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It is often said that the key to a stable side is a consistent back four.
When we think of vintage Manchester United sides of the past, they had one thing in common. A settled back four and goalkeeper.
The treble winners of 1999 had Peter Schmeichel protected by Gary Neville, Jaap Stam, Ronny Johnsen and Denis Irwin.
The 2008 Premier League and Champions League double winners had Edwin van der Sar with Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra lining up in most games.
Not to compare the current group to such legendary teams, but it is not hard to imagine that an Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw backline would be a significant upgrade on what we have seen this year.
Manchester United have had to use nine different centre back partnerships this year and we haven’t even made it to 2024 yet. This was exemplified by the inexperienced Willy Kambwala having to deputise for the injured Varane yesterday.
Despite a positive performance for the young Frenchman, it begs the question, how is a defence of Jonny Evans and Kambwala supposed to deal with a top-half Premier League side’s attack.
United have used seven different centre backs this season in nine partnerships in the league alone. Harry Maguire and Evans have played the most games as a pair, with four appearances made. Lisandro Martinez has been injured since September, yet he has played in the second longest streak of defenders alongside Varane for three games.
The familiar pair of Maguire and Lindelof have also played three times together. Martinez has also played with the Swede twice and Shaw a couple of times with Maguire.
There is no way any of these players can develop a rhythm or understanding with one another. It is just impossible.
It needs to be factored in that Jonny Evans, despite being an academy product, has been away from the club since 2015. The defender is new to the setup, yet has played six Premier League games with three different partners.
To compound matters, United are trying to bed in a new goalkeeper in Andre Onana, who plays in a completely different style to their keeper of over a decade, David de Gea.
To be honest, the Cameroonian probably couldn’t have imagined more difficult circumstances to bed himself into the club. Maybe enough credit hasn’t been given to the fact the club has more clean sheets than any other team in the league.
In fact if you look at goals against, the team compares quite well to others in the league. As of yesterday, United have conceded 23 goals. Newcastle have let in 22, Manchester City 20, Aston Villa 24 and Tottenham 22.
In fact, only table-toppers Arsenal and Liverpool have conceded significantly less with 16 each.
Another factor that must be considered is the revolving door of midfielders. Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat, Christian Eriksen, Kobbie Mainoo, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes have all been tasked with forming various partnerships, with no time to build up any consistency.
That is not to absolve the players of any guilt. The injuries didn’t drop the ball into the net two times versus Galatasaray, Onana did. The fitness issues didn’t forget to mark their man on countless occasions like the defenders have.
However, it does not help and it is not unreasonable to suggest the injuries have made a tough situation impossible. Newcastle are another example of this. The Magpies, who finished fourth last term, have been equally cursed with injuries and yesterday’s insipid 1-0 loss to lowly Luton highlights the depth of their problems too.
It will be curious to see if manager, Erik ten Hag, ever has the chance to consistently field his first choice backline throughout the season. It may not result in top four or a FA Cup, but it would make the team a lot more competitive.
One could argue, things are bad but the defence is actually doing a decent job under impossible circumstances. Much more blame should lie with the listless attack, which has not scored for four consecutive games.
The attackers have only managed a paltry 18 goals in the league and it has been largely left to the midfielders, such as McTominay, Fernandes and Casemiro to find the back of the net more often than not. The total number of goals scored is the real relegation type form, not the defence.
A team that regularly chops and changes its defensive personnel and doesn’t score won’t win many games. And we are seeing just that.
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