MU can possess many weaknesses, but a position that almost certainly the Reds will not need to complement this summer, the center -back.
In the last 9 summer transfer, MU has signed a contract with at least one center -back in 7 times. Particularly last season, the Red Devils brought 3 names. After Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt went to Old Trafford last summer, Ayden Heaven continued to join in the winter. In the middle of that is the 1 -year extension activation with Harry Maguire.
When Lisandro Martinez recovered an front ligament injury, MU will have 5 central defenders in an average age of 24. Two people are “homegrown”, three people come from abroad. It is a promising combination between youth, experience and fitness. Maguire is the only one over 30 years old, and all 5 are the center -backs capable of playing football from the lower route.
“If you really analyze our matches, you will not be calm at all,” De Ligt said. “We always defended in a diagram of 3 or 4 people. In the stage of deploying the ball, most large teams in Europe were built with 3 central defenders. They pushed the midfielder down or dragged the border defender in the middle.
Maguire, De Ligt, Martinez and Yoro scored a total of 9 goals – a commendable number. Heaven also scored in a friendly match in Hong Kong with a precise header.
Yoro, only 19 years old, is considered a spectacular “suppression” when MU surpassed Real Madrid to recruit him. Although the beginning is not impressive, Yoro has shown class at the end of the season. Meanwhile, De Ligt after the first 6 months of struggling also regained his form before being injured.
“We need to remember that he was very young,” Maguire shared about Yoro last year. “There will be mistakes, but he has all the qualities of a modern center -back. I believe he will have a brilliant future.
Our mission, veteran central defenders, are guiding and supporting Yoro, helping him understand what is waiting. There will be times when he feels the whole world is against him, and there will be times when he is the best player in the world. And that's what will always come. “
Heaven is a new discovery, the more advanced until the injury in March. Martinez also returned to impress in January before being seriously injured against Crystal Palace.
Entering the 6th year at MU, Maguire now deserves to be considered one of the most respectable contracts in the post -Sir Alex era. He has a good first season, the second season is fine, the 3rd season disaster and the 4th season is worse. Even so, Maguire has revived strongly with the last two impressive seasons. The former Leicester star has exactly become a “captain without the captain.”
No longer burdened with the captain's armband, Maguire now has a more real voice. He found himself after backing up to make “number two”, and will be aiming for a new contract next year.
The current defense of coach Ruben Amorim is a comprehensive upgrade compared to the end of the Jose Mourinho dynasty in 2018, when Ed Woodward refused to allow him to recruit center -back. Mourinho used to bring Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof but had to use players like Chris Smalling or Phil Jones.
The day Mourinho called Bailly, this defender thought it was a joke. And so unlucky, Bailly only plays less than 20 matches per season for MU – it is a joke.
It is not surprising to know that Victor Lindelof is one of the three players that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still keeps in touch (the other two are Maguire and Bruno Fernandes). Lindelof has benefited from the “Scandinavian solidarity” relationship with Solskjaer, and stayed at Old Trafford for too long before being released the contract last month.
However, the biggest problem for the current central defender is the history of injury. Yoro once had crutches after the second match and it took 4 months to have the first official match. De Ligt is absent in the last 2 months. Heaven took 2 months, Maguire was absent from about 3 months, and Martinez seriously injured all three seasons in MU.
Only 15 months ago, Casemiro had to play a center -back in the FA Cup semi -final because Willy Kambwala was injured. At that time, Kambwala, Martinez, Lindelof, Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans were all treated and the only name on the bench before Coventry City in Wembley Louis Jackson.
The fact that MU often kicks 3 central defenders with 5 people with a history of injury is a hidden risk. However, this risk is compensated by Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw, who are full -backs but fully capable of kicking the center -back.
If necessary, Casemiro also used to kick the center -back and young talent Tyler Fredricson has been upgraded the number of shirts. In total, MU has 9 center -back options for 9 months of competition, with a lighter workload due to not having to kick the European Cup.
