Manchester United: Michael Carrick Already Paying Big Price for Major Transfer Mistake

For Michael Carrick, Manchester United's defensive struggles away at Everton will have felt uncomfortably familiar.

Fourteen years before Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ dramatic 96th-minute equaliser on Sunday, Carrick himself was forced into an emergency centre-back role at Goodison Park, only to be outmuscled by a young Marouane Fellaini for the winning goal.

As Carrick and David Moyes renewed their old rivalry in a thrilling 2-2 draw, a different kind of pattern emerged. United have now conceded two goals in every single match this season. This would be a worrying trend against any opposition, but it's particularly alarming given their opponents have been Championship sides Hull City and Ipswich Town, along with an Everton team that struggled for goals last season.

Carrick, however, suggested that the quality of the goals conceded against Everton—spectacular long-range efforts from Tyrique George and Maitland-Niles—might be an anomaly. "There's been two strikes from distance, two really good strikes from their point of view," he commented. "Sometimes they fly in the top corner and more often than not they probably don't."

This follows a different issue two weeks prior, when Hull scored twice from set-pieces—a problem Carrick noted had been resolved after his return to Old Trafford in January. Against Ipswich, individual errors were to blame, with Luke Shaw being beaten for the first goal and Lisandro Martinez at fault for the second.

Despite the varying causes, the overall pattern is a major concern. "The mentality is there, I think, [but] there's obviously things we need to get better at as a team," Carrick admitted. "Obviously we can't ignore it, we need to concede less goals to give us a better chance of winning games."

A good starting point would be to allow fewer shots. Everton managed 18 attempts, with six on target. So far this season, only four Premier League teams have faced more shots on target than United. In fact, the team's defensive record could be even worse if not for the strong early-season form of goalkeeper Senne Lammens.

While United were also defensively frail at the start of last season, much of the blame was placed on then-goalkeeper Altay Bayindir. Now, with the goalkeeping situation seemingly resolved, the back four has become the primary issue—a problem the club had hoped to postpone addressing until next summer.

The defence has been overlooked in recent transfer windows. Last year, the focus was on signing three new attackers, while this summer saw a trio of midfielders arrive. It was widely agreed that a new left-back was needed, but the budget didn't allow for it. To his credit, Shaw was excellent at both ends of the pitch against Everton.

Remarkably, the back four that started against Ipswich and Everton—Shaw, Martinez, Harry Maguire, and Diogo Dalot—was the same one that began Erik ten Hag’s first match in 2022. This quartet, signed by four different managers, has looked slow and off the pace, raising concerns about their sharpness before the added strain of midweek fixtures.

United have been reliant on this old guard for various reasons. Matthijs de Ligt, arguably the team's best player early last season, has been sidelined with a back injury since November. Highly-touted prospect Leny Yoro has yet to live up to his price tag, leading Carrick to lean on the experience of the 33-year-old Maguire. Meanwhile, Noussair Mazraoui was dropped at right-back after the defeat to Hull, though his replacement Dalot has fared no better.

Questions have also been raised about the team's tactics, particularly why they sat back against Everton when their defence is so clearly vulnerable. The backline may feel it lacks protection from a midfield that, despite its new additions, has yet to gel. The return of the more defensively-minded Carlos Baleba could provide a solution.

Even during winning streaks, United have not been defensively solid under Carrick. In his 20 league games in charge, the team has conceded two or more goals in half of them. While Maitland-Niles' stunning strike may have been a one-off, Manchester United's leaky defence is proving to be anything but.

A clear warning for United