# Are We Setting Carrick Up to Fail? United’s Left-Back Neglect is Becoming a Real Problem

Listen, we all love what Michael Carrick achieved last season. The man walked in during January chaos after Amorim’s sacking, steadied the ship brilliantly, and delivered third place with Champions League football secured. Eleven wins from sixteen matches as interim, beating City, Arsenal AND Liverpool along the way. Absolutely magnificent. That’s why INEOS handed him the permanent job until 2028, and rightly so.

But here’s the frustrating part: we’re now staring down the barrel of another season with Luke Shaw as our only proper left-back option, and the transfer window is running out fast. Shaw is quality when fit, no question, but his injury record speaks for itself. We cannot go into a Champions League campaign with one specialist in that position. It’s football suicide.

Patrick Dorgu has arrived, yes, but he’s young and untested at this level. Harry Amass shows promise from the academy, but throwing kids into the fire isn’t a strategy when you’re competing on multiple fronts. We need an experienced, ready-made option who can either challenge Shaw or cover him during his inevitable spells on the treatment table.

Remember when our PR team bragged about scouting 804 right-backs before signing Wan-Bissaka back in 2019? Where’s that thorough process now? It feels like we’re going into this window without a clear Plan A, let alone a Plan B.

Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox need to back our Head Coach properly. Carrick has earned trust and support. We’ve brought in Benjamin Šeško, Bryan Mbeumo, and Matheus Cunha to bolster the attack. Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos have strengthened midfield. But what good is all that firepower if our defensive flank is one injury away from disaster?

Two weeks left. Get it sorted, INEOS. Don’t let penny-pinching undermine the brilliant foundation Carrick has built.

✍️ This summary was written by the MUFC Fanatics SA team based on reporting from The Guardian.

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