As Michael Carrick knows from first-hand experience, Manchester United are no strangers to early-season defensive mishaps away at Everton. Fourteen years before Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ 96th-minute equaliser at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Rio Ferdinand joined a list of injured centre-backs, midfielder Carrick had to fill in and was bullied by his future teammate Marouane Fellaini, who scored a winner for David Moyes’ Everton.
As Carrick and Moyes, United and Everton renewed acquaintances in Sunday’s 2-2 draw, there was a different kind of continuity. United maintained their record of conceding two goals in every game this season. It would scarcely be ideal whatever the fixture list but they have played Hull and Ipswich, each in the Championship last year, and Everton, who only outscored five teams in the Premier League then. In the equivalent fixtures last season – substituting in the sides promoted in second and via the play-offs – United only conceded twice in total.
All of which could be a small sample size. Carrick argued that Everton’s goals, from Tyrique George and Maitland-Niles, were both spectacular; it might not be a failsafe formula. “There’s been two strikes from distance, two really good strikes from their point of view, so sometimes they fly in the top corner and more often than not they probably don’t,” he said.
Two weeks earlier, Carrick noted Hull scored twice from set-pieces, which had not been a problem following his January return to Old Trafford. Once again, it might not be a trend. Each game has had a different story. Ipswich’s first goal, scored by Leif Davis, came after Luke Shaw was first nutmegged and then outpaced by Abdul Fatawu. Their second stemmed from an individual error by Lisandro Martinez.
But the pattern as a whole is concerning. “The mentality is there, I think, [but] there’s obviously things we need to get better at as a team,” Carrick said. “Obviously we can’t ignore it, we need to concede less goals to give us a better chance of winning games.”
A start might be to concede fewer shots, which in itself might reduce the chance of wondergoals. Everton had 18, six of them on target. So far, only four Premier League teams have allowed more shots on target than United; indeed, arguably the only member of their rearguard to begin the campaign well is goalkeeper Senne Lammens, so that defensive record could be worse.
And whereas United were porous at the back at the start of last season, that could often be attributed to Altay Bayindir. Now the goalkeeping issue is resolved but the back four is looking a problem. United had hoped it would not: not until next summer, at the earliest.
It has been neglected in recruitment. The forward line was the focus last year, with three attacking signings, and then midfield now, with a trio of buys in the middle of the pitch. By common consensus, United could have done with a left-back, ideally Shaw’s long-term replacement, but their budget did not stretch that far. In fairness, Shaw excelled both going forward and at his defensive duties at Everton.
But one of the remarkable elements is that, against both Ipswich and Everton, Carrick named the same back four that started the opening game of Erik ten Hag’s reign in 2022; a quartet signed by Louis van Gaal, Ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho respectively, in Shaw, Martinez, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot.
The first three games could lend themselves to the conclusion that the defence got old over the course of the summer; maybe it simply means they are not at full sharpness yet, but they look slow, and this is before they have played midweek matches.
For different reasons, United have been stuck with the old guard. Matthijs de Ligt was arguably United’s best player at the start of last season but a back problem means he has not played since November. Leny Yoro was supposed to be the future but has not justified either his reputation or his price tag. Carrick does not seem convinced, looking for reassurance in the experience of the 33-year-old Maguire. The manager appears to see Patrick Dorgu as more of a winger than a full-back. At right-back, Noussair Mazraoui was dropped after defeat at Hull, though Dalot has been no better.
There are questions as to why United sat back at Everton when defence was not their best form of defence. The creaking back four would be entitled to feel they get insufficient protection from the midfield that has three new signings; maybe that will change when Carlos Baleba, the most defensively-minded of them, is fit. At Hull, it felt like they were missing Casemiro’s aerial ability to defend set-pieces.
But, even when they were winning, they have not been watertight under Carrick. He has had 20 league games in charge and United have conceded two goals in 10 of them. And if a wonderful goal by Maitland-Niles may be a one-off, that defensive record is not. And that is the warning to United.