Alan Pardew says Manchester United’s failure to bolster their defence last summer has left the club with a big ‘problem’ and ‘no foundation to build on’.
There was a renewed sense of optimism at Old Trafford as United bosses overhauled their misfiring attack with the addition of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
But while all three forwards have shown glimpses of their undoubted quality, the Red Devils find themselves in crisis and managerless once again, with Ruben Amorim relieved of his duties following a wretched run of results.
Darren Fletcher took over from Amorim with a view to steadying the ship earlier this month, but it’s proven a difficult start for the Scot, who is yet to win as caretaker manager.
Four days after being held to a 2-2 draw to Premier League strugglers Burnley, Fletcher’s men crashed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Brighton – with ex-United striker Danny Welbeck scoring what proved to be the winner at the Theatre of Dreams.
Though a final decision is yet to be made, Michael Carrick has reportedly jumped ahead of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the frontrunner to take over the reins from Fletcher until the end of the season.
Discussing United’s troubles on talkSPORT, Pardew argued a new manager was unlikely to be able to find any quick fixes given the lack of ‘balance’ and ‘cohesion’ in the squad.
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According to the ex-Newcastle and Crystal Palace boss, the Red Devils were naive in overlooking potential defensive signings when they had the chance to strengthen six months ago.
‘First and foremost, you’ve got to have a playing staff that warrants wearing that jersey,’ Pardew said.
‘When I look at that Manchester United team, particularly at the back, there’s no foundation, for me, to build on, in terms of a backline where you can be solid.
‘If I even look at Spurs’ back four, I think Spurs’ back four is better than Manchester United’s, any defence they can put out, whoever is fit. That’s a problem which they didn’t address last summer.’
Pardew continued: ‘At the top of the pitch, they addressed that a little bit. Obviously, Matheus Cunha, who I thought was disappointing against Brighton, Bryan Mbeumo who is currently away [at AFCON] but he’ll come back.
‘I thought Benjamin Sesko was okay today. I thought he did some nice things, he took a couple of early strikes but there’s still so much to do behind the front three, though.
‘The midfield, the back four, the goalkeeper in only just finding his feet. There’s a lot of problems for whoever the manager is, whether it’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Darren Fletcher, Ruben Amorim if he’d have stayed.
‘There’s a lot of problems in that squad in terms of balance, cohesion and fight.’
Pardew feels United would be making a ‘decent’ choice should they put Carrick in charge on an interim basis.
‘Who is the next manager going to be? Is it going to be Solskjaer who we know they paid up, left the football club,’ he said.
‘Or is it going to be Michael Carrick? In my opinion, I think he would be a decent choice.
‘But what is going to be the brief until the end of the year? Because we’re talking about Manchester United.’
Pardew went on: ‘I genuinely feel sorry for Manchester United fans.
‘Dan Ashworth came in, they headhunted him and he was going to be the man who was going to put a plan together for this football club to take forward which he did at England and Newcastle.
‘And then he went, he was cut away around when Ruben Amorim came. So you can put two and two together there.’
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