Carrick admits United cannot ignore defensive frailty after six goals conceded in three games

Michael Carrick conceded that Manchester United’s defensive vulnerabilities cannot be brushed aside after his side were held to a draw by Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, extending a run of two goals conceded in each of their opening three Premier League matches.

United have now shipped six goals across fixtures against Hull, Ipswich, and Everton — a sequence that raises questions about their defensive organisation ahead of a run of fixtures against considerably stronger opposition. A 5-2 win over Ipswich temporarily obscured the problem, but an opening-day defeat at newly-promoted Hull and two squandered leads against Everton have brought it sharply back into focus.

“The mentality is there, I think,” Carrick said. “There’s obviously things we need to get better at as a team. We obviously can’t ignore it. We need to concede less goals to give us a better chance of winning games, but we’ll certainly look at that and keep improving.”

Against Everton, United twice led only to be pegged back. Tyrique George equalised in the 83rd minute before Benjamin Sesko restored the advantage five minutes later, but Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck from distance deep into stoppage time to deny United all three points.

Carrick, 45, was measured in his assessment of the late concession, noting the quality of both strikes rather than pointing solely to defensive errors. “That one strike from there, that goes in the top corner, obviously changes the whole feeling of that few minutes,” he said. “He’s put it in the top corner from well outside the box, so sometimes it’s one of those things.”

Nevertheless, the pattern is hard to dismiss. United have now conceded two or more goals in ten of Carrick’s 20 Premier League games in charge, and with the calibre of upcoming opponents set to rise, tightening up at the back will be a pressing priority on the training ground.