Ruben Amorim must address Manchester United problem to take them to the next level

Since Manchester United returned to action from the international break, they have conceded seven goals in four games.

The seven goals sit with two irritating statistics. All seven goals have been so avoidable to the point that it has left Ruben Amorim scratching his head. They also managed to keep a clean sheet against Manchester City, their first since 2021.

Two of the seven goals are so similar, but the five others are attributed to poor defending. At Lyon in the Europa League, Andre Onana's errors allowed the French side to stay alive in the tie while Newcastle treated United's defence like toys.

Sandro Tonali's opener came as a result of a bad Victor Lindelof pass in the build-up. The second came with Tino Livramento breezing past Diogo Dalot with no challenge whatsoever and the fourth was down to Altay Bayindir, Onana's replacement on the day, attempting to play out of defence.

It isn't wrong to say that United, defensively, are poor at the moment. There have been some positives to come from this season, including Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt, but the options behind them are sub-par.

However, the third conceded on Tyneside and solo goal at Nottingham Forest have left a sour taste in the mouths of many. After Noussair Mazraoui slipped, Harvey Barnes was allowed to run, freely, around 60 yards, unchallenged from Christian Eriksen, Lindelof or Yoro, before curling the ball into the top corner.

The goal was a carbon copy of Anthony Elanga's winner at the City Ground. After collecting the ball inside Forest's half, he was allowed to run the length of the pitch past Patrick Dorgu and Alejandro Garnacho (at least he attempted a slide tackle) and Noussair Mazraoui to open the scoring.

Two goals conceded within two weeks