be a key player.
“But that will take a few weeks, maybe even months.
“Joshua Zirkzee has made significant progress in the last three or four weeks.
“And I was very pleased with his performance today.”
