It may be a new season, but just like the majority of 2023-24, left-back remains a concern for Manchester United and manager Erik ten Hag.
Manchester United’s 2024-25 season may only be two matches old (if we count the Community Shield), but they’ve already had to play to non-left-backs at left-back. While that may not be a headline fact or the main takeaway from their start to the campaign, it’s hardly ideal.
United’s Premier League season just about began in positive fashion on Friday, with debutant Joshua Zirkzee nabbing a late winner in a 1-0 defeat of Fulham at Old Trafford. It wasn’t a classic nor were Erik ten Hag’s men flawless, though the performance was at least less alarming than in the 1-0 win over Wolves on the opening day of 2023-24; progress of sorts, then.
A recurring issue in the left-back spot remained in full view, however.
Diogo Dalot played on the left until Noussair Mazraoui – who was rock-solid in his first appearance for the club – was withdrawn in the second half, with Lisandro Martínez then shifting out wide while Dalot reverted to his natural position on the right.
Of course, centre-back Martínez had been the one to start at left-back in the Community Shield penalty-shootout defeat to Manchester City the weekend before, with United once again without a natural senior left full-back.
This was a common theme last season. With Tyrell Malacia missing all of 2023-24 and Luke Shaw unavailable for a large portion of it, Dalot and – to a lesser extent – Aaron Wan-Bissaka had to get used to filling in on the opposite flank. Victor Lindelof, Antony and Sofyan Amrabat were among the others to briefly cover there as well.
The dominant narrative of 2023-24 for United was their lack of defensive solidity; only relegated Sheffield United (678) faced more shots than them (667) in the Premier League, while their 58 goals conceded was the most they’d conceded in a single league campaign since 1978-79 (63).
United had vast injury problems across their backline, not just concentrated to left-back. And so, it’s fair to suggest the lack of a regular back four contributed to their porousness, with Ten Hag making that very point.
It’s why they’ve focused on bringing in defensive reinforcements such as Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt, adding both quality and depth to their options at centre-back.
But make no mistake, left-back remains a problem.
Shaw isn’t expected to return from his latest injury, a calf strain, until after the September international break, while Malacia – who last played for United on the last day of the 2022-23 Premier League season – is out until at least October. And, considering he was initially only scheduled to be out until November 2023 following knee surgery, there’ll be many taking his latest return date with a pinch of salt.
United’s response to left-back injuries at the start of last season was to sign Sergio Reguilón on loan from Tottenham, and the Spaniard deputised ably before the club triggered an early termination clause in January with Shaw back on the pitch and Malacia nearing a return – or so they thought. The decision backfired as Malacia obviously didn’t play again, and a little over a month after Reguilón’s departure, Shaw suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season.
So, while Dalot has done as well as could be expected at left-back and Mazraoui also offers a degree of flexibility in that he’s played occasionally on the left before, it would feel like a big mistake to not bring in another natural left-back before the transfer window closes. They left themselves short last season; surely they’ll learn from that?
Any new arrivals at left-back will likely depend on how much faith internally the club have in 17-year-old Harry Amass. Signed from Watford last year, the England youth international is clearly very talented and enjoyed plenty of minutes in pre-season, largely acquitting himself well across his five appearances.
But he wasn’t in the matchday squad for either the Community Shield nor the Fulham win, which, considering their predicament, seemed to indicate that perhaps Ten Hag still sees the youngster spending most of his time with the Under-21s. And, given his tender age, erring on the side of caution might be for the best anyway.
Of course, the possibility remains that United could end up with three senior left-backs competing for one spot plus Amass trying to make progress if they go and bring in someone else; avoiding such a situation is presumably why they had a loan termination clause in the deal with Reguilón – but in light of last season, it might be prudent to cover all bases.
For instance, can you ever really rely on Shaw?
Undoubtedly one of the best left-backs around when he’s fit, but let’s not pretend he hasn’t missed a lot of football over the years due to injury. And that’s not a criticism; he’s unfairly received quite a bit of flak over the past week or so since his latest injury was confirmed. It’s not like he’s getting injured deliberately, and if anything, it’s verging on miraculous that he’s managed to play as much football as he has over his career since that horrific double leg break that nearly resulted in amputation.
Yet, it’s still a valid point and concern that across his entire United career, the 2018-19 and 2022-23 seasons are the only ones in which Shaw’s not missed more than 10 games for the club due to injury.
In the Premier League alone since the start of 2016-17, a player would have accumulated 27,450 minutes (excluding stoppage time) on the pitch if they’d played every minute of every game; it’s extreme and so obviously no one has achieved that, but over the same period, Shaw has played 13,580 minutes, or 49.5% of the maximum possible. Now, that’s not just down to injuries, as there’ll be a few suspensions in there and times when he was perhaps out of favour, but fitness problems have certainly had a big impact.
The optics aren’t great when Shaw misses the final months of the season, is called up to England’s Euro 2024 squad while still getting back to fitness, manages to play a few games eventually at the business end of the tournament and then gets injured in his first training session back at United. For example, former Old Trafford favourite Peter Schmeichel was criticising him on BBC Radio 5 Live over the weekend for apparently “prioritising” England over his club – that seemed pretty harsh, though, as his current ailment is different to the one that robbed him of the final months of 2023-24, and again, it’s not like Shaw wants to be injured.
Rightly or wrongly, Schmeichel’s broader frustration is mirrored by many supporters, however, and given the evidence of Shaw’s injury track record, blindly expecting him to be fit for the whole season once he’s back in September seems very risky, and bordering on unfair to him.
You also have to take into consideration what it might mean for United to potentially be without left-footed left-back again for a prolonged period. While it would be a bit generous to suggest Marcus Rashford’s difficulties last season were down to the absence of a reliable overlapping left-back, you can at least see why it might not have helped matters. Shaw is more naturally inclined to overlap, because it allows him to cross on his stronger foot.
The heat maps above show how last season Dalot – who played more minutes (1,104) than anyone else at left-back for United last season in the league – was more likely to cut inside from the left than Shaw, potentially crowding spaces Rashford might have operated in rather than stretching play to give him more options.
Furthermore, the sequence tables below highlight how involved the full-backs were in general play during Ten Hag’s first season, while only Dalot managed to break into the top 10 for United players last term.
Of course, there’s no guarantee United can find a left-back of the requisite ability who’s available for transfer or loan, is affordable and willing to step into a situation that could see them battling for a place with two or three other players in the not-too-distant future.
But full-backs were very important to Ten Hag’s Ajax team, and the fact he’s replaced the technically limited Wan-Bissaka with the more refined Mazraoui hints at how he arguably sees those roles becoming even more crucial to this United team.
Letting the transfer window shut without having adequate cover on the left then would be like playing with fire, particularly given last season appeared to show just how costly an unstable defence can be.
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