Manchester United’s defensive frailties continued in their 3-1 loss against Brentford, prompting the question of why one talented defender has played so few minutes so far this season.
Rúben Amorim restored Matheus Cunha to Manchester United’s starting lineup for their trip to Brentford in the opening fixture of the Premier League’s final September weekend.
United began brightly, pushing to overload the hosts, but Brentford struck first. Igor Thiago broke Amorim’s offside trap to fire past Altay Bayındır in the 9th minute, before doubling his tally just 10 minutes later.
Benjamin Šeško pulled one back with a scrappy finish, yet Amorim’s side couldn’t find an equaliser before half-time.
The second half offered little until after the hour mark, when Amorim turned to Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro to shift momentum. Moments later, Brentford won a penalty through Bryan Mbeumo, but after a lengthy delay, Bruno Fernandes saw his effort saved.
Chasing the game, United threw on more attackers in the closing stages, but Brentford held firm and sealed victory in stoppage time, as Mathias Jensen’s thunderous strike wrapped up a 3-1 win.
United’s defensive woes continue
United’s performance against Brentford was extremely disappointing, and they certainly didn’t deserve anything from the game. However, this game just further highlights the frailty of United’s back line that has been present since the start of the season.
For Brentford’s opening goal, Harry Maguire was far too slow to step up to play Brentford’s striker offside, and lost him too easily.
For the second, Matthijs de Ligt, coming off an impressive performance against Chelsea, was ‘shocking’ at times, being partly at fault for Brentford’s second of the afternoon.
Before the victory over Chelsea, Maguire reportedly spoke to the dressing room, urging them to take accountability for their performances so far this season. While Amorim’s tactics can be rightfully criticised, there’s nothing he can do about the defensive errors that have plagued the squad so far this season, which have cost the side valuable points.
Heaven deserves a chance
Signed from Arsenal for a fee worth around £1.5 million in February 2025, Ayden Heaven quickly made a big impression on Amorim, being labelled as a “really special” talent by former United centre-back, Wes Brown.
Despite initially being signed to be more of an Academy player, he quickly impressed at Old Trafford after a string of impressive performances and rightfully earned his place in the first team.
Expected to be fighting for a starting spot on the left of Amorim’s back three this season, the 19-year-old has only been afforded just three minutes this season, which came in a brief cameo against Fulham.
Luke Shaw has started mainly as the left centre-back this season, receiving a fair bit of criticism for his mixed performances this season, so there’s no reason why the talented centre-back hasn’t been given more minutes this season, with none of the current centre-backs properly cementing themselves as a guaranteed starter.
A back three core of Heaven, de Ligt and Yoro looks like an extremely exciting defensive partnership for the future, and Heaven may get his chance to show his talent soon with the imminent return of Lisandro Martinez, whose minutes will be managed to not risk re-injuring.
With the Argentinian’s return, Shaw could be moved to his preferred left wing-back position to compete with Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu, leaving Heaven as Martinez’s direct understudy.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel