Manchester United's Defensive Woes: Simpson's Concerns
Manchester United’s soft centre is back under the microscope – and Danny Simpson is not impressed.
United may have clawed their way to third last season and punched their ticket back into the Champions League, but the numbers behind that finish told a different story. Fifty goals conceded in 38 league games. Arsenal, who took the title, let in almost half that. The warning lights were flashing then. They’re blaring now.
Instead of ripping up the back line in the summer of 2026, the club doubled down on the midfield. The attack had been refreshed the year before. The recruitment model stayed tilted towards flair and control, not steel and structure. Now, with only four points from four Premier League games and not a single clean sheet, the questions are landing hard.
Hull put two past them. Ipswich scored twice at Old Trafford. Everton did the same on Merseyside. Then Erling Haaland walked away from the Manchester derby with a controversial winner and City’s bragging rights, leaving Old Trafford simmering and the defence exposed yet again.
For Simpson, a title winner with United and a man who knows what a solid back four looks like, the issue is glaring.
“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. 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 be everywhere this season – deep in the domestic cups, back among Europe’s elite with eight Champions League group games to navigate, and still fighting at the top end of the league. That schedule demands reliability. It demands rotation. It demands depth that doesn’t drop off a cliff.
At left-back, the baton has been passed to Patrick Dorgu. He started there in the derby against City, a role change from the more advanced position where he impressed before injury last season.
“Patrick Dorgu, he's in at left-back. We've seen that at the weekend,” Simpson said. “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’s Simpson’s core: Shaw, Martinez, Maguire, Dalot. A defined back four. The problem, in his eyes, is what happens when you move away from that template.
The full-back positions, in particular, feel like a revolving door.
“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.”
Attackers can blow hot and cold. Wingers can be hooked after an hour. Defenders? They’re supposed to be the constant.
“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 bodies. They just don’t yet have enough believers.
Leny Yoro is the prime example. Signed from Lille in 2024, the Frenchman arrived as one of Europe’s brightest young centre-back prospects. Two years on, he has 69 United appearances behind him but still feels like a question mark, not an answer.
Simpson did not sugar-coat his assessment.
“Yoro hasn't kicked on at all. He's been here two years now?” he 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.”
There are other concerns. Dalot is injured. Ayden Heaven, thrust into the cauldron away at Hull, has not been seen since.
“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,” Simpson said. “Hull away in the start of the season against Oliver McBurnie, probably not the best.”
It all feeds into a simple conclusion from a former defender who sees a fragile unit where there should be a foundation.
“So, your back four is your back four – which is Shaw, Martinez, Maguire and Dalot.”
That’s Simpson’s blueprint. A settled line, a physical edge, and consistency over rotation. United chose to spend their money elsewhere. The season will reveal whether that gamble powers another top-four charge – or leaves Michael Carrick’s side chasing shadows and wondering why the same leaks keep reappearing.
