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Manchester United legend Gary Pallister is sympathetic to the Red Devils’ defence because the amount of space the entire team are gifting the opposition on a consistent basis makes it “twice as difficult” for the backline.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the The Peoples Person, hosted by Casino Apps, Pallister contends the “amount of goals [United] have conceded” stems from the “space we’re allowing teams to get in the midfield.”
A Defence of the Defence
The former England international, who formed a bedrock of one of the most successful sides ever at Old Trafford alongside Steve Bruce and Peter Schmeichel, believes “everybody” is responsible for the defensive frailties Ruben Amorim’s team are experiencing.
“We’re looking at the amount of goals they’ve conceded. We’ve seen it highlighted on Match of the Day about the spaces we’re allowing teams to get in the midfield. If the opposition get good possession in front of your back three, your back five, whatever it may be, they’re going to make it twice as difficult for you.
“So it’s not just the three centre-backs, or the wing-backs, it’s everybody.”
Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system relies on a pivot in centre of the pitch to protect the defence in a league dominated by three-man midfields. The Portuguese coach has settled on a duo of Manuel Ugarte, who played under Amorim at Sporting CP in the same formation, and Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes, 30, is best deployed as an attacking midfielder. But the United captain’s indefatigable work rate and ball-progression abilities have led Amorim to drop him deeper in recent months to find a better balance, given the issues Casemiro and Christian Eriksen produce off-the-ball, despite their qualities on it.
Similarly, Ugarte is brilliant at winning the ball back and helping force transitions, but the Uruguayan international is less effective once his side have regained possession. This puts more pressure on Fernandes to help launch attacks and forces the Portuguese star even deeper on the pitch, further from the opposition goal.
If United were able to play a natural deep-lying playmaker next to Ugarte, enabling Fernandes to push further forward, the midfield unit would improve, both in terms of defensive solidity – as Pallister identifies as an issue – but also attacking threat.
A new midfielder is likely to be a priority for Old Trafford officials to recruit this summer with a player such as Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton offering the type of profile United are sorely lacking.
The Best Defensive Trio
Pallister believes losing Lisandro Martinez, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury likely to rule the defender out for much of 2025, was a major blow to the team as the 27-year-old offers “balance”.
“Martinez being left-footed gives you balance in your back three,” the 59-year-old states. “I think he was just starting to find his feet again” in Amorim’s system after an impressive debut season in Manchester.
Martinez had been brilliant in a Red shirt prior to his knee injury with the Argentine producing game-changing moments against Manchester City (assisting Amad’s winner), Liverpool (a brilliant goal at Anfield) and Rangers (assisting Fernandes’ winner in the Europa League) over the winter period.
Martinez is comfortably the best passer of United’s defenders with Amorim’s system placing great emphasis on the defence to help contribute to the attack by progressing the ball. To have lost the 27-year-old in such devastating fashion at such a crucial point of the season was a major blow to the Portuguese coach with performances having suffered greatly since.
Pallister offers praise for 19-year-old French starlet Leny Yoro who has played more in Martinez’s absence but believes patience is needed for such a young defender. “Yoro’s come in, he’s a young lad and he’s still learning on the job at a massive club like Manchester United, but he’s done well.”
Interestingly, the former United defender believes Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire are both best positioned in the centre of the the three-man defence, suggesting it may be a case of one or the other next season for Amorim.
Pallister states De Ligt would prefer to play in the “middle of the defence, but he’s not going to get that because Harry [Maguire] has done really well this season, he’s been one of our better players”.
However, the 59-year-old believes Maguire would not be enjoying the resurgence he’s experienced under Amorim if he was forced to play wider, as De Ligt has in recent weeks. “I don’t think [Maguire] would be the same if he was playing in the outside centre-back roles”, Pallister concludes.
“The problem with the three-at-the-back system is the two [outside] centre-halves have got much more ground to cover, much more space to fill. And when you’re on the outside, you’re coming up against tricky, fast wingers”.
With everyone fit, the best trio Amorim could start in defence would likely be Yoro at RCB, De Ligt at CCB, and Martinez at LCB.
The arrival of Patrick Dorgu – who Pallister states has “come in and looked pretty good at wing-back” – would offer pace and physicality on the left, to help balance Martinez’s issues with mobility. Similarly, Yoro is a tall and rangy defender with excellent recovery speed, enabling a more attacking wing-back, such as Amad, to play ahead of him.
This five-man defensive set-up would offer the best balance, defensively and offensively, for Amorim’s system. However, Martinez will be lucky to be fit by the start of next season while Amad, who suffered his own long-term injury last month, is likely only to return at the very of this campaign at best.
As such, Amorim will have to make do without two important parts of his best line-up at a time when he desperately needed both to salvage an otherwise dismal season for the Red Devils.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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